It was time for me to get that through my thick skull. For me to stop pretending I was moving on with my life and actually do it.
For too long, Dominic had had the power to break me in one way or another.
I needed to change that.
Permanently.
1
Ryan
I couldn’t be the first person to wake up the morning after his stag do with a headache worthy of the record books.
Pretty sure I was the first who could blame it on his gatecrashing ex as opposed to alcohol though.
Throwing two aspirin into my mouth, I glared at the kettle like I could make it boil faster through will alone. Tea had to fix it.
Can it erase the memory of how good Dom looked?
I clenched my jaw. No. Nothing could erase that. But it didn’t matter. The days of me being distracted by Dominic Walker’s attractiveness were long past. I was older now. Wiser.
And, I had Kate.
Like she knew I was thinking of her, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
KATE
How was it? Did you have fun?
I smiled. Kate was exactly who I needed in my life.Uncomplicated. Easy-going. Relaxed. Basically the exact opposite of Dominic.
Shame she doesn’t make you burn like he does.
My smile faded, to be replaced by a scowl. It didn’t matter that the intensity of what I felt for her could never compare. Burning wasn’t healthy. It only led to pain.
Pain I wasn’t in a hurry to experience again. Ever.
I tapped out a brief reply, not hinting at anything being out of place. There was no point worrying her. There wasn’t anything to worry about.
Sure about that?
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhaled slowly. Fucking Dominic. He’d been back in my life for less than twelve hours and my brain was already stuck on a spin cycle. Not a surprise, but definitely a frustration.
Maybe it was good that I’d seen him last night. Farnborough was a big town, but not that big. I was bound to run into him at some point. At least now it was done with. I knew he was back, and if our paths did cross, I could just ignore him.
Simple.
His whispered words came back to haunt me.‘I’ll be seeing you, Shadow.’
The kettle clicked off and I filled the cup automatically. I stared down at the bobbing teabag, thinking it was quite an apt metaphor. That had been me up until last night. Merrily bobbing along, happy with my existence.
Only for Dom to show up and pour his shit all over my life in an attempt to drown me.
Well, I wasn’t going to let him. Everything was going according to plan, and there was no reason for Dominic’s return to change any of that.
My phone buzzed again.
KATE
