I’d heard him too. It was partially why I’d started cooking this elaborate meal for Xander, so I’d have an excuse to stay here.
Why I’d cooked enough for three hungry men was better left alone.
“You care about him,” Xander repeated softly. “You might not want to, but you do. So do us all a favour, and go feed him dinner.”
I toldmyself I wasn’t going to follow Xander’s advice. That I was going to do the smart thing and stay home. That it didn’t matter what had happened between Dominic and Frank.
The problem was…it did. It mattered so fucking much. Not just because I cared about Dominic, but because over the years, I’d grown to care about Frank too. I’d watched him battle with alcoholism, knowing he was doing so with the sole goal of making things right with his son.
If it hadn’t gone well today…
Five minutes after Xander left, I was standing outside Dom’s door. With two pans stacked precariously on top of one another, I realised I didn’t have a hand free to knock. I chewed on my lip uncertainly before lightly kicking the door.
Dom opened it with a frown that cleared as soon as his eyes landed on me. “Shadow.”
“I brought you dinner,” I said lamely, holding the pots a little higher. The tips of my ears burned as Dom gaped at me. “Figured I owed you after your Nurse Ratched act.”
Dom recovered quickly, opening the door wider for me to enter. “I’ll have you know I was extremely caring and nice. Nothing Ratched about me.”
“If you say so.” I carried the pots through into the kitchen and gingerly placed them on the side. My hand froze on the lid of the curry. “Do you like Thai food?”
Dom was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, arms folded over his chest and a soft smile on his face. “Yeah, Shadow, I do.”
“Good,” I said, ignoring the butterflies that seemed to have set up residence in my stomach at the sight of that smile. I started opening cupboards in search of plates. Not something I’d do in anyone else’s home, but this was Dominic. Boundaries had never really been a thing between us. “I made this for Xander, but he decided to abandon me.”
“On his first night back?”
I located the plates and pulled two out. “Yeah.Apparently he thought me spending time with you was more important.”
I glanced back to see Dom rubbing his jaw like he was trying to conceal a smile. When he caught me looking he lowered his hand with a rueful grin. “Sorry. Was just thinking I need to buy him a beer.”
“Do that and you’ll have a friend for life.”
He continued to watch me. “How was your afternoon?”
My day wasn’t the one I wanted to discuss, but there was one thing I was burning to share with him. “I got a message from Max.”
“Finally,” Dom muttered. “What did he say?”
“He wants me to meet him tomorrow.”
“Are you going to go?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, picking up the plates. “I haven’t decided.”
Dom accepted his plate. “This looks amazing.”
“Really?” I raised a brow. “I’ve just told you I don’t know if I want to see Max, and you’re talking about the food?”
Dom laughed. “Well, I don’t want to push you into a decision.”
I gaped at him. “Since when? That’s all you’ve been doing since you got back.”
“No it isn’t. I might’ve been…engineering situations to spend time with you, but I haven’t pressured you at all.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I realised he was right. He hadn’t pushed. In fact, he’d told me he’d wait until I was ready.
“I want to know your thoughts on this.” I sat opposite him at the small wooden table. “Actually, I know them. You think I should go.”