You Kissed Me First

22. Day Twelve

CHAPTER 22

Day Twelve

FREEPORT, BAHAMAS

KATIE

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with them?” Dominic asks for the sixth time.

“No. I already said no. Stop asking,” I snap.

I don’t mean to. My stomach is just killing me. It almost feels like cramps, but that can’t be right. I’m not supposed to start until next week. I’m usually so routine that you could set a watch to it.

This has to be from whatever I ate yesterday.

“What do you need from me?” Dominic asks.

“Honestly? I need peace and quiet. I feel like shit.”

“I’m so sorry. What do you think did it? Dinner?” he asks.

I know he’s trying to be helpful, but it’s grating on my nerves. I want to smack him.

Taking a deep breath, I try to remain calm. “No. All I had was that sandwich from the deli like I had before. If that was it, it would have made me sick the other day when I ate it. I think it was all that food we ate for lunch. Something must have been wrong with it. I told you we would get food poisoning.”

He runs his hand through my hair, which feels kind of nice. I lean into it.

“You don’t have a fever. I can go see if they have any Pepto if you want.”

I shake my head. “I’m okay. Really. You should go on shore with the others. I’m going to sleep most of the day.”

He considers my request a moment but then shakes his head.

“I’d rather be here with you.”

I’m about to insist when his face lights up.

“I have something that might make you feel better.”

I’m skeptical as he moves toward his bag, but I force myself to sit up.

When he comes back, he has something wrapped in a crinkled-up brown paper bag.

“I was saving this to give to you after the trip, but if it makes you smile, I want you to have it now. If it makes you mad, then I’m going to feel like shit, so maybe don’t be mad?”

He looks so boyish as he gives me a tentative smile.

Even if I hate it, I’m going to tell him I love it. I have to. I won’t break his heart like this. All he’s trying to do is be good to me.

I hold my hands out, waiting for him to set the item inside them.

When he does, he takes a seat next to me.

I’m careful opening the bag. When I pull the item out, I have to blink a couple times to see if what I’m seeing is real.

Back when we were in Curacao, there was a lady selling these little figurines. She was telling me how each figurine represented a different spirit who would guide you in the area of their specialty.

There was one for fertility, encouraging your body to ready itself for a baby.

Another was health, helping guide your body to a healthier lifestyle.

There was fortune, helping you find success in your endeavors.

That’s not the one he bought for me though. He bought the spirit of love. She explained that this one would help you find your soulmate.

Did he buy this for me to tell me he thinks he’s my soulmate?

“You’re not saying anything, and you are starting to cry. Do you hate it? I’m sorry. You were holding it and talking to the lady. You looked at it like you wanted it but didn’t want to spend the money, so I bought it. I told her whichever one you were holding.”

My heart sinks a little. He doesn’t know the story. He only bought it because I liked it.

Still, it’s sweet.

“I love it. It’s perfect.” My voice is raw with emotion.

“Oh thank God. Please don’t cry. I can’t handle your tears. Anytime I see them, I want to do whatever I can to make them go away.”

I snort. “Men always hate tears. They can’t stand a show of emotion.”

He gives me a small smile. “It’s not the emotion. It’s the fact that something is wrong, and we don’t know how to fix it. We are fixers.”

“Well, the way you can fix this is by turning off the lights, putting a movie on, and then cuddling me while pretending you don’t hear all the angry noises my stomach makes. You also have to agree to leave the room if I tell you I need privacy in the bathroom.”

He stands, moving around the bed, stripping down. Then he crawls next to me in nothing but his boxers. He hits the button for the lights, plunging us into the dark.

Then he turns the television on and hands me the remote. As soon as I settle back onto the bed, he pulls me into him so that I’m the little spoon.

“Is this better?”

“Much.”

I feel something shaking my shoulder. I try to shake it off. I loathe being woken up when I’m sleeping. In fact, I am not a morning person at all. I’m more likely to bite your head off than be nice about it.

It doesn’t even matter who you are. Logically, I know I’m being a bitch, but I can’t help it.

So when his voice fills my ear, I grunt at him.

He tries again. “Hey, baby doll. I need you to wake up.”

“Five more minutes,” I grumble, wanting to tell him to fuck off.

“You can go back to bed afterward. I need you to get up and hop in the shower.” His voice is low, but the way he says it makes me wonder.

Opening my eyes, I look over my shoulder at him. “Why?”

He looks apologetic. What is going on? I blink rapidly, trying to clear some of the sleep from my eyes. I’m not awake enough for this.

“Baby, you started your period.”

My body freezes. Suddenly I’m wide awake. I can feel my cheeks turning red.

“What? How would you know?”

I think about last night and how his bare legs tangled with mine. He was hard too. I wanted to do something about it, but I felt so sick.

Oh fuck.

Looking back, I see he has a towel pressed to my ass. Then I look at his crotch, which is covered in blood.

Fuck.

I am not going to survive this. The mortification settles into my bones.

“Oh my fucking god. Kill me now. There is no way this is happening. This has to be a nightmare.” I bury my face in my hands, scared to even move because I know how my period is.

As soon as I stand up, shit is going to get messy real fucking fast.

Why did I let him convince me to sleep naked?

Dominic leans over me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I already started the shower for you. Go jump in, and I’ll handle this.”

“How can you even look at me? Your dick is covered in blood. My blood.” Tears prickle behind my eyes.

I like this guy. Like a lot. More than a lot. I think I’m in love with him.

Then this happens. I can never show my face to him again. He will go on and tell stories about the girl he had a fling with on a cruise ship. His best friend’s sister-in-law. How it was hot for a while until he woke up covered in her blood. They will laugh about how disgusting I am before telling him he dodged a bullet.

Me. I’m the bullet he dodged.

I can’t handle this right now. I feel like my entire body is being pricked by a million needles.

His tone is calm, comforting even as he strokes his hand on my arm. “Katie, I’ve never been afraid to earn my red wings. If you wanted me to fuck you until you couldn’t walk, I would right now. A little blood isn’t going to scare me away. Now get your fine ass up and in the shower. Do you need tampons, or do you use pads?”

Is this man seriously sitting here offering to go scour a cruise ship to find me feminine hygiene products?

“Either. I didn’t pack any because my period isn’t due for a few more days. I thought I’d be fine.”

He nods. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”

He hands me the towel he was using against my ass. I shove it between my legs, waddling to the bathroom feeling like a complete idiot. If he wanted me before, I really doubt Dominic will want me after this mess. Why does shit like this always happen to me?

I jump in the shower, saturating the towel with water, trying my best to get the blood out. It’s bad enough that Dominic has to see this. I don’t want the housekeeping team to see it too.

After I clean it the best I can, I work on cleaning myself.

Looking back, now I realize that last night wasn’t from the food. My stomach was hurting because it wasn’t my stomach. They were cramps. It didn’t even dawn on me. I figured it was due to the local food we ate.

Now it’s clear though. That was my body warning me of the massacre about to occur.

Closing my eyes to wash my hair, I cringe at the image that flashes.

Dominic with blood covering his upper thighs and dick.

I must have been bleeding for a long time before he noticed. How did he notice? What time is it even?

Once I’m clean and dry, I wad up some toilet paper and shove it between my legs. Then I open the door. The room is quiet.

“Dominic?” I call out.

When he doesn’t answer, I make my way farther into the room.

The bedding has been changed and made, but Dominic is nowhere to be seen. I hustle over to my bag, grabbing the comfy set of panties I brought. I hate that I’ll end up ruining them, but they are the only ones that will do. I’m really regretting not listening to Nessa. She told me to bring some period supplies just in case.

I hate that I am going to have to tell her she was right.

I change quickly, leaving the wadded toilet paper in my panties. Then I sit on the edge of the couch, waiting for Dominic to come back.

As I sit there, I start to think about this trip. It has been a roller coaster ride. I never anticipated the way Dominic and I have grown close to one another. It’s been two weeks, but he already knows me way better than Barrett ever did.

When I’m with Dominic, I don’t feel like I need to perform for him like I did with Barrett. I don’t have to be anyone but myself. My hair doesn’t have to be perfect. I don’t need to wear nice clothes.

All I need to do is be present.

I’m still skeptical about whether a romance started on a cruise ship will work, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Especially after this morning.

Or I hope after this morning.

I look at the time on my phone. It’s one in the morning. Where the heck could he be?

The stores aren’t open, so a tampon isn’t happening.

I really hope he’s not knocking on my sister’s door. She will kill me.

I settle more onto the couch, my head falling to the back.

I don’t want to fall asleep. I need to wait up for him. Yet, as I sit there thinking about him, I feel my eyes growing heavier.

So heavy that they are harder and harder to open.

Until they don’t open.

DOMINIC

Thank God housekeeping works twenty-four hours a day. I hated waking him up, but he seemed cool about it. Especially when I told him what happened. He offered to change the sheets, but I told him not to worry about it. I shoved the soiled sheets and towels I used to clean up the bed into the biohazard bag he handed me before stepping into the other bathroom to wash my hands and wipe down my thighs and dick. I still need a shower, but she needed one more.

Thankfully, she didn’t bleed too much on the bedding. After laying another towel over the wet spot on the mattress, I make the bed over it. I don’t care about the wet spot, but women usually do. I figure she can take my side of the bed.

After making sure everything was set, I dress quickly before heading out of the room. I already know the store is closed, but they have someone at guest services twenty-four hours as well. I know I could have messaged Joe, our steward, but I rather do this errand myself.

It doesn’t take me long to get there. Thankfully, there’s a lady behind the desk.

“Hey, I need some assistance,” I tell her.

She smiles, her look flirtatious. “How can I help you?”

I ignore her flirting. She’s younger, so I’m not surprised, but I have a woman. One who needs me.

“My girlfriend unexpectedly started her period. I know the store is closed, but we really need some tampons or pads. Is there any way someone could grab us some, or do you have an emergency stash or something? Probably only one or two until the store opens in the morning?”

If anything, the woman grows more flirtatious to me as I speak. She must miss the way I said girlfriend because she leans closer.

“We don’t, but I actually keep some on me just in case. I could give you a couple if you wanted.” She reaches over as if to touch my arm.

I pull it back off the counter. “Great. I would appreciate that. I’ll pay whatever you want.”

She smiles. “How about your phone number?”

I frown. “I have a girlfriend. I’m not interested. Now either help me or wake up your manager so they can. I don’t appreciate you hitting on me after I’ve told you my girlfriend is back in our room suffering. You’re wasting time.”

She jolts at my scathing tone, but it does the trick. She walks into a back room before coming back with two pads.

When she hands them to me, she is less friendly. “Here.”

“Thank you.”

I roll my eyes at the way her demeanor changed so suddenly. She’s lucky I want to get back to Katie. If I wasn’t, I would report her unprofessional behavior.

Still, I note her name. Tamara. I’ll be sure to mention her in my review.

When I finally get back to the room, I find Katie passed out on the couch. She’s changed into a pair of shorts and has my T-shirt on her body now.

Kneeling in front of her, I put my hands on her knees.

“Katie, love. I brought you a pad.”

Her eyes flutter open. Then she smiles.

“Dom. You’re back.” Her voice is gravelly.

“I am. Let’s get you fixed up so we can go back to bed.”

She leans forward, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Don’t leave me again.”

She still sounds a little out of it, but I reassure her, “I won’t. Here, go change into this, then get into bed. I’ll join you after I shower.”

She takes the pad, making her way into the bathroom.

Once she closes the door, I grab the ibuprofen and a bottle of water. Tomorrow I will get her all the shit she needs, but for now, this will have to work. I set them out on the table before grabbing some boxers to change into.

She’s in the bathroom for several minutes before coming back out.

I pull her into my arms, kissing her gently. “Take some medicine and drink some water. Then get some rest. I’m going to shower and change and be in bed soon.”

She nods, doing as I ask. I wait until she’s snuggled under the covers before I move toward the bathroom.

I shower quickly before grabbing my soiled boxers and the towel she used, which is soaking wet and mostly clean. Going into the other bathroom, I shove them in the biohazard bag. Then I call housekeeping to pick it up.

After everything is taken care of, I smile down at my sleeping beauty.

I probably won’t be able to fall back asleep. I’m worried about how she’s feeling too much to relax.

Still, I slide in behind her and pull her to me. She turns in my arms, laying her head on my chest. The little content sigh she lets out is like lightning to my chest.

As I lie there staring at the ceiling, thinking about her, I let my own sense of contentment fill me.

This is what I want.

Her.

In my arms.

Forever.