“Well, that’s a bit dramatic,” I say, snickering under my breath.
Wade glances down to his knees and says sarcastically, “But is it though?” Turning his head, he looks out the window.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” I ask. “Is there anyone else that doesn’t want you here?”
Taking a deep breath, Wade bites down on the side of his cheek.
“Wade?” I press.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” he finally says.
My eyes widen as I flip the turn signal to turn down Dominic’s drive. “Maybe? You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t. I mean, I don’t think they’d have enough pull to do something like this.”
“Who?” I say, putting the vehicle into park in front of Dominic’s large, white manor.
Wade’s tongue skirts across his lower lips and he tips his head to the house. “Let’s check this first. Like you said, we don’t want to eliminate the element of surprise. Come on.”
This time, it’s Wade who makes a quick exit, leaving me scrambling after him.
Before we even make it to the door, Dominic steps outside. His white-blond hair and outfit are disheveled, like he just crawled out of bed.
“Dominic, we—” I begin, but he raises a hand, cutting me off.
“Autumn, between the two of you, there is no need to even open your mouth. God, I could hear you coming a mile away. Literally,” he says, taking a deep breath and rolling his eyes.
“I’m sorry, are we interrupting your sleep time?” Wade says, his jaw hardening as he steps into Dominic’s space.
Dom’s light eyebrow arches high. He presses all five fingertips in his right hand against Wade’s chest, gently pushing him back a step. “Actually, you’re just lucky I put clothes back on. I was a bit…” he looks over his shoulder, “preoccupied. Maybe you should try it. Might take this edge off.”
“Stop playing games with us. If you can hear our thoughts, you know why we’re here. What do you know?” Wade growls, his silver eyes darkening as his eyebrows press down.
“All I’m saying is you need to get laid.”
Wade steps forward, grabbing Dominic by the front of his shirt, lifting him up to his tiptoes. “Answer the goddamn question.”
Dominic clutches at Wade’s hands as he struggles to maintain his own balance.
“Wade,” I warn, placing my hands on his left arm.
Refusing to look at me, the lines on his jaw harden, but he lets Dom drop back to his own footing.
“It wasn’t me. Whatever it is that’s got your tidy whities in a twist, it wasn’t me. Like I said, I was a bit busy with Natasha,” he says, shifting his gaze from Wade to me and back again.
“Prove it,” Wade says, his expression hardening. He releases his grip on Dominic’s shirt, thrusting him back a bit.
“How? Bring her out here in her birthday suit? I’m sure that’ll go down well with—” he points a finger my direction.
“Don’t care. Prove to me you’re not a lying weasel,” Wade says through clenched teeth. “My life is on the line here and I don’t take it lightly.”
Dominic rolls his eyes and sighs. “So dramatic.”
Wade reaches out for Dominic, who sidesteps his clutches.
“Fine, fine,” Dom says, straightening his shirt and glancing my direction. His gaze turns from a passing look to one of concentration. After a moment his eyebrows tighten and his jaw slacks open. “You have a what in your boathouse?”
“It’s not a what,” Wade says. “It’s a who. Now, get the girl.”
“God, all right. Come on,” Dominic says, shooting me another surprised look before opening the door and letting us inside. “She’s not going to like this.”
“I couldn’t honestly care less,” Wade says, his voice low.
Dominic leads us through a large entryway by the standard of any normal house, but it’s still about half the size of the one at my house. The inside isn’t at all what I expected. Rather than being immaculate, like the way he typically dresses for school, there are aspects of the home that look like they need some extensive work done. While the house is spacious and has some beautiful elements to the internal architecture, like intricate crown molding and woodwork, it’s as though its been left to its own devices for far too long. Parts of the plaster on the walls is discoloring or flaking off, especially in the high parts of the ceilings.
Dominic shoots me a sideways glance and I swear his face flushes. But he remains silent as he walks up the large flight of stairs to the right, and takes a quick turn, following the upper landing around to the left.
“Hey, babe—it’s me. Can you make sure you’re covered up?” Dominic says, peering through the doorway as he opens it a crack.
There’s a shuffle inside, but a woman’s voice filters out into the hallway. “What’s going on, Dom? Everything okay?”
Dominic nods his head, opening the door enough so we can see inside. “Yeah, I just gotta—”
Wade steps forward, pushing his way past Dominic. Surprised by his forcefulness, I follow after him, stopping just inside the door. A blond girl I’ve never seen before sits in the middle of a large four-poster bed, clutching red satin sheets to her chest. Her eyes are the size of big blue pools as she looks from us back to Dominic.
“Satisfied?” Dominic hisses, stepping back out into the hallway and flagging us to come out.
Wade shoots an apologetic glance at the woman, “S-sorry to bother you.” He diverts his eyes and walks out the way he came.
I turn to the woman and wave awkwardly. “Sorry for the interruption.”
She blinks wildly but doesn’t say a word.
Following after both of the guys, I make sure to close the door on my way out.
“Well, that was an experience,” I say, lifting my eyebrows and crossing my arms.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d love for the two of you to get the hell out of my house,” Dominic says, stepping aside and pointing at the stairs.
Wade hangs his head in defeat, but only gets a few steps before he turns back to Dominic. “If
