AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Look, guys! Look!” I called, excitedly pointing to the Komodo dragons. “They have dragons! I thought they weren’t real but there’s dragons! It says so right on the sign!”
“That isn’t a dragon,” Dominic said, a grin on his face as he came over to stand next to me. “It’s a lizard.”
“But it says dragon on it,” I said, my face falling.
“Komodo dragons are called that because they have long, forked tongues and some people thought they looked like the dragons of myth,” Rich explained to me. “So, you’re both right.”
Dominic nudged me. “Maybe they fly and breathe fire at night when no one is looking.”
“Yeah!” Bastian called out, coming over to join us. “They transform at nighttime and they fly around the zoo, looking at the other animals.”
I stared at the Komodos, certain my brothers were right, or why would they be called dragons if they were just lizards like the salamander I’d found on the playground the other day?
Back then, it seemed like my brothers had all the answers, and when I didn’t know something, I could trust them to tell me the truth, or at least give me hope that the truth was out there.
Now I’m not so sure anymore. It seems like the older we get, the more cynical I feel about everything. I know now that Komodo dragons don’t transform into giant, winged, fire-breathing lizards at night and I know that Bastian and Dominic don’t always have the answers.
I wish I was still young, still hopeful enough to believe that anything was possible if you just believed hard enough.
Shifting focus to my present situation, I merge onto the interstate and set my mouth in a firm line. If I’m right and Sienna is with Rich, I’m going to have to face him again.
My stomach feels like it’s being flipped around in a tumble dryer as I try to think about what I might say after two years.
How can I face him after everything that passed between us? I tell myself I need to let it go, just like I told Bastian to do. I need to be the bigger person and reach out.
Still, I can’t seem to shake the anxiety that crawls down my spine as I turn into the campus crossing. It’s been just over two years but the thought of seeing him again still has my mouth going dry, and my stomach in knots.
Squaring my shoulders, I head into the building where his office is located, stopping in front of his door.
Reaching out a hand, I knock but there’s no answer.
If Sienna was here, she’s gone and so is Rich.
What now?
19
DOMINIC
After Caleb takes off, the tension in the air still lingers. He returns a while later, looking defeated, and heads up to his room without another word.
Meanwhile, Bastian has been slamming things around in the kitchen the whole time, getting on my last nerve. I can’t take the dreary mood, so I leave to clear my head at the gym.
As I pound the punching bag, I feel the anger rise up—anger at Bastian for running Sienna off, anger at Caleb for pushing things to the boiling point between them—but I think maybe I’m the most angry at myself.
Punching the bag over and over isn’t doing it for me, so I head over to the leg press machine.
I should have stepped in sooner. Sienna doesn’t deserve our messed-up crap. If I’d just stepped in to de-escalate the situation, things wouldn’t have gone so far.
I close my eyes, a memory floating back into my head, of a sun-drenched afternoon watchingEncantowith Emily.
“You know, you don’t always have to be the strong one,” she whispered, leaning into me.
“Hmm?” I turned to face her, unsure of what she was saying.
“I was just thinking that sometimes you’re like Luisa in the movie. You hold so much weight on your shoulders. Sometimes it’s okay to let other people be the strong ones.”
I took her hands in mine and leaned in, giving her a soft kiss. “You’re right. Maybe sometimes I’ll try to let you help me.”
