“I do.” Dom nodded. “But not because it’ll make Max feel better.”
“No?”
“Fuck no, he deserves to suffer. And swallowing his pride and grovelling to you? That’ll make him suffer. You’re the one it’ll make feel better, Shadow, and that’s all I really care about.”
“How can you be so confident?”
“Same way you were when you told me to go to Frank’s.”
“Speaking of which… How did it go?”
Dom ate a mouthful of curry thoughtfully before speaking. “Didn’t think your cooking could get much better, but damn.”
Scowling, I tapped my foot against his under the table. “Stop evading the question.”
He tilted his head, his tongue darting out over his lips. “Or what?”
I moved my foot away from his with a huff. Dom didn’t miss a beat, pressing them together again. I glared at him. “Does everything have to be a game with you?”
Dom winked. “You’ve always been my favourite person to play with.”
I should just leave. I knew that. This wasn’t healthy. There was only one problem.
He was my favourite person to play with too.
“Maybe I’ll just call Frank myself.” I pretended to think it over. “Or I can wait until our trip next week. The drive alone takes six hours. That’s plenty of time for me to get the full story out of him.”
Predictably, Dom pouted. I just focused on pushing more food onto my fork before continuing. “Yeah, don’t tell me. It’s better if we sit here in silence, anyway. God forbidwe learn anything about each other. That’s not what this is about.”
I met Dom’s gaze and smiled sweetly. His lips twitched several times before he broke into a massive grin.
“You really do play dirty, Shadow.”
“I learned from the best.”
We smiled at one another, and for a second, I had a tantalising glimpse of what our future might’ve held. A life we could’ve shared if things had taken a different turn. One where we’d both made different decisions. Where this would be just one of many meals we shared together. Where matching gold rings would sit snugly on our ring fingers, a visual reminder of the vows we’d made.
Instead, there were only the vows that had been broken. It was enough of a reminder to have me reeling myself back in.
The truth was, we couldn’t change what had happened in the past. And because of those decisions, our future wouldn’t be spent together.
I was marrying someone else.
I had to remember that.
14
Ryan
Dom seemed to sense some shift in me, and he pulled his foot back with a quiet sigh. “It was fine. Better than, even. I can’t believe he’s sober.”
“He’s worked hard to get there,” I said, tucking my feet beneath my seat in case Dom got any bright ideas. Or I did. “It’s not been easy for him.”
“So I heard. Heard you helped him stay there too.”
I shrugged, the tips of my ears burning. “I didn’t do a lot.”
“That’s not how he tells it,” Dom said quietly. “From what Frank said, he wouldn’t be sober if it wasn’t for you.”