Dominic (Made Men 8)

Darkness fell over him again as Dominic clicked off the phone.

Twenty-Nine

Where Would I Even Sit?

Dominic sat in the back corner of the pizza restaurant, watching people enter and exit the establishment. Not yet seeing who he was meeting, he reached for his cell phone to see what time it was … again.

Hearing the sound of the tiny bell, he lifted his hazel eyes to the door. It felt like déjà vu watching the woman enter. She had hardly aged in the ten years since he last saw her.

Dom immediately stood up, seeing her serious expression turn into a smile when she glanced around the restaurant and saw him rising from the booth against the wall. Dom couldn’t be sure because of the distance separating them, but he thought she gave a small sob as she rushed toward him.

Catching her easily when she threw herself into his arms, he gave her a light hug. “Good to see you, Bristol.”

“You, too.” Bristol closed her eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Pulling her back to arm’s length, he stared down at her. “You look good.”

“I wish.” She looked over him just as critically. “I see why I fell in love with you in grade school. You’ve become better looking in your old age.”

Dominic rolled his eyes at her, then motioned for her to take a seat in the booth. Sliding in across from her, he turned to look for the waitress, catching her attention before turning back to Bristol.

Ordering a pitcher of beer and a medium pizza, he waited until the waitress was gone before he nodded toward her left hand. “No ring? I thought you would be married by now. The men in Florida must be stupid if they let you get by them.”

Bristol gave him a sad smile. “I haven’t had the best of luck with men.”

He gave her a smile that was just as sad, knowing what she meant. “You didn’t love me, Bristol. You felt sorry for me, and when I didn’t need your pity anymore, you latched onto Kayne. You thought you could fix what was broken in us and, in return, you were hurt.”

“I wasn’t hurt,” she denied with a waver in her soft voice.

“Weren’t you? I don’t blame you leaving Blue Park after graduating, but you haven’t even been back to visit, not even for the holidays. I had to look at my phone twice to make sure it was you who texted me to meet you here.”

Bristol gave him a smile. “This place brings back good memories for me. Do you remember coming here and working on our projects together?”

“I remember,” Dom told her. “But I also remember when we stopped coming here because of Kayne.”

“I was trying to make you jealous,” Bristol admitted as the waitress approached with their beer and pizza. After the waitress left, Bristol stared down at the pizza instead of looking at him. “You put me in the friend category, and you weren’t budging me from that spot. I thought, if I could make you jealous enough, at least it would be a step forward. Instead, I took seven steps backward and stupidly lost our friendship.”

Pouring both of them a glass of the frothy beer, Dom tried to think of something to say without hurting her. Once upon a time, he wouldn’t have understood the pain of jealousy, but Maria had shown him the agony firsthand that night she spent with Kayne.

Bristol reached out, tapping his left hand before he could touch his beer. “I don’t see a ring on your finger, either.”

“I haven’t had the best of luck with women either.” Dom quickly changed the subject from his personal life. “So, what brought you back to Blue Park? How long are you stayin—”

“I’m moving back.”

Dominic almost dropped his beer. “Why in the fuck would you do that?” He could see her disappointment at his reaction as Bristol reached for her mug of beer. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

“It’s okay, Dom. I know you didn’t have the same feelings for me that I had for you.”

Taking the plates, she placed a large slice on one, setting it in front of him before taking a smaller slice for herself. “I hope it tastes as good as it used to. I’ve been imagining how good it would taste since I got off the plane.”

Dominic took a bite as she began eating hers. “How’s the pizza?”

“Better than I remembered,” Bristol said, taking another huge bite.

“You gonna tell me you’re moving back to Blue Park because of the pizza?” he jokingly asked, taking another slice for himself.

“No. I’m moving back because my mother told me Kayne is dead.”

This time, Dom did drop the contents in his hand, the pizza hitting the plate. “Why does it matter if he is alive or dead? Was the breakup that bad?”