“Kinda.” She shrugged. “Not like those two though. What they share is special. You don’t see a bond like theirs every day.”
No. You didn’t.
Dominic chose that moment to break away from Max. He swayed on his feet as he approached me, flinging his arms wide. “Shadow! There you are.”
He grabbed me in a hug, hiccupping in my ear. “Been looking for you.”
I sighed, patting his back. I wanted to do so much more, but with Max and Amy looking on, this was the best I could do. “I’ve been right here, Dom. All night.”
“Not close enough,” he murmured, nuzzling my neck. “Want you close. All the time. Why can’t I have that?”
Max paused, a bottle of beer to his mouth. The fog of alcohol seemed to clear as his eyes locked onto where Dominic’s lips were brushing my throat.
Shit.
Shoving Dominic lightly, I stepped back with a weak laugh. “You’re officially pissed, Dom.”
“Am not.” He pouted, and I decided right there and then that a pouting Dominic should be illegal. No one had the right to be that fucking adorable while also being six foot four and built like a brick shithouse. “Why are you all the way over there? Come back here.”
Amy gave a nervous chuckle. “Is the beer making you gay, Dominic?”
I stiffened. From the corner of my eye, I saw Max do the same. “Don’t be stupid, Amy. Dominic’s notgay. He just feels sorry for Ryan, that’s all. Knows he wouldn’t have any friends or life if he didn’t include him.”
That wasn’t true. I knew it wasn’t.
Didn’t stop a yawning pit opening in my stomach.
I waited for Dom to say something. Anything. But when I looked over at him, he was staring at the sky, singing softly under his breath. Had he even heard?
He couldn’t have. Dominic would have defended me if he had. I was sure of it.
Besides, it wasn’t like I couldn’t speak up for myself. I opened my mouth to do just that, but Amy got there first.
“What the fuck is your problem, Max?” she said hotly, her hands going to her hips. “First you call me stupid, then you’re a dick to Ryan?”
“What?” Max frowned down at his girlfriend. “I didn’t call you stupid.”
“Yes, you did.” I noticed he didn’t deny his behaviour towards me. “Or am I sostupidthat I misunderstood?”
As a heated argument broke out between them, I drifted to Dom’s side. He was listing dangerously to one side, still singing quietly. After shooting a quick glance at Max to make sure he was distracted, I put my arm around his waist to study him. “Come on, let’s get you back to the B and B.”
“Okay,” he said, leaning heavily into me. “Love you, Shadow.”
I winced. The volume of his voice was a lot louder than it should’ve been given what he’d said. “Ssh now, Dom.”
He pouted. Again. “Not until you tell me you love me too.”
“You know I do,” I whispered. “I love you, Dom. Now we need to go and get you some water and bed.”
“Fine.” He sighed dramatically. “But just know I love you the mostest of all. Of everyone. You’re my Shadow, no one else’s.”
If he hadn’t been several shots of Jägermeister deep, I’d have asked him to repeat those words so I could memorise them. So I could replay them until the sound was as familiar as my own name. As it was, I just chuckled. “Who knew you’d be such an adorable drunk?”
Dominic didn’t reply, just went back to singing. When I concentrated, I could just about make out the lyrics to ‘Something’ by Caffeine Daydreams.“For the love of all that’s holy, say there’s something, that makes you need me too.”
I smirked inwardly. For all his protests about not liking the band, he’d sure listened to a lot of them over the past few weeks. He claimed it was because he knew I’d want to see them this weekend.
Secretly, I thought he had a soft spot for them. Just like he had a soft spot for me. But not in the way Max said. It was okay that he thought that, though. He didn’t know what was really going on between Dominic and me.
