Page 6 of Long Live the King
Dominic stops massaging me so he can laugh. I hear him chuckling behind me as if I’m joking.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, as my own smile starts up.
“She thought we were a serial leg-breaker couple?”
“She did! She actually said it. It’s not funny!”
“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s just the way you tell the story, babe. I’m sorry. Please continue. I won’t laugh anymore, I promise.” Dominic struggles to wipe the smile off his face as he starts rubbing my shoulders again.
“Okay. Anyway, so I told her to mind her own business, and this idiot starts crying just as Deanna walks up.”
“Oh. That’s no good.”
“Exactly. So, Deanna starts going off on this rant about a picture she saw of us in the paper, and how you’re going to go down, and nobody in the hospital is going to vouch for me when I get pulled down with you. It was like she had been saving all of this up for a year and she finally found a moment to let it out. Ugh. Anyway, to make a long story short, I could see where she was going with all of that, and in the heat of the moment I just decided to beat her to it. So I quit.”
The massage is paused once again as Dominic leans over my shoulder so he can see my face.
“You kidding?”
“Serious as ever.”
“Holy shit, babe. Thatisbig,” he replies with raised eyebrows. “Are you okay?”
“I guess so,” I answer, although I’m really not sure if am. “It still hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I just couldn’t take any more of them judging me. There was a lot of little bitchy jealousy going on in that place the moment they found out I was dating you. I didn’t want to have to quit, though. I loved my job, and I had some really awesome patients there. Not really sure what I’m going to do now.”
Dominic repositions himself on the bed so that he’s sitting on the edge next to me, his round shoulder softly brushing up against mine.
“I’m sorry that happened, Alannah,” he begins, his blue eyes nearly hypnotizing me. “I know you get a lot of shit just because you’re seen with me, and I feel terrible about that.”
“You don’t have to feel bad, Dominic,” I interrupt. “I don’t care what people think. If they hate on me for being with you, then so be it. We’re gonna be together no matter what, whether people love it or hate it. If they don’t accept us, then I don’t accept them. I’m fine with it.”
“I know you are, but I still feel like it’s my fault. Yeah, people are fucked up and super-fucking-nosy, but they’re still hating on you because of me. But I know you can handle it, and you’re gonna come out of this thing better and stronger, while all the bitches still working at Mercy will still be the same little weak, jealous, boring bitches they are. You don’t need to work there anyway. You can get a job at St. Luke’s Hospital or Forest Park with no problem. You put in a call to one of those other places, and you’ll be hired the next day. So, don’t worry about it, babe. You’ll be alright.”
I feel myself smiling as I start to reply. “Thanks, Dominic. I appreciate your support.”
“Fuhgeddaboutit,” he says with a grin, sending shooting stars exploding through my stomach. “That’s what I’m here for, babe—to support and protect you. As a matter of fact, now that you’ve told me your thing, I’ve got something I wanna tell you.”
“Oh, did you quit your job, too?” I say with a giggle.
“Yeah right,” he replies behind a chuckle. “Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And something crossed my mind that I just haven’t been able to let go of.”
“Getting deep, Mr. Collazo. I’m intrigued.”
“Good. Because I was thinking that maybe you wanna stop spending the night here.”
“Stop spending the night? Why would I want to stop spending the night?”
“Because I was hoping that you might wanna sleep over hereeverynight. No more back and forth, no more bringing your work clothes over so you can change in the morning. I was thinking you should just move in with me instead.”
My heart starts to speed up a little more with every passing second, like stepping on the accelerator of your car until you reach one hundred miles per hour.
“Oh my god. You want me to move in with you?” I ask, because it sounds too good to be true, so he must be joking. Is it April Fool’s Day?
“I do, actually,” he replies with a straight face. “I’ve wanted you to move in ever since the thing with the Russian, but I knew it was too soon. But that was a while ago, so I feel less creepy asking now. What do you think?”
What do I think? I think a million different things! I think this is the best thingever! I think I’ve been wanting to sleep in the same bed as Dominic every night since I was fifteen. I think Dominic just swooped in and turned this crappy day into the happiest one of my life so far. I think I love the crap out of this man!
“I think that sounds like living in heaven every day,” I reply with a wide smile I can barely control. “I think we need to make that happen as soon as possible.”
