Page 41 of The Dom

Twenty-Six

Ashlee

I’d been a little surprised when Nate had taken me home after dinner Friday and simply given me a kiss rather than coming inside, but we didn’t need to have sex every time we were together. If anything, it was healthy for us to spend time together and then go to our separate homes.

It didn’t make me miss him any less when I wasn’t with him. I hadn’t realized how important someone could become in such a short period of time. Maybe I should’ve been frightened by it, but I didn’t have it in me.

Today had been nice and quiet. Mom had called me and said a picture of Nate and me was in the paper. It was a nice picture, she said. We both looked happy. They didn’t have my name and only referred to me as a friend, but I didn’t care about that. I wasn’t concerned with the publicity that being with Nate brought. I didn’t care if anyone knew my name or anything about me, but I couldn’t help feeling a little pleased at the picture being out there for the world to see.

Then, a couple hours later, Nate called, and my nice quiet Saturday went from me hanging out in casual clothes and watching a movie to trying to figure out what I should wear to meet Nate’s family.

Shit.

I was going to meet my boyfriend’s family. Technically, he’d met all of mine since I only had Mom and Finley – he’d actually met Finley first if I wanted to be picky about it – but my family wasn’t as intimidating as his. They were a whole family. Two parents. Siblings. All of it. They knew how this ‘meet the family’ thing was supposed to go.

I didn’t even know if they knew anything about me. Maybe I was a surprise that he was going to use to make sure everyone behaved themselves. People were often less willing to make a scene when they had a guest. I didn’t mind being that guest for him.

It just made it a lot harder to figure out what to wear.

I finally decided on a nice pair of black jeans and a short-sleeved, deep blue, cold-shoulder shirt, and dress sandals. Not a moment too soon, either, because Nate was knocking at my door, a sharper, harder knock than usual.

He’d sounded nervous when he’d called about the dinner, so I hadn’t commented on how his ‘asking’ had been more ‘telling,’ but it seemed as if the tension had only gotten worse.

He was dressed as impeccably as usual, but not in a suit. Dark gray dress pants and a fitted, long-sleeved, crimson shirt. Lust twisted my stomach, and I let it show on my face.

“I feel underdressed,” I said as Nate stepped past me. “Should I change into something else?”

The fact that he didn’t automatically answer, but instead looked me over from head-to-toe, told me how tightly wound he was. The nerves I’d managed to keep under control so far exploded into full-blown anxiety.

Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me and rested his cheek on my head. “You look great. I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise.”

I put my arms around his waist and breathed in the scent of him. “It wasn’t you. I’ve just never done the whole family thing, and I want to make a good impression.”

“None of the guys you dated took you home to meet their parents?”

I shook my head. “I was never with them long enough, I guess. I never minded, but I hadn’t realized that would just make me more nervous when I finally found someone whose parents I really wanted to like me.”

I worried that I’d revealed too much, but he didn’t seem to be weirded out by what I’d said. If anything, his embrace tightened as he ran his hand up and down my spine.

“They’re going to love you,” he said. “I have no doubt about that.”

I raised my head so I could look at him. “What do you doubt?”

He considered the question before answering, “That tonight isn’t a huge mistake. Not because of you. You’re the only thing that’s going to make it bearable. If it tanks, it’ll be because of me.”

I gave him a squeeze. “If Joshua’s reaching out to you, doesn’t that mean he wants the two of you to work things out?”

“My family and I…let’s just say I’ve always been the odd one out. I don’t know if that’s changed.”

I heard it then, clearer than I ever had before. Loneliness. He wanted his family to love him for who he was, to have the sort of unconditional love that they were supposed to have for one another.

Whatever the falling out had been between Joshua and him, the walls Nate put up hadn’t originated there. He’d been building them his whole life, trying to keep anyone from seeing how badly he was hurting, trying to keep anyone from getting close enough to hurt him that way again.

“Hey.” I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. “If they can’t see the wonderful man I know, then it’s their loss. Give them a chance. Patch up what needs patching. But if they can’t make an effort, we walk. Together.”

He turned his head and kissed my palm. “I like the sound of that.”

The touch of his lips sent a thread of warmth through me, and I was tempted to slide my hand under the back of his shirt. I couldn’t get enough of touching him, of him touching me.

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