We didn’t speak after that, just stared at each other in the darkness.
But when Dominic’s hand moved across the sheet, his pinkie brushing mine, I didn’t pull away.
Instead, I linked them together.
14
Ryan
That was the first night Dominic spent in my bed, but it wasn’t the last.
In fact, there wasn’t a night he hadn’t spent between my sheets since he’d crawled under them three weeks ago.
That wasn’t to say there was anything sexual happening. There wasn’t. Hell, most of the time we didn’t even speak. We just stared at each other, all the questions we didn’t dare ask hovering in the air between us.
Every morning when I woke up, he was gone.
Max seemed to have no idea about our new nightly routine. No clue that when Dominic left his room, he never went far. Just downstairs to climb up the porch, then in through my window.
I didn’t even bother to close it now. I told myself it was because of the warm spring nights we’d been having, even though I knew it was bullshit.
If Max thought it was odd that Dominic hadn’t crashed in his room for a while, he didn’t say anything. With all the time he spent with Amy, it was possible he hadn’t even noticed.
It wasn’t like anything had changed during the day.
Well, that wasn’t strictly true. Things had reverted to how they used to be, before Dominic had decided to insert himself into my world and turn it upside down. He barely glanced at me now, let alone spoke to me. Didn’t sit beside me on the bus. Didn’t chat with me at lunch. He and Max were as codependent as always.
And once again, I was hovering on their periphery, waiting for whatever scraps they were willing to throw me.
Every night, I fell asleep at Dominic’s side, thinking things were changing. But then I’d wake up the next morning to an empty bed. To the sound of him downstairs, laughing with Max at some inside joke I’d never be part of.
The constant hot and cold was fucking with me. I’d told Dominic that my room was his safe space, and I’d meant it.
I hadn’t realised the price I’d pay for that would be my own sanity.
Three weeks later, and I didn’t know how much more I could take. If I were older and wiser, maybe I’d know how to give Dominic up.How to set boundaries. To protect myself while being there for him.
But I was neither of those things. I was treading water, unsure which wave would finally be the one to tug me under.
It was no surprise that everything was building to a head. With every inside joke that excluded me, every silent conversation they shared, every time Dominic ditched me the instant Max appeared, my temper climbed higher.
I was angry. Confused. And beyond fucking frustrated.
The sun beat down on the back of my neck as I stomped towards the smoking area. After Dominic had walked past me on the bus this morning without even acknowledging my existence, I honestly wanted to be almost anywhere else.
But more than that, I didn’t want Dominic to know I was affected. He might have been lodged under my skin like afucking splinter, but the feeling certainly wasn’t mutual. Not with the way he ignored me during the day. Apparently I was good enough to acknowledge when no one else was around, but not otherwise.
I knew why, too. It wasn’t because Dominic was ashamed of me, or whatever this was.
It was because of Max.
That was why he snuck in through my window instead of using the door. Why he had me check the hall if he needed to use the bathroom. Why he didn’t let his gaze linger for even a fraction too long.
Why he didn’t acknowledge me at all during the day.
Dominic didn’t want to upset Max.
That knowledge was what was fucking me up the most. Evidently, Dominic had no issue messing with my feelings. But Max? His were to be protected at all times.
