He snickers. “You’re unbelievable. What’s it going to take?”
“I don’t like meaningless grand gestures. They make me uncomfortable.”
“Get used to it, because they’re not meaningless. There is nothing fake about the way I feel about you. Never has been and never will be.” Dominik inches closer, not backing down.
“It’s all been one giant lie. From the very beginning. Even who you said you were at the ball was a lie,” I say, not backing down either.
Dominik’s jaw ticks. “It was still me, just masked like everyone else. And I asked if you were sure, and you said yes. I only hid my identity from you because I wanted to know what it would be like to have one night with you without all the bullshit.”
“But you lied after too. To yourself, to my brother, to me.”
“I did, and I’m done lying. I don’t care what Aaron wants anymore. I’m going after what I want from now on. No more hiding.”
I don’t want to make assumptions about what he just said, so I sweep all but one comment under the rug.
“So you’ve told him all of this?” I cross my arms, matching his fervor head on.
Dominik looks away briefly. “Not yet, but I plan to.”
“No, you won’t. We made an agreement to make it seem like we’re dating, and you’re sticking to it. We’re all sticking to the original plan.”
Dominik presses his nose against mine.
He smells incredibly good, making it difficult to focus. “I don’t give a shit about that anymore. Why are you fighting this so hard? Do I need to force you to see it? Is that what it’s going to take?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I taunt.
He arches a bow. “Is that so? Are you challenging me? Because let me make something perfectly clear: you’re no match for me.”
“I’m not scared of you, Dom. Not anymore. Now that I’ve seen who you really are.”
Dominik gives me a devilish smile, making me want to bite his lip, but I shove away those thoughts and silently curse myself.
“Do you want to find out, little butterfly?” The threatening tone in his voice should shake me, make me want to retreat and shy away from the commanding force that is Dominik right now.
He’s revealing a new side of himself, and logically, I should be afraid. But all I feel at this very moment is inexplicable excitement. I can’t even begin to make sense of it.
I ignore his question. “You and I don’t have a future. Aaron will always be our number one priority, and let’s face it, you justwant to get your dick wet. There are plenty of women for you to do that with. I’m sure you have been this whole time anyway,” I mutter quietly.
The moment the words escape my lips, an immediate sense of regret washes over me. I find myself averting my gaze, desperately wishing I could simply disappear into the space between the seats and beneath the floorboards. It’s become clear to me that I seriously need to work on my self-control, but I can’t help but place the blame on Dominik for influencing the things I say and causing me to reassess everything.
This isn’t me, and no amount of apologizing should matter. No grand gesture, not even if he writes a full novel. The fact remain the same: nothing lasts forever. Not even the good moments.
Everything eventually comes to an end.
“There hasn’t been anyone else for a long time. Not since you walked back into my life. And I’m choosing you now. I’ll choose you over and over again. It’s you, little butterfly. We should have been together all along. There is something about this,” he says, caressing my cheek, and the electricity from his touch lights me up. “Something about us that makes me want to rewrite our history. I’m going to give you everything you deserve, everything you’ve been afraid to want in life. You can try to run, but there are some things we can’t fight, and I’m done trying to fight this connection between us.”
All I can do is blink because my brain isn’t registering what’s going on.
Closing my eyes, I try to process his words, but I can’t. I’ve never experienced anything like this, never allowed myself to even imagine I was enough for someone to want me this way. It can’t be real.
“Stop.”
His hand slides to the back of my neck as an onslaught of shivers avalanches down my back. “I can’t. I’ve never been able to. Not with you.”
“You’re acting crazy. Can’t you see that? You rewrote the tragedy inWuthering Heights!”
I intended to hurt him with my words, but they seem to have the opposite effect. “So you went through it. Did you read all of it?”
