Chapter 304
Ellie’s POV
Dinner was almost painfully quiet. We ate the roasted chicken and vegetables that the cooks had prepared, and Dominic made a few attempts at small talk, but mostly, it was only the sound of scraping cutlery and chewing and Vivian’s distant sobs that filled the air.
After we finished eating and the plates were cleared away, Dominic pulled out the list Amy had given us. He set it on the table between us and looked at me.
“Ready to give this a shot?” he asked.
I glanced at the paper. “Do we have to do all of them?”
“She said to pick at least two,” Dominic replied.
I sighed and pushed my chair back. “Okay. Let’s do it.” It still felt pointless, but Dominic was clearly trying, and Colt’s words were still eating away at me. I figured I might as well try, too, if only to say that I had.
Dominic stood and gestured for me to follow him. We ended up in the sitting room, where he shut the door behind us. I flopped down on the couch and pulled my legs up, sitting cross-legged.
“First one,” he said, reading from the paper. “We have to maintain eye contact for two minutes without speaking.”
“Please tell me you think this is as ridiculous as I do,” I said with a snort.
“Amy is a professional,” he replied, shooting me a withering look. “I think if it were ridiculous, she wouldn’t have recommended it.”
Fair enough. I pressed my lips together and decided to stop complaining.
Sitting on the couch beside me, Dominic pulled out his phone and set a timer. He set the phone on the table, then tapped the start button. “Okay. Starting now.”
Hooking one ankle under his other leg, he shifted on the couch, turning to look at me. I took a breath, then looked up at him.
I immediately regretted it.
His eyes were dark and steady, locked on mine in that unwavering, intense way they always did. I felt the mate bond stir in my chest before I could count to five. It wasn’t unpleasant, and that was the worst part. It felt warm and familiar. It felt like home in a way I wished it wouldn’t.
I tried to hold his gaze, but after about ten seconds, I had to look away. My cheeks were hot and my throat felt tight.
“Ellie,” Dominic said, “We have to give this a shot.”
“I know, I know.” I forced myself to look back at him.
The timer ticked on. Thirty seconds. Forty-five. A minute.
The longer I looked at him, the harder it became to remember why I was supposed to hate him. His expression was soft, the lines in his forehead starting to smooth out. He was concentrating hard. He was trying. I could see that now.
In my past life, Dominic had never looked at me like this. He’d barely looked at me at all, usually treating me with cold indifference or outright disdain. But here he was, sitting in front of me, doing some silly therapy exercise because he thought it might help, and suddenly, the exercise didn’t feel quite so silly anymore.
The timer went off, breaking the moment.
Dominic glanced at his phone and turned it off. “See? Not so bad.”
1/2
+30 Bonus
I looked down at my hands and didn’t answer that.
“Next one,” he said, reading the list again. “Hold hands and talk about one thing you appreciate about each other.”
I groaned. “Are you serious?”
“It’s on the list.” Dominic held out his hand. “Come on. We can laugh about it later.”
I stared at his hand for a long moment before finally taking it. His palm was warm against mine. The bond flared immediately like a match had been struck, singing my fingers. I had to fight the urge to pull away.
“Okay.” I cleared my throat, hating how warbly I sounded. They were just simple exercises, and I knew that, and yet it felt vulnerable. Which was terrifying. But also a little more exciting than I wanted to admit. “You go first,” I said.
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