Holiday With My Neighbour

16. Tension

Savannah's POV

Dennis, or Dom, or whatever his name is, shakes Theo's hand with a welcoming smile. "Hi, man, nice to meet you."

Theo returns the gesture. "You too, man." He turns to me and places his hand on the lower part of my back. "My girl."

"Nice to meet you." Dennis extends his hand towards me for a handshake.

I force a smile as I shake his hand. "Sorry, what is your name again? I couldn't quite hear." I look over at Emilia.

Emilia smiles kindly. "Don't worry about it. His name is Dominic, but everyone calls him Dom for short."

"Ah, okay." My eyes meet his. "Nice to meet you too, Dom."

He nervously smiles, nods, and then withdraws his soft hand.

He begins to sit at the table, prompting the rest of us to do the same.

Theo sits opposite Emilia, leaving me to sit by his side opposite Dom. Ugh, I don't want to be here.

"So, he's your boyfriend?" Theo asks Emilia whilst giving a quick glance to Dom.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you." Emilia replies sheepishly.

"You didn't tell him?" Dom questions with a puzzled look on his face.

"Nah, bro, she called you a friend." Theo cuts in before Emilia can reply.

"He's my older brother, and I just met him. I didn't know how to tell him." Emilia clarifies to Dom.

"Hmm." Dom replies, clearly bothered.

"Don't worry about it, man. At least I know about you now." Theo says to lift his mood.

"Yeah, true." He gives Theo a small smile and glances at me briefly. I can tell that the smile was fake.

"So, how long have you both been together?" Theo changes the subject.

"Around six months." Emilia replies.

"Six months? And you're already on holiday together, Dad let you?"

"Yeah, Dad is friends with his family, and we basically live with them, so he trusts him."

"Do you all share a house?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's big, so it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Ah, okay, nice." Something is off with Theo. "How old are you, bro?" He asks Dom.

Dom looks up from his menu. "22."

"22? Bit old for an 18-year-old, aren't you?"

"Theo!" Emilia laughs, embarrassed by Theo's statement, whereas Dom remains unamused.

"I'm only playing. I get it. Me and her have a 3-year gap." Theo says, referring to me, making all of their eyes shift to me.

"How long have you been together?" Dom asks, clearly interested.

"Two years." Theo replies.

"Two? Sav told me three years last night." Emilia tilts her head to the side, confused.

I begin to feel myself turn red for getting it wrong. "Uh, sorry, I meant we've been officially dating for two years, but we were a thing for a year before that. That's why I got confused and said three years."

Emilia and Dom nod in understanding. 

"A thing for a year? Took you a while to make her yours, didn't it?" Dom questions Theo.