Chapter 16
Ryan
Five minutes later, we were in a different pub two doors down. Naturally, we’d been asked to leave the other one after how Xander had…greeted Max.
Dom was on one side of the table with Xander beside him. I’d shoved into the booth next to Max, who was holding a bag of frozen peas to his face. Xan was sipping his beer, apparently amused by the murderous glances my twin kept shooting in his direction.
“Did you pull your punch?” Dom asked.
Xander nodded. “Not as much as with you though. Ryan didn’t seem too stressed when we arrived, so I figured Max had done some explaining and apologising.”
“Hang on.” Max lowered the peas so he could glare at Dom with both eyes. “You knew he was going to punch me?”
“Yep,” Dom said.
“And you didn’t think to stop him.”
“Nah.” Dom shrugged. “If I deserved a punch then so did you.”
“Put the peas back on.” I nudged Max in the side. “I didn’t go into the Co-op for you to let them defrost all over the table.”
He grumbled but did as I said. “That was you pulling your punch? What are you, a boxer or something?”
Xander shot him a cocky grin. “Three-time winner at the Royal Marines Corps Boxing Championships.”
Dom let out a low whistle. “That’s fucking impressive, man.”
Max, meanwhile, was now sneering at Xander. “You’re a Marine?”
Xander’s smile turned cold. “Seven years.”
“He’s back to being a civvy now,” I added, hoping to alleviate the tension creeping in around us again. “Just like you guys.”
“Marines,” Max drawled, a hard glint in the one eye that was visible. “Tell me, what instrument did you play?”
It was the same thing Dom had asked me when he found out. I didn’t know what it meant now any more than I did then, but from the look of thunder that passed over Xander’s face, he knew.
“Original,” Xander said. “Not that I expect anything better from a squaddie who probably hid behind his superiors all his life.”
Max growled, but before he could move, Dom barked out a word. “Pinecone, Max.”
To my amazement, my twin settled back in his seat with a grumble.
“That’s what you said to Mimic at the party.”
“It’s their code word,” Xander said. “Something innocuous that tells them to fall in line or basically stop whatever they’re doing.”
Huh. “Did you have one?”
“Potassium.”
That caught Max’s interest. “Why?”
Xander gave Max a withering look. “Evidently you didn’t pay attention in chemistry. What happens when you mix potassium and salt water?”
“Things go ‘boom,’” I answered for Max. “Clever. I don’t understand pinecone though.”
“Oh it’s nothing as intelligent as that.” Dom chuckled. “Have you ever shoved a pinecone up your arse? Might seem like a good idea at first, but you’ll end up in a world of pain.”
My lips parted. “Please tell me you aren’t speaking from experience.”
“Nah,” Dom said, his eyes heating as they lingered on me. “Haven’t put anything up there…yet.”
Xander choked on his beer as my cheeks flamed. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Everyone around this table knows what he means,” Max said. “He’s not exactly subtle.”
“I’m not,” Dom said. “Speaking of which—Xander, you need to swap seats with Ryan.”
Was he crazy? “That’s a terrible idea.”
Max grunted. “I agree.”
Xander sighed. “As much as I hate to agree with anything Max says, it is a terrible idea.”
“Probably, but you made a promise,” Dom said cheerfully. “So up you get.”
I glared at Xander as he stood next to me. “Wanna explain the promises you’ve been making to Dominic?”
“Not really,” Xander said sweetly. “Now be a good bestie and switch places.”
“If you were a good bestie, you wouldn’t be making me do this,” I muttered as I got to my feet. “You’re meant to be on my side.”
Xander clasped my shoulder, lowering his voice so no one else could hear it. “You might not believe me now, but this is me being on your side.”
Dick. Why was it that I was destined to be surrounded by men who believed they always knew what was best for me?
Worse, why did I like it?
I ignored Dom as I slid into the seat beside him. The booth wasn’t massive to start with. I hadn’t really noticed it next to Max, but here with Dominic? I measured every single inch that was between us and wished for several more.
Naturally, Dom erased any space that did exist by shifting until his legs were spread wide. I sucked in a breath as our bodies connected. My right hip to his left. Our knees pressed together. Feet brushing underneath the table.
“Really?” I asked in exasperation. “Do you really need that much room?”
“Yep.” He winked. “This is the comfiest position for both of us. At the moment, anyway.”
That innuendo didn’t escape me any more than the first had. Fortunately, Max and Xander were bickering about something and didn’t hear him. “Stop being inappropriate.”
Dom’s eyes dropped to my mouth. “Make me.”
Fuck. I shifted in my seat, willing myself not to get hard. Naturally, my body ignored me. “I’m not playing this game with you.”
“Yes, you are. You can’t resist it.”
I ignored him, taking a long glug of my beer. I’d made the switch when we came to this place. Necking whisky at the rate I had been would’ve seen me being rolled out of here. I had to fight myself not to grimace at the bitter flavour. I might be able to tolerate it now, but it wasn’t my favourite.
Dom’s fingers started moving up and down his thigh. Not mine. But given how we were pressed together, I felt the tantalising brush of them with every lap.
“Speaking of my arse, how are we looking on a timeline?” Dom asked.
I hissed, looking pointedly at Max and Xander. “Are you actually insane?”
“They’re too focused on tearing each other apart.” Somehow he managed to shuffle even closer, his mouth a mere breath from my ear. “But I can whisper like this if you prefer. So, when’s it happening? I know you’ve been thinking about it.”
“I have not,” I shot back in a harsh whisper, twisting to see his face. Amusement glimmered in his dark eyes.
“Liar,” he whispered. His fingers moved faster, never quite touching me fully, but enough to have my traitorous body leaning into him. “Unless you’ve been thinking about me inside you. I’m down for that too.”
I tried to lean away. I really did. But for some reason, I didn’t move. “Nothing like that’s going to happen between us. I’m with Kate.”
“Kate, who is nowhere to be seen.” Dom made a show of looking around us before continuing. “Who has insisted the two of you are having a break before the wedding. If it was our wedding, I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”
I blinked as his words sent an unexpected lance of pain through me. “Because you don’t trust me?”
“No, Shadow, because I can’t stand the thought of being apart from you.”
I swallowed as the pain sharpened into something older. More familiar. “Shame you didn’t always feel that way.”
His lips twisted. “I’m a changed man now.”
“So am I. Which is why nothing is going to happen between us.”
“Something’s already happened.” Dom tilted his head mockingly. “Or are you going to sit there and lie to me about the other night? Before you were sick?”
I stiffened before shooting a quick glance at Xander and Max. They were still arguing so intensely they’d likely forgotten we were even here. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about how you got off while thinking of me.” Dom’s breath was hot against my ear. His hand ghosted up the side of my neck and I had to bite my lip to contain my whimper. “How you’re going to think about me tonight when you get home too.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t be ashamed, Shadow. I’ll be thinking of you too.”
Enough. I had to leave. Had to put some distance between myself and Dominic before he did something stupid.
Or I did.
I picked up my jacket from the back of the booth and hung it strategically across my arm. “I’m off.”
Xander and Max both jolted. Max looked around wildly, like he was reminding himself where he was. Xander, however, was glaring at him in a way that was vaguely threatening. He didn’t look away from Max as he spoke. “Want me to come?”
I shook my head as I slid from the booth. “Nope, you guys stay. I can get myself home.”
“I’ll join you.” Dom braced his hands on the table. “I’m ready to get back too.”
His eyes met mine and he smirked, letting me know exactly what was going to happen when he got home.
“Absolutely not,” I hissed, shoving his shoulder until he hit the other side of the booth. “You want to get to know Xander? Well, here’s your chance. Or can you still not follow through on your promises?”
Dom’s tongue flicked out over his lower lip. “Someone taught you to play well.”
Harsh muffled voices told me Xander and Max were arguing again. It gave me the confidence to lean on the table, closing the distance between Dom and me. “Difference is, I know how to win now too.”
“I’d say we’re both winning.” Dom’s gaze drifted down to my coat, as though he could see the bulge underneath. “Because you’re going to go home now, thinking of me. Just like I planned.”
I wasn’t going to think of him.
I wasn’t.
As soon as I got home, I tried to call Kate. Just like every other time since our text exchange, it rang endlessly before her cheerful recorded voice told me to leave a message.
I hung up. I’d left half a dozen already. If she hadn’t told me not to expect an answer, I’d be panicking. But knowing that, I was just…confused. She obviously had signal if the calls were connecting, so why didn’t she want to talk to me?
Maybe I should obsess about that, about why I didn’t really care, but there was little point. What’s more, there was little room for it in my head.
Not with Dominic taking up all available space.
Grumpy, frustrated, and horny, I took a cold shower. I stayed under it until I was shivering, refusing to stroke my aching cock or touch my hole, which felt strangely empty.
It was no good. Nothing helped. Dom had known exactly what he was doing tonight. He’d forced himself into my space until nothing except him existed.
And it had fucking worked.