Page 30 of Shot Through the Heart

My head snaps in his direction. “How did you…”

He shrugs, tapping the blinker as he approaches the intersection to turn into the parking lot at the docks.

“Well, you’re not the kind of guy who hits people, unless truly provoked, so I could rule out that kind of mess. You’re also not someone who says things without thinking them through, so it was the only other thing that made sense to get your boxers in a twist.”

“They’re not in a twist,” I grumble, straightening in my seat as he eases into the lot and searches for a parking spot. We sit in silence until he has the car parked and he turns to me.

“Did she say no or stop and you ignored her?”

I shake my head, disgusted at even the thought of doing something like that.

“Did she kiss you back?” he asks and I hesitate before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, but she pointed out that…” I pause. No one knows that this is all part of her job, but since Dominik is the one who gave me Garrett’s business card and put all this in motion… “She works for Garrett.”

Understanding dawns on Dom’s face so quickly it’s almost comical. Before he can say anything else, though, I continue.

“But we knew each other before this. Years ago.” I sigh, running a hand through my hair and cursing when my fingers get caught in a knot. The urge to chop it all off always hits a month or two into the season, but cutting it now feels like bad luck.

“So there’s history,butshe’s working for you.”

My teeth grind together, but I nod in acknowledgment.

“Damn…and I thought my relationship was complicated when it started.” Dominik laughs. He fuckinglaughs. When he catches my scowl directed at him, he throws his hands up in a ‘I surrender’ motion and attempts to wipe the grin off his face.

“In all seriousness, man, these things happen. Did you apologize?”

“She left before I could say anything.”

“Well, apologize today. Get through whatever deal you guys made and if you still want to kiss her when it’s done, ask her on a real date.”

“It’s not that simple…” I stop myself from explaining how much it hurt to wake up and find out she was gone five years ago. The last thing either of us needs is for me to trauma dump on him while in the passenger seat of his truck.

“It never is. Second chances are hard to come by these days. It’s not easy to put yourself out there and be vulnerable.” Dom pauses and nudges me with his elbow. “Especially for someone as reserved as you are. But you can either take all the right steps to fix things, or you can continue as you are. Anyone who tells you that relationships are easy is bullshitting themselves. Caring about someone and wanting to be with them can be easy, but going through life rarely is. So you either want her enough to work through whatever happened and build a foundation to face what challenge is next, or you decide it’s not worth it.”

“Stella’s worth it,” I say without hesitation and Dominik grins, motioning over my shoulder.

I glance behind me and find that Lilly has pulled up beside me and is waving enthusiastically from the driver’s seat before turning her back to us to gather her things. My eyes immediately find Stella in the passenger seat. She isn’t looking at me, too focused on helping Lilly balance the trays of coffee orders, but I can’t take my focus off her.

“Then make sure she knows that,” he says, tossing an extra Bobcats baseball hat in my lap before reaching for his door handle.

“Oh, and, Grey,” he says and I finally peel my attention away from Stella to look back at Dom. “Thank you.”

I can feel my eyebrows draw together in confusion. “For what?”

Dominik shrugs. “Talking to me.”

He doesn’t linger, and he doesn’t let me stew on his words before coming around to my side of the car and knocking on my window. Maybe it’s for the best that he doesn’t leave me to my thoughts, considering this entire month has felt like I’m on one of those teacup rides. Everything is spiraling out of the tight control I spent years getting a hold of.

Straightening the baseball cap onto my head, I beeline to where Dominik is standing with Lilly and Stella. I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until Stella turns around with a blinding smile and the air in my lungs wheezes out.

Even with faux enthusiasm directed at me, she’s still stunning.

“This one’s for you,” she says, offering me a to-go cup of hot coffee.

“Thank you,” I mumble, but she’s already fallen back into conversation with Lilly as we head toward where everyone else is gathering.

Coach James starts talking to the crowd, directing players to their assigned boating captain and giving the name of the kid we’ll be fishing with first. My attention keeps drifting back to Stella. If anyone else saw her, they would never know that something was wrong. She fits right in, laughing with the other partners and families as if this is where she belongs.

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