Ana noticed she was off but accepted Domi’s explanation that she was sad at how fast her little girl was growing up. Since it wasn’t the first time Domi had said it, and it was true—seriously, how was she six years old already—it was believable.
She was grateful to Marcus and Julia for stepping up and taking Ana home with them. It wasn’t their week, and they didn’t fully understand the situation, but they’d said yes as soon as she’d asked. It wasn’t as if she was throwing up or anything, the way Julia had been when Domi had done it for them. Nope. All her issues were emotional.
She had let her emotions get involved instead of following her head. Breaking off with Mitch the first time was the right thing to do. Not giving him a chance. Not setting herself up when she’d known, deep down, this was the only possible conclusion for them. Seriously, what had she expected?
That she would live happily-ever-after with a commitment-phobe? She could change her ways and stop being a commitment-phobe? There was a reason she had written off dating, and this was it, right here. She couldn’t be a proper mom to her daughter when she was dating. Tonight, she’d handed her kid off to her co-parents. Thank goodness she had those.
Yeah, she would have coped if she didn’t, but she’d been relieved they were there. That they could take Ana with them, so she could wallow. What kind of mom did that make her?
“Oh, good, Avery’s already here,” Rae said as they pulled into their driveway. Avery sat on the front step, a plastic bag in her hand. Her hair was pulled back in its usual ponytail, and she was wearing her Marquis shirt, so she’d probably come straight from her shift.
To Domi’s surprise, she was also happy to see their new friend. Normally, it would be her and Rae cursing Mitch’s name to the high heavens. She hadn’t thought of calling Avery but was glad to see her.
Hey, look at that. She really had made a friend. That was worth celebrating. Maybe she should focus on that instead of all the ways she’d failed.
“I come bearing frozen gifts,” Avery said when they got out of the car, standing and holding up the bag. “I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I brought options.”
“Seriously, anything sounds good right now.” It didn’t matter that she’d just eaten a huge dinner and dessert and brought home Ana’s leftovers, she wanted ice cream. Maybe if she ate enough, her stomach would hurt more than her heart. That had to be an improvement, right?
Avery’s face was sympathetic. “That bad, huh?”
She opened her arms and Domi gave her a hug hello, feeling the first prickling of tears in the backs of her eyes. Pulling away before they could move their way forward, she smiled wryly.
“I’ve had better days.”
“Come on, let’s go in. I want to know all the details.” Rae passed them on her way to the front door, and Domi finally understood why her bestie had let her simmer in silence on the way home rather than demanding to know everything Mitch had said. She’d thought Rae was waiting till they got home, so if she broke down, she could be comforted. That was probably partly why, but this way, she’d get to tell both Rae and Avery at the same time and wouldn’t have to repeat herself.
Not even taking the time to change into more comfortable clothes, Domi took one of the ice cream cartons from Avery, a spoon from Rae, and slumped down on the couch to dig in. Her friends sat on either side of her with their own ice cream, eyes on her, patiently waiting. Well, impatiently waiting in Rae’s case.
Sighing, Domi stared at her ice cream and told them everything—catching Mitch before he went into the bathroom, what he’d said to her, what she’d said to him, and his final decision to break things off.
“I didn’t want to break up, I just wanted to talk… but he wouldn’t listen.” She stabbed at her ice cream. That had been the worst part. Mitch had always been a good listener, but he’d suddenly shut her out. He hadn’t even looked at her the same way. “The asshole. I don’t know why I expected anything different from him. He has the emotional capacity of a trash can.”
Avery and Rae were silent for a long moment, so Domi looked up, turning her head between the two of them. Wait… was she the asshole?
“He was an asshole, right?” she prodded. They were supposed to be supporting her, but she didn’t feel very supported.
“Okay, sweetie… tough love or support?” Rae asked. Domi groaned. The only time she and Rae asked each other that question was when one of them thought the other was in the wrong in some way. Domi always made the same choice because she wanted to know… needed to know.
“Tough love.” She sighed, mentally prepping herself to hear some things she might not want to.
“He was definitely an asshole,” Rae said, but Domi knew not to get excited. That was just the buffer before the real talk. “But he had some good points. You really haven’t let him into your life in a real way. You never told Marcus and Julia about him, and that was something you always said you’d do if you dated someone.”
“If I was serious about them!” Domi protested, then widened her eyes. Shit. She’d walked right into Rae’s trap.
“Exactly.” Rae pointed her spoon at Domi. “Which implies you weren’t that serious about Mitch. You kept him completely separate from other parts of your life. You didn’t even tell him it was Ana’s birthday. It wasn’t like he needed an invitation, but you can’t totally separate your life into segregated pieces and expect it to stay together.”
Shit. Rae was making sense. Maybe she had been a bit of an asshole, too. She hadn’t meant to… thought she was doing the right thing… but… hell, they had gotten serious, hadn’t they? Or it would have felt serious if she had treated it seriously. She’d done the bare minimum by introducing him to her parents, and half the reason she’d done that was to get her mom off her back.
Not exactly epic girlfriend material.
“What do you think?” she asked, turning to Avery, whose eyes widened when Domi put her on the spot. “Don’t hold back, I can handle it. I get Rae has a point, but you’re… well, you haven’t known me as long, so you have more of an objective point of view.”
Avery pursed her lips together, thinking for a long moment.
“You said he left the table when you were talking to his dad. Do you think he was upset about you meeting his dad?”
Glancing at Rae, Domi tried to remember. Her bestie shrugged.
“He was definitely off. I’m not sure it had to do with us being there, though,” Rae said. “He had a weird expression on his face from the beginning.”
“I thought so, too!” Domi shook her head. “I don’t know, though. It might have been because Ana went running up to him, and he knew how I felt about them meeting again.”
“Or maybe his dad told him something that upset him. You said you followed him, and you wanted him to listen, but, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, did you listen to him?” Avery asked tentatively.
Mitch’s voice echoed in her head.
I need a minute, Domi.
She hadn’t given him that minute, had she? Whatever had upset him, whatever had sent him running from the table, she didn’t know because she hadn’t listened to him. Hadn’t given him the very first thing he’d asked for. Instead, she’d pushed him when he was already visibly agitated. Demanded he talk to her when he clearly needed some space.