Trying Not To Love You

The next morning when Hailey came home, she was pretty quiet; I did not have much to say either. What would I have said? I freaked out because I was losing Dominic, and he pointed out the fact that Hunter would never want me. I wanted to know what happened after I left, but what would it have changed? Nothing. I just needed to get over Hunter, concentrate on Dominic and hope things would work out.

Hailey had made plans to meet up with Zeke from the bar last night, and she asked if I wanted to go along. I told her was not in the mood to go out, and that I was going to spend a quite night in bed reading. She told me I had until Monday to sulk, and that would be it. If I was not over my shit by then, she was calling my brothers. I promised her things would be ok. I just needed a little time by myself.

On Monday afternoon, I received a phone call from the library offering me a job. The only down fall was that it was from 6 p.m. until midnight, Monday through Thursday. I accepted the job because I needed time to myself and the distraction would be good for me. I was starting the following Monday, and Logan, of all people, would be training me.

When Hailey came back after her last class, I told her about the library job, and that Logan would be the person training me. She just shook her head and told me to watch my back. She had not talked to him since that day in the library and I was actually surprised by that, especially since she kept going on about him from the first time they met.

As the rest of the week went by, I would go to class, and come straight back to the dorms. Hailey wasn't around much since she seemed to be hanging out at Hunter's lately. When I saw her, I would act like I was fine and that nothing was bothering me. I think she bought my act. If she did not, she was not calling me out on it.

Saturday night, I got my first text from Dominic. I guess our taking a break was not bothering him as much as it was me. I finally caved, and texted him that we needed to talk. I did not trust him one hundred percent, but I still missed him. I missed him holding me. I missed him being sweet and caring. I even missed all the football talk. I finally gave up on him texting me back, so I plugged my phone into the charger and fell asleep.

The new text message alert on my phone woke me from a deep sleep. Sitting up, I rub the sleep from my eyes only to see that I actually had two new messages. The first was from Mason, letting me know that he would be staying at Hunter's in two weeks. The second one was from Dominic. It came in around four this morning, and made no sense whatsoever.

I quickly sent Mason a text back letting him know that I had a new job, and that I would have to let him know what my schedule was like. I also let him know that I would make time to have dinner with him, Cooper and Jackson when they came. I did not want to tell him I was not speaking to Hunter. I then sent a text to Dominic to come over whenever he woke up.

I was drying my hair when I heard someone knocking; I turned the dryer off, and went to see who was at the door.

"Hey, I didn't think I would see you till later." I said to Dominic, opening the door wider so he could walk in.

"I'm actually surprised I'm up this early too. So, you wanted to talk?" He walked over to my bed and sat down.

"Yeah, I think it's about time. What do you think?" I said, taking a seat next to him.

"I don't really want to talk right now." He looked up at me with regret in his eyes. "Can I just hold you for a little while?"

I moved to lean against my headboard, and he did the same. He pulled me so I was cuddled into him, with my head resting on his chest.

"I miss this Kenzie. I miss you. Being here at school is so different from being at home," he said, as he kissed the top of my head.

I nodded my agreement, and he continued, "What you found in my room was Brittany's. I told my roommate he needed to keep his shit on his side of the room. I explained to him what you found, and he asked me to apologize to you." He grabbed my chin, and made me look up at him. "I can't lose you Kenzie."

"I miss us too; we worked when we were at home. Things are so different here, and I am trying to trust you, but it's hard. When I walked in, and saw those panties sitting on your side of the room, I didn't know what to think. I knew you couldn't be that stupid to leave them there in plain sight."

"I know that I wouldn't have known how to react if I found some guy's boxers in here either. Can we just put it behind us and move on?" He whispered the last part to me.

I watched, as his eyes grew heavy. "I'm trying Dominic, but you can't keep screwing up all the time. I've cut Hunter out, so you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"I love you baby." He blinked once, twice and then he was asleep. I put my head back down on his chest, and listened to his breathing. I laid there, thinking for a long time, before I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up, I lifted my head and looked at Dominic. He was still sound asleep. I must have slept for a few hours because now it was dark outside. I tried to get up without waking Dominic, but when I sat up, he grabbed my arm.

I turned to look at him and he smiled at me. "You're so beautiful."

Blushing, I shook my head, and turned away from him. "I'm not."

"You have no idea the feelings I get when I look into your pretty blue eyes."

This is the Dominic that I loved, the one who knew what to say to make me feel beautiful. This is the relationship with him that I wanted, not the one we seemed to be having lately.

"I love you. I'm sorry things have been so messed up for us lately."

I smiled at him and said, "Me too."

"I'm starving. You want to head out to grab something to eat?" He asked, stretching out on my bed.

"Yeah, I haven't been eating too well lately," I admitted to him. I never could eat right when something was bothering me.

"Baby we talked about this. You are too skinny now as it is. You need to eat."

"You know how I get. I'm starving now, so let's go."

We drove down to The Raven. This was becoming a favorite place of mine. The burgers there were to die for. When we arrived, Dominic asked to be seated by the windows. This was my favorite place to sit, and I loved watching all the people passing by. When we followed behind the waitress, I was surprised to see Hunter, Hailey and Zeke sitting at one of the booths.

Dominic stopped walking when he noticed them too. He turned his head to look at me. "You want to go somewhere else?"

"No, we're already here. I'm starving and I can't avoid him forever. He's practically family." I knew that with my brothers coming into town, I would not be able to avoid him while they were here.

"Alright, I guess you're right, I still don't like it though."

I leaned in, placed a kiss on his lips and said, "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise."

"I know. That still doesn't mean I have to like it." I knew it would be a while for him to get over what he saw and I knew I would be hearing about it again.

We continued to walk to the booth that the waitress sat us at, which happened to be right behind where they were sitting. Dominic kept walking but I stopped to say hi.

"Hey sweetie." Zeke said.

"What's going on?"

Hailey looked at me, trying to gauge my mood. "I'm fine," I said.

"Well since you're here and Zeke has to get back to work, let's go get our nose pierced." Hailey said practically bouncing out of her seat.

I looked over her head to Dominic who just shrugged his shoulder at me. I guess that was my answer.

"Alright, but we have to eat first. We're starving."

"Of course, we were just heading out. Zeke has to get back to work so Hunter and I will go take a walk. Text me when you're done." She stood up from the booth, gave me a hug and whispered in my ear. "He's a mess."

I nodded, and looked over at Hunter, sitting at the table with his head down. I think this was the longest we had ever gone without talking.

I took a few steps towards him and placed my hand on his shoulder, "Hey."

He looked up at me and my heart broke. He looked like shit and I could not fix it. We both knew nothing would ever come of our relationship, which is why I needed to stay with Dominic.

I started to move my hand from his shoulder, but he reached up to grab it. "I'm sorry." He said it just loud enough for me hear him.

"I know. Everything will be fine. We just need time." I winked at him and walked to my booth. I hated to see him like this but he chose them over me and now I am choosing Dominic over him.

Hailey, Zeke and Hunter left as I sat down to eat with Dominic. I ordered my favorite burger while he ordered wings. "So, you're going to get your nose pierced?" He asked while taking a drink of his soda.

"Yeah, Zeke is a friend of Hunter's. He's the same guy that has done all of Hunter's tattoos."

Staring at me for a minute, he picked up another wing and started to eat it. We really did not talk much after that. When the check came, he paid it while I sent a text to Hailey letting her know that we were ready.

We met Hailey and Hunter outside, and walked the few blocks down to Ocean Mystique where Zeke worked. The walk was insanely quiet and it was uncomfortable, to say the least. There was so much tension in the air.

When we walked in, Hailey and I went to the back of the shop were Zeke was setting everything up for us. Since the room was small, Hunter and Dominic waited out front. Hailey was very nervous after she saw all the stuff lying on the tray, and made me go first.

I hopped up on the table. Zeke walked over to me and asked which side. I pointed to my right. He took his marker, and made a dot where the stud would go. He handed me the mirror. I smiled, and said, "Perfect."

He went back over to his tray, grabbed the needle and the clamp and then turned around back to me. "Now the only thing that is going to happen is your eyes will water, and you will feel some pressure."

I nodded, understanding what he was telling me. He placed the clamp on my nose, and then said, "Now take a deep breath in." I did, and I felt the pressure of the needle going through my nose. "Now let it out."

He turned back around to his tray, grabbed the stud and then said, "You're going to feel a little more pressure." He was slowly sliding the needle out and putting the stud in.

"You're done, quick and painless." He handed me the mirror so I could check it out. I loved it.

"I want my tongue done, too."

His eyes shot up to mine as if I said something crazy.

"What?" I asked, shrugging my shoulder

"You sure? That one will hurt, and your tongue will be swollen for a few days."

"I'm sure."

Zeke walked out of the room to grab the bar bell, and when he came back, we did the same basic procedure all over again. When I was all done, I hopped off the table.

"You're turn." I said, smirking at Hailey.

She jumped up on the table. Zeke did the exact thing he did to me. When he finished, we walked out to the front of the store so we could pay.

I grabbed my wallet from my purse, and looked at Zeke, waiting for him to tell me how much I owed him. He shook his head, and looked over my shoulder. I turned around, and Hunter winked at me. Not wanting to piss Dominic off about Hunter paying, I turned back to Zeke and handed him money for a tip. That way, it looked like I paid.

I walked over to Dominic, put my arms around him and asked him what he thought.

"Looks cute. I like it." Then he leaned in to kiss me.

I pulled back a second later and said, "No getting carried away." Then I stuck my tongue out at him, and took off running and laughing, out of the store.

I heard Dominic groaning as he came up behind me. He put his hands on my hips, pulled me back to him and then he said, "Baby that is f*cking sexy."

We said our goodbyes to Hunter and Hailey, who had come down on Hunter's street bike. How the hell did he get that down here? I got a little jealous of the fact that he was riding with her; he never let anyone ride with him but me.

On the way home with Dominic, I decided to tell him about my brothers' visit. Because everything seemed to be going better for us again, I did not want to start of hiding stuff from him.

"Babe, you know that I don't care about you hanging out with your brothers, but I have a problem with you being with Hunter."

"And I have told you a hundred times, you have nothing to worry about." I said, squeezing his hand as we were walking back to his car.

"It's not you, it's him. Just don't go anywhere alone with him, alright?" He said, squeezing my hand back.

"Promise." I was making a lot of promises lately; I just prayed that I could keep them all.