“Funny,” Mac deadpanned. “Like you two have any room to talk. I’ve seen you both sporting black eyes on more than one occasion.”
In typical fashion, Dominic was easily distracted and turned on the man beside him. “Yeah, Gage, how about that hot little number on the second floor who kneed you in the balls last week? Might not have left a visible mark, but damn, I bet you were singing soprano all night long.”
When Gage actually blushed, Mac looked at him in surprise. “Whoa, when did I miss this?” Gage kept his mouth shut and continued to look uncomfortable. Mac turned back to Dominic, saying, “I know I’m going to regret this, but explain.”
Dominic smirked in obvious enjoyment. “Well, you see there’s this woman in customer service who our resident Don Juan has struck out with. Not only has he not gotten into her panties, but she attacked the family jewels when he grabbed her in the parking garage last week. Guess she didn’t hear him coming and when he put his hands on her, she thought she was being mugged or something. I saw the whole damn thing. Only wish I had gotten it on video. She was wearing some black kick-ass heels and a tight skirt. It was a fucking sexy vision when she laid our boy here out on the ground. I’m not one hundred percent certain, but I’m pretty sure I saw a tramp stamp on her lower back when she bent over to see if he was breathing afterward.”
“No way.” Mac laughed. It seemed as if he wasn’t the only one getting his ass kicked by a woman lately. Maybe it was twisted, but it made him feel much better.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, ladies. My balls might have been up around my neck for about twelve hours, but I’m still more of a man than either one of you,” Gage grumbled.
Dominic snickered in reply. “That was weak, dude, but since you’ve been recently emasculated, I’ll let it slide.”
Gage whirled around in his chair, seeming to lose his usual good sense of humor. “Oh, really, Dom? Well, why don’t we talk about your lack of success with the woman you’ve been pining over like a little bitch?”
Mac watched in interest as the smirk fell off Dominic’s face to be replaced by a scowl. Shit, had he missed all the good stuff lately? Looking over at his frowning friend, he asked, “So, who are you lusting after now?” Truthfully, he was just relieved to hear that Dominic was interested in anyone else other than Ava. Unless . . . ? “Man, it had better not be my woman,” he warned.
“Boy, that’s hitting a little too close to home, isn’t it, Dom?” Gage taunted.
“Gage,” Dominic warned, “shut your damn piehole, man, before I shut it!”
Mac was starting to feel like a bobble-head as his eyes jerked from Gage to Dominic and then back again. “All right, you two are starting to piss me off.” Leveling his gaze at Dominic, he added, “Ava and I are together now, so you’d better not be sniffing at her skirt or I’ll kick your ass.”
Gage flopped forward onto the table, seeming to find the whole thing hilarious now that he was no longer the subject of conversation. “Go back a little further, bro,” Mac heard him gasp out.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Dominic suddenly boomed as he stood up. “It’s Gwen, all right? Big-mouthed Nancy over there is talking about Gwen! Now go ahead and lose your shit so we can get past this.”
Floored, Mac repeated, “Gwen? You mean you like Gwen?”
Dominic looked at him warily as he said, “It’s been more like I lust Gwen, but I guess like plays a part in it too.”
“She does have a nice, big, juicy, round—ouch!” Gage howled as Dominic threw a pen at his head with perfect aim.
Still confused, Mac said, “So let me get this straight. You’ve got a thing for Gwen? How long has this been going on?” Mac knew the fact that he was more curious than upset was very telling about the level of his feelings for the woman he had just stopped seeing.
Dominic sank back into his chair, releasing a breath. “Nothing has happened between us. She doesn’t even know. I mean, we live in the same apartment building, so I see her around a lot.”
“So you lusted after Gwen or whatever you want to call it the whole time I was dating her?”
Dominic looked pained as he admitted, “Well, yeah, that’s about right.”
Mac shook his head in disgust. “Shit, Dom, why didn’t you say something? I’d never have asked her out the first time if I’d known.”
Dominic looked away before saying quietly, “You needed her more. Ava has kept you tied in knots for years. I figured if there was someone to get you away from all that, then what I wanted didn’t really matter.”
“Dom, brother,” Mac began, feeling at a loss for words.