“Then why are you here at almost two in the morning making a sandwich?”
“I told you already.”
“No, you specified why you’rehere, but not why you’re not sleeping or shacked up with someone who decided big muscles were a good enough excuse to go to bed with you.”
“Make one more comment about me being a ho, and I’ll tell Mason all about that girly giggle you made when Kayden was clearly talking dirty to you.”
She glared at me, then sniffed. “Deal.”
I grinned. “I couldn’t sleep, alright? Had a bad dream before I got woken up to the first steps leading to gay sex.”
“A dream?” she asked. “Since when do dreams bother you?”
“I don’t exactly share my dreams, so how would you even know if I get bothered by them?”
“You used to have them when you were younger,” Moira said thoughtfully. “Same as Arlo...wait, are your dreams why you went on your middle-of-the-night roaming slash food hunts? However, I have learned that in this family, the fewer questions asked, the better,” she muttered, turning when we heard the squeak of the back door. “Hello?”
“Oh, hi, honey,” I heard Matty call, and she appeared, her eyes going wide when she saw me. Then her face fell into a frown of concern. “Oh...hi, Dom. What are you doing here? Are you okay?”
I stared at her. “I’m fine.”
She wrinkled her nose, cupping my face in her hands. “You came all the way here to get a snack? In the middle of the night? Come on, hon, talk to me.”
“I’m fine, Matty,” I said, waving her off with a laugh. “Jesus, you and Moira. Can’t a man get a snack?”
“I already pointed out that he’s supposed to be at Arlo’s, but he made the good point that Arlo has a date over tonight, so I don’t blame him for coming here,” Moira said with a shrug, having produced an apple from somewhere. “Doesn’t explain why he’s in the kitchen instead of in his old room, sleeping.”
“The good Moira giveth and the evil Moira taketh away,” I said with a scowl. “You’re not helping.”
“Oh, but I am,” she said with a grin.
“Helpingme.”
“But I am. I’m worried about my little brother, and I think he deserves to get the help he so desperately needs.”
“Let no one say that you and Mason aren’t fucking twins.”
“Language,” Matty chided, but there was no real heat in it. “Now, just tell us what’s wrong.”
“I’m fine.”
“Tell the truth.”
“I am telling the truth,” I lied as I cleaned up the mess I’d left behind on the counters.
Only Arlo knew about Levi, and even then, it was limited information; I hadn’t even mentioned Levi’s name. I was sure Arlo could make the connection if he tried, but he wouldn’t call it out, whereas everyone else in the family...well, they wouldn’t hesitate to connect the dots.
I wasn’t ashamed that I’d been with guys, but it wasn’t something I wanted to get into because it wasn’t a big deal. I’d had my fun, discovered that, overall, it wasn’t my thing... except when it was, and that was fine by me. I already had to endure my family making comments about the fact that I didn’t settle down, and I didn’t want to add another gender for them to ask after when I’d only ever had romantic feelings for one man.
A man who was beyond my reach and had been for years, as far as I knew. I’d never heard from Levi again after our final confrontation. Since it had been over a decade, I wasn’t under any illusions that he would remember me. Our lives were completely separate, and if his father had had his way, then Levi was beyond my grasp in a way I didn’t want to think too hard about. There was no point in telling my family that a dream unsettled me.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, ladies,” I said with a smirk. “I’m going to grab a drink and go have a smoke.”
“You don’t smoke,” Matty said with a frown. “At least, you didn’t.”
“I still do on occasion,” I said with a shrug. “Once a smoker, always a smoker. You two have a good night, love youuuu.”
“Now, come back here,” Matty protested, but I was already heading out the door toward the bar. I knew she wasn’t going to pester me in front of guests, so I was more than happy to use them as a shield to keep her at bay.
