Page 68 of Masters of Pleasure
Seeing the hurt, the disappointment on his face was too much for her.She shoved out of the booth as quickly as she could, espresso untouched, and headed for the door, tears already blurring her eyes.This felt even worse than Wednesday.It felt so final.
Turn around!Go back!Part of her head screamed.
Yeah, she was a masochist, but not for this kind of pain.
Mitch
Staring dumbfounded after Domi, it felt like his insides were cracking open, and there was nothing but ice inside.She was walking away.Maybe it was for the best?
No.
Do something, you stupid fool.
Grand gesture.
Tell her how you feel.
What do you have to lose?
Domi.Domi was what he had to lose.
That meant he hadeverythingto lose if he stayed silent.In the face of that, what was his dignity worth?
He would hate himself forever if he didn’t at least try.
Scrambling onto the booth, Mitch stepped onto the table, barely aware of the clatter of silverware or the coffee that sloshed over his shoe.
“Dominique Ortiz!”Shit.That came out even louder than he’d intended, but Domi whirled around and gasped when she saw him.The restaurant had fallen silent, everyone staring at the crazy man standing on a table in the middle of brunch.If she walked away now, everyone would see her reject him, but it didn’t matter.
It was time to face his fears, toshowDomi he was willing to put it all out there for her.
To tell her the full truth because even now, he’d been holding back, unwilling to make the declaration when he hadn’t been sure how she would react… if she would reciprocate.
“If you don’t have feelings for me, if you don’t think you could fall in love with me, given the chance, then walk away now.I’ll let you go.I won’t bother you about this again.But if you’re only walking away because you’re scared, because you have the feelings, but you’re afraid to act on them, I know how that feels.Because I love you, Domi.”
Her mouth dropped open, but no noise came out.It felt as if the entire world had come to a halt.There was no noise, no movement, everyone in the restaurant staring at him while he made a complete and utter fool of himself—and it didn’t matter.
None of it mattered except Domi.
“I’ve been in love with you for weeks, but I couldn’t admit it, not even to myself.I tried so hard not to be like my dad, but I became exactly like him.I can’t fix what I’ve already done, but I know he would have never donethis.He would have never made himself this vulnerable.”She was still standing there, staring at him without reacting.Fuck.Maybe he needed to let her go.“So, it’s okay if you don’t love me back… I just… I just needed to try.”He dropped his hands, feeling increasingly foolish.
The whole room waited with bated breath.They’d stopped watching him and were now watching Domi, waiting to see what she said.If she’d walk away from him now.
Maybe he should get off the table.
“Be like the girl fromTransformers!Get in the car!”a woman shouted from the other side of the room.
Domi’s head whipped around, her nose wrinkling in confusion.“What?”
The dark-haired man sitting next to the woman who had called out had put his hand over her mouth, and Mitch had a jolt of surprise.That was Master Justin and Jessica.The third part of their triad was sitting across from them.Master Chris caught Mitch’s eye and gave him a thumbs-up, then jerked his finger back at Domi.
Oh, right.
Because he was as big a nerd as his dad, he knew exactly what Jessica was talking about, and fuck, it made sense.
Looking back at Domi, he held out his hand in front of him, beckoning, hoping she could come take it.
“In theTransformersmovie, one of the main characters hesitates to get into the Transformer when it’s a car.The guy asks her, won’t she always wonder what it would have been like if she’d gotten into the car.I know I’ll always wonder, Domi.”She took a step closer to him.“You’re right.There are no guarantees, but there are missed chances.”Another step.Then another.“I love you, Domi.I don’t want to miss my chance.”She was almost to him, eyes shining with tears.
