“Maybe,” he said softly, his hands going to my hips. I knew I should shove them away, but I didn’t. “I can’t help it. Something about seeing you all riled up just does it for me.”
My breath caught as he drew nearer. “That’s so fucked up.”
“Probably.” His hands gripped me tighter. “But at least I know then I’m seeing the real you.”
“I’m always the real me.”
“Liar,” he murmured. Was his face this close before? I could feel his breath fanning my lips. “You’re always pretending. Trying to blend in with the shadows when what you deserve is to shine under a spotlight.”
I moistened my lips, trying not to notice how hungrily Dominic tracked the movement. “Wait, is that why you call me ‘Shadow’?”
“One of the reasons.”
“What are the others?”
“That’s a story for another time,” he said. “Come back in, Ry. Don’t go. I’ve…I’ve missed you. Come back with me.”
Right. The party. I drew out of his hold with a bitter laugh. “Sure. Really looked that way.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed, his fingers twitching like he was stopping himself reaching for me. He probably was. He seemed to think it was his right to touch me however and wherever he liked. “I told you I can explain that.”
“And I told you there’s nothing to explain.”
“Feels like there is if you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset,” I said stubbornly, folding my arms over my chest. “Go back inside to your girl, Dominic.”
But he didn’t, the fucker just stepped closer. I tried to retreat, but hard brick stopped me as I backed into a wall. “She’s not my girl, Shadow. And youareupset. Don’t lie to me.”
“No, that’s your job.”
Dominic cocked his head. “Really? When am I supposed to have lied?”
His hands were on my hips again. And again, I wasn’t pushing them away. “You lie constantly.”
“Not to you.”
I searched my brain for an example, latching on to the first one that surfaced. “You told me you didn’t care if I took Maya out again. That was a lie.”
He thought about it before nodding slowly. “Fine. It was a lie, but that one doesn’t count.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re lying about the exact same thing right now.” His eyes burned like hot coals. “You’re upset, just like I was then.”
Fuck. He was right. I was just as bad. My guard slipped, letting some honesty free. “But why? Why are we upset?”
Dominic blew out a breath. “I don’t know, Ry. Well, not for sure. If we’d had that conversation I suggested, maybe wewouldknow.”
An image of him smiling down at Gabriella flashed in front of my eyes. I shoved him in the centre of his chest, forcing him back a step. “Yeah, maybe. But judging by what I just saw, I don’t think it’s necessary now. Just let me leave, Dominic. Go back inside, and let me go home.”
His eyes flashed. “Why? So we can both go back to being fucking miserable?”
I laughed bitterly. “You didn’t look miserable with Gabriella. Far from it.”
“Then maybe you should look closer”—Dominic’s nostrils flared—“because what you saw in there? That was me just trying to cope.”
“Cope with what?”
