Chapter Sixteen
Dominic
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
It took me a few seconds to fully wake, but when I did, I sat up quickly, careful to tuck the sheet around Brooke so Austin couldn’t see anything. Brooke stiffened beside me, and I practically growled as she started to sit up behind me. That bastard didn’t get to see anything that was mine.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “Brooke said she’d get your shit together, and you could pick it up later.”
Austin glared at me. “You serious right now? You’re in my fucking bed, with my girl, and you’re telling me I’m in the wrong? I knew you could never accept the fact I had her and you didn’t.”
“I’m not your girl,” Brooke snarled. Apparently her temper hadn’t cooled any since last night. “I told you we were over last night.”
Austin’s gaze snapped to hers, and he took a step forward. I leaned up and prepared to beat his ass if necessary. If he thought he was laying a finger on her, I’d break him.
“We were together for three months, and you wouldn’t sleep with me. Dom swoops in, and you fuck him before I’ve even picked up my stuff. Real fucking classy, Brooke.”
“What’s all the yelling—” Josh looked between the three of us, stopping on me. His eyes dropped to the shit covering my junk. “I knew there was something up when you got that fucking tattoo.”
“Everyone get out.” Her voice was so low I almost missed it.
Josh and Austin just stared at her.
“I said, get out,” Brooke hissed.
I started to reach for my clothes, but she reached out to stop me.
“Everyone but you.”
Josh and Austin went into the hall and closed the door behind them, leaving us alone in the room.
“Baby, I’ll get rid of him. You don’t have to—”
“Did you lie to me, or to him?” Brooke sounded so defeated.
I took her hand in mine.
“What?” I asked, surprised that she was turning this back on me. What the hell was going on? “I wasn’t ready to tell him how I felt. After everything that happened between us over the past few months I was just getting used to the fact that you knew how I felt.”
She pulled her hand back as she studied me. Her eyes were dark with anger, a murky grey color that I’d never saw in them before.
“Austin knew.”
“Baby, I—”
She pulled the sheet tighter around her. “Just go, Dominic.”
I slowly gathered my clothes and pulled on my jeans. Before I opened the door I looked back at her. “Please don’t do this, Brooke. I want to talk to you about everything—the past, the future, what we mean to each other. We were finally in a good place. Don’t let Austin ruin this for us. I’m so in love with you, Brooke Crawford, and I’m terrified that you’re going to run.”
It took everything in me not to slam the door behind me when she didn’t answer. I was pissed—beyond pissed—and she knew it. But she still didn’t feel the need to discuss any of this with me. We’d been talking for years, but when things finally got to the point where we really needed to, she clammed up and wouldn’t say a fucking word.
I took the stairs two at a time. Austin and Josh were standing in the kitchen when I found them. They both looked tense, but Austin had that glint in his eyes, like he’d won, and it pissed me off.
“Stay the fuck away from Brooke.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What, are you finally going to admit how you feel about her? Are you sure you want to do that? Josh is standing right here. Maybe for once you’ll tell him the fucking truth—”
Before I realized what I was doing, my fist slammed into the side of his face. He fell back into the counter, knocking the dishes that had been drying to the ground. Josh grabbed me from behind before I could climb on Austin and hit him until he shut his goddamned mouth. I tried to shrug Josh off, but he had my arms pinned behind me tight.
“Shut the fuck up, Austin.”
He was slow picking himself off the ground. Drew and Jared came running into the kitchen, followed closely by Caroline, Quinn, and Riley.
“Everyone thinks you’re so fucking great, Dom, but I know the truth. You’re a fucking coward. You lied to your supposed best friend about how you feel about his sister for fucking years. You won’t tell Brooke how you feel. Man up. Grow a pair of fucking balls.”
I tried to get away from Josh again, but he wouldn’t let go. Jared stepped between me and Austin so he couldn’t try to hit me back.
“Did you ever think that maybe if you hadn’t fucking cheated on your girlfriend, none of this would’ve happened? You’re the one who needs to keep it in his fucking pants for once. I told you if you hurt her, I’d beat the shit out of you, and I meant it.”
Josh let go of my arms and pushed past me.
“What did you do to my sister? All she said last night was that you two tried to beat the shit out of one another.” His voice was icy calm, but I could hear the anger behind it.
Austin shook his head in disbelief. “What the fuck? Josh, you just caught Dom in bed with her and you’re seriously pissed at me?”
“I know Dom well enough to know that if he was with Brooke, it meant something to him. I thought I could trust you not to hurt her, or that you’d at least have enough decency that you would tell her before you started being a manwhore again.”
Josh took another step closer to Austin, and Jared put a hand on his chest.
“It’s not worth it,” Jared said quietly, trying to defuse the situation. It was one thing when I lost my temper, but it was something completely different when Josh did. “Austin, you’re out of the house.”
“I was already gone. I just need—”
“You need to get your shit out of the apartment too.” Jared’s voice was cold. From the glare between him and Austin, it wasn’t just me who had a severe problem with the asshole.
There was a sharp slap of material hitting the hardwood floor, and we all turned to see Brooke standing over Austin’s suitcase.
“Are you all done talking about me like I’m not in the room?” She glared at Austin and Josh, then her gaze shifted to me.
I lowered my eyes. I was still hurt from the fact she’d thrown me out of the room without even listening to what I had to say.
“Austin, I thought we were friends even before we dated, but I’m obviously not stupid enough to believe that now. Naive, but not stupid. I’ll say this one more time. We’re through. You cheated on me. Yes, Dom and I might’ve been impulsively sleeping together last night, but we all fucking knew it was going to happen sooner or later. So quit being such a baby about it.”
Quinn’s eyes widened, and Caroline covered her mouth with her hand. It was a little shocking to hear her put it out there like that.
She continued. “I don’t know what kind of game you and Dom were playing, but I refuse to be a part of it any longer.”
My eyes snapped back up to hers, and she met my gaze briefly before she whipped around and walked back up the stairs. She couldn’t possibly believe I was trying to hurt her. Caroline studied me for a second before she followed Brooke to her room.
“Get out,” I said without turning to look at Austin.
He grunted when Drew shoved his back to push him along, but he didn’t argue or try to start any more trouble. Everyone around me started to move, but I was stuck in that spot, unsure of what to do next. I needed to talk to Josh, but I wanted to find Brooke and check on her. We should’ve talked last night instead of devouring each other.
I thought there would be time.
Josh came up behind me. “We need to talk.”
“Let me grab a shirt.”
I waited for him to either clock me or tell me to get dressed. “I’m still really fucking pissed at you, but I enjoyed watching you go all Mayweather on his ass. The fucker deserved it. I should’ve let you get more than one punch in.”
I tried not to laugh as I went to grab clothes. Josh may be pissed, but at least I knew this wasn’t something we couldn’t get past.
***
Pancakes were notoriously one of Josh’s pick-me-ups. One that Riley made whenever he bombed a test or they had a fight. It didn’t surprise me that after our insane morning, we ended up at the closest place to the house that served breakfast. Josh’s fingers drummed on the table in agitation, and I stared down at my coffee cup, hoping it would give me the answers to why my life continued to be a living hell. It wasn’t giving me anything to work with.
“Why?” Josh finally asked.
I rubbed a hand over my face. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Pick a spot, Dom. I’m apparently clueless to everything going on around me—wait, I take that back. I was suspicious about that fucking tattoo, but you denied there was anything going on, and I trusted you.”
“I never said it didn’t mean anything about Brooke; I just didn’t say anything. Brooke and I have been friends—only friends—up until two months ago. Basically from the time she started dating Austin. We had a huge fight, which you obviously knew about; you just don’t know what it was over.”
Josh listened attentively without the look of judgment I thought might be there.
“When I first met Brooke freshman year, I liked her a lot, so much so that I wanted to ask her out, but I was worried about what you might think. I didn’t, and I regret it to this day. I thought she was into me too, but something changed along the way. One day after you two hung out, she was very clear on the friend aspect of our relationship, and I now know it had something to do with a comment you made.”
Josh’s brows furrowed. “She couldn’t have…” he trailed off and shook his head as if to clear it. “Keep going. Tell me about your fight.”
“Two days before Austin asked her out, we almost kissed. I thought things would change between her and I, but then that fucking text from Austin came and it’s like she forgot all about it. The day after her date, she said some stuff that made me think she’d known how I felt for a long time.” I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. It wasn’t easy to bare my soul to Josh. He was going to know every one of my dirty little secrets when it came to Brooke.
“We finally talked about it last week, but I was furious with her because I thought—it doesn’t matter what I thought—we figured it out.” The tightness in my chest loosened with each word. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. The thing about the tattoo, it’s just raw. I never thought I’d be with Brooke in that way, but when Talia left, she said some stuff, and after everything that happened last night with Austin, we just finally saw each other. Or at least Brooke finally saw me.”
He stared at me for a few seconds before blowing out a breath. “Dom, I don’t even know where to start. Don’t fucking hurt my sister, I guess. Brooke is her own person, and she’s going to do what she wants, so I’m not going to try to stop you. I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about it. When Austin took shots at you, I thought it was because he was just being a dick. I didn’t realize—if you and Brooke want to be together, be together. I’m not going to stand in your way.”
I gave a humorless laugh. “I don’t know if it’s going to be that easy. I’m pretty sure my shot with Brooke was over before it ever even started.”
“Look, my sister can be impulsive, but she’s not stupid. Everyone around you two can see how good you are together. I was secretly rooting for you two to figure it out, but I’ll deny that if you ever bring it up again.”
I chuckled and he continued.
“Give her time to figure her shit out. Sometimes she gets lost in her head. You know that better than anyone.”
I wanted to make her understand how great we would be together, force her to see how much I loved her. Brooke was too damned stubborn for her own good. “I’ll try.”
“Don’t try, just fucking do it, Dom. I’ve always known you loved Brooke, I just didn’t know you were in love with her. I can’t think of anyone better to be with my little sister.” He hid his smile behind his coffee cup. “But again, if you say anything about this entire conversation I’ll deny it. Then I’ll kick your ass.”
I finally smiled. “Fine. Understood. Can we order some pancakes now? I’m fucking starving.”
This time he grinned when he looked up at me. “Sure, Muhammad Ali, you can have all the pancakes you want.”
“Is this going to be a thing now?”
He took another drink of his coffee. “Definitely.”