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So what was he meant to do now?
Fuck, why did things have to get so twisted up?
Why did Kellen have to be at the bloody beach that afternoon?
Dom had thoroughly burnt his bridge with Kellen after Shiloh had stormed off. He called him and asked him to meet Dom at the café, then he told him that he wouldn’t be changing his mind. He was in love with someone else, and Kellen immediately knew who it was.
“I could tell the night you invited him to the pub for drinks. You hung on his every word.”
“Why didn’t you say something then?” Dom had asked, and Kellen just laughed at him.
“Because I wanted sex, and you were a sure thing.”
Which…was fair. Dom was often a sure thing when he was in the mood to actually sleep with someone else. And the sex with Kellen had been good. It had just been hollow and pointless. So Dom hadn’t brought it up again.
They parted ways cordially, but it was obvious Kellen wasn’t going to text him again, and Dom had no intention of seeking him out. That was one small problem solved, but the other was trying to figure out how he’d been fucking up with Shiloh.
He supposed that yeah, cancelling a date with someone to be with Shiloh the night of the party could be considered patronizing. Especially since Dom hadn’t even really discussed it with him and since he’d kind of blown Shiloh off when he’d asked about the date.
But he wasn’t doing it intentionally. He just wanted to be with his best friend in whatever capacity he’d let him. And the fact that Shiloh was going in a dress and makeup was…
Well…
He’d been trying not to think about that part for a full goddamn fortnight.
Lost in his head, he didn’t register the bells on the front door of the bakery chiming until the door had swung shut. His heart leapt into his throat, then settled between his teeth. There was only one person besides Alan who had a key to the bakery, and Alan would have come in the front door.
His hands shook just slightly as he rose from his chair and stepped out of his office into the corridor. In the distance, he heard the soft steps of thick-soled loafers on tile. Then the kitchen door opened, and he appeared.
Shiloh.
Dom froze as they gazed at each other, less than twenty feet separating them.
Shiloh cracked first. “I’m sorry.”
Dom’s eyes widened. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” Shiloh took a step closer, then stopped like he was forcing himself to stay still. He looked ragged and worn like he’d been working outside all evening and hadn’t cleaned up. There was dirt under his fingernails and a few feathers stuck in his curls, which meant he’d probably spent time cuddling with Elvis.
Fuck.
Dom was so in love with him.
“I was being completely irrational,” Shiloh said, filling the silence between them. “It just feels like you don’t trust me to manage myself sometimes, and that hurts. I’ve spent most of my life being underestimated. Fuck, my own mum left me because she thought I was going to be some pathetic sack of shit who couldn’t take care of myself, and…”
“Your mum left because she was cracked in the bloody head, Shiloh,” Dom said. He closed the distance between them and took Shiloh by the shoulders. “She didn’t know what a perfect man she had in your dad, and she didn’t know what an absolute fucking star she had as a son. And that’s her loss. But I don’t even care because it’s my gain. I’ll love you enough for whatever she left behind.”
Shiloh let out a shattered laugh, shrugging before he let Dom pull him close. “It’s not about that really. I don’t care that she wasn’t around. But I need to know that you trust me to manage my life and my feelings. If I’d known you wanted to go with Kellen—”
“I didn’t,” Dom told him, pulling back. He met Shiloh’s gaze through his red glasses, and held it. “I swear to you, mate. I didn’t want to go to the party with him. Sarah literally stole my phone from my hand and made the date. I’m happy with things the way they are. I would tell you if I wanted anything to change.”
“Anything?” Shiloh said quietly. There was something in his tone, something he was holding back.
Dom frowned. “Have I said something wrong again?”
“No, no.” Shiloh cleared his throat. “You really are happy, though? Just as we are.”
“Of course I am. Have I ever given you the impression I wasn’t?” Dom was so confused. Did he want more? Of fucking course he did. He’d have killed for it. But he didn’t want Shiloh to ever think that this wasn’t enough for him.
