Ask Me to Stay

Chapter Twelve

VERA'S POV

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"Stop!" I cried out, laughing, and curled in the passenger seat. Dominic sat beside me, exploding with laughter too. 

"If I wanted to get a cheap motel room and fuck then I would pick up someone off the corner. You deserve far better, Vera." He assured, recovering from laughing. I rolled my eyes, slapping his arm playfully as we ascended into town. "Plus, if I was going to take you to a hotel it would be for a romantic trip or something, not for a same-day checkout."

"I wouldn't mind though. Maybe not for the first time, but if getting cheap hotel rooms made sneaking around with you easier then so be it." The confidence in my voice surprised me, it wasn't faked or forced. 

"But you're also not some side piece either, the least I can do is treat you with respect and dignity. As I said, you deserve far better. In all honesty, you deserve better than I could ever give you." He sighed, taking my hand in his and kissing it. "I don't know how to word this in an appropriate way, but I do love you, maybe not in the way your future someone will, but I do, even before we started all this. I've wanted to say that since a few months after you guys moved in. You have grown to be a piece of me and my life as someone who challenges me and makes me want to work harder, in all ways." He squeezed my hand, focusing his eyes on the road. 

I was surprised, to say the least. I understood what he was saying, 'I love you, but I'm not in love with you' but I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt at all. I sat there nodding, completely at a loss for words or any kind of reasonable response. Do I say thank you, do I get upset, do I say it back. Do I love him? 

"Dominic...I-"

"Don't feel obligated to say it back. I know what that word means and the weight that it holds. Like the whole virginity thing...I don't want you to feel any pressure from me to do anything out of your comfort zone." He assured me, flicking his eyes between me and the road. I just nodded, like an idiot... "And...on that note, we're here."

Dominic parked the car outside Edmunds, with only one other car in the lot. I looked around confused, he of all people should know the hours of the place. He unbuckled and came around to my side to open my door.

"I think it's closed, Dominic..." I pointed to the unlit 'open' sign in the window. "The lights are on, but there's only one car and the signs turned off."

"Yes, Vera, I'm aware." He said with a twinge of attitude in his tone. "Edmunds isn't open on Sundays. That's why we are here."

"You're not making sense, hun." I sang out playfully, looking up at him with child-like amusement. 

"Hun?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes with a smile. "I have two names for you to call me and one of them is not appropriate for this setting." He tugged at my hand, pulling me into the same restaurant that we were at yesterday morning. 

I know it was only a day, but it feels like everything changed. Maybe not changed but progressed into something new. Dominic and I slept in the same bed for the first time, we've grown sexually, and my confidence has grown as well. At first, I was trying to look confident for Dominic's appeal, but now, being around him just makes me feel like I could rule the world. Way to sound cliche, Vera...

"Dominic?" Someone shouted from the back of the restaurant. Dominic yelled back a 'yes' before dragging me back. I still had no clue what was going on. Was he taking me to a closed restaurant to have a date in public but not really, or is this some kind of first stop on a longer journey? 

"Ed, you remember Vera?" Dominic asked gently as tugged me into the old man's view. I sent Ed an awkward wave and smile, standing slightly behind Dominics large form.