Page 74 of Hat Trick
Gigi narrows her eyes in our direction. “Now go fix whatever you broke or her yelling at you is going to be the least of your worries.”
She mocks a fist at us, but I have the sneaking suspicion that, even at all of five-foot-two, she won’t hesitate to hold up her end of the bargain.
In no time at all, Dom and I are racing up the stairwell to his apartment, only to find his front door thrown open with Lil standing in the middle of his living room, spinning in small circles. Sadness marring her features.
The two of us walk in, Dom slightly in front of me. It takes her a minute to notice us, but when she does she turns to fully face us, tears in her eyes. “I-I totally camehere to yell at you for taking so long. But I got here and you weren’t here. So, I used my key to let myself in so I could wait for you, and I found… Dom, your plants.”
I take a second to look around. She’s right. In the week he’s been away, it looks like his plants haven’t seen an ounce of sunlight or water. His pride and joys now hang limp, void of the things they need to survive. As if they were mimicking that of their owner.
Staying in my spot, I watch as Dom takes a few cautious steps in her direction. “What can I say, Honey. Didn’t have much energy to give them life when I felt like I was barely surviving myself.” She sniffles and wipes her nose but doesn’t say anything. “You wanna yell at me now?”
She shakes her head vigorously.
“Then can I go first?” he asks.
Lil takes a deep breath, and I watch with pride as she stands a little taller. “Yeah. You can go first.”
1 Kerosene - Vanish
CHAPTER 45
NEVER CAN HAPPEN AGAIN
LILIANA
The shock of walking into Dom’s apartment and seeing his plants in the state that they are in was… scary. I think I was spinning in circles, gasping every time my eyes landed on a new plant that was wilted and holding on for dear life. My hand covers my mouth, and tears are lining my eyes, even as Dom takes a couple more cautious steps toward me. He’s looking at me like I’m a rabid animal, but I feel I should be looking athimthat way. I’m so afraid he’s going to take off again, leaving me with this broken, torn-up heart, all alone with a panicked Emerson trying to fix everything.
As our eyes lock, I’m still waiting for him to tell me what’s been going on. But all I can imagine is how bad off he must have been this past week to let things get this bad.
This isn’t the Dominic Foster I know.
?1 Then, Dom finally speaks, and I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe all over again. “I love you, Liliana Campos.” A smile spreads across his whole face, and my eyes glance to Emerson to find him wearing a similar one. “I’ve loved you for longer than I think I even knew. There’s no loving you quietly. I want to shout it from the rooftops, and from here on out, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Shouting it from the rooftops.
That’s exactly what I wanted. But, why do I want him to keep loving me the way he has been? How theybothhave been. Nothing they do is over the top when it comes to showing love. But it’s what I’ve grown to love about them. The little things that keep me going every day, the things that make my life so much easier.
Emerson and Dominic make my life easier.
It’s just easy to love them.
I can’t help it. I stand, momentarily frozen. The feeling of shock rendering me incapable of moving. I feel bad not immediately saying it back to him, but I also need him to know what he did this past week hurt me. It hurt me bad. “If we agree to this, Dominic”—I motion my hands in a circle to all of us—“youcannotdo this again. You cannot leave usagain… I will not survive it.” I told myself I wasn’t going to break down in front of him, and I’ve held it together, but my voice is starting to crack.
He takes a couple of steps to reach me finally and holds his arms out to me. I step into hisembrace and inhale the woodsy scent that is Dominic Foster. His strong arms hold me to him, and I wrap mine around his waist.
There’s no way I won’t cry if I say this to his face, so I murmur the words I’ve been keeping to myself for so long, “I love you, Dominic.” I feel him suck in a sharp breath before the two of us fully relax into one another’s hold. We stand there holding one another before I pull away, and we both hold out our arms closest to Emerson, inviting him into the hug. “Come on, Em,” Dom jokes, but Emerson looks at him with a seriously scary look that I’m very glad I’m not on the receiving end of.
“That ass is mine tonight after all the shit you pulled the past week. We almost lost Lil, Dominic. I don’t ever want to see her like that again. If it had fixed things, I would’ve handed her my heart to stomp on, I would have, but the only thing she wanted was you… And I couldn’t give her that.”
I grab both of Emerson’s hands to try to break a little bit of the tension between Dom and him. I know they made up before they got here, but I think seeing me upset all over again got Emerson back into his feelings.
So I say the one thing I know will ease his pain. “Emerson, I wouldn’t have made it through this if it wasn’t for you… Or my parents.” I don’t miss the slight wince from both of them at the mention of my parents, knowing they’re going to have to face them both sooner rather than later. But I won’t mention the fact that they seem to be completely at ease with the fact that their daughter is dating two men. For now, I’ll enjoy watching them squirm. “You make everything seem so simple. Loving you is simple.Easy. Like I should have been doing it from the first moment I met you. I love you, Emerson.” I place a soft kiss on his lips and take a second to breathe him in.
“I love you too, Darlin’. More than you’ll ever know.” Emerson gives me a panty-melting smirk and places another quick kiss on my lips.
“I’m sorry… to both of you,” Dom says apprehensively. “I had to work through that on my own. And Lil, I told Emerson this earlier, but I’ve started therapy. I should’ve done this a long time ago; fixing myself should’ve been what I was focusing on, but it wasn’t. I was hiding behind what I thought was normal behavior after losing a parent. But then again, I don’t know if my younger self would have been open to fixing himself. I was in a tunnel with blinders on when it came to my father and how I handled his death. But I now know that was still no excuse. I hurt both of you with how I reacted, and for that, I truly am sorry. I’m going to do better. I’m going tobebetter—for both of you.”
I spot the tear running down Emerson’s cheek and tell Dom, “I’m proud of you for recognizing your wrongs and not just living in the self-pity. We want what’s best for you, Dom. We will show you what it feels like to love.”
Em adds, “We’ll love you so hard, and fly so high…together.”
Reaching for him, I hold his face in my hand and swipe away a tear as it escapes his eye. A slow smile spreads across his face as his eyes dance betweenEmerson and I. A look of peace settles over his features before he says, “Our very ownhat trick.”
THE END.
