I batted his hand away with a hiss. “Fuck off is it.”
“I’d think that was part of the deal we made.”
I froze. Neither of us had brought up what had happened. As far as I was concerned, nothinghadhappened. Nothing between me and Dominic, and definitely nothing a few nights later as I jacked off in bed.
Or the nights I’d jacked off thinking about it since.
“What deal?” Maya asked, sidling closer as though she was expecting juicy gossip.
Dominic’s gaze slid from me to Maya. “That’s between me and Shadow.”
Maya rolled her eyes, seemingly oblivious to the way Dominic was glaring at her. “Such a weird nickname. Why can’t you call him Ryan like everyone else?”
Dominic leaned over me. His face passed so close to mine that I jerked away and almost toppled backwards off the rail. It was only his hand gripping my thigh firmly that stopped me. “Because I’m not everyone else.”
I silenced a groan, glad Max was too busy sucking face to pay attention to this. “Ignore him, Maya. He’s just looking for a reaction.”
“Sure I am,” Dominic said sarcastically.
“Whatever.” She took her hand off my leg to fold her arms. I tried not to acknowledge the relief that coursed through me. “Maybe we could meet up later? Just the two of us?”
The answer was obvious, right? Maya was hot and into me; this was a no-brainer.
So why couldn’t I find the words to accept?
She wasn’t the only one waiting on my answer. I knew Dominic was watching me. I didn’t even need to turn my head to check, I could feel the weight of his stare boring into my skull.
Disappointment filled Maya’s eyes as she gave a brittle laugh. “Or not. Forget it. I just?—”
“Yes,” I said quickly, unable to stand upsetting her. “That sounds great. I’d love to.”
She beamed at me, bouncing forward to kiss my cheek. “Awesome! I’ll text you later?”
“I’ll look forward to it,” I said weakly. Was she wearing lip gloss? Whatever it was had left my skin feeling unbearably sticky. “See you later.”
I didn’t realise Dominic’s hand was still on my leg until I felt his fingers biting into me.
“Shit,” I hissed, shoving him away. “What the fuck, man?”
Dominic didn’t speak, just stared at me with those dark eyes that seemed to glitter.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling tight. This was ridiculous. What was I even doing?
Sliding off the rail, I waved at the others. “Gonna grab a drink before class.”
Various goodbyes floated through the air, but there was one notable exception. One person who didn’t speak.
But who kept his eyes on me until I was out of sight.
Hangingout with Maya was as painful as I’d expected it to be.
We’d met up at the local park before taking a walk through the woods. She’d suggested grabbing dinner at the local chippy, but I’d hedged until we got closer. Until I could glance through the glass and confirm that Dominic wasn’t working.
I didn’t want to run into him while I was with Maya. He’d only use it as ammunition to wind me up. I was stressed enough as it was—I didn’t need him heaping his bullshit on top.
My only saving grace was that Maya didn’t seem to notice my discomfort. She took my minimal statements and ran with them. My grunts turned into whole conversations. It was quite skilful, really.
Her hand started in the crook of my arm before finding its way into my own. I knew I should be happy about this, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t even scared, which I’d half expected to be.
