Dominic (18 page)

"He can't have me!"

Damien chuckled again. "And that is one of the reasons why he won't leave you alone."

I groaned. "I hate men."

Damien laughed then moved on when Gavin appeared in front of me.

"You okay? Do you need anythin'?" he asked me, a frown on his face.

"Straight to the principal's office Bronagh and Destiny, now!"

I cringed at Mr. Rivers' roar.

I groaned and said to Gavin, "Yeah, I need an ambulance because when me sister hears about this she is gonna kill me."

"You're so lucky you weren't suspended again!"

I kept my head down as I got into the back of Ryder's Jeep; it was like the Slater family car since all the lads drove it at one time or another.

"Dame, sit in the middle, I'm not listenin' to them two tear at each other's throats."

I completely and totally ignored Branna. She was making me take a ride home from Ryder knowing Dominic was going to be in the car, and I was mad at her for it. I was also mad that she was mad at me over what went down with Destiny. I mean, I explained
exactly
what happened, and she was still pissed at me. I buckled my seatbelt, hugged my school bag to my chest and looked out of the car window.

"What were you thinkin', Bronagh?"

I clenched my school bag and ignored her again.

Branna twisted around in her seat and looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "Answer me!"

I swallowed, looked at her then calmly said, "I was thinkin' that I'm sick and tired of people walkin' all over me like I'm a doormat just because I'm quiet; I was stickin' up for meself!"

Branna shook her head. "By fuckin'
fightin'
?"

I lost it.

"I didn't fight her! She got in me face and tried to humiliate me by braggin' that she shagged that STD carryin' prick over there and then she said I was jealous of her! Plus, she was the one who came at me; I pushed her away from me in an attempt to defend meself unless you wanted me to let her beat me up like Micah did?"

Her eyes flashed; she only recently learned that Micah was the one who beat me up a couple of weeks ago, and that I had lied when I said I didn't know who hurt me. She understood my reasons, but she was still upset about that.

"You know I never want that to happen to you again, your fuckin' stomach is still only healin' from what that Micah girl done to you!"

I felt his eyes on me.

"What did she do to your stomach?" he asked me.

I ignored him.

I wasn't talking to him, because once again what happened was because of him; Destiny tried to rub having sex with him in my face.

"It was black and blue from that girl kickin' her when she was on the ground. The bruises are nearly faded but it's takin' a long time for them to heal."

I growled at Branna. "It's none of his business because
that
was his fault,
this
is his fault,
everything
is his fault."

I couldn't believe my voice cracked at the end of my sentence. I was going to cry; I knew it and so did everyone else. I looked out the window as Ryder began to pull out of the space he had parked in the school car park. I bit down on my lip and prayed that my tears would dry up, but they didn't.

When I blinked, they fell onto my cheeks and then a little sniffle came from my nose.

Damien sighed next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. He didn't say a word or pull me into a side hug, he just left his arm around me for comfort. I usually didn't like anything like this. I could tell he didn't either but I was glad of it because it made me feel a little bit better.

The car journey wasn't long so I wiped my face as discreetly as I could when Ryder pulled up to mine and Branna's house.

"Later, Bee," Damien said.

I glanced at him and gave him a little smile then flicked my surely red and puffy eyes to Dominic and narrowed then. "I hate you," I growled before turning and getting out of the car, closing the door and stalking up the garden.

"Bye, sweetie," I heard Branna say, and it made me scoff.

Ryder was bigger than both Branna and me put together. There was no way in hell a man his size could be called sweetie, it was just wrong. I thought this over while I rooted through my bag for my keys. When I found them I unlocked the door and headed straight for my room. I heard Branna follow me, and it made me inwardly groan. I needed to lie down and just be on my own for a while, but apparently she wasn't going to let that happen.

When I got into my room, I kicked off my shoes and began to take off my uniform. I pulled on some pyjama trousers under my school skirt then took off the shirt once the trousers were up. I settled on my bed once I had a tank top on and gestured for Branna - who was leaning against my door - into the room.

"Please, continue to belittle and shout at me, I didn't get enough of that at school or in the car."

Branna's eyes narrowed as she walked into my room and sat down on my bed. "I'm not belittlin' you. Shoutin' at you was just from the shock at being called from class to come to your school because you were in a fight!"

I sighed. "It wasn't a fight, I don't know how many times I have to say that for you to believe me!"

"You shoved Destiny to the ground. That has means for a fight, Bronagh."

I grunted. "She deserved it. She got in my face and tried to upset me by throwin' her shaggin' Dominic in me face, the slut!"

Branna sighed and muttered, "That lad does nothin' but 'cause trouble."

"I know! I've been sayin' that for
weeks
!" I exclaimed.

Branna settled me with a wave of her hand. "I understand how much he gets to you and the trouble he is causin' you. Ryder is talkin' to him about it tonight. It won't magically fix things, but if you both can at least say hello to one another, and be around each other without war eruptin', myself, and everyone else, will be forever grateful."

I grumbled, "I can't stand him though, he thinks he is God's gift or somethin'. I mean, he practically begged me to get with him, and when I say no, he goes and shags Destiny not a day later then tries to act like nothin' happened. Who does that?"

Branna shrugged her shoulders. "His ego took a hit at your rejection. He was obviously tryin' to make himself feel better by bein' with Destiny."

I grunted. "What about me? It didn't make
me
feel better for him to be with Destiny-"

I cut myself off once I realised what I was rambling on about.

"Wait," Branna gasped. "Are you upset that Nico had sex with Destiny?"

No.

Heavens no.

Heavens
and
Hell no!

"You are!" Branna gasped again. "You like him!"

"I do not, I hate him, I can't stand the sight of him-"

"Give it up Bee, you're gettin' defensive and that's a dead giveaway."

I growled at Branna. "Thinkin' someone, even an evil bastard, is attractive does not mean you like them."

I couldn't believe that I admitted out loud, or at all, that I found Dominic attractive!

Branna nodded. "You're right it doesn't but if said attractive bastard had sex with another girl, and it upsets you then yeah, it does mean you like him."

I swallowed the retort that was climbing up my throat and settled on giving Branna a dirty look, which made her laugh.

"Oh God, you hate that you like him, don't you?" she cackled.

I grunted and kicked at her, which she laughed even harder over. I gave up on trying to shut her up and angrily folded my arms across my chest until she stopped - which wasn't for a solid two minutes.

"When the hell did all
this
start to happen?" Branna asked me as she wiped her eyes.

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "I have no idea… I honestly think it was when he first kissed me and stuff in his room after he defended me from Jason. I liked how he acted then; he wasn't mean or anythin', and he seemed nice, we had an actual conversation. I guess it just went from there, but don't get me wrong though, I do hate him for the times - which is pretty much all the time - he is an arsehole, but I always find myself looking out for him or just plain lookin' at him. I hate that Destiny was with him or that he was with other girls or that he wants to be with them. I never really thought about it, but it makes me so mad and my chest hurts. It's horrible Branna, how do I make it stop?"

Branna started laughing again. "Bee, you can't just turn off your feelin's. If you like Nico then you will continue to like him until you get over him or until you start to like someone else who takes up all your attention from Nico."

I perked up at that. "There is another lad that I think I could like, his name is Gavin Collins-"

"Aideen's little brother? The kid who fought Dominic and got you suspended?"

I winced. "Uh, yeah, but he is the complete opposite of Dominic so you would like him. I swear."

Branna raised a brow and grinned at me. "I can't believe this is finally happenin'."

I frowned. "You can't believe what is finally happenin'?"

"You're startin' to let people in, you're actually havin' boy problems and not only with one lad but two! I thought this day would never come, I'm so happy!"

I was a little freaked because what she was saying was true, but what freaked me out the most was that Branna actually started to cry. I was instantly crawling to her side and wrapping my arms around her, hugging her tight.

"Why are you cryin'?" I asked her, panicked.

She shrugged. "I'm just happy."

I pulled back and glared at her. "You're happy that I'm havin' boy problems?"

"Yes!" she squealed and burst into tears again.

Oh, Christ.

"I need you to woman up, stop cryin', and help me figure all this out. I am in unknown territory here, what the hell do I do?"

Branna sat back and wiped her face but was still sniffling a little. I couldn't believe she cried because I was having boy troubles; there was something very weird and just plain wrong with that.

"Datin' Nico is out, right?" Branna asked me.

Was that a serious question?

"Eh, yeah! I barely like him Branna. Honestly, the qualities I like are things he showed like twice. The rest of the time he is a thorn in me side and I can't get rid of him."

Branna nodded her head in understanding. "Okay, Nico and you datin' is out, what about you and Gavin?"

I chewed on my lip. "He asked me out on a date today. At first it was just a front he put on to make Dominic take a step back from me, to make him think we're together or somethin', but because Dominic seemed to get mad over it he wanted a real date just incase he dies by Dominic's hand… or foot."

Branna laughed. "That explains why Nico is more pissed than usual, it's because you rejected him on Saturday mornin' and today, only two days later, you're apparently in a relationship with another lad. The very lad that fought him a few weeks ago tryin' to defend you… that has got to be a shot to the ego for him."

I groaned and rubbed my face with my hands. "I don't know how all this has happened, Branna. It's like the more I try to push Dominic away, the more he forces himself in. Why won't he take no for an answer and just leave me alone? I mean he may want to kiss me and stuff, but he doesn't like me for me, he actually hates me."

Branna sighed. "Maybe he just isn't used to hearin' a girl tell him no, maybe he feels you're a challenge, and we all know he loves a challenge."

I grunted. "He knows I'm not playin' hard to get, I told him I just wasn't interested in him-"

"Was that before or after the two times you made out with him?" she asked in an American accent.

I growled at Branna making her laugh.

I eventually shrugged, not being able to remember and said, "My body and my mind seem to run on two different circuit boards where Dominic is involved, much to my displeasure."

"That much is obvious."

I grunted.

Branna chuckled a little and pressed on. "It's an odd situation, but there
does
seem to be a solution to it."

I perked up. "Really? What is it? What is the solution?"

"Gavin Collins." Branna grinned devilishly.

Uh, oh.

"Gavin?" I repeated.

Branna nodded. "You said yourself that you could like him and the best way to get over a lad is to get under another," she paused when I snorted. "I don't mean it like
that
, you don't have to get under Gavin-"

"I get the metaphor Bran, I'm just teasin'."

Branna rolled her eyes. "Okay, good. Anyway, as I was sayin', if you get with Gavin it will help you move on, and it might just hit home with Nico that you really don't want him and that he should just move on too. Understand?"

I shook my head. "Do you mean really date Gavin or just pretend date him, because I don't think I can do either, I hardly know him."

Branna rolled her eyes. "You said you like him, the like starts the gettin' to know him, Bee. Besides, that's what dates are for, you to get to know one another. You have already secured one date so we can just see how it goes; you never know, you might just find yourself happy with Gavin."