With a silent shrug he tucks both hands in the front pockets of his jeans, managing to look boyishly innocent and stupidly cocky all at once.
I glance over my shoulder, confirming no one is watching, and quickly slip outside, closing the door behind me. Now it’s just me and Dominic on the porch.
Alone.
He steps back, likely taken by surprise that I would choose to be alone with him.
“You’re the guest my mom invited.”
It’s not a question, but he nods, answering it anyway.
I cross my arms over my chest, the need to protect the heart hammering under it is instinctual. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it needs to stop. It’s not funny.” My eyes dart down, hating the vulnerable wave about to break over me any moment now.
Forcing myself to look back up, I watch the playful smile he was sporting drop as he steps forward.
I step back.
He sighs, but remains still. “You think I would play games with you? There’s no game. You know me better than that.”
“I don’t know you. Not anymore.” It comes out hushed and ragged, revealing too much emotion when I was aiming for indifference. “You can’t just show up here like this.”
His brows fall into a single line, the softness in his gaze replaced by something heavier, harder. “Your mom invited me. Not the other way around. I wasn’t planning to crash Sunday dinner just to mess with you.”
I scoff, even though a small part of me feels stupid for assuming it was his idea. Of course it was my mom’s, she doesn’t know when to mind her own business. “So, what, you’re just here to…what? Make nice with my family?”
Dominic rubs the back of his neck, the movement drawing my attention to the way his shirt stretches across his shoulders, to the veins branching down his inked arms.
Damn it. Focus.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” he admits, quietly, unsure. “Your mom asked, and I didn’t have a reason to say no.” He hesitates. “And maybe I wanted to see you.”
My insides somersault. I can’t decide if it’s from anger or something else. Something I’m sure as shit not going to name.
We stare, studying each other. No matter how badly I try not to feel it, the ever-present thread between us pulls tight. It’s always there, tugging.
“Well, you’ve seen me,” I say, trying to sound cold, though my voice wavers. “Now you can leave.”
He flinches at that, and for a second, I regret my bitchiness. But before either of us can say more, the sound of a truck pulling into the driveway snaps the tension.
Dominic glances over his shoulder as Ethan’s truck rolls to a stop. Marisa hops out of the passenger seat with a wave.
“Dom, good to see you, man,” Ethan calls, grinning as he rounds the walkway.
Marisa jogs up to us, her hand brushing my arm as she passes, giving it a double-squeeze. “Are you joining us? Oh, this is going to be fun.” She beams at both of us. Either she’s not picking up on the strain crackling in the silence, or she’s choosing to not acknowledge it.
Dominic bro hugs Ethan, his easy smile sliding back into place. “Your mom invited me, and I couldn’t pass it up.” His eyes briefly swivel to me before Marisa greets him with a hug.
Shane’s voice calls from inside. “The food is getting cold!”
I glare at Dominic one last time before sighing and opening the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Dominic follows close behind me, the heat radiating off him penetrating my skin as if we’re touching. I feel him everywhere and nowhere at once, a special kind of torture. As we get closer to the dining room, I brace myself for an evening I’m wholly unprepared for.
CHAPTER 7
Dominic
SULLIVAN RIDGE HOUSE
