“Being close, I guess?”
We had already figured out that helped. At this point, it was the only reason that I hadn’t kicked him out during any of these stupid little spats. Though all the bad luck came for me while I was at work, while I was here, in the apartment, with him, it all mellowed out. Only the occasional morning coffee was still spilled on myself after I already got dressed.
“You want me to fuck you?”
I had never been against the phrasing until this moment. I tried not to flinch like some sort of prude at the venom slipping from his lips.
I shrugged with a sigh. “If that’s what you want to call it, I’m sure that would help.”
“Let’s do it then.” Dom stood up from the couch and kicked off his shoes. One of them collided with a yellow fringe throw pillow. “Done. Let’s get this hex un-hexed with sex. I could make a freaking rhyme out of this.”
I stood there, unable to say a word. I watched the other shoe come off, then his socks. He started to work on the buttons of his shirt when I waved my hand toward him. I blinked my eyes to shut them, but for some reason, they didn’t stay closed long, catching new glimpses of bare, tattooed Dom and the trim V-line that showed right above the waistband of his pants.
“Put your clothes back on.”
He continued to do the opposite.
I cleared my throat by the time his fingers unclipped his belt buckle. “Stop, Dom.”
“Why? You figured out a nearly surefire way to appease the universe or whatever. Let’s do this,” he snapped, reaching out a hand to me that almost seemed soft.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It wouldn’t be as if I hadn’t thought about it or pictured getting back into bed or on the floor or just about anywhere with Dom—that was my own personal curse of knowing him.
Now, however, I knew better. I took a step back, crossing my arms over each other. “I’m not having sex with you.”
“You never seemed to have an issue with it before.”
“Before.” I gritted my teeth.
“Fine. So, now, we do nothing again.” Dom slumped, seething as his temper grew, looking between the floor and me, almost sad.
I scoffed at the image. He wasn’t going to get me to pity sleep with him either. “Not that you’re helping at all.”
“Me? Look at me. I’m a willing participant if this is what it takes.”
“Wow, way to make a girl feel special,” I muttered down to my chest.
“Should I remind you of how I didn’t do this in the first place?” asked Dom.
I needed to stop before we got into it again. Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t. “You don’t know anything about magic. You don’t believe in it or even respect it quite frankly besides in how it must’ve affectedyou, so how could it work?”
“If only I had never stepped foot in this town,” Dom grumbled.
He was acting like a child, and yet a knife that used to be in my back found a new home in my chest. Somewhere deep inside myself, I had known that was the case, and yet I’d figured that he at least had some sort of fondness toward last summer. Like I did.
Another thing I’d clearly thought wrong.
“Wow, shocker. Haven’t heard that one from you before. But if you really mean it, you can leave,” I said.
“You know that isn’t an option, not that you’ve been coming up with many of those.” Dom looked like he was about to stand but thought better of it as his hand flexed and his elbows rested on his knees. “You don’t get it.”
This again?I sighed. “Please, enlighten me. Tell me more about how I’m just such an awful, bitchy witch who put a curse on your head that you did nothing to deserve because you’re such a saint.”
“You don’t have people who are counting on you right now.”
“I just said I am making just as much sacrifice as you are.”
“From your coven friends,” he scoffed, like he’d made a joke.
