chapter ten

DOMINIC REALLY WISHED HIS parents had picked a different place to have brunch that morning. they were sat at a nice table in the middle of the country club, waiting for their waiter to return with their drinks. the brunet had his arms crossed over his chest and a pout on his lips. he had tried to convince his parents the whole way over to go to a different restaurant, but clearly they did not listen.

it had only been two days since dom broke up with rafe, but he was still hurting just as much as any person would after a break up. he was praying to whatever gods were above that he wouldn't run into rafe, wanting nothing to do with him at the moment. he was tired of falling into the older boy's traps.

"are you guys ready to order food?" the waiter asked, pulling dom from his thoughts. he hadn't even noticed that the waiter had placed his drink down in front of him. he took their orders before moving along to check on another table and then made his way to the kitchen to put in their order.

dom had absolutely no appetite and he didn't know what to do about it. he hadn't told his parents that he broke up with rafe. they loved the boy and worshipped the ground he walked on--plus it was a bonus that he was ward cameron's son--but if dominic told them they were in an open relationship and the older boy had been sleeping around they would most likely (sorta) understand. he also wasn't sure how his parents would look at him if they were to find out they were in an open relationship.

"have you started the essay's that you're going to submit in your college applications?" dom was absolutely sick and tired of hearing his mom ask about anything that had to do with college.

with a roll of his eyes he responded, "no." 

"you really need to get working on them, dominic."

"i'm barely a senior, mom, chill out. it's summer vacation. let me enjoy myself." dominic unintentionally snapped and his mom looked appalled.

dominic's dad's face lit up as he looked behind dom. "rafe! it's so good to see you!" dom mentally cursed as rafe's figure came around from behind him and the older boy smiled, reaching his hand out to shake dom's dad's. "we haven't seen you in a while. where have you been?"

rafe glanced at dom in confusion before quickly coming to the realization that dominic had not told his parents about their breakup. what was the real reason he hadn't told them yet? dom had absolutely no idea. "i've been helping my dad out a bit." rafe answered with that legendary smile of his. "i've actually got to get going. i'm meant to be somewhere soon."

"oh dear, please take dominic along with you, would you? he's been so miserable for no reason. it's becoming exhausting." his mother ushered the younger boy away.

"sure." rafe nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "you coming?"

dom sighed, but figured it was a good excuse to get away from his parents. "sure." he rose from the table and followed the boy away from the country club and towards the parking lot where dom could easily see rafe's truck.

"where do you want me to take you?" rafe asked as they climbed in.

dom wasn't entirely sure where he would go. "i guess i'll actually go with you if you'd like the company."

a small smile formed on rafe's face as he started the engine. "well, you're in for one hell of a ride then, dom. we're going off-roading."

"who's 'we'?"

"brayden, kelce, me, and now you." he answered. "unfortunately, there are only three dirt bikes, so you'll have to ride with me."

dom shrugged his shoulders, "that's fine."

rafe was rather surprised at how cool dom was with it, but didn't speak out loud as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of where the other boys were waiting. by the time they arrived, both boys were surprised to see dominic tagging along with his ex boyfriend.

"stop making such a big deal out of it, would you? i'm still allowed to hang with my friends." dom had mumbled before joining rafe on the back of his bike. he ushered them all forward, "let's go."

it felt nice--being able to enjoy himself with his friends instead of feeling extremely awkward with his arms wrapped around rafe's waist. they all had a good time and once they were finished they said their goodbyes and rafe headed in the direction of dom's house to bring him home. there was a small silence between them as the radio played a song neither of them had ever heard before.

"you didn't tell your parents we broke up." it was more of a statement than a question and dom had been dreading him asking/saying it.

"no," he nodded in agreement. "i did not."

"why not?" rafe was genuinely curious.

"have you told your parents?" dom retorted. rafe clenched his jaw and shook his head, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "why not?" he mocked and a small chuckle fell from rafe's lips.

"i guess my reasoning is because i don't want this to be real." rafe shrugged his shoulders, leaning back in his seat as he pulled into dom's driveway and put the car in park. "i don't want us to actually be broken up. it--it's been rough for me, dom. you have no idea."

"you seem like you're getting by pretty well to me." dom crossed his arms loosely over his chest.

"what do i have to do to convince you that i'm in love with you, dominic?" rafe threw his hands up. "i've never felt this way about someone and you've got me literally begging for you. i would do anything to have you back. you're everything to me."

dom shifted in his seat so that he was facing rafe completely. "how can you love someone if you continuously hooked up with other people? if i loved someone i wouldn't be going around fucking others."

rafe frowned, "so you're saying you didn't love me? because you hooked up with jj?"

a small, dry laugh fell from dom's lips. "rafe, how could i love you if you consistently fucked other people, as already stated? there wasn't a single place in my heart to feel love for you when you did that to me so many times."

"you agreed to an open relationship." rafe stated.

dom eyed the boy's features. "that doesn't mean that i was obligated to fall in love with you."

there was another silence before the older boy spoke again. "do you...do you love jj?"

dom chuckled, "no, rafe. i don't love him."

"and you've only kissed him?"

"honestly, that's none of your business anymore, but yeah." dom looked out the car window to see his mother standing at the front door, waiting for him to go inside to most likely lecture him about getting his college applications done. "i've got to go, rafe. thank you for today. i had fun."

rafe swallowed a big lump in his throat. "you're welcome."

"bye." dom opened the door and climbed out, making his way towards the house after he closed the door, ignoring his mother as he walked inside and made his way up to his room, unsure if he was okay or if he was going to cry.

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