CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DOM
I couldn’t deny the rush that gripped me as I drove home. The high that carried me was like nothing else. I knew that fucking Noah would be amazing, although I hadn’t anticipated how fucking phenomenal it would be. Walking out on him right after was merely the icing on the cake.
The smile wouldn’t leave my face. I felt happier than I’d been in a long time. It was amazing what a good fuck could do for a guy. I was so caught up in the vibe that I almost ran a red light. Oops.
When I pulled up to the house it was almost six. Everyone else would be home by now. Hopefully I could get inside and make it downstairs without running into anybody. I wasn’t in the mood for a discussion. I needed to hit the shower and enjoy the rest of this high before I came down.
Quietly, I opened the front door, relieved to find the living room empty as I entered. I eased the door shut before taking off my shoes so as not to track snow through the house. Unfortunately, my keys fell out of my pocket, jingling loudly as they hit the floor.
Stray stuck his head out of the kitchen. “Oh, you’re home. Where were you?” When I stood up and turned to face him, his jaw dropped. “What the hell happened? Did you get your ass kicked?”
Knowing that I wouldn’t make it downstairs without an inquisition, I accepted my fate and headed into the kitchen. Auryn sat at the kitchen table eating a takeout burrito. He glanced up at my arrival, his expression mirroring Stray’s.
“I got into a fight. It’s no big deal.” I should’ve checked on my appearance in the car. No doubt I had blood smears on my face.
Stray and Auryn exchanged a look before Auryn said, “Oh yeah? Do fist fights also cause hickeys now? That’s news to me.”
Son of a bitch. I caught myself about to touch my neck, pulling my hand away. Trying to busy myself to break eye contact with them, I went to the fridge and dug around inside.
“It’s really not a big deal guys. Seriously.” Inwardly I cringed. There was no hiding what I’d been up to. If anyone knew how a freshly fucked person looked, it was these two.
I grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge and turned around to find Stray right behind me. “There’s no more hiding now, Dom. Time to fess up. Are you and Noah fucking? Didn’t you just try to kill him?”
My expression twisted into something uncertain and confused. I didn’t know how to answer this. Absently rubbing the back of my neck, I gave a short nod. “Yeah I did. And today after class, I fucked him in the church. I’m not sure what else to tell you guys. That’s really all there is to it.”
Auryn let out a bark of laughter. “Do you hear yourself right now? You sound absolutely insane. We all know you guys are into each other. What’s with the attempted murder? Is that like foreplay or something?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Popping open the can of Coke, I took a long swallow and said, “You might be onto something there. I can definitely see how it would look that way.”
Stray didn’t seem to think it was funny.
“Okay, so you’re fucking Noah Cunningham.
What happens now? Are you two a thing? Because I’ve got to say, Dom, I don’t entirely trust that guy.
He’s got more than enough reasons to want to hurt us.
What if that’s all this is? Maybe he’s trying to get close to you so he can hurt you.
Maybe kill you. He’s been pretty vocal about wanting revenge in the past.”
He definitely had a solid point. I couldn’t argue with that. Knowing Noah, Stray was probably right. After the history between our two groups, he had valid reason to want any of us dead. Maybe I was the easiest target.
“You definitely shouldn’t trust Noah,” I agreed. “I don’t trust him either.”
Crossing the kitchen to where Auryn sat at the table, I plucked the burrito from his hands and took a large bite before handing it back. He frowned up at me before flipping me the middle finger.
“Then what the hell are you doing?” Stray leaned against the kitchen island, eyeing me curiously. “It feels like someone is going to get hurt. I don’t want it to be you.”
I waved away his concern. I was in much too deep to be fearful now. Leaving Noah the way I had. He was almost forced to take a shot at me. I had tried to blow him up after all. Now it was his turn.
“Someone probably will get hurt.” I nodded. “I don’t see how this can end any other way. Try not to worry about it. I won’t let any of this blow back on you guys.”
Silence fell among the three of us. The only sound was the subtle fizzing coming from my pop can.
Finally, Auryn spoke. “What’s going on with you, man? This kind of reckless behavior isn’t like you. We’re worried.”
“Trust me. You don’t need to worry. Everything will be fine.
Noah and I are just letting off some steam.
We need to get this out of our systems so we can all move on.
” That was the lie I continued to tell myself as well.
After what happened with the two of us today, I wasn’t sure I would ever purge that man from my system.
The weight of their heavy stares made me uncomfortable. Going to the pantry, I grabbed a bag of pretzels and a protein bar. I needed to vacate this situation now.
On my way out of the kitchen, Stray called after me, “Are you in love with him?”
I froze in my tracks. Slowly, I turned back to face him. “Why would you think that?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to one side. “Because I know what it looks like when love starts out as hate. How it makes both people crazy until they can’t take it anymore. Lines are crossed. Things happen. If you can’t admit it to us, can you at least admit it to yourself?”
Suddenly feeling like I was on trial, I laughed off his commentary. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll be downstairs.”
Even though I casually walked out of the kitchen, I still felt like I was fleeing. That feeling was confirmed when I heard Auryn say, “Pretty sure you just hit the nail on the head with that one, Stray.”
Bullshit. It was all bullshit. They didn’t know anything about the situation with Noah and me. Not really. There may have been a lot of feelings going on here but love was not one of them.
When I got downstairs, I dropped my snacks on the couch in the small living room area outside my bedroom. Then I slipped into the bathroom to clean myself up. One look at myself in the mirror and I knew why they had the reaction they did.
My face was a mess of fresh bruises. Blood stained my chin from Noah cutting open my lip. At some point during our heavy makeout he must have sucked on my neck without me realizing that he was going to mark me. There was no convincing anyone that the hickey on my neck was anything else. Goddammit.
Stripping off my clothes, I got into a hot shower. There was something about being in the shower that made everything outside the closed bathroom door cease to exist. My own little time capsule.
I scrubbed down from head to toe, washing away Noah’s scent. As the water hit me, a burst of his aroma filled my nostrils, taunting me as I washed it away. I wondered if he’d made it home yet. Was he washing me away too?
After I emerged from the shower, I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a white T-shirt before collapsing onto the couch in my living room.
I flicked the TV on, not caring what played, only trying to fill the silence.
I took a huge bite of my protein bar before my phone caught my eye from where it laid on the small coffee table.
There was a text notification. A message from Noah. The devil himself.
It will be a shame to kill you since you have such a phenomenal cock.
I smiled to myself. He sure was a bold motherfucker. I continued to eat my protein bar while I pondered my reply. For a moment I was tempted to send him a dick pic but didn’t want to be that guy.
You made a satisfactory outlet for my current frustrations. I look forward to seeing what you do next.
As I hit send on my message, I frowned. I should have said something more clever.
Tossing the protein bar wrapper on the coffee table, I snatched up the bag of pretzels and stuffed a few into my mouth.
I should probably order something for dinner.
Auryn’s burrito was pretty good. Maybe something like that.
A few minutes later my phone vibrated with a return message from Noah. Do your friends know you were balls deep inside me today?
This asshole was a real troublemaker. Instead of answering right away, I switched over to my preferred food delivery app and placed an order for a burrito. Once that was done, I opened Noah’s message again, silently staring at it.
Then I typed my reply. Some of them do. Does Damon know I was balls deep inside you today? I can’t imagine he would like that very much. Sometimes I wonder about you two.
I almost laughed when Noah replied almost immediately. Damon could never handle me. Not the way you do, prince. He knows how bad I want to kill you. That’s all that really matters.
He was right about that. That was all that mattered. In the end, none of this other shit would mean a damn thing.
I thought about the guys upstairs asking me if I was in love with this fucking dick.
How could I possibly love someone like Noah?
The man got under my skin like nobody else ever had.
He knew how to push my buttons and drive me crazy with little effort.
The right snarky remark or arrogant smirk was enough to set me off when it came to him.
Love had no place here.
I stared at his last message for a long time, contemplating whether or not I should reply. When my food arrived, I decided it was better to leave him on read. He didn’t deserve a reply.
To guarantee that I wouldn’t hear from him again tonight, I blocked his number.