Chapter 29
I heave the sliding door shut with a bang and grab my phone off the kitchen counter, typing out an SOS text to Dom as soon as I get inside.
Rex needs to hear the message loud & clear. Up for a little fun?
He sends back a reply.
Are you okay? Did something happen?
I groan and punch in my response.
I’m fine. Rex told me he misses me. It’s time to squash any last thoughts of a rekindling.
Three little dots appear under Dom’s last text, then disappear, then appear again. I wait for his reply, but it doesn’t pop up. Just as I’m about to explain more, feeling like maybe Dom isn’t having as much fun as he was when we first started this little charade, I hear the ping come in.
Is it time to play out that scene from When Harry Met Sally through those walls? How nuclear are we talking here?
I laugh out loud. I love that scene.
Let’s save the big guns for when we really need them. I was thinking we could invite them over for dinner at my place.
His response is almost immediate.
You want us to have dinner with your ex?
A warning shot fires in my stomach. Is this taking it too far? I want Rex to get the message that I’ve moved on, just as much as he has. I don’t want to be worried that he’s going to come corner me on the beach every time I’m walking back to the townhouse alone.
Another text comes in, just as I’m about to take it all back.
I’m in.
I suck in a breath.
Can you be here by five? I’ll make sure they can make it.
Those three little dots play another round of hide and seek, blinking on, then off, then on again before his answer comes in.
Game on. I’ll bring a few things to grill.
My nerves get the best of me, and by the time Dom shows up with a big bag full of steaks and veggies to throw on the grill, I’m already shaky. I’m glad I had the good sense to let Pru outside, since I’m not quite ready to explain that one yet.
“Hello!” I exclaim, throwing open the front door. “You ready for this?”
He laughs before stepping inside. Juju and Rex are out back on the patio, Rex’s arm looped protectively around her waist. I made sure to extend the invitation to Juju, so Rex couldn’t decline on their behalf. I can tell he’s nervous that the truth of our recent relationship is going to slip out whenever I’m around. And, by this point, I feel like he’s already dug himself into a hole that he can’t climb out of once the truth finally does come out.
We make our way out to the deck, and Dom quickly gets to work on the grill. Once the food is sizzling, he slips an arm around my waist and settles in, leaning us both against the rail.
Juju brought over a pitcher of her homemade mai tais, which is already half gone, while the sun is starting its evening light show. This time it’s a glowy array of golden and amber tones, sunlight bouncing across the surface of the waves like someone’s released ten thousand microscopic diamonds from the sky, each one tiny and alive.
“You look stunning tonight,” Dom tells me, leaning in for a kiss.
I let his lips linger against mine, feeling the weight of Rex’s eyes on my skin.
When we pull away, Juju is fanning herself.
“You two are making it hotter than it already is out here!” she exclaims, leaning into Rex. She looks up at him as if she wishes he would kiss her like that, but he doesn’t. He just leans his elbows against the rail, acting far too invested in the sunset taking place behind us.
“Let’s play a round of truth or truth!” Juju calls out after everyone’s tumbler has been freshly refilled.
Rex scoffs loudly, like he’s heard this request from her before.
I truly don’t know what I ever saw in him. He seems like a major killjoy whenever I’m around him now.
“I don’t think they want to—” Rex begins, just as Dom agrees to play.
“What is truth or truth?” I ask, eyeing Rex since he looks so adamantly opposed.
“It’s just like truth or dare, except it’s only truths,” Juju explains. “Just a fun way to break the ice while we wait for the food. I used to play it in college all the time.”
Dom cocks one eye at me.
“Aren’t the dares the best part? Why leave them out?” he asks suggestively, squeezing my hip. Then he plants a kiss on my temple while I lean into him. “Though I guess we don’t really need a dare to have fun...”
I giggle as his kisses make their way down to my jawline — Rex rolls his eyes before looking away again.
“We haven’t been in college for a long time,” he mumbles at Juju, taking a stiff gulp of his drink.
“I’ll start!” Juju calls out, ignoring him. Then she studies the three of us each individually before digging her eyes into me.
“Liv, tell us the last time something horribly embarrassing happened to you,” she says gleefully, totally unaware that the last global embarrassment I experienced stemmed from me proposing to her boyfriend on live TV.
I should just admit it. Get it all over with and out in the open.
Rex glares at me, then swallows, blinking frantically.
I smile at Juju and feel myself turning pink when I remember a much more recent moment of embarrassment. One that still truthfully answers the question without ruining her night.
“Well,” I start, tilting my gaze up to Dom. A full-blown smirk filled with appreciation takes over his face when he realizes the story I’m thinking of, forcing a deep blush to stain my cheeks. Nothing about this is acting for me. “My bikini top washed off during my surf lesson with Dom the other day,” I confess, looking at Juju.
“Jesus Christ,” Rex mutters, snapping his attention away from me.
“What?” Juju shrieks, then breaks into laughter. “Girl, if I had a dollar for every time my nipple popped out while surfing, I’d be filthy rich.”
“That’s never happened while we’ve been surfing.” Rex shoots her a look as if he’s personally hurt that her nipples don’t make a surprise appearance around him.
“Honey, it’s not like I can plan it,” she assures him. “Besides, it usually involves being in stronger waves than what you’re comfortable with.”
She doesn’t say it like a jab, but Dom erupts into laughter, then quiets himself by kissing the top of my head, snuffing out his final chuckles into my hair.
Rex glares at him, but Dom doesn’t seem to be bothered, if he’s even noticed Rex’s reaction at all.
“What about you, Rex?” I ask, baiting him. “When was the last time you were deeply embarrassed in front of a big crowd of people?”
I grin at him innocently. Dom squeezes me in closer to him, knowing that I’m poking the bear.
“I don’t think a crowd of people was part of the question.” Rex frowns, knitting his brows together like he can’t recall a time when he was humiliated.
“Oh, just answer the question, babe!” Juju trills, smiling up at him.
“Uh, it had to be the time I tripped up the sales pitch in front of my boss. I started selling the guys at Pyrex the Dover line instead of the Duel.”
I scrunch up my face at him like he doesn’t understand the assignment. Then I notice Dom and Juju giving him the same look.
The deck is silent for a beat before Juju pipes up. “No, it had to be that time at Christmas when the waiter got your order wrong. Remember? You were so embarrassed about—”
Christmas?
I narrow my eyes at Rex.
Rex quickly interrupts Juju by planting a kiss on her lips.
When he pulls back, he calmly brushes her hair back from her face. “Yes, I remember that, you’re right. The time the waiter got my order wrong and the kid at the table next to us came and swiped it off us when he realized it was his. But that wasn’t Christmas, sweetheart. Dom, I think you’re up, man.”
“I could have sworn that was Christmas.” She looks confused.
“You don’t happen to have any more of that mai tai mix in the fridge, do you, babe?” Rex motions to the nearly empty pitcher.
I silently stare at Rex as Juju busies herself by refilling the pitcher inside.
Rex smiles tightly in my direction, before asking Dom some stupid question about the grill, taking his immediate attention away from me while I silently do the math.
Juju had to have gotten it wrong.
How could she be remembering something that happened at Christmas, if I was busy humiliating myself by proposing to him on Valentine’s Day?