Page 63 of Fractured
I nodded, “Don’t know about love, but I feel something for you. Always have. But then there’s Garrick. He’s my best friend. There’s your family. They took me in, welcomed me in, without them... I wouldn’t have shit.”
She was quiet until she said, “You’d have me.”
“And that’s what terrifies me the most,” I told her.
She cracked the door open a little more, and I inhaled a relieved breath.
“Why?” she asked.
Hearing a creak on the steps, I twisted my head just in time for Misty to give me a thumbs up, then she walked back down the stairs.
I looked back at the door and said, “Because I’ve only ever had one relationship, Talia. And it blew the fuck up. And with you,” I inhaled a breath, “if that happened with you... I don’t know if I’d survive it.”
Then I sat there as I replayed my words over and over in my head.
And when the door opened even more, and I saw her gorgeous face, I felt my chest loosen.
I hadn’t realized how tight it had been.
And that was when she stared into my eyes, and I didn’t waver.
Then she nodded, crawled across from her bedroom to me, then sat beside me, and placed her head on my shoulder.
“Did you really headbutt him?” I asked her.
She snickered, “Did I really watch you beat the shit out of him?”
I shrugged, carefully, so I didn’t jostle her head, “He was handcuffed, wasn’t a fair fight.”
She giggled.
“Can I please have Dominik back now?” I asked her.
She lifted her head off my shoulder, and I turned my head to look down into her eyes, “Why?”
I sighed, then said, “Everyone calls me Dom but you. Doesn’t feel right hearing that come from you.”
She lifted a brow, “Why?”
I stayed silent until she said, “If this is going to work, you're going to have to talk to me. Okay?”
I knew she was right.
I nodded.
Then I opened myself up to her a little more, “Cause hearing my full name from your lips, like the sucker I am when it comes to you, it’s like a calming balm for my soul.”
She was quiet as she gazed into my eyes, and then my eyes moved to her lips.
I inhaled a breath, then leaned my head back as she placed her head back on my shoulder.
Then I asked, “Are you willing to take this slow with me?”
She nodded, “Yeah. But Dominik... you're going to have to let me in, in order for that to happen. Okay?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and savored that I got my name back on her lips.
Then, I chuckled, “You’ve been so far in, I can’t even see straight.”
