Chapter 73
Dominic POV
The thing about Marcus and Jake is that they don’t know how to take no for an answer.
Or maybe they do, they just choose violence instead.
“Come on, man,” Jake groaned, slinging an arm across my shoulders. “You’ve been brooding for, like, days. It’s depressing. Even for you.”
“I’m not brooding,” I muttered.
“You’re absolutely brooding,” Marcus said from my other side. “You’ve got that whole tragic lone-wolf energy. Girls love it, but we don’t.” He jabbed my ribs. “We suffer.”
I shoved his arm off. “I’m not brooding. I’m thinking.”
“Yeah,” Jake snorted, “and that’s way scarier.”
Vivian and Karina, walking ahead of us with perfect posture and doll of a laugh. I wasn’t sure when they got so close, but lately I’ve been seeing Karina everywhere. Vivian glanced over her shoulder. “Dom, it’s good for you to get fresh air. You’ve been training too hard.”
“True,” Karina winked. “We’ll get you relaxed” And they giggled.
“Right,” Marcus chimed in, keeping his eyes to me. “You nearly killed Lucas, so we’re going on a hike. Bonding. Becoming one with the forest. Maybe we’ll find a deer and Jake can flirt with it.”
“ONE TIME,” Jake hissed.
I rubbed a hand across my forehead. “Fine,” I said finally. “Whatever. Lead the way.”
Jake lit up like someone handed him a steak. “YES. I know this trail from when I was a kid. There’s a killer view at the end. Or maybe it was the beginning. Or maybe I’m misremembering and we’ll die. Point is-adventure.”
“Fantastic,” I muttered. “I can’t wait.”
But honestly? My head wasn’t on the trail. Hasn’t been for days. Her eyes flickered in my mind. And seeing Karina and Vivian’s laugh, I realized I hadn’t seen Ellie’s in… ages.
She used to greet me with it everyday.
I hate that that bothered me, that I missed it.
I hate even more that Marcus noticed.
“You’re quiet,” he said, eyebrow raised. “Thinking about-”
“No.”
“So yes.
I didn’t answer.
We walked for a while, Vivian talking with Karina about something I didn’t hear, Jake arguing with Marcus about whether bears can sense fear or taxes. I let them fill the air. It kept me from thinking too much.
Then the trees thinned.
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Jake pushed aside a curtain of branches. “Ah-ha! See? I told you this trail was real.”
Marcus snorted. “You also told us your uncle invented soup, so forgive me if-‘
He stopped walking.
So did Vivian and Karina.
So did I.
The clearing opened into a secluded lake, sunlight spilling across it in glittering swaths of gold.
And in the edge of it-sparkling in the sun, hair dripping down her back-was Ellie.
My Ellie.
She was in this small, simple black bikini-boring on anyone else. But on her? It hit me like a damn sucker punch. Too tight, like she hadn’t bothered buying a new one in forever and had definitely… grown.
Marcus whispered, “Holy hell.”
Jake whispered back, “I think I just fell in love.”
I elbowed him so hard he choked.
Vivian and Karina stiffened beside me. There hands tightened around my arms like snakes.
Jake leaned close and whispered, “Dude. Is your mouth open right now?”
“It’s not,” I snapped. (It was.)
Vivian’s grip dug deeper into my arm, her voice sugar-sweet and venomous. “Dom? Should we go?”
I didn’t answer.
Because Ellie was string right as us, like she expected a bear to come out the woods.
And then we did and…her brow flatted.
The whole clearing went still.
Sarah popped up behind her, wide eyed, but slowly smile when she saw us too. “Oh. Um. Hi?”
Ellie tore her gaze away first. Her shoulders re-tensed, every inch of possible carefree expression collapsing like it had never existed at all.
Something inside me snapped taut.
And I didn’t even know who the hell I was angry at. Did she hate me that much?
Jake, who whispered, “So… you gonna say hi, or just stand here like a cryptid?”
I didn’t say anything.
Because Ellie clearly looked happier without me in her line of sight.
And I felt that like a bruise.
Ellie’s eyes flicked away from us. “We were just leaving.” She muttered.
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Vivian, of course, saw something entirely different.
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“Oh my gods. Ellie. What is that suit!? Girl, you are in public! What is anyone else had come along! You’re boobs are practically out-
Karina chimed in. “Ha! Yeah! Girl can you no afford a new one or what? The strings look like they could snap any moment!”
I felt a wave of heat past through me. Not a good visual right now.
“Hey!” Sarah hissed. “She looks good! And it’s not like you were invited! Buzz off!”
“Please,” Vivian hissed at my side. “Honestly, what does she expect people to think in something like that?”
Karina smirked. “Girls like here come out here specifically for attention, it’s hot out, anyone could have came for a swim and you just had to dress like that.”
I exhaled slowly through my nose. “Guys, don’t start.”
Marcus snorted. “I mean… she is kinda-‘
“Marcus,” I snapped.
He shut up.
But they were done-not even close. Vivian crossed her arms, chin tilting. “This is exactly what she does. Plays innocent, pretends she doesn’t want the spotlight, and then shows up like this in front of you, Dom.”
Karina nodded. “I mean…Marcus is the one who showed Sarah the spot. So, Totally obvious.”
Sarah hissed. “So?! That was a year ago! That doesn’t mean anything!”
Marcus smirked. “Yeah, we had a cute kiss here back when we were kids. You girls trying for that again or?”
I stiffened. Even I knew that wasn’t the move.
Vivian coughed loudly into her arm. “Ah-hem. Proof-they-are-whores
Sarah’s eyes wen feral. “Oh really?” she called out, voice bright in the way only girls on the brink of murder sound. “Is that what we’re doing today? Because if we’re judging outfits, sweetheart, at least Ellie doesn’t dress like she’s auditioning for Beta Bride: Desperate Edition.”
Marcus choked.
Jake started wheezing.
Vivian’s jaw dropped into a perfect little O of outrage. “Excuse me?”
Karina scoffed. “Your one to talk you little no nobody. You’d be lucky if anyone even courted you.”
Sarah stepped forward, brows raised innocently. “Shut it Karina! I’m talking to Vivian! Funny how you’re worried about Ellie being half-dressed while you’re out here wearing enough perfume to kill a small woodland creature. Trying to get someone to notice you?!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Oh gods.”
Ellie, to her credit, whispered, “Sarah, please don’t,” holding her arm like she could physically restrain a rabid wolf with a whisper.
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She could not.
Vivian took one step forward. “You little-”
“Viv,” I warned, reaching for her arm.
She jerked away. “No. She needs to learn she can’t talk to me like-”
“Vivian,” I said again, sharper.
“Get her!” Karina hissed. “Kick her ass!”
Too late.
Sarah surged forward in one sudden, explosive motion.
Vivian lunged back.
They collided at the shoreline-two snarling banshees going to war. Pebbles flew everywhere. Screaming, sand flying, hair-pulling, the whole spectacle.
“Are you serious right now?” I groaned, stepping forward.
Marcus hissed, “Should we help?”
Jake shrugged. “Absolutely not. I like being alive.”
Karina cheered, holding onto my arm. “Yeah! Rip her hair!”
Ellie scrambled, slipping on the rocks as she tried to wedge herself between them.
“Stop! Both of you-stop!” she shouted, grabbing Sarah’s wrist with one hand and Vivian’s sleeve with the other. “This is stupid!”
Vivian shoved Sarah.
Sarah shoved back harder.
Vivian staggered-
And her flailing arm swung wide and crashed straight into Ellie’s shoulder.
Everything slowed.
Ellie gasped, unprepared. Her foot slid across the wet stone. Her heel snagged on the edge. She teetered backwards.
My entire body went cold.
“ELLIE!”
She fell back over the high rocks to the water below. Her head struck the rock with a sickening crack before she slipped beneath the surface.
Sarah screamed.
Marcus cursed.
Jake froze.
But I was already moving-
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Running-
Diving into the water before the sound of her skull hitting stone had even finished echoing.
The lake swallowed me whole.
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