Chapter Eighteen
Dominic
I’d spent most of the day with the guys, and they’d done a good job of distracting me from everything going on with Brooke, but I wanted to talk to my girl. Somehow I had to convince her we belonged together. She was still pissed off, thinking I was playing some game with her feelings, but God, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t intercede in her relationship because I thought Austin was what she wanted, and damn it, the only thing I ever wanted for her was to be happy. Even if it meant she ended up with an asshole like Austin.
It still blew my mind that it had been so amazing between us.
Brooke and I could make this work. It had to because I’d wanted her from the second I first met her. She stole my coffee, but with one glance at her, I hadn’t cared. She could have the fucking coffee. And the more I spent time with her, the more perfect she was. Brooke was my other half. Now I just had to make sure she knew it. I’d spent the past few days wearing her down, making her listen to me and see reason. I hadn’t lied when I told her I was going to give her everything I had.
The girls walked up, giggling about something and adorably tipsy. My guess was they hadn’t made it to their pedicures. Brooke and Quinn were holding hands and swinging their arms as they walked up to the house. Tipsy Brooke was fun. Drunk Brooke, not so much. She went ninety to nothing and bounced off the walls like a ping pong ball with excitement, then she crashed and typically puked a few hours later. I’d had a few experiences with it. Riley pinched my cheeks as she walked by, and I laughed.
I snagged Brooke’s hand as she walked by and made her turn to look at me.
“Brooke, want to go for a walk? It’s gorgeous out.”
She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. That seemed like a good sign from the hopeful expression on her face. Quinn took her purse and winked at me before she went into the house. I wanted to laugh, but I was afraid Brooke would think I was laughing at her.
She let me thread my fingers through hers as I led the way down to the tide. We were quiet for a few minutes as we walked, content to listen to the sound of the ocean. Brooke missed being near the water more than she let on most days, but since coming to the beach house she’d been more carefree here than she had been in a long time. Watching her made me wonder how she’d allowed herself to become landlocked, even if it was temporary.
Her hair whipped around us in the wind, making her coconut scent fill my senses. We stopped to glance at some dolphins swimming along the coastline, and I took a step closer. Her eyes met mine as I brushed a few errant strands out of her face. I wanted to kiss her, but I wasn’t sure if I should risk it yet. We were just starting to get back on even footing.
“Dom.”
Her voice came out breathy and needy. I cupped the side of her face and pulled her in closer. My eyes dropped to her lips and they parted, waiting for me to devour her. I wasn’t going to deny what I wanted any longer. One look at her and I was done. She whimpered my name as I leaned in closer. My balls ached as I held back, making the moment I captured her mouth with mine all that much sweeter.
Kissing Brooke was life-changing. She was so perfect under my fingertips. Soft, wet skin met soft, wet skin as our tongues tangled together. I could get lost in the feeling of her touching me. She wasn’t passive in the kiss at all. Brooke actively threw herself into everything she did, and the kiss was no different. She tilted her head so I could take things further. I could get drunk on this woman.
I finally pulled back, and the look in her heated gaze almost brought me to my knees. Her fingers flew to her swollen lips, and I had to fight back the cocky smirk that tried to escape.
“That was,” she started.
“Amazing.”
The corner of her lips tipped up into a smile, but I could tell she was still fighting against the insane sexual chemistry between us. The same attraction she spent so long avoiding.
“Okay?” I asked as I helped her stand up.
She was a little shaky when we first pulled apart, probably from the intensity of the kiss that she wasn’t expecting.
“What was that?”
I couldn’t stop the grin that crossed my face if I wanted to. “That’s us, Brooke. That’s what we are when we aren’t holding back.”
Her forehead dropped to my chest and I wrapped my arms around her. I said I was coming for her, that I’d make her understand just what she meant to me, but that didn’t mean I was going to play fair. She was overwhelmed, probably confused too, but none of that mattered—we could straighten all that out later—what mattered was she knew I wasn’t going to hold back any longer.
“Dom, can we go back to the house and talk?”
We slowly made our way back. Her fingers were twined in mine once again. There was no rush between us to get back, and I hoped that meant she was finally comfortable enough to talk to me. It was unusual for her not to just say whatever was on her mind, and it was killing me. I wanted our old, comfortable relationship back—the one where we could lie in bed fully clothed for hours and just talk. Maybe this time there could be less clothing, but I’d be okay either way, as long as I had my best friend back.
Brooke’s step faltered and her gaze moved up to the deck. I could make out a shadow at the back, but I couldn’t tell who was there, not until Talia stepped up into the fading light. My breath caught, and the way Brooke stiffened next to me, I could tell she misread my reaction.
“Baby, I need to deal with this, but I’ll be up as soon as I’m done.”
Talia watched us intently, her eyes bouncing between our linked hands and how Brooke turned into my side. I kissed her forehead before she walked by Talia into the house without a word to either of us. It made me nervous that she hadn’t even looked at me before she walked inside.
“What are you doing here, Talia?”
She walked to the edge of the deck and looked down at me on the sand, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning onto the banister.
“I missed you. I made a stupid, impulsive decision, but it looks like I wasn’t far off the mark, was I?” Her eyes flashed with hurt. “I always knew there was something there, even when you tried to deny it.”
I shook my head. “I never said there wasn’t anything between me and Brooke. I just said that nothing had ever happened. And until the night you left me, it hadn’t.”
“So it’s my fault?”
I sighed and ran a hand down my face. This wasn’t the way to have a conversation. I climbed the stairs and stood next to Talia. Close enough that we could talk without being overheard, but far enough away for her to realize what we had was over.
“That’s not what I’m saying, Talia. You never even gave me the chance to explain before you left. I thought what we had was more than that. I thought you were stronger than running when things got hard, but instead, you said you felt compared to Brooke and you just left. That’s not fair. You showing up here, saying you made a mistake, isn’t fair. But you know what, it pushed me and Brooke together, so I don’t care.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you really this much of a jerk, and I never saw it before?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You said some pretty screwed up things, Talia. This is just me being honest.”
“Did you use me to get to Brooke?”
I dropped my gaze, because while I didn’t intentionally plan it, that’s kind of what happened. Brooke was jealous of Talia, but in my defense, I was jealous of Austin too.
“When I met you, Brooke and I were in a weird place. That much you know, but I would’ve never deliberately used you to make Brooke jealous or get her attention. I thought you knew me better than that.”
She shrugged, and I noticed the unchecked tears gleaming in her eyes. God, I hated it when women cried.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but we’re over, Talia. Not because I’m with Brooke—we haven’t figure out that part of our relationship—I’m through because you weren’t willing to talk through an issue with me. Instead, you jumped to conclusions and ruined a good thing.”
I wasn’t trying to berate her or make her feel bad, but I wanted to be transparent and up-front. She deserved that much from me, even if she didn’t offer me the same respect.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t—I never—”
I pulled her into a hug. Gah, crying women really did have an effect on me.
“I know, and I’m sorry too.”
The moment the sun dipped below the horizon, Talia threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck. Alarm bells went off in my head, but it was too late. Her mouth was already aimed toward mine. I tried to pull back, but the railing was behind me, trapping me next to Talia. She kissed me, and I was momentarily shocked. She knew I wasn’t getting back together with her, but she was still willing to try something this desperate.
I pushed her away—gently enough she didn’t fall, but hard enough she got the point. It pissed me off that she wasn’t the type of person I thought she was. In this case, I’d been a horrible judge of character.
“You need to go.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Really? You’re that naïve.”
“You aren’t who I thought you were, Talia, and I want you to leave. Now.” I stepped around her and went to the door of the house. “Don’t make the mistake of trying to throw your pussy at me to get what you want. I don’t play games, and I sure as hell respect myself more than to let you manipulate me.”
I was livid. It took a lot to control my temper and not slam the door as I walked inside. Drew stood in the kitchen, pouring himself a drink. He raised an eyebrow, silently asking if I wanted to talk. I shook my head once and stalked up the stairs to my room. In the back of my mind, I knew I needed to go talk to Brooke, but I wanted a few moments to calm myself down, make sure I wouldn’t say anything that could bite me in the ass later.
I went searching for Brooke after I calmed myself down and found her curled up in a chair on the deck. She really did love the ocean. Her eyes were closed, and a book was open on her chest. My heart pounded in my chest. Were we finally going to make this happen? Every night since we’d slept together, I’d woken up to a rock-hard cock. If I were any other guy, I would’ve thrown her over my shoulder and made her listen to me in bed. But I wasn’t. I was the type of guy who gave her the space she needed to figure things out.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She opened her eyes but she stared past me.
“Or not,” I said slowly. “What’s wrong?”
What could have changed in the thirty minutes from when I watched her walk into the house until now?
“Baby, what’s going on?”
She stood up and crossed over to the banister, careful to leave space between us as she did. It was obvious she was pissed about something, but I honestly had no idea what was wrong.
“I always come second to you, don’t I, Dom? You’re so fucking concerned about not hurting Talia’s feelings or screwing up your relationship with Josh that my opinion and emotions just don’t matter.”
“What are you talking about?” I took a step closer to her, and she dodged me. “Where is this coming from?”
“It’s something that keeps becoming glaringly obvious to me each time I think we’re on the same page. You care about everyone else more than you do me.”
Okay, she was pissed that I talked to Talia. I could understand that, but didn’t she realize I only wanted us to get this right without anything looming over us from the beginning?
I crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s not true, and you know it, Brooke.”
“Do I?” she spat. “’Cause where I’m standing, this is really fucked up.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I’ve been with Talia for the past few months. Don’t you think I owed her an explanation?”
She narrowed her eyes. “You just don’t get it. For someone so smart, you really can be an idiot sometimes. I want to come first for once in my life, Dom. You spend so much time making sure everyone else is okay with whatever’s going on around them that you don’t even worry if I’m there with you. Maybe instead of running off with Talia you should’ve taken the two seconds it would’ve taken to tell me that.”
“Talia—”
Her hands flew into the air. “Wow, I’m talking to a brick wall. Can we make this about us for once?”
“Then give me two seconds to explain!”
She took two steps closer. “Then fucking talk!” she screamed. “But for God’s sake, don’t start this discussion with Talia’s name.”
My mouth opened and shut several times.
She crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking my earlier movements, frustration clear in her actions. “That’s what I fucking thought.”
“I—”
“Don’t worry about it, Dom. We were through before we ever even got started.”
I watched her retreating back as she went into the house. Something else happened because this wasn’t just about me talking to my ex before her. Brooke was high-strung, but she wasn’t typically irrational. I sat down in the chair she’d abandoned only minutes before and hung my head. This day had gone from being everything I’d ever hoped for coming true to a fucking train wreck in less than an hour.