None of it mattered except Domi.
“I’ve been in love with you for weeks, but I couldn’t admit it, not even to myself. I tried so hard not to be like my dad, but I became exactly like him. I can’t fix what I’ve already done, but I know he would have never done this. He would have never made himself this vulnerable.” She was still standing there, staring at him without reacting. Fuck. Maybe he needed to let her go. “So, it’s okay if you don’t love me back… I just… I just needed to try.” He dropped his hands, feeling increasingly foolish.
The whole room waited with bated breath. They’d stopped watching him and were now watching Domi, waiting to see what she said. If she’d walk away from him now.
Maybe he should get off the table.
“Be like the girl from Transformers! Get in the car!” a woman shouted from the other side of the room.
Domi’s head whipped around, her nose wrinkling in confusion. “What?”
The dark-haired man sitting next to the woman who had called out had put his hand over her mouth, and Mitch had a jolt of surprise. That was Master Justin and Jessica. The third part of their triad was sitting across from them. Master Chris caught Mitch’s eye and gave him a thumbs-up, then jerked his finger back at Domi.
Oh, right.
Because he was as big a nerd as his dad, he knew exactly what Jessica was talking about, and fuck, it made sense.
Looking back at Domi, he held out his hand in front of him, beckoning, hoping she could come take it.
“In the Transformers movie, one of the main characters hesitates to get into the Transformer when it’s a car. The guy asks her, won’t she always wonder what it would have been like if she’d gotten into the car. I know I’ll always wonder, Domi.” She took a step closer to him. “You’re right. There are no guarantees, but there are missed chances.” Another step. Then another. “I love you, Domi. I don’t want to miss my chance.” She was almost to him, eyes shining with tears.
Her hand reached out, and Mitch crouched down so her fingers could touch his.
“I think… I love you too, Mitch.”
The entire room exploded in applause. Mitch grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto the table with him. She squeaked in surprise but went willingly, then laughed against his lips as he kissed her with all the relief, love, and joy threatening to explode his heart. Kissing him back, she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him, and he could feel the wetness from the tears on her cheeks, could—
“Mother fucker!” He jerked away from the kiss, jumping in place, one small spot on his ass burning from a fiery sting that felt exactly like…
Mistress Olivia glared up at him, tapping her crop threateningly against her hand.
“Get. Off. My. Table. Now.”
Whoops.
Cheekily, Mitch saluted her, pretending his ass didn’t have a spot that felt as if it had been stung by a bee, and jumped down before helping Domi down. Olivia watched them with narrowed eyes, looking as though she wanted to hit him with the crop again.
“No standing on tables in my restaurant.” She pointed the crop at him threateningly and dropped it after he and Domi nodded their agreement. Behind Olivia, her boyfriend Luke—and one of the actual owners of the restaurant—was at the bar cracking up. She gave Mitch a terse smile. “Good job on making the right decision, though.”
Resting her crop against her shoulder like it was a bat, Olivia sauntered away, causing quite a few whispers throughout the rest of the restaurant. No one said anything directly to her. Past her and Luke, at the end of the bar, Mitch could see the door to the kitchen was wide open, and people were watching from in there as well. He hoped they’d enjoyed the show.
As Olivia moved away, Rae and Avery came rushing out of the hallway next to the booth where he and Domi were sitting, and Mitch blinked in surprise. Had they been there the whole time?
“Holy shit, that was amazing!” Rae slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a massive hug. Mitch did his best to hug her back, although he refused to let go of Domi’s hand, so it was a one-armed effort. “I was cheering for you the whole time.” She suddenly pulled back, glaring up at him. “But don’t you ever hurt Domi again.”
“I’ll do my best not to.”
“Do better than that.”
Chuckling, Mitch squeezed Domi’s fingers as Rae pulled away from him, looking between her and Avery. He should have known Domi wouldn’t show up undefended. Avery grinned at him. She might not be as exuberant as Rae, but she clearly approved.
“Do you two want to join us?” There was plenty of room in the curved booth for all four of them.
“Yes, please, I’m starving,” Rae said, already moving to sit before Domi could protest.
“Hey! This is my date!”
Chuckling, Mitch dropped a kiss to the top of Domi’s head.
“I’ll take you on a real date,” he promised. “Soon.”
“Will you wear the suit?” she asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Fine.” She said, sighing and letting him scoot her into the booth.
Domi
Was she making the right decision?
She had no idea.
But sitting next to Mitch, tucked under his arm, with her friends, felt a hell of a lot better than walking toward the door had.
There were no guarantees, but he was right… that didn’t mean something wasn’t worth trying.
And she was in love with him.
That was no small thing. Maybe it was stupid, but seeing him willing to make a fool out of himself—not in the usual Mitch-way, goofing off to try to make people laugh—literally putting himself out there where everyone could hear him and watch him be rejected… It had made her realize how cowardly she was being. How few risks she was willing to take, even when she’d thought she was giving him a real chance.
They still had some work to do, but she was determined to try in a way she hadn’t before. It seemed he was as well, so she needed to meet him halfway.
The server came by with napkins, and Mitch helped her clean up the mess he’d made when he’d jumped on the table. They all ordered some more drinks—as well as asked for menus for Rae and Avery, not that Avery needed one. The server clearly recognized her and hurried away even faster than she’d been moving.
Domi was looking over the menu, enjoying being snuggled next to Mitch for the first time in days, when a handsome man in a chef coat stormed up to the table and glared at Avery—dark hair, blue eyes, and seriously hot, even though he looked ticked off. He planted his hands on his hips, and Domi totally got a yummy Dom vibe from him. She could understand why Avery was attracted, even if he wasn’t in the lifestyle.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were eating here this morning?” It wasn’t a question but a demand for information directed straight at Avery, who looked taken aback.
“I didn’t know I needed to tell you all my meal plans,” she responded dryly.
Nick scowled.
“Only when you’re going to eat here.” He reached out, snatching the menus from their hands. Domi was so surprised, she let him without a fight. Even Mitch surrendered quickly. “I’ll send food out.” Without even saying goodbye, he stormed off again.