Page 15 of Exile
“You just saw me yesterday morning.” I give his shoulder a gentle slap and move to get back behind the counter. Dominick stops me with a possessive hold on my wrist, tugging me back into his body.
“Every hour I go without seeing you is too long.” His possessive, claiming words make me weak in the knees.
The bell over the door dings again, signaling the arrival of another customer. I push away from Dom, trying to get back to work, and he lets go of me grudgingly.
“Hey ReRe, got anything special for me this morning?” Kai’s voice calls out, letting me know he’s my new customer. I look around Dominick and see my Kai strolling in with a smile on his face that melts away when he sees Dominick crowding into my space.
“You’re early. You’re not usually here until you’re almost late for class.” I tease my friend and move behind the counter. There’s a stiffness in the way Dom holds himself that wasn’t there a minute ago, and I chalk it up to male posturing. He moves to the side to let Kai order first.
“I have a tutoring session this morning. Need some help with the psych paper, and since my usual tutor has been busy having a life…” He shoots me a wink as he gets out his wallet. Guilt slithers through my stomach when I realize I had promised to help him over the weekend and never got the chance to.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I can come over and help tonight?” I begin making his drink, a new concoction I came up with that includes butter toffee and salted caramel, making it reminiscent of kettle corn.
“Don’t worry about it, ReRe. We’re good.” Kai’s words are reassuring, but his voice seems sad and resigned. Out of the corner of my eye I see Dominick’s posture shift, his expression flat and unreadable.
“Actually, Kitten. I was hoping I could bring dinner over for you and your mom tonight. Give you a night off and hopefully have a chance to let your mom get to know me better. You know, since I plan on coming around a lot.” I glance over at Dom, surprised by his suggestion. He hadn’t mentioned anything about dinner in any of our conversations since Sunday, so his offer takes me off guard.
“Yeah, it sounds like you have plans tonight. I’ll catch up with you later.” Kai takes the drink I offer him and stuffs a five-dollar bill into the tip jar before leaving. I stare at my friend, confused by his sudden departure, Marie’s words from earlier echoing in my mind. Does Kai have feelings for me? Is he jealous of Dom?
Dom takes Kai’s place at the register with Eric and Dane flanking him. I begin making their usual order while Dominick waits patiently for my answer.
“You really want to come over and hang out with my mom?” I raise a skeptical eyebrow at him, and he stares back with a no-nonsense expression on his face.
“Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with my girl? You’re busy, so I’ll take any spare moment I can with you.”
“Damn dude, calm down with the charm. You’re making the rest of us look bad. If my wife hears about this, she’s going to start dragging me to her mom’s house for Sunday dinner.” A laugh escapes me at Eric’s chiding.
“Yeah, Dom. You need to be careful. If you raise the bar too high, no man that comes after you will have any hope of impressing me.”
His silver eyes darken to the color of a storm cloud, the intensity shining from them nearly taking my breath away. “Who said any man would come after me?”
After Dom and the boys leave, I get swept up in the rest of the busy morning crowd until it’s time to rush off to class. I don’t see Kai for the rest of the day either. We don’t have any classes together today, and he is scarce during lunch, so I eat my sad peanut butter and jelly sandwich while revising my paper for psych class. It’s due before Thanksgiving break and counts for thirty percent of our grade. I pick up my phone, debating on texting Kai to see if he wants to get together one night this week to read over each other’s papers, when a text notification comes through from Dom.
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: Dinner at 6 okay? I’ll pick up something from Roma’s.
Me: You know you don’t have to do that, right?
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: Kitten, don’t argue with me. I’m bringing dinner and making your mom fall in love with me, so she won’t get mad when I monopolize all of your free time.
I bite my lower lip, grinning like a loon at Dom’s response. How did I get so lucky to find a man this attentive? I shoot off a quick Yes, sir. in response and put my phone away to finish working on my paper.
Dom’s plan to win Mom over works like a treat. I warn her about him coming over so she can refresh her memory by reading her journal entries. This at least ensures she doesn’t reintroduce herself to him for the third time. All through dinner, he is careful to ask her questions about her life before the accident so she doesn’t stumble over her missing memories, and I can see the joy shining in her eyes at being able to tell someone new about my awkward teenage pop princess phase and the time I flashed my underwear to the mall Santa when I was only three years old, showing off my new Christmas dress.
Dom sits next to me, his left hand never leaving my right thigh, his touch possessive and grounding at the same time. He laughs at her stories, gives all the right responses to her questions about his life, and even cleans up after dinner. Mom might as well have cartoon hearts for eyes as she watches me walk Dominick to the door when it’s time for him to leave.
Once we are outside and the front door closes, Dom turns me around so my back is against the column holding up the roof of our covered porch. He leans in, lifting my chin so he can gaze into my eyes. There is a banked heat shining in his silver eyes, burning like the embers of a blazing bonfire. He licks his lips in a move that is reminiscent of a predator sizing up their prey. I can’t help the hitch in my breath when my eyes focus on the movement of his tongue over his lush, full lips. Every cell in me is screaming for him to lean in and claim me with his mouth. My body hums with anticipation. My core is wet and needy for him, and I am desperate to feel the press of his hard body against mine. I want to pick up where we left off on Sunday and take things further. I want to fully belong to Dominick.
“Kitten, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to do obscene things to you right on your front porch and undo all of that goodwill I just earned from your mom.” Dominick whispers into my ear and a shiver runs down my spine. I lick my lips, taunting him in response.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
“Fuck, Kitten. You are asking for it.” The groan that leaves him is purely animal. “Come home with me tomorrow. Stay with me. I promise you; we will have a real good time.” Dom kisses his way up my neck, along my jaw and ghosts his lips over mine in the briefest phantom of a kiss.
“God, I wish I could. I can’t leave Mom alone overnight.” The reality of my situation crashes over me like a bucket of cold water dousing the flames building between us. Something that looks like disappointment flashes across Dominick’s face briefly, but it’s gone as quickly as it comes.
“I’m sorry, Dom. Dating me isn’t easy. My life is complicated, and it’s just Mom and I. My whole life revolves around work, taking care of her, and school. If it’s too much to deal with, I understand.”
My head drops and I close my eyes, trying to ready myself for the moment he realizes dating me isn’t worth the hassle. The silence between us stretches for what seems like an eternity. Eventually I gather the courage to look up, to let him dump me face to face. All I see are his lips pressed in a thin line, a look of determination on his face.