"Babe?" I spluttered. "You're sayin' I'm yours and callin' me babe now? I think Jason hit you too hard on the head there, buddy."
Dominic rolled his eyes and muttered, "Shut up."
I sighed, closed my eyes, and rubbed my temples.
Dominic stepped towards me again; I could feel how close he was to me.
"Come back to my house with me so I can help you, Damien will be there incase you're afraid."
I opened my eyes and studied his face; his eyebrow was cut, and some blood surrounded it, his jaw was swollen, and his chin looked like it was bruising also.
"I think you need the help more than I do. Your face is pretty messed up," I commented.
Dominic laughed.
I sighed then, shocked that I was actually agreeing to this.
"Okay, lead the way."
Dominic smiled and gestured for me to walk back the way I just ran. I did so, and he fell in step with me. We didn't speak, but it wasn't awkward or anything. We walked until we headed past our school, and I whistled when we entered Upton.
"You live in Upton? You must have a shitload of money," I muttered.
"And why is that?" Dominic's voice asked, amused.
I shrugged as we walked through the very clean housing estate. "Because it's not a council estate, you own the houses, and nobody rents them out because they are too nice not to live in."
Dominic played with his hands like he was nervous which caught my attention, but I didn't say anything about it.
"Where do you live?" he asked me after a moment.
"About a ten minute walk from here, down on Old Isle Green. It's practically a dump compared to this estate."
"Does that matter to you?"
I shook my head, kind of shocked that I was having a legit conversation with him. While that was mildly shocking, the extreme shock factor was that I was actually enjoying it. "No, I like where I live. I like me house and me road. I'm sort of intimidated by bein' here for some reason, and I don't know why. Wait, I do, it's probably because it's perfect and me bein' here messes that up," I laughed.
I stopped my laughter when Dominic was suddenly in front of me; his head lowered to mine.
"Don't do that!"
I swallowed as I looked up at him and asked, "Do what?"
"Put yourself down the way you just did."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "So I can't put meself down but you can? You said the same thing today to me. You said that I didn't fit in with the girls in our school when it came to looks. You said I was in a different league than them all!"
Dominic sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."
I shook my head. "Don't lie, it may hurt my feelin's like it did today when you said it, but don't lie just to make me feel better. If you think I'm ugly then that's fine-"
Dominic moved his head closer and pressed his forehead against mine, and it made me hold my breath which cut me off.
"I didn't mean it like that, I don't think you're ugly, you're far f**king from it. When I said you were in a different league than any girl here, I meant you're more beautiful than them. You're the best looking girl I've ever seen, period. I call you pretty girl for a reason other than to piss you off, Bronagh."
I felt my legs shake, and my breath released from me in a big puff making Dominic grin because he felt it on his face. I felt like I was going to do something seriously stupid like kiss him so I stepped back a little and looked down. My insides were swimming because while I still strongly didn't like him, I felt a little flushed now just looking at him.
"Are we near your house yet?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's just up here," he replied in a tone that made me think he was smiling.
I didn't look up at him though; I just gestured for him to walk, which he did, so I followed him. When he entered the garden of a big four story house, I stood at the gate and openly gaped at it.
"Fuck me sideways." I whistled.
"Is that an invitation?" I heard Dominic ask.
I snapped my head to him. "What?" I shouted.
He pointed to my foot; I looked down and saw a flyer under my foot. I picked it up and read it; it was an invite to a four-year-old's birthday party this weekend.
"Ugh, yeah, it is," I muttered and let the wind take the piece of paper away.
My face was burning bright red as Dominic looked at me, grinning.
"What did you think I meant?" he asked.
I didn't dare look at him.
"Nothin'," I replied and followed him into his garden.
We paused outside the door while Dominic fished out his keys from his pocket. When he got them out and opened the door he shouted, "I'm home."
I heard a chorus of rude greetings, and it made me freeze.
"That's not just Damien," I muttered.
Dominic looked at me. "Correct, our three older brothers are in there too."
My jaw dropped.
"I'm goin' home," I stated and turned.
I barely made it halfway out of the garden before I was lifted up from behind again.
"Oh, my God," I screamed. "What the hell is your deal with pickin' me up? Put me down or I'll kick the shite outta you!"
I heard some snorts that weren't from Dominic, and it made me freeze.
"I hate you," I whispered to Dominic.
He snorted. "I know," he replied as he put me down on the ground but didn't let me go.
He turned me to face him. "I have to ice that pretty face of yours, remember?"
I hated that I turned red again, and I hated Dominic even more for smiling at me because of it. When he turned us both to face his house, I stared wide-eyed. The two men that stood leaning against the door frames, they were seriously sexy.
"Wow," I whispered.
Dominic snapped his head to me and glared.
"Who's the little beauty, bro?" the lad on the left asked.
Little beauty?
Me?
Oh.
My.
God.
The man had dark hair like Dominic but it was long, it almost reached his shoulders. He had the same dimples when he grinned, his arms were huge with muscle, and he had multiple tattoos. I could see this because he was shirtless. The other lad was bare-chested as well, he had some tattoos and was muscular also. His hair was a jet black though, and he had some scars on his torso and face that I could see from a good distance away, but he was still strikingly hot. I found it very hard not to look at the V lines they were both supporting, but I managed it, and I think I deserved a medal for it.