by Jenny Siegel
“It’s fine.” It is so not fine, but I’m not his keeper, and I’m not letting him see that I’m bothered.
“Are you mad?” Perceptive much? Huffing out air, I pull out of his arms, needing to put some distance between us. His closeness muddles my brain and makes me weak.
“I don’t need you to check in with me. But it would have been good to know you weren’t coming home. Then maybe I might have gotten some sleep,” I grumble.
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and a sexy smile spreads over his lips. Seriously, why does he have to be so gorgeous and me so weak?
“Let me make it up to you.” He raises a brow suggestively and reaches for me again.
“No chance.” I push him away. “You stink of booze. You’re not coming near me until you have a shower.” Deadly serious, I cross my arms over my chest and nod in the direction of the bedroom and the en suite. He eyes me for a few long minutes, waiting to see how serious I am with my threat and when I don’t budge he turns and heads for the bedroom. I follow as he stomps across the room, grumbling and yanking his t-shirt over his head as he goes. I freeze and stand stock still, lips parted. A cocky smirk spreads over his mouth when he sees me.
“Babe, you’re staring.”
Uh, duh. No wonder.
Dominic makes a show of unbuckling his jeans while I continue to stare. Pushing them down his muscular thighs, he bends to pull them off then straightens in front of me. He does not attempt to hide his growing erection when his black boxer briefs tighten over his crotch. My mouth dries and it crosses my mind that I might have been too hasty in turning him down, but then I remember I’m mad at him.
“Sure you don’t want to join me?” His thumbs hook into the sides of his underwear and he pulls them lower on his hips, inch by inch, slowly revealing the v etched into his hips. They slide lower and I wet my lips as he pauses just before he reveals dark hair and the tip of his dick. Swallowing thickly, I give a slow shake of my head. Not giving in that easily, I sit on the bed, on top of my hands, to stop me from touching anything I shouldn’t.
Raising his eyebrows in question one last time, I press my lips together and shake my head again. With a shrug, he turns and walks into the bathroom. The sound of the shower filters through, and the next thing a pair of boxers fly out the door and land next to the hamper. Laughing quietly to myself, I lean back on the bed and stretch out. I’m still tired from my night of broken sleep. But I feel lighter, knowing that he was just at Pete’s, although I still don’t know what prompted him to get drunk and crash there. It seems like that would be something he would normally have done. He admitted before that he never brought anyone back to his apartment, and he always slept with them at the house. Maybe he’s reverting to his old behavior? God knows he was no angel either. I sit up with a start.
What was he really up to last night?
With that thought, the knot that has only eased fractionally returns with a vengeance and my limbs grow warm as renewed anger surges through my body. It propels me off the bed and through to the shower. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my hammering heart. Don’t fly off the handle and start a massive fight. Stay calm. I don’t want to fight with him, but I want to know if anything happened last night.
“So… uh… who all was there last night?” I try to sound casual and keep the wobble out of my voice as I sit down on the closed toilet lid.
“The usual,” his voice calls from the shower.
“Girls?” I hate asking, but I need to know.
“What? No.” The shower is turned off and he opens the door, even more steam billowing out as he reaches for a towel. Wrapping it around his waist, he steps out.
“You sure?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“So I won’t get mad.”
“You’re already mad.” He points out, which is true.
“Don’t test me, Hudson,” I warn. My eyes narrow at him, whether he can see me or not.
“I swear it was just us guys and Jose.”
“Who the fuck is Jose?”
“Cuervo.” The corner of his lip curls slightly. Relief courses through me as my breathing slows and I smirk, which he takes as a sign of encouragement and moves closer. Reaching out, he pulls me up to standing. His hands rest on my hips, dragging me toward him. But I dig my heels in and clamp my hands over his, stopping his fingers before they can make contact with my skin. That will mean game over.
“I mean it, don’t piss me off. I won’t let you treat me like all the others. Dispensable.” I spit out the last word.
“I told you, you’re special.” He leans down to brush his lips over my forehead. Sensations swarm me, inducing a full-body tingle, and for the first time since yesterday, I relax. My insides melt and any remaining anger starts to drain away. Along with it the nagging feeling that he isn’t telling me everything. Or that we’ve not resolved a fucking thing, just skipped over it.
“Am I forgiven?” he asks, his voice low and husky.
“Hmm, I think you need to make it up to me big time, Hudson.” My head tilts so he can kiss me properly, and boy, does he. A toe-curling, core-clenching kiss that replaces the tension from earlier and silences the suspicions in my head.
Chapter Eleven
It isn’t until Friday night as I’m leaving work when the feeling of something being unresolved starts to niggle me. It’s been a slow night, giving me too much time to think, and remember that I never did find out the real reason why Dominic didn’t come home. There was a vague excuse about practice and then drinking, but that doesn’t explain why. As usual, he distracted me with that skillful tongue of his, and I didn’t push it further, telling myself it was a one-off and not to freak out about it. I shouldn’t make something out of nothing.
I rush into the parking lot of Captain’s Cabin, stressing because I’m late for a Supercharged gig. And I hate being late. Dominic said it didn’t make much sense taking my car because he would have his truck, so I got a cab, which was late picking me up and now I’m rushing. As I reach the door, I look at the time. Shit, I’m really late. Then I hear the dull beat of the drums accompanied by the bass. Fuck, they’ve already started. Hurriedly, I push open the door and squeeze my way through the crowd. It is a Friday night, after all. Of course, it is going to be busy. Supercharged’s following has grown bigger since the first gig I came to. Let’s face it, what’s not to like. Four hot guys playing good music.
Instead of pushing my way to our usual table, I head straight for the bar. The truth is I much prefer standing there to listen to them. I still haven’t gotten used to the looks I get when girls realize that I’m Dominic’s girlfriend. Lucky for me, I’ve only missed the first two songs and sit on a stool at the bar to listen to the rest of the set. They have a short break and then start the second set with a new song, “Ship to Sail” and I sit back and listen. Blown away as ever at how good they are.
At the end of the gig Pete thanks everyone for coming and they leave the stage. Leo and Bryan break down the drums and clear them away while Dominic and Zak take their guitars. I continue to wait at the bar for Dominic, which is normally where he finds me. It isn’t until I see Pete sit down at the table with Grace, then Zak and Leo follow out that I start to wonder where Dominic is.
Hell bent on finding him, I push my way through the people dancing and stop at the band’s table, my heart beating slightly too fast and for some reason I start to worry about finding him.
“Hey, have you seen Dominic.” There is a tremor in my voice that I don’t understand.
“Didn’t realize you were here.” Grace smiles up at me.
“Yeah, I was late so I hung around at the bar.” I flash her a sheepish smile. Somehow, she knows I’m uncomfortable with the attention being Dominic’s girlfriend brings, even though I’ve never explicitly told her.
“He’s through the back. I don’t know what the fuck’s wrong with him, but he’s in a foul mood.” Pete jerks his head to the door leading to the back of the stage.
“Thanks. I’d better go and find him.” Leaving them, I head through the door into the corridor that leads to the office and a small room where the band can store their stuff after gigs. I give a quick knock on the door, and when I hear Dominic shout a curt, “What,” followed by cursing. I push open the door and find him wrapping up leads and stacking the amps, muttering something that I can’t make out.
“Hi,” I say from the doorway, feeling nervous, like I’ve done something wrong. The feeling grows when he straightens and frowns at me barely making eye contact before looking away. “Great gig.” God, I sound pathetic.
“You made it then?” His voice is flat but has a sarcastic bite to it.
My brow creases. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t think you’d bothered to come.”
“What? I was standing at the bar.”
“You weren’t there before we went on.” He argues.
“I’m sorry, the cab was late and-”
He rolls his eyes. “You could have at least made it for the start of the gig.” Setting the leads down, he turns to face me but makes no move to close the distance between us, and judging by the scowl on his face, I’m best keeping my distance.
“Excuse me? I missed the first two songs; I was there for the rest.” My hand tightens on the doorknob that I’m still gripping onto.
“It was an important gig.”
“And I was there. Why are you giving me a hard time about this? I was late because the cab was late and who told me to get a cab?” I begin to shout, growing warm as anger and adrenaline courses through my body. But my brain is scrambling to catch up, and it takes me a minute to realize that we are fighting. This is not us; we don’t fight like this, certainly not over something so petty as me missing the start of a gig. Now I’m not sure what this is really about.
“It doesn’t matter,” he grinds out and turns his back on me.
“Yeah, you’re right, it doesn’t.” I spin on my heel and slam the door as I leave. Stomping down the corridor, I yank open the door to the bar a little too hard and let it swing shut behind me. I stop at the table where our friends sit laughing and joking, but only because Grace catches my eye.
“Did you find him?” Her smile falters when she sees the scowl that I’m not bothering to hide; I let out a harsh breath. Inside, I am shaking with anger.
I give her a tight nod. “You were right,” I turn to Pete, “he’s in a foul mood. I’ll catch you later.” Before they can reply, I give them a wave good-bye over my shoulder and fight my way through the sweaty bodies on the dance floor to the main entrance.
The air outside is cooler, and I zip my jacket up. I debate calling a cab but then decide against it. A walk will help clear my head, plus it will take me longer to get back to Dominic’s. I need the time to calm down and work out what the fuck just happened back there and what I’m going to say to him when I do see him. How did it spiral out of control so quickly?
Lost in my internal monologue, I don’t notice the big black truck pull alongside me or see the window slide down.
“Charlie,” Dominic shouts from the open window. I turn to glare at him but keep on walking.
“Get in.” His voice has lost some of its anger from earlier, but I’m still pissed at the way he spoke to me.
“No,” I snap and face the front.
“You can’t walk home.”
“Watch me.”
I hear his exasperated sigh. “Get in the fucking truck, Charlie,” he commands in a tight voice. This time I do stop. Turning on my heel, I glare at him and take in the rigid set to his jaw and his white knuckles that grip the steering wheel tightly. Guaranteed if he had his hands on me, stroking the skin above the waistband of my jeans, I would have given in by now. But I don’t. Instead, I clench my jaw and fold my arms across my chest.
In a softer voice, he pleads, “Please get in the fucking truck, Charlie.” I stare at him a minute longer, weighing up my best course of action, and with a roll of my eyes, I drop my hands and pull open the passenger door.
Once I’m strapped in, Dominic pulls away from the curb and drives, but he isn’t taking the usual route back to his apartment.
“Where are we going?” I ask, staring out the window at the passing scenery. But keeps driving, not bothering to reply. We ride in silence until some of the landmarks become more familiar and then I realize that Dominic has brought us to the lake. The one we came to last year for the picnic, the first time I met his bandmates and their girlfriends. Parking in a clearing he kills the engine.
It is so quiet in the cab, neither of us ready or willing to break the silence. Maybe he’s gathering his thoughts, ready to tell me why he’s in such a bad mood or what I’ve done wrong. I stare out at the gathering darkness and wonder who’s going to be the first one to give in and say something. Normally, I’m not very good with silence, but I’m quite prepared to let this one rumble on. After another five minutes, I cave. Okay, maybe I’m not prepared to let it go on for too long.
“Dominic?” I turn to him and take in his profile, the way he’s working the muscle in his jaw, few days’ worth of stubble, and then he turns to me, his expression unreadable.
He beats me to it. “I’m sorry.”
“S’okay.” I say automatically.
“No, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I was worried when you weren’t there. I just wanted to see you before I went on.”
Now I feel guilty that I was late. “You said it was an important gig.”
“Yeah, Pete’s been talking to some guy about us going on the road in the summer.”
“Seriously? That’s amazing. I was thinking of getting a job this summer so-”
His head whips around to face me. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“Well, I’ve only been thinking about it I’ve-”
“You never tell me anything,” he exclaims. “I want you to come with me,” he blurts out and I sit back stunned into silence. I can’t tell if this is his way of asking me because surely, he knows I would love to go on the road with him. But he doesn’t say any more, he just stares out the window. Neither of us speaks, both lost in our thoughts.
“I spoke to my father today.” Finally he breaks the silence.
“How did that go?” I ask.
“Okay, I guess.” He keeps his eyes trained out the window.
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“He was asking about you.” At last he turns to look at me.
I don’t like the sound of that. “And?” But Dominic just shrugs. This is like pulling teeth, so I try a different tact. “What happened with your dad and Mia’s dad when you two split up?” Dominic had said that they did business together and it caused problems but the two men seemed pretty chummy at the wedding.
He scrubs a hand over his face and continues to stare out the windscreen. “Her dad stopped sending business my dad's way. He maintained I broke her heart and my dad blamed me for the loss of business.”
“How did they make it up?”
“I always thought they just decided to put it past them, but now I think it had something to do with Todd and Mia getting together. Nobody tells me anything,” he grumbles.
“Does he know she cheated on you?” I stare at him side on.
“No.” He looks horrified that I would even suggest it.
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because she begged me not to and I was coming here so…”
“You could tell him now.”
“She’s his daughter-in-law now, things are different. What good would it do? I don’t want to cause problems for Todd and Mia.”
“What the fuck? So it’s okay for him to keep thinking bad of you but god forbid he knows the truth about her.” I rush out, feeling myself get annoyed all over again.
“Charlie,” he warns in a low voice.
“Don’t Charlie me. What is so fucking wonderful about her that everyone tiptoes around her and preserves her reputation, but I have
to listen to comments about how it could have been you and have some weirdo sending me photographs reminding me that I’m not a good girl and never have been.” Yeah, it would appear I’m still not over his father’s remark, and I won’t forget it in a hurry.
“You’re oversensitive when it comes to Mia. It’s in the past,” he grinds out.
Fucking jerk, oversensitive when it comes to Mia.
Opening my mouth ,I turn to him, but he stops me. “I’ve already said your past isn’t an issue. I don’t want to talk about my father or Mia anymore.” The finality in his tone, tells me not to push the matter further. I nod but keep my mouth shut, despite how hard it is, and stare out the window. This is another argument which hasn’t resolved, and I’m not entirely happy about it. But like everything else lately, I’m going to pick my battles wisely.
The longer the silence stretches on, the more desperate I am to make things right between us. But I don’t know how, I suck at this. Someone has to make the first move. Taking a deep breath, I turn to him.
“I’m sorry I was late,” I start.
“No,” he sighs, “I overreacted. I wanted to see you beforehand. I guess I was more nervous than normal because this guy was in the audience.”
“You all sounded great, as usual.”
“Yeah, well…”
“So you might be going on the road?”
“It looks like it might be a possibility.” The silence drags on until Dominic reaches out for me, and his fingers curl around my hand, lying in my lap. The residual fight drains out of me and I look from our joined hands to his face. The first genuine smile of the night graces his face and I move out my seat at the same time as he tugs me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. Brushing strands of hair out my face, he cups my jaw between his palms before his lips slant over mine. I feel him stir under my weight.
“Seeing as we’re here…” I pull at the zip on his hoodie and press my hands against his chest. Heat radiates through his red t-shirt, into my palms, spreading along my arms and making other parts of my body hot. “…you got a blanket in the back of your truck?”