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Dom had been staring at me for too long. He only got that look when he was preparing to grill a defendant. I could feel I was in for it, but I was well enough to argue back this time.
“You know he’s been calling the office every day?” He propped himself up on his elbow, lying next to me.
I groaned, shifting onto my back and lifting my knees. That was exactly the kind of thing I didn’t want to hear.
“Yeah. I know.”
Lucy had been texting me constantly about him, trying to guess who he was. She was dying for the story.
Dom shook his head. “Lucy’s nicknamed him ‘The Mysterious Kitty’. You should hear her go on about his voice. You’d think he’d hypnotised her the way she gushes about him. She tries to keep him on the line, but as soon as he finds out you’re not there, he hangs up. It’s been two weeks now, hun. Are you ever going to call him back?”
“No can do.” I stretched, trying to sound casual. “I don’t have his number. Guess he’ll just have to keep calling.”
Or maybe I wanted to test and see how long he’d keep trying until he gave up.
We settled into another silence, but I knew it was coming. I’d been having this conversation in my head all week, but these things never went as planned, especially with Dom.
“What’s going on, Cat?” he asked softly. “Don’t pretend it’s nothing. I saw the way you two were melting in each other’s arms at the gala. I thought you were going to eat him right there in front of everyone.”
I threaded my fingers behind my head, my elbows sticking out. I’d been staring up at the ceiling for so many hours since Max had walked back into my life that I could rent it out as advertising space.
I didn’t know where to begin. I’d never been hesitant about telling him anything before. He knew my deepest, dirtiest secrets, but I was reluctant to share this part of myself. He’d only been there for one side of the story. He didn’t have the memories of how good Max and I were together before it blew up in our faces. Even though I’d tried to describe it to him back then, I was sure Dom thought I’d only been defending Max because I still couldn’t see how he’d used me.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly. “Take your time.” Dom might have thought he was being helpful, but it made the whole thing more serious. “Just start from the beginning.”
As soon as the first word left my mouth, it all came pouring out. We spent hours shifting around the bed, stretching out the story, digging deeper into certain parts, or Dom interrupting to bring me back on track as I went off on a tangent about Bunny’s ridiculous pink dress or what a dick Venom was.
I wanted Dom to understand where I was coming from, but I’d never seen him hold on to a relationship for more than two months. There were guys he fucked regularly, but it was completely different from the fear of standing on the precipice of something so huge I knew it would irrevocably change my life the moment I stepped out and let myself fall.
“Do you love him?” he asked.
My head was resting on his arm as we both lay on our backs with our arms stretched up, tracing patterns in the air.
My silence told him more than words could.
He sighed as he drew a heart with the tip of his finger above us. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
I blew out a sigh. I’d spent every goddamn night since Max hit me with one of his smiles thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, no matter how much I tried. When I wasn’t thinking about him, I was dreaming about him and longing for him, craving him so deeply I had become an absolute mess.
It all happened so quickly that it was like he’d never been gone. My heart picked up right where it left off, and the anger and hate were simply extra additions.
“I’ve thought about it so much, I wish I could never think about it again,” I replied.
The honesty hurt. I felt like I either had to throw myself into this thing with Max or cut him out completely. There was no middle ground.
Dom slipped his arm out from under me, palming my shoulders to help me sit up. “Well, there’s only one cure for something like this.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, sure something good was coming.
“Yeah, baby. We’re going to run you a bath, open a window, change these manky sheets, and curl up to some of your favourite movies. I mean those god-awful cheesy musicals, not the three-hour tearjerkers you used to force me through.”
He flung the covers off us, exposing us to the stale air, and a fresh wave of sweat wafted through the room. It really was awful.
“God, Dom, could youbeany sexier?”
“I do try, Kitty Cat. I do try.”
Max
