He wasn’t a threat. He was atemptation.
And that was so much more dangerous… because I wanted to give in. Because I had built walls. Fortresses, really. Reinforcedwith every betrayal, every lie, every time someone had looked me in the eye and smiled while stabbing me in the back.
And Dom just fucking swept in — no subtlety, no strategy. Just brute force honesty and an obsession with me, like it was the only thing that was keeping him breathing.
I wanted to believe I was still in control, that I could play this cool, thathewas the one chasingme.
But when he looked at me like that — like I was already his — my whole fucking body betrayed me. My pulse thundered, my breath caught in my chest, and heat licked up my spine like wildfire.
I should put distance between us and reinforce the armor. Instead… I turned my head and watched him walk down the hall.
I used to be good at pretending. Pretending I didn’t care, didn’t feel, didn’t want. But Dom made itimpossible.
As I stood there, watching him walk away as if he hadn’t just turned my world upside down, I realized something with a kind of brutal clarity.
I wasn’t pretending anymore.
I was alreadyhis.
***
My fingers were shaking ever so slightly as they flew over the screen.
Sierra: What room number is Dom’s?
The answer was instantaneous.
Ella: Seriously? How do you not know??
Sierra: How would I know? He’s always at our place like some giant golden retriever. Follows us home, eats our snacks.
Ella: Snacks are not the only thing he’s eating lol but fair point. It’s 296. Athletic dorms. Second floor. Try not to die of thirst on the way.
Sierra: Rude. Accurate. But rude.
Ella: You need me to drop a pin? Maybe pack you a granola bar for the hike?
Sierra: BYE.
The walk to Dom’s dorm was a blur. It was just me and my pounding heart, along with every stupid excuse I’d made, unraveling one by one.
By the time I reached his door, I didn’t even hesitate. I knocked once, sharply and quickly. Then I knocked again, louder, as if my nerves were daring me to back out.
It swung open. And there he was.
Dom blinked at me like he wasn’t sure I was real. Tattooed chest bare. Shorts slung low on his hips. Hair a mess. The look on his face — equal parts shocked and smug — nearly sent me spiraling.
“Hey,” he said, like it was the most casual thing in the world.
“I’m gonna say this once,” I started, pushing past him and into the room before I lost my nerve. “So try not to interrupt with some smartass comment because I swear to God, I’ll turn around and walk right back out.”
His roommate, some poor, wide-eyed freshman who probably wasn’t paid enough in karma to witness this, froze halfway into a bag of chips behind me.
I turned to him, still riding the adrenaline of the moment. “Hey. You should go.”
He blinked. “Like… now?”
“Yes. Like five minutes ago.”
