The Ideal Deal

24

Dominic dodged another one of my punches before grabbing my arm and flipping my body. I felt a slight pain in my back as it collided with the floor. I rolled over and quickly stood, but Dominic slid his foot under mine, causing me to fall again. I lay on the ground, panting as sweat trickled down my face.

"You're not focused," he pointed out while wiping the beads of sweat off his face with his cold rag. He then took a sip of water while reaching a hand out to help me up. I accepted the help by connecting my hands with his, and he yanked my body off the floor. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"

I picked up my bottle but then noticed that I had drank all the water the last round. While wiping my face with my cold rag, I questioned, "What makes you think there's something on my mind?"

He stretched his water bottle out to me, and I hesitated before taking it. I then took a quick waterfall and handed him the bottle, even though my body was telling me to finish all of the water that was in the bottle.

Dominic answered, "Because we did five rounds, and I kicked your ass in all of them." I sighed while shrugging and holding my head, which felt as if it was spinning. I could hear my heart thudding loudly in my chest, and I immediately began to regret not taking my asthma pump with me. Dominic studied my body for a few seconds before reaching his hand towards my chest. I slapped his hand away, but he still tried again. He placed his hand over my heart and frowned. "Do you have your pump with you?" He questioned, worry evident in his eyes. I shook my head while squeezing my eyelids together, hoping that I wouldn't blank out, but I could feel my legs and arms becoming weaker by the minute. My body then collapsed, but instead of feeling the hard ground, I felt a pair of arms. "Summer? Sum? Fuck!" I then felt my body being lifted off the ground and carried somewhere. I didn't have the energy to ask where I was being carried, so I remained silent and tried to open my eyes. My back then gently came into contact with a soft surface that sank when I was placed on it, so I assumed that he placed me on the couch. "You can finish the water out my bottle. I'm gonna get an ice pack to cool you down." Dominic lifted my hands and placed the bottle in them. After, he brought it to my lips, and sighed as I eagerly drank it. He then left the living room and came back with the ice pack. He placed it on my head, causing my body to shoot up due to how cold it was. He promised, "It'll help." He then lay me down once more and placed the pack on my head again while holding my hand. I squeezed his hand while taking deep breaths, and when my body cooled down and my heart started beating at its regular pace, I sat up and took the ice pack off my head.

While connecting eyes with him, I gratefully said, "Thank you."

He nodded while brushing my hair back with his palm. He then tucked a few loose strands behind my ears. While worriedly staring into my eyes, he lectured, "You should always have your pump with you, especially if you're not going to be home! How could you move in and leave your pump behind?!"

"I forgot it," I answered. "It slipped my mind."

"And what if I weren't here to help?!" Dominic frustratedly asked before sighing and taking deep breaths.

Softly, I questioned, "Why are you so worked up about it? I'm fine now."

"Exactly," he nodded. "Now you're fine, but what if I couldn't help you? You scared me, Summer. Okay? I c-can't lose another person that I lo- care about."

Though my mind was trying to figure out why he chose to replace the word love with care about, I pretended as if I wasn't a bit hurt by his choice of words.

I nodded in understanding while softly apologizing, "I'm sorry, Dom. I'll swing by my house and get it tomorrow."

He nodded, but I could tell that he was still a bit worked up about what happened. Wanting to calm him down a bit, I cupped his neck and rested my forehead on his while staring into his eyes. His mom used to do this to him when he was younger so that he'd calm down. Then she'd ruffle his hair and peck his forehead, and he would chuckle in response.

Dominic stared intensely into my eyes as if he were searching for something in them. "Dominic," I whispered, but I forgot that based on how close we were, our lips were guaranteed to touch if any of us tried to speak. While leaning back a bit, I got ready to apologize for my lips rubbing on his.

I didn't get the chance to apologize, however, because as soon as I parted my lips to speak, Dominic's mouth had come crashing down on mine.