Chapter Thirty-Two

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe…”

**

“You gonna come inside?” Leon asked as we got out of his car in front of Dom’s place.

“Nah,” I said, “I think I’m going to chill out here for a while…get some air.” Half the people from the race must’ve been inside already, from the looks of all the cars parked up and down the block. I didn’t even feel like seeing anyone…didn’t want to deal with all the stares and the whispers and the drama. And I definitely didn’t want to see any more of Dom and Amber’s act. I just wanted to get home and try to forget the whole night ever happened.

Leon hesitated for a minute, like he wasn’t sure if he should leave me alone or not. “Okay,” he finally said, starting to walk towards the house. “If you need anything…”

“Come get you,” I finished, barely paying attention to him. “Yeah, I know…thanks.” I couldn’t stop thinking about Dom and Amber and how fucked up the whole situation was…kept reliving the whole night in my mind. I had to admit…the two of them looked good together. Almost like they belonged with each other…

Leon was inside for what seemed like hours… “Damn, he get lost in there or something?” I remember thinking to myself. Finally I decided to go in and find him so we could get the fuck out of there. I wanted to leave before Dom and Amber showed up, didn’t really trust myself not to do something I’d regret later.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself as I walked through the door. I didn’t see Leon anywhere and I really didn’t feel like pushing through crowds of people to go looking for him.

“Hey Leticia,” Hector’s cousin Miguel said as he walked up to me. “How you doin’?”

“I’m fuckin’ wonderful, man,” I told him, smiling a little. Miguel was a year ahead of me at school…prolly the closest thing I had to a friend there.

“Yeah…” he trailed off. “You know…it’s real cool of you to show up here. Shows a lot of strength.”

“Sure,” I laughed. “And here I thought it just showed I’m too fucking stupid to know when to keep my ass at home…”

“Nah,” he answered. “You know, you look good tonight…”

I looked at Miguel then…really looked at him. Was he…flirting with me? That was just too much…

“Lemme get you a drink?” he asked, stepping a little closer to me.

“Yeah, sure,” I answered, not even really thinking about it. “That’d be good.”

After a few minutes, Miguel was back. “Here ya go,” he said, smiling as he held out a Budweiser to me, looking all proud of himself.

I had to laugh to myself. Budweiser. Someone must’ve brought it to the party - normally there isn’t anything at Dom’s but Corona and the girly shit that Mia likes. Normally I wouldn’t touch a Budweiser with a ten-foot pole, let alone drink it… But at that point, I didn’t even care…I just wanted something to help me forget all the shit that was going on.

Miguel and I just stood there drinking for a while, not even talking, his arm brushing up against mine every so often.

“So…you wanna go upstairs or something?” he finally asked, just when I was wondering why he was still hanging around.

“What?” I asked before downing the last of my beer, not sure I’d heard him right.

“You wanna go upstairs with me?” he repeated. “I just thought…I don’t know… I could help you get over Dom…”

“Uhm…nah, man,” I said, in complete shock. “Thanks, but I think I’m just gonna stay away from guys for a while…”

“Yeah, can’t really say I blame ya,” he laughed. “Well…let me know if you change your mind, k?”

“Okay…I will,” I said just before he turned to walk away. “Well, that was fucking weird,” I thought to myself before heading for the kitchen to see if I could find Leon.

He wasn’t in there, so I just grabbed myself a Corona, pounded it, and then got another before going back out to the living room.

Dom and Amber walked through the door about forty minutes later, their hands all over each other… The beers had almost managed to make me forget how much it hurt to watch them at the race, fake or not… But suddenly, all I could think of was the last, quick glance I’d gotten of them as Leon was driving away. The two of them leaning against Dom’s car, his hand up her fucking skirt… My skirt… Bitch.

For once, though, I hadn’t exploded right away. I wasn’t really sure what I’d seen - I was hoping it was just part of the act. But now… What if Amber and Dom were actually into each other?

I couldn’t even think about it without wanting to scream. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, either. So I just sat down on the couch and watched them.

“C’mon, Amber,” I muttered to myself, watching exactly where she put her hands as she and Dom kissed on the couch. “Give me an excuse…”

They didn’t really look like they were that into each other, though…more like they were just going through the motions. Dom looked like he was being very careful to keep his hands at Amber’s waist, not too high, not too low… He actually looked like he was scared she might beat the shit out of him. Still…I was pissed.

“I’m gonna break something tonight, Leon,” I said as he walked up and handed me another beer. “I’m sick of this shit.”

“You ready to go home, girl?” he asked, looking over at me.

“Yeah, man…” I muttered, still staring over at Dom and Amber. I just needed to talk to him for a second…needed to make sure this was still all just an act. “I just gotta take care of a little something first…then I’m good to go.”

“What are you talking about, Letty?” Leon asked, sounding a little panicked. I was already walking away from him, though.

“Dom. We need to talk. Now. Dominic!” I said as I walked up to the couch where he and Amber were still making out. I actually had to repeat myself about four times, ended up practically yelling before he looked up at me. “Bastard,” I muttered lowly when he finally did. I couldn’t quite decide if I was gonna beat the shit out of both of them or just start sobbing right there.