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Excitement fills the air as the other WAGs join us and we talk about how great the game was. We start snacking on the canapés and chatting until the guys finally join us. Dom wraps an arm around my waist, securing me to his side, and my belly lets loose a flurry of butterflies at the possessive touch. At the same time, my heart splinters with longing for it to be real.
A server walks by with a tray of champagne, and I grab two flutes and hand one to Dom, already bringing mine up to my lips, hoping the alcohol will steady my nerves. But instead of taking it from me, he waves it away.
He leans his head close, his breath brushing against my ear and sending a shiver of want down my spine. “I quit drinking.”
I snap my gaze to meet his. “Since when?”
His crystal-blue eyes stare into mine as if he’s trying to see into my soul. “Since the scandal. Most—okay, all—of my bad decisions came after alcohol. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I don’t want to keep letting down the people who mean the most to me, so I decided the alcohol had to go. Maybe not forever, but for the foreseeable future.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
He shrugs. “It didn’t seem important compared to everything else.”
He’s wrong. It’s very important. He’s been a party boy almost as long as I’ve known him. It’s a defining trait, so giving it up means he’s one hundred percent serious about changing his life. It’s not just a publicity stunt until things die down.
Somehow that realization leaves me reeling. If he’s serious about this, then what else might he be serious about?
No. Don’t go there.
Why do I always do this? Why do I always make excuses for trying to believe that I mean more to him than I actually do? I’ve got to stop. I’ve got to stop seeing potential that isn’t there.
Dom might be sober now, but he’s doing it for his career, nothing else. This team means the world to him, and he’s made that clear more than once. He’d be completely gutted to be ripped away from the Fierce Four. Hell, what even is the Fierce Four if they don’t have Dom?
“Are you upset I didn’t tell you?” Dom asks, breaking through my thoughts.
“No. I guess not.” It’s the truth. I’m not upset, but I am confused. It’s like trying to make sense of a puzzle when you don’t have all the pieces. But I do have all the pieces—my heart and my head just aren’t in agreement with the picture those pieces present when I put them together.
He drops a kiss to the top of my head and then turns to the group. I didn’t notice the other guys had also joined us.
“It’s about fucking time,” Ty says, gesturing between Dom and me with his beer bottle that he must’ve gotten over at the bar on the other side of the room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dom asks, his arm tightening around my waist.
“It means I called it ages ago. I always knew you two would end up together. You were way too protective of her to be ‘just a friend,’” he says using air quotes. There’s something else in his smile and the way he looks between Dom and me.
Dom looks down at me, and I fight the urge to fidget and pull out of his arms. I hate this. I hate lying to our friends. But Dom doesn’t seem bothered at all. If anything, he gets this soft expression in his eyes that I can’t quite figure out and then turns back to Ty.
“Yeah, well, nobody said I was smart. Just took me a little longer than it should’ve to see what was right in front of me.”
A sharp pain stabs my heart, and it takes everything I have not to drop my smile. I’ve imagined this scenario so many times—those exact words coming out of his mouth—but I never imagined how painful it would feel. Sometimes the universe gives you exactly what you’ve asked for and not at all in the way you wanted it.
I should be more careful about how I phrase my intentions.
I put my champagne glass to my lips and take a large swallow of the bubbly liquid. It’s not nearly strong enough to get me through this, but it’ll have to do.
Everyone smiles at us like they expect Dom to get on one knee and propose any moment, given that this was apparently a long time coming. Through it all, I fight to keep my heartbreak hidden, knowing this is all temporary and in a few months these people might not even want to be my friends anymore. The stabbing ache in my heart gets worse, and all I can do is hope that when all’s said and done, I’ll go somewhere new and never have to feel this way again.
Even if I suspect that Dom’s absence in my life will leave a hole too big to fill.
Twenty
It feels completely natural to hold Alayna close to me while I sip my water and chat with the guys. One of the Wolves reps comes over periodically to pull one of us away for quick interviews with the press, but overall, it’s a great way to end an incredible night.
A waiter passes by, and Alayna swaps out her now empty champagne glass with a fresh one. I watch her take a large sip and then widen her smile as Paige talks to her about a girls’ weekend trip they’ve been planning.
Alayna’s never been a big drinker, so I know something’s bothering her, and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it so she can enjoy tonight with me. I want her to feel as relaxed and happy as I do.
“Excuse me,” I interrupt Paige. “I need to steal her away for a few minutes.” I’m already pulling her away, and Paige doesn’t stop me. She smiles knowingly before turning to her husband.
