Page 72 of Blind Spot
“Don’t be. If anything, these heffas wished their men would sniff their panties whenever they got hungry. Ya pussy probably tastes better than anything on this menu.
“Oh my goodness,” I moaned and dropped my head.
He teased me some more as he continued sniffing them before he put them away.
“Keep acting like that, and the next thing you know, I’ma have all ya dirty panties in every pair of pants I own.”
I laughed and shook my head. We were served wine and water while we looked at the menu. We placed our order and then talked.
“How are you feeling about everything?”
“What do you mean?”
“About us. The way things have come to be with our relationship, knowing that you were scared to face my family.”
“I’m comfortable again. Your mother and I talk as often now as we did back then, and it seems as if our relationship has grown closer. Your grandmother calls to check on me a lot. So I’m thankful.”
“Has Ramon reached out again since last week?”
I shook my head. I had no ill feelings against Ramon, but I wasn’t ready to deal with him or try to build any sort of connection with him. I was honest when I said I might be able to forgive him eventually. I had forgiven him, and after speaking with Dominic, I had even called him to let him know that I forgave him. That happened last week, but I still wasn’t ready to acknowledge him in my life.
“I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I told him that I forgave him and why. But I was serious when I told him that we might never have any sort of relationship in the future. I was wrong for using him as the closest thing to you, but he did a lot of wrong as well, and knowing that I wasn’t the first victim doesn’t help.”
“Yeah, that’s what I told him. Even though he’s getting help, he still needs to keep his space. Are you good with still going to the cabins with your father and Adrian for Christmas?”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m happy about it.”
“Good.”
We looked up as the servers came in our direction again. One held a bucket with champagne, and the other held a tiny cake with a sparkler in the middle.
“It’s not our birthdays, baby. What are they doing?” I asked in a low whisper, leaning over the table.
Dominic stood up as more servers came out and surrounded us. The music overhead changed from classical to Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee.” Dominic kneeled, reached inside his blazer, and pulled out a tiny box.
My heart almost stopped beating for that microsecond of him reaching inside his pocket and removing the box.
“Charlyse, you have been my best friend since I saved your little ass at eight. But I guess you didn’t want to be in debt to me, because you’ve spent a lifetime since then saving my ass instead. You have stood by my side during the good times and hard times. You were there when I received my first kiss and lost my dog, Ginger. You were there to listen to me go on and on about the details right after I lost my virginity, and when I first got my license. You stood by my side through all the painstaking details of every situation that I found myself in with other girls. Not once did you ever flinch or drop your smile. You were my friend, although I now know that you had to have been hurting inside.
“You challenged me to give my best when I’ve wanted to give up on things like racing when I first started, working on my car to make it the machine that it is now, accepting my fate of going to prison, my release, and finding a new job. No matter what came my way, you were there for me, even if it presented challenges for you. Charly, you have taught me the meaning of friendship as well as true love. You may not have been my first in some areas, but you were my first and only love. And now, I’m asking if you will join me on my first step to eternity, . . . settling down to start a family. Charlyse Aurora Morr, would you be my wife?”
The tears that had been streaming down my face slowly as he spoke came much quicker. The sobs choked me up. I found myself speechless, and I cried so hard that my throat hurt.It wasn’t until I pulled my hands away from my face that I began to breathe again evenly. I hadn’t even realized that I was obstructing it.
“Is that a yes or no, baby?” Dominic asked, looking around the restaurant at everyone who waited patiently for my response
“That’s a yes, Dom. I’ll marry you, baby,” I agreed as he made yet another dream of mine come true.
Dominic pushed up to stand and then bent slightly to kiss me. The servers all launched into Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years.”
My heart danced happily in my chest. This man, who always doubted that he was good enough for me, had made all my dreams come true. When he finished kissing me, he pulled me up to stand and slow danced with me to the applause of the other patrons as the servers continued singing.
Chapter 22
Dominic
TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER (JUNE)
Charly had decided not to drive with the Lady Jaguars. She was too much of her own woman to become involved with a group that she didn’t believe she would gel with. She had continued racing, but she did it independently. Even after Chopper invited her to join us again, she declined. I was proud that she stood her ground. I had finally gone back to join my brothers, but only after all of us sat down and had a heart-to-heart over dinner, and Chopper apologized to Charly.
