Page 36 of Yes, Love

A laugh bubbled up and escaped before I could stop it. “What are you doing?”

Dominic laughed and leaned down to nibble on my neck. “Well, I was just checking to see if all my favorite bits were still there.” His teeth grazed my neck, and I felt my pulse quicken. “Good news. They are.” He scooped me up in his arms like I weighed nothing and carried me to my bed.

Dominic hovered over me only for a moment, and then his lips were on my neck. I wiped the excess makeup from my hand onto my sheets so that I wouldn’t get it all over his clothes, then tugged at his shirt. I could feel his lips turning into a smile. “Did you miss me, Ava?”

“Shut up.”

“You could have called me, babe.” Dom’s lips were on my collarbone now, and one hand gripped my hip while the other cupped the back of my neck, pulling me closer.

“I would have called you if…”

“If what?” He had my top lifted above my breasts now and ran his tongue along the edge of my bra. The way he was taking his time with my body felt like sweet torture.

If I thought you wanted me to call. If I thought this meant half as much to you as it means to me. “If I wasn’t so busy this week.”

“So you weren’t avoiding me? Just busy then?” Dominic stood to drop his jeans.

My eyes raked up and down his body. I would never be too busy for some of that. “Yeah, just busy.”

“I might need you to make more time for me in the future.” He hovered over me again and pinned my arms above my head, catching my mouth in a hungry kiss.

“Mmm…” An involuntary moan escaped my lips when he tugged down my bra with his teeth and took my nipple in his mouth.

Dom slid his hands down my body, his hungry kisses turning ravenous. He paused for a moment to smirk at me. “Ava, it sounds like you missed me.” He slipped a finger into my panties to feel how wet I was and sucked on my neck. “It feels like you missed me.”

I bit my lip and accidentally laughed. “Maybe. Just fuck me!” I wasn’t used to having any sort of conversations during sex. Usually, the guys I dated only said shit like, “Yeah, baby. You like that baby? You want my dick?” And I would say, “Yes! Yes, baby!” Because that was all they wanted to hear.

Dom laughed and nuzzled into my breasts. “Say it, Ava. Say you missed me. I won’t fuck you until you say you missed the shit out of me.”

I laughed harder and pulled him closer. I loved the way that sex with Dom could be deep and sensual but also fun and playful. “You already know.”

“I do, but you have to say it.” He grinned at me and teased my clit with two fingers. When I tipped my head back and moaned, he withdrew.

“Oh fuck you!” I grabbed his hand and put it back on my pussy. “I missed the shit out of you!”

Dominic laughed out loud and resumed pleasuring me. “I know.”

***

“So this bloke cheated on you with your best friend?” Dom studied me with narrowed eyes as I drove to the restaurant to meet Sienna and Evan.

I rolled my eyes. “No. He’s actually one of the only guys that never cheated on me. They didn’t hook up until five years after he and I ended things. I’m not even mad about it. They’re nauseatingly perfect together. They were just…” I sighed and trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

“What?” I could still feel Dominic’s eyes on me.

“My mental health was at its absolute best when we were all together every day. They always chased away all the clouds in my head, and I know I shouldn’t have gotten myself dependent on other people to be happy, but they were everything to me.” I shook my head and stared at the taillights of the car ahead of us. “And I’m pissed that they hid the truth from me, but mostly I hate myself for being the thing that screwed up their happiness. I was just in the way, wasting space.”

“Stop it.” Dominic rested his hand on my leg. “You did nothing wrong.”

I laughed out loud. “Oh, I did plenty wrong.”

“Still, if the arse knew he loved your best friend, he’s the one at fault for putting you in the middle of it all.”

I winced. “Wrong again. I put myself in the middle of everything. I went after him and dug my claws in like there was no tomorrow.”

Dominic grinned at me. “Actually, I’d expect nothing less from you.” He drew little circles on my thigh with his fingers. “All right, well then they should have been honest with you about their feelings for each other.”

“I’ll give you that one. It fucked up my head to know they’d loved each other for so long. I felt so stupid!” I cringed as I recalled the days following Sienna’s big confession. I’d worked my way through a few too many bottles of wine and spiraled with my random hookups. Spoiler alert: it didn’t make me feel better.