Except he’d never been that good of a liar.
Dom palmed his phone and shot a text to Trey:Miss you.
His phone rang less than thirty seconds later.
“Are you okay?” Trey asked. Music throbbed in the background.
The Unbound party was still going strong.
“I don’t know,” Dom replied.
“How’s Roxy?”
“Better than I am, I think. She’s such a hellcat, Trey. Some douchecanoe tried to rape her, but she gave him hell, and she wants to press charges.”
“Jesus, Dom.” The music faded a bit. “Are you sure she’s okay?”
“Yeah. Roxy’s a fighter, always has been.”
“What about you?” The intensity in Trey’s voice surprised him—as if everything hinged on whether or not Dom was all right.
The truth dangled on the tip of Dom’s tongue, but that wasn’t a story for over the phone. Hell, it wasn’t a story he’d told anyone in the last five years, much less a boyfriend. Trey didn’t need to shoulder that kind of burden.
“She’s my little sister,” Dom said. He hated that his voice got high at the end. “I’m supposed to protect her.”
“Being a brother is a full-time job, but protecting her isn’t. You can’t always be there, Dom.”
“Easier said than believed.”
“Was she glad to see you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re doing your job right.”
Dom heaved a sigh. “I guess so. Wanna do more.”
“Like what? Cut the guy’s balls off?”
“Yes.” Anger rippled over him. “I don’t understand those guys, I guess.”
“Which guys?”
“The ones who think kissing means they get whatever the hell they want. The ones who fucking take without permission.”
Distant strains of violin music filtered through Dom’s memories, the loveliness of the song displaced by an ache deep in his belly. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to picture Trey’s face. Smiling. Joyful. The very best part of his day.
“I’m sorry.” Trey’s words were so soft that Dom almost didn’t hear them over the din in the background. So much meaning in two little words.
“So how’s the party?” He needed to redirect.
Trey launched into an amusing description of some people’s attempt at a dance-off after the night’s final performance, and for a while Dom focused on that. They talked until Dom’s eyelids got heavy and sleep didn’t seem so far away anymore. He drifted off to the pleasant melody of Trey’s voice in his ear, more grateful than ever to have Trey in his life.
FIFTEEN
Trey spentthe better part of the night tossing and turning, unable to shake a sense of unease from his conversation with Dominic. Even though the heavy parts of their conversation had been about Roxy, Trey had the niggling feeling that maybe, in some of the things left unsaid, Dominic was also talking about himself. Trey wanted to hop the nearest train to Philadelphia just to hold Dominic’s hand and tell him it would be okay, he could tell Trey anything, and he nearly did it more than once.
Except he had no way of explaining his disappearance to Bobby. Nothing besides the truth, and Trey wasn’t ready to do that yet. He wasn’t ready to risk destroying Fading Daze, despite knowing deep down that the confrontation was coming. Trey didn’t want to lose his family, but more than Fading Daze, Trey didn’t want to lose Dominic.
