Tough Love

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dom and I sat on the damp grass, by the lake in silence. Afternoon had turned to evening. We watched the sun set, the purple mist set the sky ablaze, with a combination of a soft red and flaming orange, magnified by the still, cool lake. Occasional breezes brushed over my skin causing me to shiver, but Dom's body heat radiated off him perfectly, providing enough warmth for me to feel comfortable.

The shadows were slowly lengthening. Minutes later, the twinkling stars began to scatter around the sky. The sky was filled with many stars (that sadly, with my eyesight, looked like a bunch of yellow, dim blobs).

Dom broke the stillness with his soft, smooth voice, as if it was beginning to feel like too much silence to bear. "That right there, to the left is Jupiter. It'll show for another few weeks, before it'll leave, and not show again for another 629 years."

"That's a long time..." I commented, however my thoughts didn't have anything to do with Jupiter. My thoughts were elsewhere, maybe even as far away as Jupiter was from Earth. Once again, silence engulfed the night and the forest started to slowly come alive. The sky wasn't fully black yet, but the crickets started to already creak. The owls started to hoot, and I pulled on the grass beside me.

When I looked up, I found Dom staring at me intently. "What?" I asked curiosity firing up in me.

A small, cute blush coated his cheeks, as he looked down, and chuckled lightly. "It's nothing."

"No, what? Tell me." I said, a smile dancing on my lips.

"I don't know... I was sitting here, thinking that nothing could be more beautiful than the sunset... I was wrong, though, because when I looked at you, I started to think about you, then I realized that, you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

I wasn't expecting that.

"Oh..." I said quietly, letting his words process through my brain.

Dom closed his eyes tightly. "I'm sorry. I know all this is too much for you. I shouldn't have said that... Adding extra stress on you. Oh God, I'm so stupid!"

I laughed lightly. "No, you're not stupid. I think that was very sweet, and cute in a way. Thank you."

"Oh... really? You think it was cute?" he teased me, as he reached to my sides, and started to tickle me.

I laughed.

Our laughs echoed lightly through the forest.

"Well, this is nice." Dom sighed, as he leaned back. I silently agreed, as I closed my eyes.

After a few minutes of a another round of comfortable silence, Dom turned on his side and faced me. "So Brandon's mates with Katie, huh?"

"Yup." I blew put, popping the 'p' and shrugging my shoulders, acting as if I could care less.

And trust me, I cared more than less. It was all that was on my mind. I still did have feelings for Brandon. Heck, I think my feelings magnified for him these past few days...

"Hopefully you'll find your mate soon. No hard feelings after that." He said easily.

I snorted. "That's easy to say. I mean, what if fate doesn't go the way I want it to? What if I find my mate when I'm in college? That happened with my sister, you know. She met her mate last year, and she's graduating this year! Isn't that a little too late? It probably runs in my family, find-your-mate-when-you're-in-college!" I rambled on and on, about my sister, about finding your mate late, about everything on my mind.

As I talked, and rambled some more, I didn't take the time to even glance at Dom. But when I finally looked at him, an amused expression was written across his face. "What?"