Chapter 5
FIVE
march
PENELOPE
“Guess who’s coming to Trivia Night tonight?” Chloe sings as she takes a sip of her iced coffee.
I'm busy restocking books that were left lying around by lingerers— the ones who come in with their coffees, choose a stack of books to read, and stay for hours without making a purchase— after the Friday night rush while Chloe follows me around.
“Who?”
“Guess.”
It’s been a long day and I really don’t have the energy to play this game with Chloe.
I’m twice as tired and sore as normal since Chloe dragged me to the gym after I got off work yesterday.
While I’m not necessarily smashing my New Year’s goals, I’m trying to stick with the basics.
This is the first year I’ve stepped foot in the gym after February, so that has to mean something, right?
My eyes flicker to the register, where Dominic is counting down the drawer and preparing cash for the safe.
If I was being honest with myself, it’s a lot easier to stick to my “lose weight” resolution when I work with the human equivalent of a Greek god.
The man is decidedly fit and sculpted in all the right places; we only share a few shifts a week, but it’s enough of a reminder that maybe one day I could physically be compatible with him.
Maybe. Not that he would ever notice me that way.
He probably still sees a vision of brace-face, frizzy-haired Penelope from fifteen years ago.
Dom looks up from counting the cash to eye me and Chloe. Startled at being caught staring, I blurt out, “Dominic?”
“What?” he asks.
“Are you coming to Trivia Night?”
Chloe tilts her head at me curiously. I didn’t need to tell her I have a crush on Dominic– she knew the moment she met him briefly in January.
It’s impossible to keep secrets like this from my best friend, and honestly, I’m appreciative that she lets me gush about how perfect he is in private while pretending to be polite co-workers in public.
“No.” Dominic gives me a look. “Pretty sure your friend was talking about someone else.”
Chloe clears her throat. “You should still come. If you’re not doing anything after this.”
He hesitates then shrugs his shoulders. “Okay.” Focusing his attention back on the cash, I spin around to face Chloe with my mouth parted in shock.
In the few months he’s been here, Dominic has never shown any interest in being social.
I’ve invited him out a few times, but he’s always made an excuse.
“Wait,” I mumble, “who were you talking about?”
“Oh, Andrew Bastian!”
“Seriously?” This is even more shocking than Dom agreeing to go. Andrew owns the coffee shop down the street and, until Dominic showed up, he held the title of my biggest crush. With short, blond hair, a rugged build, and an outrageous sense of humor, there was little I didn’t adore about him.
It’s been years of pining for the man. Popping in the cafe before, and sometimes after, my shifts just to see him and say hi. Surely at some point he’s had to realize? To notice that the curvy bookstore manager comes in far more often than a regular customer?
Chloe grins as she tosses her dark hair over her shoulder. “What can I say? I randomly asked him while picking this up earlier.” She rattles her near-empty iced coffee.
“Just like that? And he said yes?” A kernel of doubt blooms, but I swat it away.
“Yeah. So now you have two hotties coming to Trivia Night,” she whispers. “What are you gonna do?”
“Chloe!” I hiss, peeking over my shoulder to ensure Dominic can’t hear us.
He can’t, because he’s apparently brought the cash to the safe in the back.
Realizing that I’ve done the bare minimum on closing duties, I rush around the store to finish the reshelves.
By the time Dominic emerges from the back room, he’s wearing a worn leather coat.
“Where is this place?”
Swallowing hard, I stutter out, “Just down the-there. Down there, the street over there.”
“Oh my god, Pen,” Chloe says, barely holding back her laughter. “Go get your coat and let’s go.”
Face aflame, I rush past Dominic toward the break room to grab my coat and purse. It would be really, really unfortunate if I continued to stutter out my words during trivia with Dominic and Andrew in attendance.
Trivia Night is at Coach’s Corner, the sports bar just off the main downtown drag.
It’s always busy, drawing in both serious trivia fanatics and casual players.
We fall into the latter category, attending when it works for our schedules.
The prizes are never anything to write home about, but the drink specials can be good.
And right now, sitting at a long high-top table across from Dominic and next to Andrew?
It’s one of my favorite places in the world.
I’m already on my second vodka soda because my nerves have me taking sips every thirty seconds.
Dom looks uncomfortable and I can tell a loud, crowded bar isn’t his thing.
Andrew has spent most of the time talking to Chloe, who’s sitting on his other side.
Our other team players include Jasper, Chloe’s cousin, and Lincoln, Jasper’s boyfriend.
“Okay, teams, question number four coming up. Ah, perfect for you young adult fantasy nerds out there.” There’s a smattering of claps and shouts. “In The Chronicles of Narnia, who owns the house with the wardrobe?”
Our team huddles in and Chloe says, “Pen knows this” at the exact time Dominic says, “I know this.”
We collectively look at him, stunned since he’s been silent ever since we arrived thirty minutes ago. Dom tilts his head toward me, as if waiting for me to say the answer. Shaking my head, I say, “No, you do it.” I reach for the paper and pen in the center of the table, sliding it his way.
His hand brushes mine as he takes the pen and I feel the same sort of buzz at the contact as I did when I looked closely at his tattoo last month.
Dominic’s body is all hard, sharp lines, juxtaposed by soft skin.
I’m a sucker for forearms, the way his are covered in tattoos has me almost drooling.
I’m also a sucker for hands, and his are large, veiny— just very masculine.
Listen, apparently I’m just a sucker for Dom.
As he writes the answer down, Andrew keeps the conversation going.
It’s hard to hear him over all the chatter in the bar, and he continues to lean to his right, facing away from me.
It’s not until Jasper says, “Oh come on now. That’s not very nice,” that my ears perk up and I start paying closer attention.
He’s got a grin on his face though, so I want to know what was said.
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear.”
Andrew turns toward me a bit, still laughing. “I was just saying how pathetic it must be to be an adult enjoying middle grade fiction.” A sinking feeling in my stomach anchors me to my seat and I find myself at a loss for words. So, Andrew continues, “Some people just need to grow up.”
I can feel Dominic’s and Chloe’s eyes on me.
Chloe at least knows how desperately I’ve been a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia series for most of my life.
Even now, as an “adult,” it’s still incredibly meaningful to me.
And here is this attractive guy that I’ve been silently crushing on for years, sharing such a humiliating opinion of people like me.
Blinking back emotion, I force myself to breathe.
“Yeah, kind of like those Disney adults. Can’t decide which is worse, to be honest! Oh wait, I’m both.” The words tumble out of my mouth and I hate myself for them, because I’m both a middle grade fiction fan and Disney adult. “Excuse me, I’m going to grab another drink.”
Sliding off my stool, I head to the bar even though I left half of my drink on the table.
I’m not sure why it hurts to hear Andrew speak that way about something important to me.
I don’t know him, never really did. Maybe it’s a good thing he said that, because now I don’t have to carry on wasting my time crushing on him anymore.
The bar is packed, so I politely push and shove my way around groups clumped here and there.
Once I see a fragment of an opening, I slide my way up to the bar and pray the groups on either side will give me a bit more room, but what I have is enough.
I order a shot of Jack, hoping the searing burn of the whiskey will wash the disappointment away so I can go back and focus on the rest of the questions.
The whisky makes my eyes water and as I walk back to the table, I take a detour to the restroom.
I know I’ve missed a question or two at this point, but I don’t really care.
I’m about to push open the women’s restroom door when I hear raised voices coming from around the corner.
There’s a hallway that leads to a back entrance, usually frequented by smokers.
The voices are familiar so I peek my head around, my heart jumping into my throat when I see it’s Dominic and Andrew.
Dominic has his back to me, hands shoved into the pockets of his leather coat, and he’s so tall, I can’t see Andrew at all.
“Come on, man,” Andrew says easily, “she’s an adult. I’m sure her feelings aren’t hurt by what I said.”
“If you’re into her, you should apologize. That’s all I’m saying.” Dominic's voice holds disappointment, but wait, what? Andrew? Into me? The thought brings a spark of excitement, but it's quickly extinguished by his next words.
“Into Penelope?” Andrew laughs. The sound echoes in my heart, breaking it into pieces. “You’re joking. Oh shit, you’re not joking. Dude, I only came because Chloe invited me.”
Sighing, I start to turn and head back to the table, but Andrew continues, his words holding me in place.
"Plus, I'm not sure what kind of women you're attracted to, but physically Penelope is at the bottom of the barrel. I'm not into overweight women who don't take care of themselves."
The words are like knives, slicing me up and down, exposing every vulnerable part. It’s a mix of humiliation and anger, shame and regret. I don’t stick around to hear how this plays out. Back at the table, I grab my purse. “Not feeling good,” I mumble to Jasper, Lincoln, and Chloe.
“Babe, are you okay?” Chloe knows me better than anyone, so she can tell I’m not sick. My face burns as I shake my head. I don’t trust myself to keep the tears at bay if I say any more. Nodding at me, Chloe says, “I’ll text you later.”
Throwing my coat on, I hustle out of the bar before I have to face Dominic or Andrew and walk home alone.
After a night of brief wallowing, I wake up feeling refreshed and lighter than the night before.
Chloe had texted me that neither Dominic nor Andrew returned to the table after I left, but that our team still came in third place.
She asked what was wrong about five times, but I wasn’t ready to share the details.
Actually, I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable enough to share this humiliating experience, even with my closest friend.
I’m not about to let Andrew’s words leave a lasting hurt on me– he’s not worth that. And hey, at this point, I should probably thank him because I’ll be saving money by never going to his cafe again. Maybe I’ll buy myself some new books instead, as a little treat. Girl math, or whatever.
When I get to the store later that afternoon Gloria greets me from her spot at the register.
“Good afternoon, Penny.”
“Hey, Gloria. Let me put my coat and purse in the locker and then we can discuss next month’s events?”
She nods, glancing warily at the break room door. “Sure. If you see Dom back there just… well, don’t say anything.”
Stopping just short of the door, I freeze. “What do you mean?”
Gloria smirks, eyebrows raised. “You’ll see.”
Punching in the code, I enter the break room.
Dominic is standing by the column of lockers with his back to me.
He’s wearing the hell out of a pair of Wrangler jeans and a vintage Paul McCartney band tour shirt.
Is he ever not looking fine as hell? Not wanting to make it awkward, I head toward him, saying, “Sorry about last night. I wasn’t feeling—”
My words die on my lips as Dom turns. His cheek is bruised and there’s a cut on his lip.
“What happened?” I gasp, my hand instinctively reaching for his face. He jerks away and walks past me, allowing me to get to the lockers. “Dominic!” I cry his name as he’s about to storm out to the floor.
He tenses and I can see the tick of annoyance in his jaw. “You should see the other guy,” Dom says, turning to me with a smirk that pulls at the cut on his lip before he walks out the door. “See you tomorrow, Pea.”
On my break later, I go for a walk, passing by Andrew’s coffee shop without any intention of going in.
As I glance through the glass, I see him clearly at the register, and I’m stunned enough to stop walking and simply stare.
Andrew has a black eye, a swollen lip, and, oh god, are those bruises on his neck?
Oh my god. He looks up and I avert my gaze, walking at a fast pace to clear the windows of his shop.
Did Dominic do that? Because of what Andrew said? I don’t recall Dom ever being a violent person, but then again, I would’ve said the same thing about Andrew. I guess you never really know?
A buzz courses through my body, and suddenly I understand how the main characters in my dark romance books feel. The thought of Dominic doing that for me– defending me. It shouldn’t feel so flatteringly hot, but damn it does.