“Do you two want to join us?” There was plenty of room in the curved booth for all four of them.
“Yes, please, I’m starving,” Rae said, already moving to sit before Domi could protest.
“Hey! This is my date!”
Chuckling, Mitch dropped a kiss to the top of Domi’s head.
“I’ll take you on a real date,” he promised. “Soon.”
“Will you wear the suit?” she asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Fine.” She said, sighing and letting him scoot her into the booth.
Domi
Was she making the right decision?
She had no idea.
But sitting next to Mitch, tucked under his arm, with her friends, felt a hell of a lot better than walking toward the door had.
There were no guarantees, but he was right… that didn’t mean something wasn’t worth trying.
And she was in love with him.
That was no small thing. Maybe it was stupid, but seeing him willing to make a fool out of himself—not in the usual Mitch-way, goofing off to try to make people laugh—literally putting himself out there where everyone could hear him and watch him be rejected… It had made her realize how cowardly she was being. How few risks she was willing to take, even when she’d thought she was giving him a real chance.
They still had some work to do, but she was determined to try in a way she hadn’t before. It seemed he was as well, so she needed to meet him halfway.
The server came by with napkins, and Mitch helped her clean up the mess he’d made when he’d jumped on the table. They all ordered some more drinks—as well as asked for menus for Rae and Avery, not that Avery needed one. The server clearly recognized her and hurried away even faster than she’d been moving.
Domi was looking over the menu, enjoying being snuggled next to Mitch for the first time in days, when a handsome man in a chef coat stormed up to the table and glared at Avery—dark hair, blue eyes, and seriously hot, even though he looked ticked off. He planted his hands on his hips, and Domi totally got a yummy Dom vibe from him. She could understand why Avery was attracted, even if he wasn’t in the lifestyle.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were eating here this morning?” It wasn’t a question but a demand for information directed straight at Avery, who looked taken aback.
“I didn’t know I needed to tell you all my meal plans,” she responded dryly.
Nick scowled.
“Only when you’re going to eat here.” He reached out, snatching the menus from their hands. Domi was so surprised, she let him without a fight. Even Mitch surrendered quickly. “I’ll send food out.” Without even saying goodbye, he stormed off again.
They all looked at Avery, who covered her face with her hands and groaned.
“There is seriously something wrong with me that I found that hot,” she said.
“No, no, it was hot,” Domi reassured her. Mock growling, Mitch snuggled her closer and nipped her ear, sending a flash of heat through her. She turned her head toward him, patting his thigh reassuringly. “Don’t worry, you’re hotter.”
“Damn right.” Mitch nodded decisively, making all of them laugh.
Was there a part of her still worried? Of course, but… maybe it was all going to be okay.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Domi
Holding the phone in place with her shoulder, she finished her explanation to Marcus.
“So, you want him to come to dinner on Wednesday?” he asked, sounding a little dubious. She supposed it did sound a bit weird when she left out all the kinky sex stuff.
“Yes. Or a Wednesday when he can. Sometimes, he has to work evening shifts.” Why did that still feel so hard to say? Maybe because Marcus’ approval meant something. Yeah, her parents’ approval had meant something, but her mami wasn’t very picky at this point, and they were far away. She had to deal with Marcus every week and finally realized part of the reason she’d wanted to keep Mitch and Ana separate had been because she’d been scared to have this conversation with Marcus.
Scared if he didn’t approve of the guy she was dating, it would upset the balance of their co-parenting or worse, even cause custody issues. Even though she hadn’t had any reason to think Marcus would be a hardass about her dating or introducing a guy she was serious about to Ana, she’d been scared of the possibility.
It was a sobering revelation how fear had ruled so much of her life without her realizing it.
Asking Mitch to a Wednesday dinner so Marcus and Julia could officially meet him was her first step in integrating him into part of her life, although she hadn’t told him what she was doing. She figured she’d wait to see how Marcus felt, then talk to Mitch about it. He’d been great about not pressuring her to let him meet Ana right away, though that may have more to do with him having to go into work right after brunch and barely getting to see each other after that, so she didn’t want to get his hopes up.
This way, she’d be able to tell him either he was invited, or she had at least initiated the process of getting Marcus and Julia comfortable with the idea.
“And you’re serious about this guy?” Marcus still sounded a little dubious, and Domi couldn’t blame him. She’d never brought a guy around before and hadn’t mentioned Mitch to him before Ana’s birthday, though he’d heard plenty about Murse Mitch from Ana. “How long have you two actually being seeing each other?”
She bristled at the question, but she got it, so she tamped down her automatic defensiveness and thought back. Well, if she counted the time they were fuck buddies, which was when they’d been building the relationship…
“Holy shit. Months.” She sounded shocked, even to herself. How had that happened? The time had sped by faster than she’d realized.
“Months?” Amusement crept into
