Page 106 of The Boy I Loved
Dominic’s gaze darted to the spot behind me, but he didn’t show an ounce of concern. “What do you want?” he asked in annoyance.
Footsteps sounded on the wooden floor, growing closer and closer with every ragged inhale I took.
“I’m surprised she’s even talking to you after the stunt you pulled,” Mason spoke, amusement evident in his tone. “It was creative by the way, so props for that.”
“What do you want?” Dominic asked again.
Mason blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re no fun.” The bed dipped behind me, and awareness prickled along my spine.
I was caged between two monsters with no way out.
I glanced over my shoulder, locking eyes with the second boy to storm into my room today. He was making himself comfortable, kicking his legs out and lying on his side to face me.
“Hi, Hazel.” He grinned, draping an arm over my waist. “We have a date in two days. Try not to get fucked too much before then. I’m not really a fan of worn-out pussy.”
“The fuck you do,” Dominic snarled, pulling me against his chest possessively.
So … Dominicdidn’tknow?
Confusion pulsed through me. How did Tristan know then?
Mason’s silence told me all I needed to know. He enjoyed pissing Dom off and he was relishing it. “Why so angry?” he taunted, the smirk evident in his tone.
Dominic was glaring daggers over my shoulder, his lips curled into a malicious snarl. The two must have been in some kind of stare off, butI couldn’t see Mason to know for sure. I already had one monster pissed at me over the whole porn ordeal; I didn’t need to add Dominic to that list, not when there were more important things to worry about—like Stacy and what Dom had done to her. I refused to let her memory slip through the cracks, regardless of how common death was around here. She might not have been the best person in the world, but she was still a human. She still had feelings, a family, ambitions, and friends.
“Anyway…” Mason began, hopefully changing the subject. “That’s not actually why I came here. I knew you’d be in here. Clay wants you in the basement tonight with Nicholas and Cody.”
Dominic shoved Mason’s arm off my hip as if it had offended him before gritting his teeth. “Is that all?”
“Yep.”
I felt the boy behind me shift and the bed dipped again. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught his lingering smirk before he headed for the door and slipped out of the room. With him now gone, I felt like I could breathe a little bit easier. Dom was a monster, but he was still someone I was much more comfortable around.
We sat in silence for a while, my body stiff as a board while thoughts and memories raced through my subconscious.
After a little while, Dominic released a loud sigh, his dark eyebrows tugging together. Something was weighing on him, but I didn’t care enough to ask about it, not right now at least. He didn’t deserve my sympathy or support.
“Don’t miss training again,” he said at last. “You don’t want to get Clay pissed at you.”
A retort was on the tip of my tongue, but I thought better of it and swallowed it down.
“You should also eat something,” he continued.
The thought of going to the cafeteria, knowing Stacy wouldn’t be eating with me, had my stomach curdling. Lauren was still in thebasement, and she had different mealtimes than I did. Plus, I wasn’t as close to her as I’d started becoming with Stacy.
Dominic placed his lips against my forehead, his hot breath brushing against my skin. After a few moments, he pulled away and rose. It wasn’t until he’d left the room that I pinched my eyes shut again and released a loaded breath of my own.
He had another thing coming if he thought I was just going to forgive and forget.
CHAPTER THIRTY
DOMINIC
I thoughtshe’d be more understanding, that she’d understand where I was coming from. It was obvious why she was upset. Stacy was her only friend in this place, and I’d taken that away from her. But it wasn’t like the girl was some kind of upstanding citizen of the United States. She was doomed to die either way. At least this way, I actually had a chance of passing Tristan on the score chart. Before we snatched her up, Stacy was a whore, fucking anything and everything she deemed socially worth it. That wouldn’t have changed.
Basement duty was boring without Hazel down here to keep me company. Nicholas and I left the girls alone as usual, while Cody got his rocks off taunting them from outside of the bars. Cody rarely broke the rules and fucked them at night, not wanting to risk Clay finding out about it. So that was good at least.
The next morning, I found myself in the employee cafeteria, seated between Nicholas and Rodney. Ever since the bomb about him being Clay’s son came out, I’d kept my distance. What would I even say to him? Did he know he was Clay’s kid? He had to if everyone else did.
