Page 35 of Redline
Maybe I hadn't imagined him at the bowling alley. And maybe the reason it wouldn’t leave me alone was because, for just a second, I’d actually wanted him to pull that door open.
Which felt like a massive betrayal of my better judgment.
I filed out with the rest of the class, letting the current carry me into the afternoon air. Sunlight spilled across the steps, too bright and too normal for how scrambled my head still felt. I paused at the top step, scanning the quad.
Near the edge of the walkway, Dominic stood talking to a woman I didn’t recognize.
For a split second, I waited for the trick. My mind was a master at lying to me in familiar ways, filling the spaces he’d left behind the other night. I blinked once, expecting the air to shimmer and settle into an empty nothing. Then again.
The shape didn’t dissolve.
I told myself not to stare. I failed immediately.
The woman was older, sharp and professional in a way that suggested she had a corner office and very little patience. Dominic listened to her with his hands loose in his pockets, his expression calm—not closed or defensive, just... present.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't the brittle, performative thing he used on me. It was easy. He said something I couldn't hear, and she laughed before nodding and stepping away.
Dominic turned. Right toward me.
I stayed put, waiting for the illusion to kick in and wipe him away again. It didn’t. Instead, he fell into step beside me like we’d done this a thousand times.
“Rough class?” he asked.
I cut a look toward him, my shoulder barely brushing his. “Is this you actually pretending to be human? It’s a bit jarring.”
He glanced down at me, a genuine spark of amusement in his eyes. “The season starts in two weeks, Shortcut. Even I can’t be a dick twenty-four-seven.”
I waited for the twist. The sarcasm. The inevitable reminder that he was a Valerio, and he’d assume I was lucky to be in his orbit. It didn't come.
"I'm aware," I said, my voice dry. "My dad has the countdown taped to our fridge. I'm more curious about the loitering."
Dominic didn't explain himself. Instead, he just looked at me—a slow, sideways tilt of his head. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth, not quite a smile but something far more annoying. He didn't say a word, just turned his attention back to the path ahead.
We walked in silence, students weaving past us like we were just another normal couple on campus. It was a bizarre, intrusive thought. He didn't belong here among the coffee breath and the stress of midterms.
The silence stretched long enough to become a choice. He was still there, matching my stride as if he had nowhere better to be, his closeness prickling at my skin. I needed to know I wasn't losing my mind.
“So,” I said, slowing my pace to force him to look at me. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? On a campus you don’t attend? On a random weekday? Like this is a thing people do?”
He considered that for a beat too long, his gaze drifting over the buildings. “I like the scenery.”
“The scenery,” I repeated, a dry, skeptical noise escaping my throat. “Right. And I suppose you liked the scenery of the parking lot outside the bowling alley the other night, too? Since you spent so much time idling there instead of actually coming inside.”
Dominic’s stride faltered—just a fraction of a second, but enough that I felt the shift in the air between us. He didn't look away from the path ahead, but the smug curve of his mouth flattened into a hard, thin line.
For the first time, the silence felt less like a choice and more like he was recalculating.
I watched the side of his face, waiting. That one flicker of hesitation was all the confirmation I needed. I wasn't losing mymind; I hadn't just imagined the dark silhouette of him or the way the headlights had cut through the rain. Hehadbeen there. He’d driven all that way, stood outside of a crumbling bowling alley, and then... nothing. He’d just left.
Thewhyof it was a warped piece of a puzzle that didn't fit the person standing next to me now.
“What’s your major?” he asked. It was a blatant misdirect, his voice a shade lower than before.
I didn't give it to him. I stopped walking entirely, forcing him to turn back. “Don’t do that. Don’t ignore the fact that you were lurking in the dark like a cliché and now you're acting like you’re just here for the architecture.”
He turned fully now, his expression unreadable as he let the distance between us hang. “Fine. If you want the truth, give me something first. What are you studying?”
