<em>What the fuck?</em>That was all that Declan could think when first Nic and then Alistair opened their mouths. In terms of breaking their unspoken pact, they were not just tampering with the seal, they were shooting off the lock. Though Alistair seemed to object to the fact that Nic had thrown his feelings out in the open. Declan took a swig from his drink as Sandra addressed the departing Alistair. Surely he would not leave it like that? In any case, Nic had opened Pandora’s box and no amount of talking or reasoning would undo that. Sandra now knew how they felt and that would certainly change their dynamic. Only Declan was not sure how they were supposed to move past that point. In his mind, it had always been the end of the road. He had imagined that Sandra would have felt betrayed and immediately walked out on them. But that was not the case. She seemed more intrigued than threatened by the admission. Declan gave Sandra a sheepish grin and shrugged.<strong>“I mean… on a certain level, you must have known that we really liked you? Beyond just friendship. Though now that the cat is out of the bag, I’m not sure how we are supposed to proceed.”</strong>He took another swig from his bottle, trying to calm his nerves.