Free Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic by Kat Mizera Page B

you
can’t understand.”
    “Which is why you need each
other. All we’ve been able to talk about is finding a way for Dom to get past
what happened, and then there you were. So buying presents and doing nice
things for you is our way of keeping you around. It’s really a bribe.” She
smirked and Molly laughed aloud.
    When was the last time I
laughed , she wondered? “Well, then, I guess I’m easy, because
I’m happy to be bribed.” She’d changed into shorts and a top at the last store,
putting on her new sandals and letting her styled hair flow behind her. Sitting
here on the Las Vegas strip watching the hordes of tourists, she felt free,
anonymous and safe. It had been twenty years since she’d felt truly safe; it
was the greatest feeling in the whole world.
     
    They got home after three
o’clock to find Cody and Dom playing with CJ in the family room. CJ came
running when he caught sight of his mother. “Mommy!”
    Suze gathered him into her
arms. “Hey, buddy. How was school today?”
    “It was great! I got to be
line leader.”
    “Good job!”
    “Look out, Uncle Dom!” CJ
attacked him and Dom allowed himself to be thrown to the floor.
    Suze rolled her eyes. “I
swear to God, you guys, if he starts acting up at school…”
    “Come on, Suze!” Cody nudged
her. “He’s a boy!”
    She made a face at him. “I’m
well aware he’s a boy.”
    Molly had come in a minute
or so later, carrying the bags with all her new purchases. She put them down
and smiled at the wrestling going on in the family room. “Looks like the boys
are working up an appetite,” she remarked.
    Dom glanced up and froze.
She was standing there in a pair of denim shorts and a short-sleeved white top.
Her legs were long and tanned, despite a handful of bruises. Her newly colored
and cut hair was thick and wavy, framing her face and bouncing below her
shoulders. Today, both eyes were open and focused on him, as he allowed CJ to
mock wrestle with him. The bruises on her face were fading, and he found
himself drawn to her mouth: the cuts were almost gone and her
beautifully-shaped lips were a pale red. It occurred to him that he wanted to
kiss her someday, and he felt a sharp jab in the ribs that jolted him back to
reality.
    “Hi,” he managed to say,
fending off a playful swing from CJ as he sat up.
    “Hi.”
    “Your hair looks great,” he
finally said.
    “Thanks.” She gave him an
embarrassed smile and then turned to Suze. “Should I put this stuff upstairs?”
    “You’re welcome to stay here
as long as you like,” Suze said.  “But I know Dom needs to start sleeping
at his own place. We’re really out of the way for his therapy and stuff.”
    “Whatever you want,” Dom
said quickly. “If you’re comfortable at my place, we can go back there, or we
can stay here a few more days.”
    Molly hesitated. She liked
being in the big, happy household and having a live-in girlfriend to hang out
with. But Dom needed to live his life too, and she wasn’t ready to be away from
him. At night, he still sat with her until she fell asleep, and last night
she’d awoken from a nightmare to find him gently wiping the tears from her
face.
    “Why don’t we make the move
tomorrow?” Suze suggested. “We’re going out tonight, so—”
    “’ Going out?’ ”
Molly’s eyes widened in alarm.
    “Just to Coach Brad’s
house,” Cody assured her. “Our associate coach Dave Marcus and his wife Tiffany
have been away, so Brad and Andra wanted to have a little get-together. I think
the coaches are going to set us up for what’s coming.”
    “What’s coming?” Molly
asked.
    “She’s not a hockey fan,”
Suze reminded the men as they stared at Molly in disbelief.
    “I am a little ,”
Molly protested. “We’d put it on if it was on TV. Tim’s originally from
Michigan, so he grew up with hockey. But no, I don’t know anything about
expansion teams or stuff like that.”
    “Well, technically, we’re
not supposed to be