“Then there’s your answer.”
I pushed out of his hold in frustration. “You make it sound so easy. You think I can just chase my dream and make it happen? Life doesn’t work like that, Dom.”
“Yes, it does.” He crowded close to me again, his hand going to my throat. Instantly I felt my body relax. “We don’t quit, Ry. Ever.”
“Then why aren’t you chasing your dream career?”
The flicker in Dom’s eyes was so brief I might’ve missed it. But I didn’t. “It’s not the same thing. I don’t have a grand passion like you. I want better for myself, of course I do. You think I like living on this piece-of-shit estate? Newsflash, Ry, I don’t.”
“Then why aren’t you going to uni?”
He released my throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Because my future isn’t going to be in an office, Ry. I’m not built for it.”
“You wouldn’t have to work in an office. There are so many different types of courses.”
“Courses that will land me in heaps of unnecessary debt.”
That wasn’t true either. “You’ll be entitled to grants. I’ve already started applying. I can talk you through it?—”
“Baby.” Dominic interrupted me, his hands encircling my hips. “Uni isn’t for me, okay?”
“Okay,” I said reluctantly. Really, I had no idea why I was pushing this. Selfishly, part of me knew it would be easier for us to keep this going if Dom didn’t go to university. Several that I’d applied to were in easy travelling distance from here. If I chose one of those then we could see each other often.
But Dominic was smart. His GCSE results had been higher than mine. Going to uni wasn’t for everyone, but it was an easy way off this estate.
It was one of the main reasons I was going.
“I have plans,” Dominic said quietly, leaning his forehead against mine. “Dreams too. They don’t involve more bloody revising though.”
“Fair enough. What are they, then?”
Dominic hummed. “How about this? You apply for one art course, and I’ll tell you.”
I groaned. “That’s blackmail.”
“Well, we don’t give up,” he said with a grin. “Which includes me playing whatever card I can to get my way.”
“You don’t play fair.”
“Never have, never will.”
“Fine.” I sighed. “Main applications have closed, but I can apply through Clearing, I guess. Not until results day though.”
“That works.”
My lower lip jutted out. “Are you seriously going to make me wait until August?”
“Yep.” He bit my lip lightly. “There’s no rush, Ryan. We’ve got forever.”
Forever.I liked the sound of that. The hint that we had a future. That whatever Dom was planning, it would include me too.
Yeah, I definitely liked the sound of that.
A week later,my heart was racing as I made my way to the smoking area. Long gone were the days of me dragging my feet. If anything, I was having to force myself not to run. I didn’t want to give us away to our friends.
Well, Max mostly. I wouldn’t honestly care if the others knew.
As they had many times over the past few weeks, the nagging questions circled my mind. Questions like: What if Dominic and I had met in a different way? What would it be like if my brother wasn’t his best friend? Or if we were on better terms? Would Dominic and I be out? Holding hands at lunch instead of touching knees? Kissing instead of pretending our friendship was barely surface level?
