"I kissed Rory."
It's straight silence. The guys stare at me for almost a minute.
"Was it good?"
Luc backhands Maverick who rubs his head.
"Just a question," Mav mumbles.
"I am not answering that." I scowl at his lack of respect. "I didn't mean to," I tell the others. "It just happened."
Alec's looking at me expressionless. He turns away as soon as we make eye contact and I see him shut down. Fuck.
"It was bound to happen eventually." All our heads snap to Jace. We all look at him like he's lost his mind.
He's leaning against the counter, his intex finger tapping against the glass of water he's holding.
"What?" Jace shrugs as we gape.
"You're telling me that you're perfectly fine with the fact that I kissed your best friend and the girl we all like?" I say incredulously.
"Again," Jace rolls his eyes, "it was bound to happen, dude. Yes, Ro's my best friend and I want her to be happy. If that means it's with us,all of us, then…I'm okay with that."
"You mean like Alec's plan." Luc looks across at Alec who still hasn't met my eyes.
Rory shuffles into the kitchen, a book in her hands, totally engrossed. Still stunned by Jace's words, we don't have time to react when she eventually looks up and sees us staring at him.
"Did I miss something?" She asks the general group.
"No." Mase snaps out of it first. "We were just deciding whether or not to watch the third Bad Boys movie tonight."
Rory nods, watching Alec who's still standing at the kitchen window with a concerned look on her face. She sees it too.
Everyone leaves the kitchen and heads for the living room. Alec gives me a wide berth and I reach out, grabbing his hand.
"Alec."
He looks up, a layer of blankness hiding the pain in his eyes.
"What, Dom?" Alec asks, pulling his hand out of mine.
"I didn't mean to…" I trail off, not knowing what to say.
Alec turns away, shaking his head. "It's fine. I like Rory too, you know. You don't have to try and protect my feelings.You've made it perfectly clear that nothing will happen between us beyond what we are now," he says shortly. His expression is cold, like it always is after he's been with his father. Pain slices through me as my heart squeezes, tightening.
"I don't want to—"
"—Ruin our fucking friendship," Alec cuts me off. "Yeah, I got it."
My eyes widen. He bypasses the living room and I hear his bedroom door open and shut.
He swore at me. Alecneverswears. Especially not at me.
I put my forearms on the bench and drop my head, squeezing my eyes shut.
What have I done?
"Why are you fucking this up, dude?"
