While he wasn't necessarily convinced that Conrad was right, Dominick couldn't stop the small amount of hope that was building in hischest.
Maybe he and Harmony were meant to date each other, and their first date just hadn't gone asexpected.
Conrad cleared his throat. "I'm guessing by that goofy grin on your face you are starting to realize your roommate isbrilliant."
"You might be," Dominick agreed, sitting up on his bed to look at him. "I'm lucky to have a friendlikeyou."
"Whatever," Conrad grumbled, but Dominick saw the slight smile tug at his lips and knew he was proud of himself. "I've been away from my game long enough. All this gushy love talk makes me want to destroy somezombies."
He was putting his headset back on before Dominick could say anything else, the sound of the game and Conrad's occasional cursing filled thesilence.
Dominick changed out of the ruined clothing and started looking online for possible ways to get out red wine stains. One website claimed Dawn detergent and hydrogen peroxide did the trick, but they had neither of those things in their dorm room, so he keptlooking.
When one solution called for salt and boiling water, Dominick felt hope flood through him. That was something he could do. He rummaged through old takeout silverware packages until he found a small handful of unopened salt packets. He sprinkled the salt on the stains just like the instructions said. Then he ran their Keurig without a cup to get the hotwater.
Conrad raised his brow when the two made brief eyecontact.
"I'm trying to get the stains out," Dominickanswered.
"And I told you I didn't care." Conrad shook his head, and turned his attention back to thetelevision.
Dominick knew Conrad wouldn't be mad if the stains didn't come out. And yet, with just a handful of words, he'd given him the encouragement he needed to faceanything.
Fixing the pants would be the least hecoulddo.
Next, it would be Harmony and this whole Date Makermix-up.
After following the directions as carefully as possible given the limitations of living on campus, Dominick ran down to the laundry facilities. He started the machine and went back up tohisroom.
Already he was dreaming up possibilities for his second date with Harmony. If he could persuade her to see him again, he knew he wouldn't mess it up. No more freaking out and leaving his date stranded at an art class. He would do things properly.Romantically.
Dominick was just working out the details of his plan when his phone buzzed. He picked it up off the nightstand and read thescreen.
Morgan: I am SO SORRY!! I mixed up a ton of dates this week. Harmony wasn't your date. I'll happily refund your money and bring your new date itinerary bytomorrow.
He felt all the air leave his lungs as if he'd been punched in the gut. Harmony wasn't his intended date. His fingers flew across the screen as he typed his response. Even though he felt guilty, he couldn't make himself go through thatagain.
Dominick: No. I think I'm done. Hopefully, you can find a new match for whoever you pairedwithme.
He hit send, turned off his phone, and laid down with the sounds of Conrad's video game to lull him tosleep.
"So what didyou thinkofPax?”
"He waseverything I thought hewouldbe."
7
"I'm so sorry,"Morgan said for the hundredth time as another customer walked away with a latte in hand. "I just got so angry with the things Declan was saying about me, and I wanted to prove him wrong. The matches were good. I just mixedthemup."
"I know," Harmony answered.Again.
She was happy to have the distraction of work. Or at least, she had been. Two days with no word from Dominick had her questioning everything. When she looked back on the way the evening had gone, Harmony could recognize she hadn't given him a fair shot. He'd been a gentleman right up until the moment he raced out on her, and she'd spent the entire evening wishing he was someone else. It wasn'tright.
Even knowing Morgan had mixed things up, Harmony couldn't help but think about Dominick. She wondered how he was doing, and if the wine had come out of thepants.
"And I'll totally refund your money,” Morgan continued. “I'm offering to do that to everyone who feels like they got matched with the wrongperson."
The wording struck Harmony as odd. She turned to face Morgan, leaning her hip against the counter. "And what if they don't feel like they got matched with the wrong person?" she asked slowly, not quite meetingMorgan’seyes.
