Page 96 of Rat Park
“I do, though. I mean. Flor and me. You…invited me into your family and I. You know. Had a relationship with Flor without telling you.”
Cat snorted. “Honey, we all knew from the start where that would end up. That boy was gaga over you since day one. Mooning after you, always asking questions—‘Where does Dominic live? What does he do? Where did he get his tattoos?’ I mean.Where did you get your tattoos?”
Dominic laughed a little before sobering again.
“He’s not a bad kid, but he was never interested in volunteering before you came along. And the way he spent his time looking for the perfect baking recipe…it was cute.”
“But, then. Why would you leave him under my supervision if you knew…I mean, I’m older than him.”
“Are you questioning my parenting, Dominic?”
“No!”
Cat laughed. “Dominic, honey, first of all, you try to rein Flor in when he really wants something. Sometimes, it’s just not worth the energy. And I knew nothing bad would come of it.”
“Why? How could you know?”
“Because you’re you! Honey, you know I love you, but you’ve got a thing with guilt that you can’t seem to shake. You think you’re an addict and it stops at that, but it’s not that simple. People are complicated. Not every one of a person’s behaviours aligns. What matters is their internal morals, their integrity and motivations, and I trust yours and did then. I knew if there was someone who could handle Flor, it would be you.”
Dominic sat there silently, trying to process everything Cat had said, but she wasn’t done.
“Not only that. I knew if something happened down the line, you’d make Flor happy. And I was right.”
A feeling like a light that warms and blinds and hurts a little, too, from how bright it is, filled Dominic up.
“He makes me happy too,” Dominic said quietly just as they reached their destination, the car slowing to a stop.
Cat turned to him before reaching out for his hand. She didn’t say anything more, but her expression spoke for itself, a reflection of the joy Dominic felt inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Dominic had expected the search for a new apartment to be a complete nightmare. Both he and Flor were busy and had to squeeze in the sightings wherever they could. However, Flor quickly turned it into a game, with points earned if they could spot increasingly horrifying features such as claw marks inside a closet or a wall that made a strange scuttling sound. The worse the apartment they were shown, the more fun they had, until the perfect one seemed to appear suddenly out of the muck.
The apartment was small, of course, but the perfect size for the two of them. The kitchen had enough counter space for both of them to bake together, and a good-sized oven to cook in. The attached, open-plan living room was tiny but had a massive window on one of the walls, letting light stream onto the hardwood floors.
The bedroom was the best part, airy and wide, big enough for a large bed and some closet space. It wasn’t in the best location, which explained the price, but Dominic had lived in far worse.
Flor and Dominic looked at each other as soon as they finished the tour, not even having to speak to know they had both fallen in love.
Dominic had furniture to take over, but they decided to replace some pieces, especially the bed. Flor forced Dominic to test out mattresses in the store by lying on them whilst Flor muttered things like, “This one has a good bounce. It’d be perfect for me to fuck myself on your cock.”
Dominic tried to finish shopping without getting an erection and mostly failed.
Flor also convinced Dominic to buy a wine-red couch he would never have thought would go, but in combination with the raw-wood coffee table, the living room seemed to tie perfectly together.
It took them a few weeks between their schedules to set everything up, but one day Dominic stood in the middle of their apartment, Flor dancing around to the radio in the kitchen, and it hit him.
He had a home.
**********
Living with Flor wasn’t difficult, but his worries weren’t completely unfounded. Dominic had been disciplined into being orderly in prison, and Flor was forgetful and messy, causing Dominic to pick up after him. Dominic would get anxious sometimes, and Flor didn’t always know how to react, snappy and tired and making it worse. They’d squabble and Flor would pout, but all those incidents were quick to smooth away.
Their first real fight was a few weeks after the new year. It wasn’t over something big and dramatic, at first, instead building up in an escalation of things. Flor had been surly due to a project he was struggling with for class. He was even more disorganised than usual, and Dominic had bitten his tongue to keep from saying anything, even when Flor forgot to buy a key ingredient for the dinner Dominic was making.
Dominic’s silence seemed to only incense Flor, but the more Flor goaded, the more Dominic shut down, until Flor had snapped.
“Use your words, Dominic! I can’t freaking read your mind!” Flor bit out, almost slamming the plates from their dinner into the sink. Dominic crossed his arms, standing stiffly beside the kitchen table as Flor turned to look at him.
