Chapter 32 - Ryan #2
My relationship with my twin was…improving.
I thought he’d expected to see less of Dominic now we were together, but coming between them hadn’t been what I wanted when I was eighteen, and I was determined that it wasn’t going to happen now.
Whenever I went out with Xander, I encouraged Dominic to see Max.
Occasionally, if Xander was busy, I’d join the two of them.
Both of them made it clear I was always invited, but I felt it was important for them to have time together too.
And now I knew Dom had never wanted Max that way, jealousy didn’t enter into it.
If anything, I wanted them to be closer than they were.
There was no escaping the rift that Max had caused in their friendship all those years ago.
He’d been trying to stop Dominic slipping further away from him, but the results had almost had him slipping out of his reach.
I was determined to make things right between them. Their bond was as special as the one I shared with Xander. It crushed me to think they’d lost it.
The one thing we never did was meet with Xander and Max together. Their relationship had started out rocky, the foundation growing shakier with every passing meeting. I had no idea why, either. Xander had been able to forgive Dominic. Hell, I’d been able to forgive Max.
But, for whatever reason, Xander couldn’t let it go.
It wasn’t even his past, but he held on to his grudge for all it was worth.
I didn’t know if that was why Max disliked him so, or if there was something else there entirely.
Whatever was going on between them, it wasn’t getting resolved any time soon. Or maybe ever, realistically.
Another difference had been me stepping down from the Blackthorn account—a decision that had not gone down well with Dominic.
I got it, I did. Neither of us wanted another person to take over their account.
It’d affect my sales target in the long term, and Dominic had been looking forward to lots of ‘meetings’ with me.
But I’d been running a risk with the conflict of interest in the first place.
Now that we were together? I couldn’t make that fly.
Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought it would. I think returning to art had a large part to play there. Dominic had come home one night, buzzing about a local college he’d been investigating and all the art classes they offered for adults.
I’d been reluctant to go to my first one. Drawing Dominic was one thing, but exploring my art surrounded by others was something else entirely. But five minutes into the initial session, I was hooked.
Dominic was right. Art made me happy.
Just as he did.
There were many ways we were enriching each other’s lives. And, stood on his dad’s doorstep, we were about to embark on another.
“You okay?” I asked, side-eyeing Dominic.
“Yup.” He exhaled sharply before shaking his head. “Fuck, why is this so hard? It doesn’t make any sense. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him since I’ve been back.”
“It’s the first time we’ve seen him as a couple,” I said, drawing him into my arms. “Not counting the day we got together.”
He gave me a tiny smirk. “You mean the day you broke his porch and threw him out of his own house?”
“Meh, he forgave me.” I shrugged. “He wouldn’t hold it against us, not when it’s something that’s made us both so happy.”
“Why am I having such a hard time with this?” He leaned his forehead against mine, swaying slightly in my hold. “I know he wants me to be happy. He wants us to be happy. But for some reason…”
“It’s hard to accept that,” I finished for him. “I get it. He spent most of your life making you unhappy. Now that you’re not, you’re scared he might take that away from you. It’s not a rational fear, but it’s there nonetheless.”
“Fuck, I think you might be right.” He closed his eyes. “Even though I know it won’t happen, deep down, I’m worried he’ll try to ruin this.”
“He won’t, but I understand. It’s hard to let someone in fully when they’ve hurt you so badly in the past.”
Dom sighed. “But you gave me a chance, so I should give him one.”
“You’ve already given Frank a chance,” I reminded him.
“He didn’t fuck it up, either. But yes, if you’re asking my opinion, I think we should go inside and have dinner.
As terrified as you are, I guarantee Frank is feeling the same.
Worse, even. He’s having his son and his son’s new partner around socially for the first time.
A son he’s fucked up with beyond reason.
Trust me, he’s got more riding on this than you have. ”
“He didn’t fuck up with you,” Dom said quietly, brushing my hair out of my eyes.
I was long past needing a haircut, but I secretly loved it when he did that.
So much so that I kept quietly changing my appointment at the barbers.
“That’s what makes me forgive him the most. He kept you safe, and helped you up when I failed to. I’ll always owe him for that.”
I raised a brow warningly. “No revisiting the past, remember?”
Dom just rolled his eyes. “We’re literally doing that by being here, Shadow. It’s not like we can forget it completely.”
I kissed him until his ire dissolved. “I’m sorry. I don’t want us to forget it, I just don’t want you punishing yourself for it.”
A sly smirk twisted his lips. “Maybe you should punish me by spanking me.”
I barked a laugh. If he was making innuendos, then Dom was back to his usual self. “Behave during this dinner, and maybe I’ll make that happen.”
Dom sighed and raising a hand to use the knocker. I had my keys, of course. Frank had offered Dom a set too, but he didn’t think the time was right.
The time wasn’t right for me to just let us in either. Dom had to be the one to take this step.
“Thinking about it, I’m not sure I’ll fit on your lap. Is there a special spanking bench or something we can invest in?”
Frank opened the door halfway through Dominic’s sentence. Dom, being Dom, saw it all the way through to the end. By the time he got there, both me and his dad were blushing furiously.
“Hi, Frank,” Dom chirped, tucking his arm around my shoulders. “Ready for dinner?”
Frank blinked a few times as he collected himself. Then a slow grin worked over his face. “Sure am. There’s a few minutes though, if the two of you have some online shopping to do.”
Dominic barked a laugh, slapping his father on the shoulder as he disappeared through the front door.
I watched after them, torn between utter joy and slight trepidation.
Dinner with two Walker men.
I hoped I knew what I was letting myself in for.
“See? That wasn’t too bad,” I said as we closed the door behind us. “Although I could’ve lived without the two of you ganging up on me.”
“Frank was just catching me up on some of what I missed.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were losing sleep not knowing about the time I fell face-first into the maggot tray. And I’m definitely sure he needed to learn about the night at sixth form when I drank too much rosé and started talking to a tree.”
Dom kissed my temple. “You know it was all said with love.”
“I know.” I sighed dramatically. “It’s a full-time job being loved by the Walker men.”
“Speaking of, did you see how he blushed when you mentioned your mum?”
I snickered. “Oh, there’s definitely something going on there. I told her we were having dinner with him when I saw her last week. She got so flustered that she put milk in the detergent slot of the washing machine.”
Dom smacked his hand against his face. “Yep. They’re definitely something, alright.”
“Think they’ll tell us soon?”
“Hopefully.” Dom paused as we got to his car. “Although if I thought this dinner was weird, how odd will family dinners be then?”
“At least Christmas will be easy to navigate. No worries about who to spend it with if we’re all together.” I nodded at the car. “Are we getting in or just admiring the paintwork?”
“Actually, I was thinking we could take a walk.” He held out a hand. “If you fancy it?”
I shrugged and slid my hand into his. “Sure.”
“Feels nice doing this,” he said after a few minutes.
“Exercise?” I quipped. “Yes, it’s known to have its benefits.”
“Prick,” he said fondly, nudging me with his shoulder. “I meant holding your hand on my old road. We never did this back then.”
Oh. “I guess we didn’t.”
“I like that we don’t have to hide now. I want everyone to know I’ve got you locked down.”
I snorted. “Such a cheesy phrase.”
He winked. “You love it though.”
I did, because I loved him.
Twigs and leaves crunched under our boots as we made our way through the woods.
As we retraced paths from years gone by, we talked about our future.
The houses we were going to view the following week.
Dominic’s work Christmas party, which I was going to be his date to.
Whether we were going to do stockings for each other on Christmas morning.
The answer to that one was yes, obviously.
I wasn’t bothered, but Dominic was insistent.
I’d have objected more, but it was kind of cute how into it he was.
He’d spent ten years dreaming up new traditions for us as a couple, and I wanted nothing more than to make each and every one of them come true for him.
When I looked up, I realised suddenly where Dominic had led us. “What are we doing here?”
Dom shrugged as we walked alongside the now disused train track. “Feels like this place is important. It’s where we first agreed to be together. Where you came when it all went to shit.”
I squeezed his hand. “Let’s not focus on that.”
“I’m not,” he said, coming to a halt and facing me. “But I thought maybe we could make a new memory here. One to replace the last one you have.”
I curled my hands around the collar of his jacket. “If it’s sex, I’m going to have to disappoint you. There’s a good chance my balls will freeze and drop off if I get them out in this weather.”
“Probably as statistically likely as mine exploding,” Dom deadpanned. “But no, that’s not what I meant. I got you a present.”
“But Christmas isn’t for another few weeks.”
“Humour me.” Dom nuzzled his nose against mine. “I’m too excited about this to wait.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Wait, are you—”
“No,” Dom said hurriedly. “Not yet, at least.”
“Good.” I relaxed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry Dom.
I’d marry him tomorrow if I could. But we’d agreed we should wait a few months.
Our first romance had been a whirlwind, and there’d been nothing slow about it this time around either.
Neither of us wanted to rush to the altar.
Didn’t mean I wanted to wait too long though. “Soon, yes?”
“You got it, Shadow.” Dom reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Here. Open it.”
He was bouncing on his heels as I took it from him. Two rectangles of cardboard fell out. I read the inscription before a laugh of disbelief left me. “You didn’t.”
“It’s the same date we originally saw them on,” Dom said excitedly. “I can’t believe I managed to snag them. You have no idea how hard it was.”
“I do, actually,” I said, more laughter bubbling in my chest. I took my phone out of my pocket and thumbed through until I found the email. “Merry Christmas, love.”
Dom’s jaw swung comically wide as he stared at the screen. “Wait, you got me tickets too? For the same date?”
“Yep.” I shook my head. “Guess great minds do think alike.”
“Fuck, I love you.” Dom was laughing as well now. “This is brilliant.”
“I love you too,” I said, brushing my lips against his. “You were worth the wait, Dominic.”
“Ditto. I’d wait another decade if it meant a shot at being with you.”
He would. He meant that with every fibre of his being. Dominic had never had any trouble visualising our future, but I had. God, I was so fucking grateful I’d woken up when I did. That I’d seen the happiness that was just within reach.
And that all I’d needed to do was to reach out and grab it.
We kissed until our ears were numb. Until we couldn’t ignore the cold any longer. Walking back to the car, hand in hand and giggling like the teenagers we’d once been, I knew Dom had been successful.
This new memory would definitely overwrite the last one.
When we got to the car, his gave me a sneaky grin. “You know, it’s just occurred to me that we have two spare tickets.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to sell them,” I said, getting into the car and rubbing my hands together for warmth. Dom followed quickly, sliding behind the wheel. “Shouldn’t be hard. They’re in high demand.”
“Or,” he said, his eyes sparkling, “hear me out. How about we take people with us?”
I cocked my head, intrigued by the mischievous glee rolling off of him. “Who were you thinking?”
“Well, our best friends have a habit of interfering. Maybe it’s time for them to get a taste of their own medicine.”
I groaned. “Dom, that’s a terrible idea.”
“Think about it, Shadow. Wouldn’t it be easier if they could be in the same room for longer than five minutes without trying to kill each other?”
“Yes, but I can’t see that happening.”
“We don’t quit,” Dom said cheerfully. “We’re fighters, and we keep fighting. Just wait and see, Ry. By the time I’m through, Max and Xander will be thick as thieves.”
I chuckled. “We’ll see. But I stand by my statement—this is a terrible idea.”
“So were we.” He lifted my cold hand and kissed it. “And just look at us now, Shadow.”