Page 134 of The Blame Game

Fuck. Dom hated the way this was impacting Shea.

They spent the rest of the morning discussing how they were going to handle the situation.

By the time they wrapped up, there had been several conversations with Dom’s agent, a call with someone at the escort service, an order from a local restaurant for lunch, and enough coffee that Dom’s stomach felt like it was filled with battery acid.

Or maybe that was the stress.

“Okay.” Kate shut the lid of her laptop with a tired sigh. “We all have our marching orders. We know what we have to do, yes?”

“Yes,” they all agreed.

Everyone sounded—and looked—exhausted.

Kate gave them sympathetic smiles as she packed her briefcase. “I know today was a lot. But we’ll get through this.”

“In a way that doesn’t end up with us all in trouble?” Dom muttered.

Kate cracked a smile. “Oh you’re already in trouble. Gilly wants to string you up by your toes. Brace yourself for practice tomorrow morning.”

Dom rubbed his face. Joy. He looked forward to getting screamed at by his coach. That sounded fun.

He’d already missed video review and working with the trainers this morning. Kate had spoken to Gilly about it but that didn’t mean he was going to get away scot-free.

After Kate left, and it was just Dom, Audra, and Shea standing around, Audra touched Shea’s arm. “Hey, I’ll meet you downstairs in the vehicle Dom called for us.”

Shea nodded.

The apartment door closed behind her and then it was just Dom and Shea. Tension filled the air as Dom looked at him.

Shea had been wearing a hangdog, guilty expression all day and it deepened as he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t be,” Dom said, reaching out, pulling Shea close to him like he’d been wanting to do all day, but once again, Shea held himself stiffly, not pressing close. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” Shea stared past his shoulder, his gaze stricken.

“No,” Dom said firmly. “Admittedly, none of this has gone the way we wanted it to. But this isn’t on you. We made these decisions together and we’re going to face them together, okay?”

Finally, Shea looked him in the eye, and for the first time that day, Dom saw a flicker of something in his expression other than helpless resignation. Something like hope and determination wrapped up in one.

“Okay,” Shea whispered.

“And I’ll see you tonight, yeah?” Dom coaxed.

Shea swallowed. “Yeah, I’ll give you a heads-up when I’m on my way over.”

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to someone here about getting you a key and card access.” Dom smiled faintly. “I’ll tell them my boyfriend’s moving in.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“How are you holding up?”

Shea set another picture frame in the box, then glanced over to see Audra leaning in the doorway of his bedroom, wearing a concerned expression.

He shrugged. “Okay, I guess. It’s all very surreal.”

“It makes sense, you know.”

“For Dom and me to move in together and pretend like we’ve been in love for years?”

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