Chapter Fourteen
C A R O L I N E
When Dominic woke up to see the boys off, I pretended to be asleep. Realistically, I had been up all night, not getting even an hour of sleep. My mind was moving too much to simply "relax".
Before Dom left, he leaned over me and kissed my temple. "I will give them your best, my darling. Sleep tight," he whispered gently. "I'll be back before you wake up."
He left quickly and quietly. Once I was alone, I jumped straight into a searing shower. Maybe a shower could get rid of the disgust I was feeling with myself.
Probably not.
I sat on the floor of the shower cubicle for a long time. Probably an upwards of twenty minutes. It was a terrible waste of water, but I couldn't bare to move an inch. I hadn't ever felt so wretched and helpless before. Not only was my friend moving away, but I had screwed everything up and lost him. I didn't really have anything here anymore. And Dominic was stuck with me. If he had a choice about whether or not to like me, he'd be disgusted with who I am and get rid of me.
I didn't wash my hair or body. Just sat a little while longer before getting out. I changed into black leggings and a plain gray tank top. When I curled up on the bed, Dominic was back. He was obviously sneaking around, trying not to wake me.
"Oh," he said in surprise when he opened the door to the room. "I thought you'd still be asleep."
The best response I could manage was a careless shrug. Dominic sat next to me, gazing at my face intently. "They are safely off. All packed up too. Their replacements will be here in a day or so." When I didn't answer again, he brushed his fingers through my hair and kissed my cheek. "You smell nice. Did you have a good shower, sugar?"
I nodded curtly. "Yeah."
Dominic sighed heavily. "Alfie is upset too, you know."
"Of course he is. I've ruined the outlook on their trip," I grumbled. "Because I'm a bitch."
Dominic gasped and grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. "Don't talk like that. You're wrong. This is the last I want to hear of you bringing yourself down. What happened with Alfie and Andrew hurt you. You're in a new place and without anyone besides me. There is nothing wrong with the way you acted. No one blames you."
"I do."
He stared at me for a long time, silent. Then a soft smile grew on his face before he stood, holding a hand out to me. "Come on."
I wiped my nose sadly, looking bleakly up at him. "Where are we going?"
"To get some ice cream and then for a drive. There's something I want to show you."
~ ~ ~
Dominic got me the biggest cup of ice cream they gave out, and I chose half cookies and cream and half mint chocolate chip. Then we drove to the beach and sat for a short while.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" I asked. "Because it's beautiful."
Dominic shrugged. "There's more than just this, but this is part one. Once you finish your treat, we'll take a small walk."
We sat in sweet silence. It was nice to just think. Sometimes, though I didn't always like to admit it, I could enjoy Dominic's presence. When we weren't yelling at each other and I wasn't being a total stubborn brat. I wasn't just stubborn, was I? I was even worse. Everyone hated me. The one person who could deal with my personality, Alfie, I had screwed over. And now even Dominic was stuck with me. Act as he may that he still wanted me, there wasn't any way that was true. Right? All I did was torture him and treat him like crap.
