Thankfully, Kate hadn’t noticed that I was quieter than usual. I’d managed to hide the mammoth headache from her, counting down the minutes until I could escape. Both of us had a busy week ahead, so hopefully I could shift it before I saw her again. Last thing I wanted was her worrying.
Entering the gym floor, my feet moved on autopilot,carrying me to the treadmill. Already, I could feel some of the tension leaving my muscles.
The relief didn’t last long. All it took was someone stepping onto the machine beside me, and suddenly my muscles were made of steel.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Dom said cheerfully as his treadmill belt began to move. “Such a coincidence.”
“Seriously?” I hit the stop button so I could glare at Dom head-on. “You’re going to pretend you didn’t know this was my gym?”
Dom gave a throaty laugh that sent tingles down my spine. “No, but it was totally worth it to see that look on your face.”
“What look?”
He didn’t break his stride as he reached over to chuck my chin. “This little indignant scowl. I fucking love it, Shadow. I think I’ve missed that almost as much as I’ve missed you.”
I squared my shoulders like it might protect me from the casual honesty he kept offering me. I might not have always known where I stood with Dominic in the past, but he was making damn sure there was no confusion now. “Why are you here?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
My headache pounded harder. “No, I mean right now. This second. Why are you here?”
Dom looked at me sharply, eyes roaming over my face. “What’s wrong?”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring the blast of pain the simple movement sent through me. “Aside from you shoving yourself into my life at every possible moment?”
Dom slapped the stop button. When it had slowed enough, he stepped off and drew closer. With me still standing on my own machine, the height differencebetween us was erased. Dom’s eyes drilled into me as he grabbed my chin and searched my face. “No, there’s something else bothering you. Tell me.”
I batted his hand away. “How can you possibly know that?”
“Because I know you,” he said simply, frowning as he touched between my eyes with a fingertip. “You’ve got a little wrinkle here.”
“Given what you’ve put me through recently? I’m amazed I’m not covered in fucking wrinkles.”
“Stop deflecting,” Dom growled. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to spill it all. The crushing guilt after getting off to thoughts of him the night before. How the wedding suddenly felt like a deadline I had no hope of meeting. The exhaustion from not sleeping since he came back into my life. The headache that had me wishing I was back at home rather than here.
But then I remembered how I’d opened up to him once before.
How I’d suffered for years after.
“Just you bothering me,” I said curtly. “So fuck off and bother someone else.”
Dom didn’t smirk. His lips were too tight for that. “We both know that’s not what you want.”
Yeah, there was no way I was admitting to that, even if the memory of his arm around Mimic was a big contributor to my current mood.
“Why aren’t you annoying Max? That’s what you always used to do.”
“Max isn’t the Davies twin I want to be around. Besides, he’s currently on my shit list.”
I resisted the temptation to check outside the window to see if pigs were flying past. “Why?”
“Because he hasn’t sorted shit out with you.” Dom’s nostrils flared. “I thought he’d do it last night, but he didn’t. Until he’s apologised,properly,he’ll be staying on said list.”
“Max made his bed the same as you did. He can lie in it and rot for all I care. I don’t need or want his apologies.”
“You’ll get them regardless,” Dom said. “He’s giving you space at the moment so I can make things right, but if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll come calling soon.”
