Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I snort. He’s trying to make it sound like he wasn’t the one who did it. “Are you trying to lay the blame on me?” I huff.
“No, although I think you should admit that you didn’t make it easy on me, either.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means you left town and when you came back, you wouldn’t talk to me.”
“You avoided me, too, Dom,” I point out.
He shakes his head. “I let myself be distracted and talked into shit I shouldn’t have. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Thea. I hurt my brother, and I missed out on a relationship with you. You probably won’t believe me now, but I regret both of those equally.”
We’re silent for a bit. Truthfully, I’m not sure what to say to him. I take a breath, trying to calm my nerves, realizing that I’m being silly. This is Dom. We’ve worked hard the last few weeks to build a friendship. The past doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t let it.
“Um…Dom?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t stay here.”
“Why on earth not?” he rumbles.
I slap my hand down against the surprisingly soft mattress that is covered in a soft blue coverlet. “There’s only one bed,” I point out.
“So?”
“So, I can’t share a bed with you, Dom.” My body seems to flush with heat at just the thought of it.
“It’s a huge bed, Thea. Both of us can lie on it and never touch. You’re totally safe.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. What if Raze finds out and gets the wrong idea about us?”
“What the fuck do you care? He’s the one who fucked another woman while he was out on a date with you.”
I wince at that reminder. Maybe I was wrong because it does hurt a little more when Dom put it like that. “I don’t care,” I deny. “I just know he’s your brother. That is important, and I don’t want to come between it.”
“I doubt he’ll find out—”
“Mattie might. This is just a bad idea.” I watch as Dom pulls out his cellphone. “What are you doing?”
He holds up a finger to shush me and I snap my mouth closed, more than a little annoyed. “Yo, Breaker. Thea is with me tonight. She needed a break from Raze and Lilianna’s bullshit.” My eyes grow round as saucers. It almost hurts. I’m about to lose my mind. I didn’t want Dom to tell Mattie about any of that. “Yeah, I figured you knew. Tina was behind us,” Dom adds, mentioning one of the servers at the bar. Shit! Did she see it all? I might not have been in love with Raze, but I don’t want other people to know what happened either. “Pretty much. We’ll handle it tomorrow. I’m taking care of her tonight and then, tomorrow, you and I are going to talk about why in the fuck you think you can warn Thea away from me.”
“Dom!”
“I don’t give a fuck. You know I’d cut off my left nut before I’d hurt her.”
I lose my breath for a second. “Dom!” I snap again.
“Yeah, you’re damn straight that we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I don’t appreciate you feeding me bullshit and then going behind my back to sabotage it all.”
“I want to speak to my brother,” I hiss. I hold out my hand, snapping my fingers as if that will force him to hand over the phone. Dom ignores me completely. I’m not even sure if he heard me at all.
“Well then, you need to make that clear to her, motherfucker.”
“Don’t you dare yell at my brother!” I huff, standing up, and preparing to give him hell.
Dom finally looks at me then and he gives me a big grin that makes his eyes sparkle in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s enough to send goosebumps skittering across my skin. My body actively betrays me because I can feel desire flush through me at the sexy look he is delivering.
No. No. No! This can’t happen. It can’t!
“I need to tame a wild foal. We’ll have this out tomorrow. Yeah, you, too, brother.” He hangs up the phone and puts it on the desk.
“Did you just compare me to a horse?” I ask, scrunching my nose up in distaste.
“A wild, skittish one, to be exact. Your brother won’t be an issue. I could not give a fuck about Raze. He lost the right to bitch when he disrespected you tonight. So, are we good?”
“I’ll just go back to Mattie’s I don’t have anything to sleep in and I’ll need my toothbrush and things. This was just a bad idea. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
He goes over to the dresser that the television is sitting on and opens a drawer. Then he tosses me a worn T-shirt. “You can sleep in that. I keep spare toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet.”