Page 135 of Ominous: Part 1

There’s a loaded silence between us, my pulse is hammering hard in my ears, the music is blaring, too.

Eli keeps his eyes on me as he wraps his arm around Luna’s shoulders.

Jasper glances toward the pool house, the smile slipping from his face.

“Probably,” Dom agrees with a short laugh. “Definitely shouldn’t be here, my parents hate that shit.”

“Why’s that?”

Beneath the table, Dominic’s knee knocks against my thigh. I vaguely register the touch. With the alcohol and blow, I feel fine at his nearness. It’s just everything else that pisses me off.

“You’re not going anywhere.”Eli’s words echo in my head. Why did he even want me to stay if he’s just going to flirt with Luna all day? And did he purposefully bring her inside, around back, to piss me off? He should’ve let me leave. I know I was drunk, and maybe he didn’t want me to drive home, but I could’ve gotten a ride or called Sebastian or something.

But no. Eli wanted me here.

I don’t stop staring at him even as he finally turns his head, focusing on the girl whose name I forgot, telling some kind of crazy story, judging by the way she makes grand gestures with her hands, a cup in one.

“They think Eli knows what happened to Winslet,” Dominic is saying, and I realize his voice is closer.

I suck in a breath, turning my head, elbows on the table and fingers clasped together in front of me, when I realize Dominic’s mouth is only inches from mine, his eyes locked on my own. His thigh is pressed tight against mine beneath the table, and I smell tobacco and cologne with his nearness.

But I don’t feel uncomfortable. I feel eager for information.

“His footprints were in the mud, by the lake, you know? Different tracks than the shoes he was helping search for her in.”

“No. I don’t know.” I keep my voice low, and my gaze drops to Dom’s mouth.I can play these games.

He smiles, his eyes on my mouth, too, then dragging back up. “Ask him about it sometime.”

“Why don’t you tell me?” I counter.

His grin widens as he shakes his head. “See what he says.” His gaze is on my lips again. “It’s interesting, checking out all the sides of Eli. Comparing notes. Stories.” He glances through the glass windows, and I know what he sees when he adds, “He’d fuck Luna right in front of you and not think twice about it. Not to piss you off, or hurt you, you understand?”

No. No, I do not.

“But because when Eli wants something, he just takes it. The normal rules of human behavior don’t apply to him. My parents are more than a little suspicious, to say the least.” Dom swallows, licking his lips, the cigarette smoke curling between us, the stick between his fingers, his wrist resting against the table. “I don’t know if he was born that way, but his mom really fucked him up, you know?” His arm comes around my back, parking on my opposite thigh, his fingers rough.

I shiver with his touch, sidling closer, and not because I want him. But I want the knowledge he has about the boy who refuses to tell me anything important about himself. Maybe I’m not so bad at manipulation, either. “No,” I say honestly. “I don’t know.”Tell me everything.

Dominic’s eyes look a little glassy, and he dips his head, pressing his lips to my shoulder.

I bite the inside of my cheek, resisting the urge to pull away. It feels good, on some base level, but despite the fact Eli is being a little shit, I don’t actually want to hurt him.

Dominic doesn’t bite my shoulder like Eli did. Instead, he runs his top lip over my skin, leaving a trail of cold air in the wake of his mouth.

I press my thighs together as his fingers squeeze my flesh. “That feels good,” I murmur, licking my lips and smiling softly.

He leans in closer, tilting his head, his mouth inches from mine. “Does it?”

I glance at his mouth, my entire body alive.Of course. But I just want to use you, Dom.Not a shred of guilt burns through me. “Yeah,” I whisper, leaning in toward him. We could kiss just like this.“Youfeel good.”

Dominic grins, and I catch the scent of tobacco on his breath. It smells good, but not like cotton candy.No one is like Eli.

Instead of kissing me though, Dominic picks our conversation about Eli’s mom back up, almost like he’s stuck on him, too.

“You know she left him? Went halfway around the world and started a whole new family without him.” Dominic sounds pissed about it. I see it, their friendship, in the strangest ways. Protective of each other, but willing to piss one another off without a second thought.

“How did she die?” I ask, guessing it was after she left, my voice rough as Dominic turns his head and keeps kissing his way up my shoulder, closer to my neck. I tilt it, giving him access, and itdoesfeel good. But I focus on the information.Secrets.“His mom?”