My tumbler wasn’t where I usually set it to dry, and I searched the kitchen frantically for its bright teal color. It was nowhere to be seen, so I took a big jar out of the cabinet to use instead.
I was already annoyed at the way my morning was starting — I was a notorious spiller and needed lid-security.
Opening the fridge, I stopped in my tracks. There was my tumbler. I picked it up and gave it a shake, hearing the distinct clink of ice against metal. Did he …?
Hurriedly, I set it down on the counter, unscrewing the lid and peering inside. Looked like my iced chai latte. I gave it a sniff — smelled like it, too. After I popped the lid back on, I took a tentative sip.
That motherfucker.
Why did he know how to make my favorite drink? Even the sugar-free vanilla syrup in it was measured just right.
I drank it while getting ready for class, each sip fueling the chaos in my head. The rational part of me clung to the distance like a lifeline, screaming,Don’t be stupid.
But the rest — the needy, cracked, secretly aching part of me — was starting to betray me.
I hated not knowing what was real with him. Hated that I kind of believed he cared. I wanted to believe it. And I couldn’t afford to.
Not again.
My phone buzzed, as if on cue.
DOM: Good morning! Enjoy your drink
SIERRA: Thanks for that. Hope it doesn’t have that extra pump of insanity you always seem to add to yours
DOM: Nah, only an extra dash of love :)
SIERRA: Ah, I thought something tasted off.
DOM: Yeah, I’m sure you did. Nothing quite tastes like my brand of love
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I needed to stop this. The conversation was definitely going in the wrong direction. He was throwing the L-word around. If that wasn’t dangerous territory, what was?
Whatever was going on between us now could only be physical, nothing else. It was just sex. Stress-relief, one might say. I deserved some of that, and he was right about one thing … we had undeniable chemistry.
That’s why you get all tingly when he calls you his, huh?, asked that pesky voice in the back of my head that always seemed to show up when I was second-guessing myself.
SIERRA: Oh, that’s what that bitter taste was?
DOM: Nope. Some of your denial must’ve accidentally gotten in there as well
SIERRA: You’re incorrigible
DOM: You love it.
DOM: Have a beautiful day. Maybe I’ll see you around.
SIERRA: I’ll be the blonde, sprinting the other way.
DOM: Didn’t I tell you? I always catch you.
I threw the phone on my bed like it had personally betrayed me. This wassonot good.
***
Dom
Why weren’t there more people here? This was fucking incredible; these stands should be filled with a crowd cheering them on.
