Chapter Seven

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe…”

**

The first time Dom asked me if I was gonna stick by him it was a joke, and so was my answer.

He’d just saved me from Sly. Not that I really needed saving, I could have handled Sly fine by myself, just like I’d been doing for months. But Dom had somehow shown up at the park one afternoon when Sly decided he had nothing better to do than stalk me.

At first, I was just pissed off. I mean, who the hell did this guy think he was, getting all involved in my business? He had no call to do that…none whatsoever. It was pretty fun, though, watching him go off on Sly. From the look on Sly’s face when this guy picked him up by the neck…I figured he was gonna piss himself or something.

After Sly left, I got a little bit worried. Better to face the evil you know than the one you don’t know, right? And I had no clue who this new guy was, none at all. From the looks of him, though, I wouldn’t have minded getting to know him. He was tall, over six feet. Shaved head, with just a little bit of fuzz. Eyes so dark they were almost black, lips that looked like they could kiss a girl for hours, and a body to die for. He wasn’t really handsome, but there was just something about him that attracted attention, something that made my stomach drop out and my body start screaming, “I want that one!” I wasn’t used to feeling like that about any guy, and I wasn’t sure if I liked some complete stranger having such an effect on me.

Then, he said my name. I stepped back a bit to look at him, really look at him, and I suddenly realized. It was Dom! I was surprised as hell to see him, thought he was supposed to be in jail for a few more years. I didn’t stop to think about what he was doing there in the park for very long, though. I was so excited to see him, I just launched myself into his arms, squealing like a little girl.

For a few seconds, it was just me doing the hugging. But then, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back. I teased him a little, falling back into the easy banter I’d always used to try to get his attention. It had never worked before, but this time… This time, I thought he almost might be flirting with me. So I leaned into him more, he leaned back, and somehow his hand ended up under my tank top, rubbing my back. It was like every fantasy I’d ever had about Dom was suddenly coming true. I kept trying to get closer to him, until my entire body was pressed up against him. I thought he would step back, move away from me, but he didn’t. Instead, his hand moved from my back around to my side, so he was rubbing the side of my tit. I couldn’t believe how good Dom’s hand felt against my bare skin. He’d touched me before, but it just wasn’t the same. His hand was strong, rough, callused, warm…I felt like my skin was burning up, but chills starting running down my back. I wondered if he even realized what he was doing.

Probably not, I decided after a minute. I mean, what were the chances that, after being in love with this guy for practically five years, he would get out of jail, see me, and just decide that I was everything he wanted in a chick? Still, I wasn’t going to complain. I was a little annoyed though, that just that one encounter with him had managed to burn down all of the little rationalizations I’d used to try to convince myself I was over him.

We stood there hugging, or groping, for at least five minutes. I even thought, maybe, that he was starting to get a hard-on. I don’t know for sure, though, ‘cause all of a sudden he just backed away from me. Didn’t give an explanation or anything. He just grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me down the street to his dad’s old garage. We’d just barely gotten through the door when Leon showed up. From how they were talking, I guess Dom had been looking for Leon when he ran into me. Which I didn’t really get, ‘cause I could have sworn they didn’t know each other. I asked Leon about it later, but he never answered, just changed the subject.

Dom went back to Leon’s garage with us, and the rest of that afternoon I kept feeling him look at me. I’d turn around and see his head moving, as though he’d looked away just half a second before. It threw me off, made me think that maybe he was trying to check me out and not get caught doing it, that maybe he didn’t see me as just a little girl anymore. But it also annoyed the hell out of me. I kept trying to think of ways to ask him about what had happened in the park, to see if it was a one-time thing or what, but he never let me. Any time I said anything even vaguely directed at him, he avoided replying. Dom came over to the garage just about every day, but he didn’t talk to me at all for nearly a week. It got to the point where I started wondering if I’d imagined the whole thing in the park.

Eventually, we all settled into a routine. Dom wanted to get back into racing as soon as possible, so he started working on this ’93 Mazda RX-7. He’d gotten it from some salvage yard, so it was cheap, but I still had no idea where he’d gotten the cash to pay for it. Didn’t really think I wanted to know, either. He parked it at Leon’s garage, was over all the time working on it. Really, Dom would be at the garage when I went over there in the morning, and he’d still be there when I left at night. Leon had met this girl, Amber, and they started hanging out together some nights, and Leon didn’t want me to be home by myself, so I was at the garage even more than before. It was only natural for me to start helping Dom with his car, and it was almost like old times. Almost, but not quite. Dom seemed removed, somehow, like there was a barrier between us that had never been there before. He barely ever spoke to me, only when he wanted me to hand him something. When I tried to talk to him, he’d just look over at me briefly and then turn away without saying anything. It got to the point where I purposely started trying to provoke him. One day, I even said he should have gotten a 240 SX to race. Normally, he would’ve started laughing at me, remembering our constant arguments over that car. But this time, nothing. It was like I wasn’t even there, and that pissed me off.

I’d been happy with my life before Dom came back. I mean, it’s not like it was the greatest in the world, but it was mine. And I got to hang out at a garage and work on cars whenever I wanted, which made all the other shit I had to deal with at school and from Sly seem meaningless. But with Dom back, I didn’t know what the hell was going on with my life. I used to be able to work on cars all day and not even notice the time passing. Suddenly, every minute I was in the garage seemed like an eternity. I wasn’t happy with just the cars, anymore. I wanted something else, but I wasn’t even sure what that something else was.

Once people started hearing that Sly had left town, business at the garage picked up again. Eventually, Dom started helping out with the other cars, not just fixing up his own, and that helped business too. At first, maybe people brought their cars in just because they wanted to help Dom out a little. True, he had nearly killed a man, but most people I’d heard talking about it said they could understand how it happened, and didn’t really blame him for it. Soon enough, word got out that Dom was just as good with cars as his dad had been, and the garage filled up even more. We still took in the normal, everyday jobs, but with three of us working Leon finally had time to do what he really loved - restoration and customizing. Pretty soon, he was out of the garage at least once or twice a week hunting for cars that could be bought cheap, fixed up, and sold for a huge profit. So on those days, it would just be Dom and me at the garage, alone with all the cars.