The First Rule

Chapter 24: Queen of Dare

After the.. you know, 'incident', Dom has been distancing himself from us—even from me. It's not like we haven't tried to comfort him. Liam did.. I did—you see—I tried, bro! But what happened was he went all rampage to me like—

"What the fuck is his problem these days, seriously?!"

Exhausted and drained from the intense encounter, you closed your eyes—letting out a deep sigh. Gathering your resolve, you finally opened them and summoned all the patience you could muster to explain the situation. "I'm sorry, Dommy.. It's just—it has always been his nickname for me since we were babies—just like I'm the only one who calls him Tyty—"

"The fact that I can't even complain about this when he's very welcomed to complain whenever I—"

"It's not like that! Dom—"

"And the fact that you guys know each other so fucking well puts me off every time!"

"Dommy.. What do you expect? We've known each other since we were babies.." you consoled, frustration still evident in your tone as Hunt, still fuming, let out a groan of annoyance.

"I just—I need to clear my head. I'll catch up to you in a sec, W—"

He caught himself mid-sentence. At his almost slip up, you couldn't help but let out a slight cringe. After a brief pause—he raised his eyebrows and lit his cigarette to say,

"Emily."

He turned away, muttering under his breath a nickname he thought was best for now. Your stomach sank at his disappointment, and you couldn't help but plead, "Baby.. sorry.. I wanted to avoid this but I didn't know how—"

"It's ok babe, just after this one's finished, okay?" he interrupted with a forced smile, his words tinged with urgency as if he wanted to dismiss you as quickly as possible—and he continued his smoke.

But even after a few more smokes, he still hasn't decided to join us, fellas.

Damn it, was Tyler too hard on him earlier? Ok just—let him be for a while, Em. Let's just—focus on these games. If you're asking, yes—as usual, Wyatt's been keeping us busy with his never-ending list of games. But what I've been wondering is..

Why does.. Tyler.. keep staring at me?

Ok I don't know! But hear me out—ok—I'm sitting here, alright? Drinking what everyone called a Radler. I have Evie beside me, Scott and Tara on my left.. I just—I know he's sitting there—just a few feet away, right beside Wyatt and the gang. But—you can feel it when someone's watching you, right? Because when I glance in his direction.. See?! He is looking back at me—oh hell what's with that smirk—

But then your phone dings.

As you're about to reach for it, from the corner of your eyes—you catch him bouncing his eyebrows at you. Tilting your head, you squint your eyes in suspicion—and it all makes sense when you finally look at your phone and see the notification..

'Stop looking at me won't ya?'

You scoff at his text—rolling your eyes playfully before glancing at him with a slight smirk. Still looking at you, he chuckles mischievously, tongue licking on his lower lip—clearly enjoying your reaction. You try to hold back a grin, but it's a losing battle as you feel the corners of your mouth twitching upwards.

Deciding to play it cool, you look away from him—pretending to ignore his antics. However, just as you try to focus on something else, you feel another vibration from your phone. A big smirk forms on your face as you reluctantly take a another check on your screen, just to see—