Twenty-Eight Dominic
Twenty-Eight
Dominic
I ’m excited to head to Mom’s for dinner. Justice and I will be sharing the good news about starting Fletcher Sports Management. We wanted to keep it to ourselves to prevent word from leaking out before the press release. Bless her heart, Mama is a notorious gossip and loves sharing stories with her neighborhood friends. Given the amount of scrutiny Justice will endure and my position in the sports industry, we both wanted to make sure our ducks were in a row. They are, and we’re ready to tell our family about our new endeavor.
I’m halfway there when Teagan calls. I thought she was having dinner with her own family. Did she tell her parents about me? If so, how did her father react? He was never my biggest fan. I doubt he would appreciate us getting close for fear I might reveal the truth about what happened. I won’t. I made a promise, and I keep my promises. Well, at least one of them. I’ve never told Teagan about his interference during our breakup or that I listened to his advice to stay away, back then. Now is a different story. She’s a different person with new dreams and goals.
I answer her call. “Hey, you. What’s going on? I thought you were having dinner with your parents.”
She sighs. “I was, but that ended rather abruptly.”
“Really?” My interest is piqued.
“My father was being a dictator as usual. Warning me to stay away from you. I’m not nineteen anymore. He doesn’t get to control me like he does my mother.”
“I haven’t seen your father in years—what does he have against me?” You already know. The truth. Mr. Williams is afraid I’ll tell Teagan about him sending me away.
“According to him, we don’t mesh because I’m no longer a tennis player. But that’s not it…” Her voice trails off and my ears perk up.
“What then?”
“He knew about our skating rink date. It’s like he’s having us followed or something. I know I’m being overly dramatic, but he was adamant I keep my distance from you, which of course makes me defiant. He has no say over what I do.”
I’m glad because I let Mr. Williams stick his nose where it didn’t belong once before. But he doesn’t get to dictate what happens between us now. Teagan and I do.
“Good. How about you join me for dinner at my mom’s?” The words are out of my mouth before I have a chance to change my mind.
“Dinner with your family?” Teagan sounds surprised. I don’t know why that should irk me, but it does. I know we said we’re a casual thing, but is dinner too much?
“Um, yeah, if you’re free. I’m on my way there now.” I give her the address.
“Are you sure? I mean, we’ve been seeing each other privately, but this is your family.”
“I know, and I’d like you to see everyone all grown up. They were babies when we got together.”
“Okay, I’d like that. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Excellent, I’ll see you then.” We end the call.
I don’t know why it pleases me that she’s agreed to come, but it does. I try not to analyze the why too hard, but instead bask in the knowledge that she’ll see me in my element. At the root of it all, I’m a family man.
When I arrive to my mama’s, Justice’s BMW is already parked in the driveway. I exit my Bentley and bring two bottles of champagne. Justice and I celebrated a couple of days ago, but it’s time to bring the rest of the fam into the mix. Instead of using my key, since it annoyed Mom so much, I ring the doorbell, and Ciera comes to the door.
She and I may share the same mother, but we look nothing alike. Her skin tone, eye and hair color must take after her father. Her skin is the color of honey, her eyes are light brown and she’s got a curvy figure—unlike the rest of us, who run on the long, lean side.
“Hey, Dom.” She smiles. “Come on in. Whatcha got there?” She peers into the bags with the bottles of champagne and her mouth forms an O. “Are we celebrating something?”
“You’ll see. C’mon.” I follow her into the kitchen to find Mama, Justice and Bliss with a man who appears to be a chef, if the black coat is any indication. He’s standing behind the stove flipping veggies in a sauté pan. I place the champagne in the fridge.
“You’re not cooking tonight?” I ask, giving Mama a kiss on the cheek. She’s dressed fashionably in a patterned silk loungewear set. Her hair is coiffed around her lightly made-up face.
“My days of cooking for the four of you—” Mama motions to me, Justice, Ciera and Bliss “—are over. So yes, I hired a private chef. What are you making, Chef Eddie?”
“First course is my infamous mini crab cakes with a little bit of citrus coleslaw. I also have some salmon Wellington bites with cream cheese cooked in a puff pastry until golden brown.”
“Sounds delicious,” I say, but the chef isn’t done giving his menu.
“Appetizers will be followed by a Caesar salad with cornbread croutons and my homemade dressing. Your mama told me you all like a good steak so I’m making USDA prime Hawaiian rib eye with a pineapple, soy and ginger marinade served with either wild rice salad or chateau potatoes.”
“I, for one, am starving,” my little sister Bliss states. “I ran thirteen miles today.”
“You did?” I inquire. “Why so long?”
“Bliss is running her first marathon,” Mama states proudly, “and we’re going to be there to cheer her on. Aren’t we, Ciera?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ciera says absentmindedly as she plays with her cell phone.
“Is there enough for one more?” I inquire.
Several pairs of eyes stare at me questioningly, but it’s Chef Eddie who speaks. “I always make extra. Another serving won’t be a problem.”
“Thanks, man.” I pat his shoulder and whisper to him to place some flutes at the dinner table and bring the champagne in with the first course. Then I head to the minibar in the living room for an adult beverage before the barrage of questions. I’m pouring myself a Tito on the rocks and taking a sip when I notice my entire family has followed me.
“Well?” Mama asks. “Don’t keep us in suspense. Who’s coming over?”
Justice smiles knowingly and Mama catches him. “Do you know something we don’t?”
He shrugs. “Nothing I care to tell. Dom, you going to fill them in?”
I don’t have to. The doorbell rings, signaling Teagan’s arrival. Her presence will be enough to have their tongues wagging. I rush to the door and beat Mama there. When I open it, Teagan is on the other side, looking beautiful and serene in a magenta dress that hugs her curves.
“Hey, gorgeous.” I bend down to kiss her cheek.
“Teagan?” Shock is written all over my mom’s face, and Teagan shoots daggers at me with her eyes.
“Hello, Mrs. Fletcher, so lovely to see you again.” Teagan hands her a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of red wine. “I wasn’t sure what to bring. I figured red was a safe choice.”
To Mama’s credit, she recovers quickly. “It will pair well with the steaks the chef is grilling. Come on in, it’s been too long.” Mama pulls Teagan into an embrace, and the women hug for several moments.
“I was just about to tell everyone you were coming,” I respond to Teagan’s unasked question.
Teagan quirks a brow as they separate.
“He was,” Mama responds, “but he was saved by the proverbial bell. Come. You have to meet the girls.” She circles her arm through one of Teagan’s. I grab the flowers and wine out of her hands. “They’re all grown up.”
I follow them into the living room. Bliss and Ciera both look at me in confusion while Justice has a smug look on his face. Teagan walks toward my younger sisters. “You probably don’t remember me because Dom and I—” Teagan glances over at me “—dated eons ago when you were just babies.”
“I wasn’t that young,” Ciera replies. “I remember you. You were going to be the next Serena Williams.”
Teagan nods. “Yeah, unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards.”
“How did you and Dominic, um, reunite?” Mama asks, grinning from ear to ear as she sits on the sofa.
Teagan laughs nervously. “I wouldn’t say we reunited, but our paths crossed.”
“And the rest is history?” Justice offers, coming toward her. “It’s good to see you again, Tee. I happen to be taller than you and no longer have a squeaky voice that sounds like a chipmunk.”
Justice’s lighthearted comments break the ice and the room dissolves into laughter. Soon Teagan sits on the sofa with the rest of the women in my family, catching up on old times. It’s amazing how easily she fits in with our small clan.
“It’s like she never left,” Justice states when he joins me near the bar where I’ve topped off my drink. I’m leaning against the column, observing Teagan’s interactions. She’s poised and confident.
“Yeah, feels that way,” I say.
“So is this serious?” Justice whispers. “Or are y’all, ya know, just kickin’ it?”
I stare down at him for several beats. “The latter. Teagan is content with her life. She doesn’t need me messing it up.”
In another lifetime, we could have been more, but not now. Teagan doesn’t want to be in my world, a world that castigated her and made her feel less than.
“Is that her talking or you?” Justice inquires. “Because you’re the one who can’t keep a relationship to save his life. It makes me wonder if you’ve been waiting for this.”
“For what?”
“For Teagan to come back.”
Justice leaves me with his revelation. It resonates. Come back to me . Is that what I want? What I’ve always wanted?
For years, I banished Teagan to the far recesses of my mind because I didn’t want to think about the connection and passion we shared. I only allowed myself to feel anger. Anger at her for believing I would abandon her when the chips were down. I had to believe those things, didn’t I? Because if I didn’t, all I’d have left is regret that I never righted the wrong I’d done by listening to her father instead of listening to my heart.
And now it appears as if it was all for naught. Despite the years apart, Teagan is still the only woman I’ve ever truly wanted. That’s a sobering thought. What all could we have had if I had made different choices?
“Dom, come over here.” Teagan motions me to her side. “I was telling Mrs. Fletcher that we went to the skating rink.”
“He went skating?” Ciera asks disbelievingly.
“I know you might find this hard to believe, but I can have fun from time to time, sis,” I reply.
“Ha ha,” Ciera snorts.
“Dinner is ready,” Chef Eddie announces. “It will be served in the dining room.”
As everyone heads there, I pull Teagan toward me and my mouth descends on hers. Like always, we catch fire.
That’s what Teagan does; she makes things shift and ignite inside me. I love every slide of her tongue against mine, and when she adjusts the angle of the kiss so I can go deeper, my heart thuds loudly in my chest. Any second, I’ll be ready to find the nearest room so she can come apart for me, but we’re interrupted by Bliss coughing loudly from the doorway.
“Ahem, dinner is ready,” Bliss states. “That’s if you guys can pry yourselves apart.”
“Get lost, squirt,” I say, and bend down to kiss Teagan again, but it’s she who places a finger on my lips.
“Dom, we have to go.” Then she swipes her thumb across my mouth. “My lipstick is all over you. Your family will know what we’ve been doing.”
I grin broadly. “I don’t care.”
“I do,” Teagan states exasperatedly. “I haven’t seen your mom in years. I don’t want her to think I’m some—some tart.”
I laugh, but relent and give her my hand. “All right, let’s go.”
We make our way to the dining room and sit in the two empty seats across from Justice, Ciera and Bliss with Mama at the head of the table. Mama says grace and then Chef Eddie brings in the first course along with both my bottles of bubbly.
I stand to my feet while everyone’s nibbling crab cakes and salmon Wellingtons and immediately twist the cork off the first bottle.
“What’s the champagne for?” Ciera inquires as I ask each family member to hand me their glass.
“You’ll see in a moment,” I say, and fill my and Teagan’s flutes last. When everyone has a glass, I hold mine in the air. “I’m here tonight not just for a family dinner but to celebrate my baby brother’s big accomplishment.”
“What accomplishment?” Mama asks. Her eyes grow wide with concern. “What don’t I know? I have to say, I don’t like being kept in the dark about what’s going on with you two.”
“This is a good one, Mama,” Justice responds with a broad smile.
“Allow me to congratulate Justice on the opening of Fletcher Sports Management. Cheers, everyone.” I push my flute in the air and we all clink glasses, but my mother doesn’t seem happy.
Justice turns to her. “What’s wrong, Ma? I thought you’d be happy for me.”
She forces a smile. “Of course I’m happy for you, Justice. I want the very best for all my kids, but starting a new company would take a huge capital investment. Where did you get the money?”
“From Dom.” Justice smiles at me. “I can’t thank you enough for believing in me and my vision.”
“You gave him the money?” Mama asks loudly, quieting the entire dinner table. Even Bliss and Ciera stop drinking and nibbling. “You told me I had to stop spending so much, but then you invest in Justice’s business? What the hell, Dom!”
My eyes darken and my blood boils in my veins. “What do you care? It’s my money and I can do with it as I wish. If I want to invest in Justice’s business—and he had a damn good prospectus by the way—then I’ll do just that. It’s completely different than me telling you to curb your spending habits on frivolous shit.”
“Frivolous!” Mama spits out. “I use that money to support me and your sisters.”
“Oh, here we go.” Justice rolls his eyes and I see him give Teagan an I’m-sorry look, but I’m too incensed by Mama’s reaction to let it go.
“Don’t you dare try to make me feel bad. You, Ciera and Bliss have everything you need and then some.”
“We do, Dom,” Bliss interjects. “I promise. It’s fine. We don’t need anything else, do we, Ciera?” She glances at my baby sister in the hopes she’ll help defuse the situation, but Ciera shrugs indifferently. “What good you are!” Bliss turns to me. “We were having such a good time—can’t we just get back to that?”
“I don’t think so,” I reply. “I’ve lost my appetite.” I wipe my mouth with my napkin and stand up.
“C’mon, you don’t have to leave,” Justice states. “Bliss is right. Stay and let’s finish this delicious meal Chef Eddie prepared. It sounds phenomenal.”
I glance over at Mama. She’s not speaking, but her lip is a thin line showing me her disapproval.
Teagan touches my arm. “Dom, your siblings are right. Don’t let this disagreement ruin a great family dinner. Stay.”
Her words are like a soothing balm to my frayed nerves. I nod and sit back down. I want to rail more at Mama for thinking she can tell me what to do with the money I earned. How is it that both she and Mr. Williams think they have that right?
Teagan pats my thigh underneath the table, and I find myself soothed by her calming touch. But then her hand gets closer to my dick. When she softly caresses me and glances over at me beneath hooded lashes, I realize I’m willing to do anything if she’ll keep touching me like that.
I settle down and eat the delicious meal with my family. Mama and I will address our issues in private. But when I get Teagan alone later, I’m going to have my sweet revenge.