And that all I’d needed to do was to reach out and grab it.
We kissed until our ears were numb. Until we couldn’tignore the cold any longer. Walking back to the car, hand in hand and giggling like the teenagers we’d once been, I knew Dom had been successful.
This new memory would definitely overwrite the last one.
When we got to the car, his gave me a sneaky grin. “You know, it’s just occurred to me that we have two spare tickets.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to sell them,” I said, getting into the car and rubbing my hands together for warmth. Dom followed quickly, sliding behind the wheel. “Shouldn’t be hard. They’re in high demand.”
“Or,” he said, his eyes sparkling, “hear me out. How about we take people with us?”
I cocked my head, intrigued by the mischievous glee rolling off of him. “Who were you thinking?”
“Well, our best friends have a habit of interfering. Maybe it’s time for them to get a taste of their own medicine.”
I groaned. “Dom, that’s a terrible idea.”
“Think about it, Shadow. Wouldn’t it be easier if they could be in the same room for longer than five minutes without trying to kill each other?”
“Yes, but I can’t see that happening.”
“We don’t quit,” Dom said cheerfully. “We’re fighters, and we keep fighting. Just wait and see, Ry. By the time I’m through, Max and Xander will be thick as thieves.”
I chuckled. “We’ll see. But I stand by my statement—this is a terrible idea.”
“So were we.” He lifted my cold hand and kissed it. “And just look at us now, Shadow.”
Epilogue – Ryan
“For the record, I told you so.”
My words were whisper-shouted into Dom’s ear as he led us towards the barricade. Exactly as I’d predicted, Xander and Max hadn’t stopped sniping at each other since we’d arrived.
“Give them time,” was Dom’s only response. “It’s just the surprise.”
Surprise, because we’d ‘forgotten’ to inform each of them that the other would also be attending. In our defence, we’d known neither of them would come if they knew beforehand.
I didn’t think any amount of time would be enough for Max and Xander to learn how to be civil to one another. I could hear them now, still bickering even as they followed us through the crowd.
“You’re absolutely fucking ridiculous. Everyone knows that ‘Night’s Darkest Secrets’ is their best song.” I didn’t even know Max had listened to a Caffeine Daydreams song, let alone knew them well enough to have formed an opinion.
“Um, no. It’s blatantly ‘Tease.’”
Max gave a dismissive snort. “You just like that one because the guitarist and the bass player grind on each other when they perform it.”
I glanced back to see Xander smile at my twin tauntingly. “No. It’s because of how the lead singer gets on his knees like the good boy he is.”
Max flushed, opening his mouth to no doubt throw another retort at Xander. I cleared my throat loudly, but before I could tell them to behave, Dominic was there.
He rounded on them, hands on his hips. “Really? Today of all days?”
I expected them to argue back. To tell Dominic to fuck off like they usually did whenever he tried to intervene. But to my surprise, their shoulders drew inwards, eyes dropping to the floor.
“Sorry,” Max grunted.
“We’ll behave,” Xander added.
I stared at the three of them. What the fuck was happening?