Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dominik didn’t care about much. He didn’t care about anything if he was being honest. 

He had always been like that, floating through life, doing just enough to keep a roof over his head and gas in his shitty Camry that ran eighty percent of the time. It was enough for him. He had stopped expecting much from life a long time ago. As long as he had a bed to sleep in and weed to smoke, he didn’t complain.

Well unless he was at work, like now, leaned against the counter bored out of his mind. He was half listening to his best friend, a term he used very loosely, Austin, rambling about some girl he saw in the gym that morning.

Austin was a meathead through and through, arrogant as hell and thought he was God’s gift to women. Women who, majority of the time, barely gave him the time of day once he actually opened his mouth.

“...she said she would give me her number if I just left her alone.” He explained, making Dominik snort.

“So you harassed her?” He smirked.

“ No. ” Austin defended. “It’s called networking man, can’t let a little fear of rejection keep you from trying.” He shrugged. “And now I got her number!....I think she blocked me though because I tried to text her and it keeps saying not delivered.”

Dominik just shook his head as his eyes darted over to the sound of the sliding doors opening, alerting him that a customer was coming in.

“Nose goes!” Dominik called out, instantly going to touch his nose as Austin sucked his teeth.

“Bitch,” He muttered under his breath. “Hello! Welcome to Electronic Pros, how can I–”

Austin was cut off as the girl that entered the store just simply waved him off. “Just looking.” She said, not even bothering to look up at him as she made her way towards the back of the store.

“Rude.”

“Hey at least she actually acknowledged your existence, that’s rare.”

“True. Did you see her? She was hot as hell!”

Dominik shrugged, turning his attention to pick with the receipt printer, pushing the button to make some come out just for the hell of it. “Nah, wasn’t looking.” 

Austin let out an exasperated sigh. “Bro you’re never looking!” He complained, making Dominik shrug again. 

Dominik didn’t care about much, girls and relationships included. Being in a relationship for over a decade since he was a teenager and getting dumped would do that to you though. He had been single for over six months now and as much as he would never admit it, he was still trying to get used to it.

Still getting accustomed to living alone, getting accustomed to never having to debate over what to eat for dinner, getting accustomed to waking up in bed with the other side ice cold to the point that he preferred to pass out on the couch instead more often than not.

Shaking off the thought, Dominik looked up at Austin, now in desperate need for some free entertainment to distract himself. “Bet you can’t get her number.” He smirked.

Austin scoffed and cracked his knuckles. “Please, watch the master work.” He quickly trotted off from behind the counter and went straight in the girl’s direction.  

Dominik just shook his head as he watched Austin approach the girl without a care in the world. Their backs were to him so he couldn’t tell what was being said, but it had barely been two minutes before Austin’s head jerked back with a scoff like he was offended and was turning right back on his heels with a scowl on his face, making Dominik laugh instantly.

“I take it that was a no?” Dominik smirked.

“ She’s mean as fuck .” He frowned. “And she threatened me.”

Dominik couldn’t even help the snort he let out watching Austin sulking. He was in a better mood already. 

The girl approached him at the register not long after, Austin clearly trying to avoid making eye contact with her by suddenly becoming deeply invested on the planogram in front of him as she placed two different HDMI cords on the counter.

“Which one is better?” Dominik barely glanced up at her before pointing to the package on the right.

“That one.” He said simply. “The other one is way less expensive but with the quality, you’ll be back in a few months to replace it.”

The girl let out a small hum before sliding the one Dominik recommended forward. “Okay I’ll take it.”

Dominik grabbed the package and finally took a moment to look up at her, his movements suddenly coming to a halt. 

She had jet black hair that fell just at her broad shoulders, a septum piercing and gauges in her ears, a mix of gold and silver necklaces adorning her chest and she wore a black tank top and biker shorts. But what stood out the most was her tattoos that she was covered in. They look like they told a story and Dominik found himself surprisingly curious as his eyes trailed over her.

She noticed. Of course she did, she was used to eyes on her but paid it no mind, not even looking up from her wallet as she thumbed through bills.

The way he cleared his throat as he scanned the HDMI cord finally caught her attention. And when she finally took him in, her hands stopped briefly.

She noticed his name tag first, “Dom” printed on the fading plastic, showing that he’s clearly been working here for a while. She almost couldn’t read it with the way his long, brown mullet cascaded over his front, well past his shoulders down to his chest. His tattooed arms were on full display under his uniform shirt and she could see one sticking out from his collar on his neck as well. He had a thick mustache that looked like his face hadn’t seen a razor in years and he smelled like weed with a hint of whatever cologne he was wearing. It made her smirk.

‘Dom’ looked like he didn’t give a shit about his job, or anything for that matter. He looked like bad decisions, indifference, and nonchalance all wrapped together…and she liked that. She liked it a lot actually. 

It made her lean in, resting her palms on the counter as she stared at him. She could tell he was trying his hardest not to make eye contact with her, which only made her want to mess with him more.

“You shouldn’t let that guy talk to women, you know. You might end up with a lawsuit.” She muttered to him.

Dominik snorted and glanced over his shoulder at Austin who was only a few feet away, still trying to pretend like he wasn’t paying attention. “Yeah, tell me about it.” He placed her item in the bag before looking at the screen.

“Your total is–”

“You’re not going to try and ask me for my number too?” She suddenly asked, tilting her head slightly as she stared at him, catching Dominik completely off guard. 

His brows furrowed and the genuine confusion on his face made her smirk. 

“...wasn’t planning on it.” The girl let out a hum which just confused Dominik even more. What was her deal? Did he just make everything awkward? Was he supposed to say yes? And why was she looking at him like that?

The nervous word vomit started spilling from his mouth before he could even stop it and for once he found himself actually doing his sales pitch he never even bothered to offer customers to try and change the subject.

“We uh–have a lifetime warranty on these, if you’re interested. This one is just additional $15 bucks but if you–”

“You get commission on that?” She interrupted with her eyebrow raised.

Dominik stammered. “W-well uh, yeah but that’s not why–”

“I’ll take it.” She declared. 

The girl looked around the store briefly before holding up a finger. “One sec.” She walked away and headed towards the headphones and speakers aisle.

Dominik stood in confusion, officially unable to stop watching her as she eventually sauntered back to the counter with a box of lavender colored noise canceling headphones that the store had just got in recently. They were $350 but she tossed the box onto the counter like it was nothing.

“Add these too, and include the warranty. Need some new ones for the gym.” She said plainly.

Dominik blinked. Twice.

The sound of the box hitting the counter should’ve been enough to jolt him back to life, but he stood there a beat too long, wondering if he’d somehow stumbled into a simulation.

He cleared his throat again, because apparently, that was his only defense mechanism now. “Sure,” He mumbled, scanning the barcode with a soft beep. Dominik could feel his hands clammy as he tried to discreetly wipe them on the front of his pants before adding the headphones to her bag as well.

Was she flirting with him? Is this how people flirted now, by buying ridiculously expensive headphones just to show off they could? Dominik had officially been out of the game too long, because if this was flirting, he would never be able to keep up.

What was he even thinking right now? There was no way a girl like her was flirting with somebody like him.

“Your total is $425.98.” The girl had shoved the money she was originally going to use back into her wallet by now and tapped her card against the machine, eyes still locked on Dominik who was trying to look anywhere but at her, and he was failing miserably.

She took her receipt and the bag from him with a smirk, tossing it over her tattooed shoulder.

“See you around, Dom. ” The girl said plainly before walking away towards the sliding doors.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Austin appeared at Dominik’s side. 

“Dude!” He exclaimed with a shove. “You’re an idiot! That was the biggest fumble!” Austin was rubbing his temples like he was exasperated, making Dominik frown.

“What?”

“What do you mean what!?” Austin wanted to damn near to pull his hair out. “The hottest girl I’ve ever seen in my fucking life was just practically begging you to ask for her number, and you–you just stood there! ‘Uhhh wasn’t planning on it’” He mocked in an overdramatic, doofy voice.

Dominik rolled his eyes with a scoff. “She wasn’t even serious.” He mumbled. 

She couldn’t have been, right?

“She probably has a degradation kink or some shit. Probably just wanted to embarrass me like she embarrassed you.”

“I’m not embarrassed.” Austin defended.

He definitely was.

“Plus girls like that don’t just casually ask you if you’re going to ask for their number. And she lined your pockets with that sale? She’s obsessed with you already.”

“You’re an idiot.” Dominik brushed off with a shake of his head, officially over this conversation as he walked away from the counter.

Austin wasted no time following right behind him, still scolding him.

“Nah, you’re the idiot. I’m out here putting in work and the heavens just drop a baddie into your lap and you fumble. Next time, you’re getting that number.”

Dominik just rolled his eyes, good thing he was probably never going to see her again anyway.

_______________________________

Rhea didn’t believe in fate. Well at least she didn’t until she stepped out of the gas station later that same night, way across town, pouring out another handful of tropical skittles before popping them into her mouth. She had opened the pack and ate half of them before she even made it to the register because of course she did.

As she sauntered carelessly towards her Jeep, she heard a grating voice call out.

“No fucking way , you stalking us?” 

Rhea looked up to see that annoying guy from the electronics store earlier leaning out of the passenger side window, grinning at her like he just won the lottery. 

Her eyes then found ‘Dom.’ He was leaned up against the back of a silver Camry that looked like it was older than him, which is probably was, beat up and looking like it was hanging on by a very thin thread. He was pumping gas with the same slow boredom he applied to literally everything, hooded eyes gazing out at absolutely nothing like there wasn’t a single thought going on in his head.

She raised an eyebrow as she strolled towards the car with the lazy confidence of someone who never rushed for anything. “Yeah. You caught me. Been tracking you since noon. Used a bloodhound and everything.”

Austin smirked. “I knew it, they always come back.”

Rhea let out an unimpressed snort. “God, your ego.” She said, shaking her head. “Must be exhausting carrying it around all day.”

“It is.” Austin agreed. “That and this big–”

“Dude!” Dominik called out with a grimace. “Do you ever chill?”

Austin ignored him, keeping his eyes on Rhea and she poured skittles into her mouth. 

“Oooooo!,” He said, extending his hand out the window to her like he wanted some, making Rhea frown.

“ Absolutely not.” 

“Whatever,” Austin scoffed while rolling his eyes. “You got plans tonight?” He asked, drumming his fingers on the frame of the open window. “We’re about to hit up a party. You should come. It'll be fun, or terrible. Hard to say.”

Rhea glanced at Dominik as he finally looked her way.

He didn’t say anything.

She didn’t either.

He was leaned up against the car, his mullet still wet, probably from a recent shower, a plain white tee clinging to his arms in a way that made the tattoos underneath stand out more. Sweat beaded along his neck right where his tattoo was. 

She wanted to bite it.

“What kind of party?” Rhea asked Austin with her eyes still locked on Dominik. 

Austin shrugged. “Couple of my gym buddies throwing down in this sick condo by the beach. Booze, bad decisions, maybe a fire dancer—I dunno. You should come.” He repeated. There was no way he was about to let this opportunity pass through Dominik’s fingers again , who was still making no attempts to even try and talk to her. 

“Gross, there's more of you? They annoying like you too?” Rhea teased. 

“Maybe.” Austin smirked.

Rhea let out a hum in consideration. “You two always invite random women you barely know to parties?” She asked, finishing off the rest of her candy and she dumped them into her mouth.

“Nah,” Austin said, unfazed. “Just the ones that scare me a little.”

That made her laugh. A real one, sharp and sudden like breaking glass and it made Dominik bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. She had that kind of laugh that made you want to figure out what else she found funny just to hear it again. It was piercing in a good way that made Dominik’s stomach flip.

She tried to lock eyes with him again but Dominik quickly looked away, clearing his throat and going to hang the nozzle back up.

“You don’t even know my name.” She reminded him. “I don’t even know your name.”

He let out a groan. “What’s in a name? I’m Austin, that’s Dominik blah blah blah, and you are…”

“Rhea.” She said simply, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Rhea. So that was her name, Dominik thought to himself as he tried to remain uninterested in their conversation. It wasn’t like she was seriously considering Austin’s offer anyway, like she said, she barely even knew them.

“You coming Rhea ?” Austin pressed, still drumming on the side of the car. “I mean, unless you’re too cool for a little fun?”

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she studied Dominik.

He didn’t say anything, didn’t look at her, didn’t even shrug.

But he didn’t say no either, and that was enough.

“Fine,” She said, tossing the empty Skittles bag through the open window and into Austin’s lap.

Her eyes went back to Dominik who was standing awkwardly by the driver’s door, scratching the back of his neck.

“So am I following you or….” Rhea trailed off, just trying to get him to speak to her.

“Uh y-yeah. That’s cool.”

Rhea smirked in amusement but gave a small nod and started walking back towards her purple Jeep Wrangler that was completely decked out with black and lime green decals, back bumper covered in band and bumper stickers.

“Damnnnnn,” Austin called out, fully leaning himself out of the window to get a better look. “That’s you?”

“Yup!” Rhea beamed proudly, stretching her arms out and resting her head and outstretched limbs against the hood like she was giving it a hug. “This is my baby.” 

Dominik watched her, a faint smile tugging on his lips as he got back behind the wheel of his own car.

Austin leaned over against the center console and looked at Dominik as Rhea hopped in her Jeep and started the engine. “ Dude , she is so fucking cool. I swear if you don’t get her number by the end of the night I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.”

Dominik just ignored him as he began to back out of the gas station's parking lot with Rhea right behind him. 

Chapter Text

Rhea followed behind Dominik's Camry like an expensive, loud shadow—her Wrangler looking like a Mad Max art project as it rumbled down the road with a feral kind of joy, speakers rattling with the faint thump of something bass-heavy and angry.

Inside the Camry, Dominik drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, flicking the ash from his joint out the window with the same lazy grace he seemed to apply to breathing. Austin hadn't shut up since they left the gas station.

"I'm just saying," Austin began. "She's got that 'don't talk to me' thing down, but also that 'I might set your car on fire for fun' energy. It's hot. Dangerous. Like... she could kill you but she would look sexy as hell while she does it so it would be worth it."

Dominik rolled his eyes. "You sound like a fucking dumbass." He said, despite the fact that his mind immediately pictured Rhea hovering over him, knife in hand like she was about to end him once and for all and granted....she did look pretty hot.

Austin pointed dramatically. "No you're the dumbass if you let her walk out of this party without at least figuring out what kind of music she listens to during sex." He peered over his shoulder at Rhea's Jeep tumbling down the road behind them, her music blaring into the night. "If it's anything like what she's listening to now, you better start thinking about what your safe word is going to be."

Dominik let out a sharp bark of laughter despite himself. "Would you shut up?"

"Hey I'm just trying to help," Austin said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "She would be good for you. You need someone with a little edge, you haven't been laid in forever. She's gonna fucking ruin you."

Dominik didn't even bother responding. Though he wasn't necessarily opposed to that, he still would never tell Austin.

They pulled into the condo complex and the parking lot was already half full of trucks, sports cars, and ridiculously expensive rentals. Music pulsed faintly from the ceiling-to-floor window covered house. Rhea pulled in beside them and parked with a casual precision that made Dominik feel weirdly impressed.

Get a grip, she isn't even doing anything. He had to remind himself.

She stepped out of the Wrangler like a storm—tattoos gleaming under the glow of the streetlights. Her tank top clung to her as she tied her hoodie around her waist, tucking her keys in the pocket, and her expression was unreadable.

Dominik watched her in the rearview for a second longer than he should have, then popped his door open. Austin was already halfway to the front door, shouting something incoherent at a guy leaning over the balcony.

Rhea joined Dominik at his side without a word, glancing at the condo as they approached it together. It was a comfortable silence as they climbed the stairs side by side. Her shoulder brushed against his on the way up and Dominik became very aware of how close they were standing next to each other. It made him clear his throat as he held the door open for her as they stepped into the party.

Austin was already somewhere deep in the middle of the chaos. Strobe lights flashed in various colors to the bass of the music playing, there were people everywhere; some dancing, some playing beer pong near the kitchen, and there were twice as many guys as there were girls. It made Rhea frown to herself.

"This is what my nightmares look like." She leaned over to shout over the music at Dominik.

"Same." He agreed.

Austin reappeared with two solo cups and a glow stick necklace already halfway on his head. "Okay, drinks secured" He said, passing them off to Dominik and Rhea. "I got a beer pong rep to protect, I'll be back!"

Dominik glanced down at the cup in his hands cautiously, before taking a small sip. It tasted like straight tequila with a hint of something fruity.

Rhea took her cup, sniffed it once, and downed the whole thing without flinching.

Dominik stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" She asked, setting it down on a speaker.

"Nothing," He said. "Just...noted."

Rhea shrugged before patting Dominik on the shoulder. "I'm going to go crush your friend's rep and bruise some man egos." She announced. "Wanna come?"

Dominik stammered. "Uh, nah you go ahead, I'll be...around."

He noticed the slight flicker of disappointment in her eyes before she just simply nodded and walked away to begin maneuvering herself through the crowd. Dominik watched her disappear into the madness as he made his way towards an emptier area, leaning up against the wall, nursing the drink in his hand.

Dominik stood there, back against the drywall for what felt like forever as the party buzzed all around him. He had a front row seat to Rhea, very aggressively, playing beer pong. For someone who described this as her nightmares, she seemed to fit right in. It didn't take long before she became the center of attention, running through Austin and several other of his "gym bros" at beer pong with ease.

A guy with a backwards snapback and boat shoes said something to her with far too much confidence and Dominik saw the exact second she crushed him with one raised eyebrow and a one single sentence that had the guy's cheeks turn pink before he sheepishly walked away from her. It made Dominik try to hide the grin that graced his face as he took another slow sip of his drink.

His eyes glanced around the party for a moment before he noticed the slightly open glass door that led to the balcony.

Finally, an escape.

He pushed off the wall and slid between two dancing girls in highlighter-colored dresses who barely noticed him. Dominik leaned over the rail of the balcony and pulled his joint from behind his ear, patting his pockets for his lighter.

The familiar flicker of the lighter instantly made his shoulders relax as he lit the joint and inhaled deeply. Dominik enjoyed a very brief moment of silence before he heard the door sliding open.

"Figured you would make your way out here eventually."

Dominik peered over his shoulder briefly to see Rhea approaching him. She stood next to him and plucked the joint from between his lips like it was hers, taking a hit without a care as she made herself comfortable next to him.

She was doing it again, standing way too close to him. Their shoulders brushed against each other and he became hyper aware of her perfume invading his nostrils.

Clearing his throat, Dominik kept his eyes forward, looking out at the beach to get his mind off of the way her closeness was making his stomach flip.

Rhea let the smoke curl lazily from her lips, eyes fixed on the horizon where the dark waves kissed the shore in a slow, endless loop. She passed the joint back without looking at him, and Dominik took it, fingers brushing hers for half a beat too long.

Then, without warning, she turned to him, studying him with that same unnerving intensity from earlier, like she was trying to figure him out.

"You always this awkward at parties?"

Dominik scoffed softly. "I'm awkward at life."

"Yeah, I've noticed." She chuckled. "Why did you come then?"

Passing the joint back to her, Dominik shrugged, eyes still locked on the ocean ahead.

"Austin's always trying to drag me out to this shit. Mainly just so I can play designated driver while he gets wasted." He said with an eyeroll. "I usually say no, but I don't know. Guess I felt like doing charity work tonight."

Rhea hummed, a low, appreciative sound that made his hands clam up again.

"What about you? I thought this place was your 'nightmare.' Looked like you were enjoying yourself out there just fine."

Rhea shrugged, arms folded on the railing. "I try to make the most out of what I can, plus beating frat boys at drinking games and crushing their egos is basically free therapy."

This made Dominik snort, a grin on his face. It was the first time she saw him actually smile and it made her bite down on her lip.

"You smile like it hurts." She said, her head slightly tilted and lips scrunched up.

"It does," He muttered. "Been told my face isn't built for happiness."

"Who the hell told you that?"

"My mom." Dominik smirked.

Rhea laughed her real laugh that made his stomach flip again. She had that same kind of humor Dominik had, unserious, sarcastic, a little dark. Dominik liked that.

They stood there for a long moment, the music muffled behind the glass, the air thick with smoke and tension and something neither of them wanted to name yet. Well Rhea did, but it was obvious that Dominik was going to make this difficult. Not like she minded, Rhea liked challenges.

Rhea also liked getting the things that she wanted, the word "no" a foreign concept to her. And Rhea decided that she wanted Dominik, which meant naturally, that she was going to have him.

Flicking the roach over the railing, Dominik turned to Rhea. "What did you need the HDMI cable for anyway?" He wondered.

"Oh I got this new projector thing, it only takes 10K cables apparently."

Dominik gave an impressed nod, must be a fancy ass projector.

"That's cool, what are you using it for? You a big movie buff or something?"

"Nah." Rhea said simply. "I don't know yet, I just saw it on display when I was out and thought it looked cool so I bought it." She shrugged.

So throwing money around like it was nothing was just normal for her apparently. Must be nice. The thought made Dominik shake his head with a faint and amused smile on his face.

"You're weird." He declared.

Rhea's smirk deepened, slow and feline, like she'd been waiting for that exact observation.

"Well you hang with Austin, seems you like weirdos." She teased.

He couldn't argue that. "You got me there."

Rhea continued to study him as he stared out at the beach. His jawline was sharp, his stubble rough and patchy. It looked scratchy and she wanted to rub her face against it. Her eyes trailed down to his hands that were firmly gripping the railing, tattoos adorning his skin and knuckles. She wondered what they would feel like wrapped around her throat.

She needed to get a fucking grip.

"You got a staring problem too," Dominik said flatly, eyes briefly glancing at her.

Rhea took a step closer, not even the least bit deterred from taking her eyes off of him.

"You're fun to look at." She defended with a smug smirk, watching the way he awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck.

"....and you're cute when you're all squirmy."

"I'm not squirmy," He lied.

"You're squirmy." She confirmed.

Dominik gave her a look, but there wasn't much heat behind it. She was grinning now, teeth sharp but playful. The kind of grin that dared him to take a step forward, and he almost did.

Then the balcony door slammed open behind them.

"Yo!" Austin's voice shattered the moment like a brick through glass.

"There you are!" He beamed, stumbling slightly. "Rhea, you monster, you've got groupies now. Chad wants a rematch and I heard one of the guys talking about getting your name tatted across his chest. Come back inside."

"Not interested." Rhea said plainly, never taking her eyes off Dominik.

Austin blinked. "Oh. Ohhhhh. Am I—am I cockblocking?"

"No," Dominik said.

"Yes." Rhea said flatly at the same time.

Dominik scrubbed a hand over his face, muttering something like a curse into his palm.

"Right, right I'll just go back inside then." Austin announced as Dominik shot him a look over his shoulder.

Austin shot him a look right back, mouthing at him "Get. The. Number." making Dominik roll his eyes.

He vanished back into the party like the ghost of bad timing, the balcony door clicking shut behind him. The silence that returned was different now—thicker, weighted with all the words they hadn't said and the ones Dominik didn't know how to say without sounding like an idiot.

Dominik sighed and leaned forward again, elbows on the railing. "Why do I hang out with that guy?"

Rhea shrugged, fingers brushing the edge of his arm, testing the waters, observing how his skin prickled in goosebumps from her touch. She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to something more quiet, more challenging. "Because I think deep, deep down, you love chaos."

This got his full attention and his eyes locked on hers like a magnet, unable to look anywhere else even if he wanted to.

"Do I?" He muttered.

"Mhmm." She agreed. "I already got your whole thing figured out.' Rhea declared.

That got him to laugh again—soft, surprised, like it snuck out before he could stop it. Rhea turned toward him, crossing one foot over the other, her gaze drifting to his face again. There was something about the way he looked when he wasn't trying to be cool; a little lost, a little out of place, a little too honest for his own good.

"Yeah? And what's my 'whole thing'?"

Rhea studied him. "You're difficult." She began. "Boring. Don't let people in like a troubled poet or some shit."

Dominik let out a scoff at that.

"...and you don't seem to think you deserve much, or anything really. It's kinda sad." She frowned.

Well she was definitely reading him like a fucking book.

"Tell me I'm wrong." She challenged. He didn't.

"You a psychologist now?"

"No." She smirked. "I just find you fascinating." Rhea admitted.

Dominik turned to look at her, really look at her and could see the genuine curiosity in her eyes and he didn't know how to feel about that.

"Yeah, well I promise you, there's nothing fascinating about me." He said it dejectedly as he broke eye contact to look back out to the ocean. His dismissiveness about himself made Rhea's smirk falter slightly. She reached out and wrapped a hand around his wrist to get his attention again.

"...you should let me be the judge of that." Rhea said softly. It was the first thing she had said to him all night that didn't sound like it wasn't laced with a threat.

Dominik didn't say anything. He didn't have a fucking clue how to respond to that. He wasn't good at this; flirting, actually wanting to get to know someone, or whatever the fuck this was.

Rhea could see the confusion on his face and simply rolled her eyes before releasing his wrist and extending her hand out to him.

"Give me your phone." She demanded.

"Wh-what?"

"Your phone." She repeated. "Give it. You still haven't asked me for my number yet and you're taking too damn long." Rhea opened and closed her hand repeatedly like she was rushing him.

Dominik eyed her for a moment before digging into his pocket and unlocking his phone and passed it to her.

"Ugh, finally." She muttered to herself. Rhea quickly added herself to his contacts and shoved the phone back to him, her hand pressing it against her chest as she stepped closer to him.

"You better use it." She said with that same intensity in her eyes that made his stomach flip. "....or I'll have to come find you." It was a threat, but she said it in a breathy, lust filled way that had him seriously considering not using it at all just to see what would happen if she actually came and found him.

Dominik swallowed hard as the smirk returned to her face. She patted his chest twice before grinning at him and walking away, slipping back inside and pushing her way through the crowd and right out the front door as Dominik stood on the balcony dumbfounded the entire time, still trying to process the lingering feeling of her nails scratching up his arm and the sudden hole he felt in chest where her hand just was. 

Chapter Text

It had been three days. 72 whole fucking hours since Rhea gave Dominik her number and he hadn't contacted her not once.

Rhea growled to herself at the thought as she continued running on the treadmill, headphones on, tuning out the world as she ran like her life depended on it.

She was upset to say the least. Used to men she didn't want practically throwing themselves at her feet, talk about the blow to her ego she was experiencing at the realization that she couldn't get a fucking stoner that worked at a shitty retail job he clearly hated to just simply send her a text.

Did she scare him off already? Probably. Did she come on too strong? Well she knew she came on too strong, she was just intense like that, but guys liked that sort of thing, right?

Okay, she was spiraling now officially—legs pumping like pistons, pace just shy of self-destruction, jaw clenched tighter than when she'd threatened to punch that random guy for ogling her deadlift last week.

Three days.

72 hours of absolute radio silence. Not even a "yo." Not even a meme. Not a single pixel of attention from Dominik Fucking Burnout, the human equivalent of a couch cushion that smelled like weed and regret—and somehow still the most interesting man she had met since moving to this godforsaken swamp state years ago.

Her thumb slammed down on the treadmill speed button, set on torturing herself to get her brain to just shut up for a minute.

She failed miserably. Instead her brain, the traitorous organ that it was, replayed every second of their brief interactions like a highlight reel; the way his lips curled around the joint, that lazy grin, the low chuckle that she swore felt in her spine.

The nerve of him. The absolute audacity to be so fucking smug, so effortlessly attractive that she was spiraling over the lack of new notifications on her homescreen at 10 in the morning.

Rhea let out a groan. He had to know what he was doing. Maybe he was just trying to play it cool? Testing her? Making her wait?

"Oh, he's gonna see waiting when I punt his balls into next week," She muttered under her breath.

This was getting out of hand officially and her eagerness and refusal to be ignored was about to fix all of that.

__________________________________

Dominik leaned against the brick wall of the back alley where employees in the shopping center had a tendency to take smoke breaks.

He was sitting on a few stacked crates, joint between his lips, eyes closed without a care in the world. His shift was dragging at it always did, customers were annoying, his manager had left early for the day as usual leaving him to deal with shit that was quite literally above his pay grade.

But that didn't matter right now. Right now, were the brief fifteen minutes he looked forward to every shift, where he could have a moment of fucking peace to himself. Even Austin knew not to bother Dominik when he took his smoke break, no one in the store did.

Dominik took a long drag of his joint before flicking the ash to ground, eyes still closed with his head pressed against the wall.

His nose twitched slightly, something floral and expensive hitting his nostrils that definitely wasn't coming from him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion before a very unforgettable and very prominent Australian accent cut through the silence.

"There you are." Rhea announced, making Dominik's eyes fly open. She was standing right in front of him, hip stuck out as she put all her weight onto one leg with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a slight look of irritation on her face.

Was he dreaming?

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Dominik stuttered like an idiot.

"Austin said you would be out here." She announced, arms still crossed, look of frustration on her face. "I told you I would come find you if you didn't use my number. I'm not a very patient woman, Dominik." Rhea stated, plucking his joint from between his fingers, again and hitting it like it was hers.

"Yeah, I can see that." Dominik grumbled.

Rhea exhaled slow, letting the smoke curl from her lips as she stepped closer to him in a way that felt damn near theatrical—because of course it was.

Dominik stared up at her, stunned, slack-jawed, and vaguely aroused. His brain, which was already half-fried from the joint, decided now was the perfect time to notice just how good she looked; hair falling to her shoulders, her bangs sweeping just below her brows that were furrowed in frustration. Her pointy, nude nails with gold appliques pinched the joint as she brought it up to her lips, her two piece gym outfit probably costing more than his car insurance.

It did.

Rhea finally glanced down at him again and scoffed at the way he was gawking at her but wasn't saying anything.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" She fussed as she passed the joint back. "You've had three days," Rhea said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That's 72 hours of me wondering if you're just dumb, dead, or trying to make a point."

Dominik rubbed at the back of his neck, looking off to the side. "I—I wasn't trying to—look, I'm just not good at, like, the whole... texting thing." He muttered. "I tried but...I just didn't know what to say."

Her glare softened for a brief second before she went right back on her warpath. "Didn't know what to say?" She repeated, exasperation evident in her voice. "Oh I don't know, how about 'hi' or 'hey this is Dom' or even just a fucking emoji or something! I would have even taken an unsolicited dick pic instead of just nothing but silence for three whole days..."

Dominik was smirking by this point now as he watched her continue to go on her tirade, he wasn't even listening anymore, just watching the way her mouth moved. There was something about the way she was rambling, how she was passionately going off on him that made him feel some kind of way. Maybe it was how she talked with her hands, the muscles in her arms flexing and she flailed them about, maybe it was the way her accent was more prominent when she was clearly upset. He could sit here and listen to her yell at him for the rest of his life.

"....why are you looking at me like that?" Rhea paused her rant with the faintest confused pout on her lips. He liked that too, he realized.

His smirk widened, lazy and eyes half lidded from the joint's effects, his high seeping deep into his bones as his shoulders relaxed. He tilted his head slightly at her.

"Did you just admit you wanna see my dick?" He teased with a proud smirk that made her eyes narrow at him.

Oh, so he did have an actual personality, she realized. And he was a smug little shit at that. Rhea hated that she was counting that as another point in Dominik's favor.  

"That's all you got from that!?"

Dominik exhaled slow, smoke spilling past his grin like a dragon with no ambition. He tapped the joint against his knee, flicking the ash with one hand while his other arm draped over the milk crate like he was reclining on a throne.

"That's just what stood out," He said, lips quirking higher. "Didn't say it wasn't more to the speech. Just, ya know...highlights." He answered, gesturing vaguely.

Rhea's jaw dropped in pure disbelief. "You're unbelievable."

Dominik gave her a dopey little shrug.

There was a brief moment of silence before Dominik let out a soft sigh.

"Listen, I wanted to text you," He said more seriously now, eyes flicking up to hers. "I just...I didn't wanna fuck it up."

That caught her off guard. Her frown faltered, her mouth parting ever so slightly. "Fuck it up? What does that even mean? You're literally doing that right now."

"Exactly," He laughed. "This is me on a good day."

She squinted at him, unsure if he was just self-deprecating or trying to warn her off. Knowing him, it was probably both.

Dominik took another drag, then passed the joint back without looking. She took it, inhaled, and shook her head in frustration that was clearly aimed more at herself than him.

"I just don't get you," Rhea said, softer now, eyes narrowing as she studied him.

He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and plopping his head into his hands as he gazed out at nothing in particular. "Yeah, well I don't get you either." Dominik muttered.

Rhea stared at him for a long moment, the haze of irritation still clinging to her shoulders like steam off a boiling pot. But underneath it—beneath the exasperation and the ego bruises, was curiosity. Dangerous, inconvenient curiosity.

".....Well, let's figure each other out then." She offered.

Dominik didn't respond right away, because of course he didn't. He just looked at her like he was contemplating her offer.

Her interest in him made absolutely no sense to Dominik and the matching persistence that came with it as she bulldozed her way into the alley to confront him had him wondering why she was even bothering with him in the first place. He didn't not text her for any reason in particular, yeah maybe he was a little scared, Rhea was intimidating as fuck that's for sure. But deep, deep down Dominik just didn't want to get his own hopes up. He knew eventually Rhea would get bored with him and cast him off to the side like a toy that wasn't fun to play with anymore and he wasn't sure if he could handle that, not from someone like her.

His silence wasn't good enough for Rhea of course, causing her to scoff before extending her hand out to him.

"Give me your phone."

"This again?" Dominik whined.

"Give. It." She demanded through gritted teeth. He rolled his eyes but unlocked the phone and passed it off nonetheless.

"What are you doing now?" He questioned.

"Calling myself." Rhea answered simply. "I need your number so I can text you my address. You're coming over and we're hanging out when you get off." She declared, making it glaringly obvious that he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Dominik's face scrunched up in confusion. "You're just...inviting me to your house? You don't even know me!"

Rhea shrugged and passed the phone back. "What? You a serial killer or something?"

"No." Dominik scoffed. "Wait....are you?"

Rhea just grinned, that sharp, wicked grin that made his stomach flip and made his throat go dry. She didn't say anything else, just spun right on her heels and started making her way out of the alley.

"See you later Dom!" Rhea announced just as she disappeared around the corner.

___________________________________

Dominik reentered the store from the back entrance, making his way back to floor after spraying himself in an unreasonable amount of cologne that was doing very little to mask the weed aroma that was clinging to his white tee under his work polo. Not like he actually cared or anything anyway.

Austin was leaned up against the counter when Dominik walked up with a scowl on his face.

He looked up from his phone with a knowing smirk. "She find you?"

Dominik let out an exasperated groan. "Why would you tell her where I was? She could be crazy, she could have killed me just now!"

Austin just shrugged. "She definitely is crazy, but she offered me twenty bucks." He defended. "How was I supposed to turn that down?"

"Good to know my life is worth $20 to you." Dominik scoffed, taking his place back behind the register.

"Sooo," Austin continued, unfazed by Dominik's dramatics. "What did she say? She offer you a blowie in the back alley? You guys going on a date, getting hitched or what?"

Dominik rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "She was mad that I didn't text her...and we're hanging out later apparently." He mumbled the last part, but Austin heard him loud and clear, his head shooting up and he stood straight up.

"You are!? Nice!" He exclaimed. "Can I come?"

"Dude, no!" Dominik frowned.

"Why notttttt?"

"Because she doesn't even like you!"

Austin let out a scoff of full offense. "Umm yes she does! She's threatened me, partied with me, bribed me, and threatened me again, we're practically best friends!"

Dominik just shook his head. "The answer's still no. I'm not gonna just drag an uninvited guest to her house."

This really got Austin's attention. "Excuse me, her what!? Bro, first hang and she's already inviting you to her place? You're so getting laid."

Dominik groaned and dropped his forehead dramatically to the counter.

"No, I'm not," He mumbled into the laminate. "It's not like that."

Austin was already bouncing on the balls of his feet like he drank four Red Bulls.

"This is so great for us! Dom, she literally hunted you down. She wants you so bad!"

Dominik lifted his head just enough to glare. "Maybe she just wants to hang out. Like, chill. Talk. Ya know, normal human interaction without the horny."

Austin gave him the driest look possible. "Pffffft! Yeah right! Girls like that don't just want to 'talk' they want to fuc–"

"Alright, alright! I get it, just....just shut up." Dominik mumbled.

He hadn't had sex since his ex broke up with him, in fact his ex was the only person he had ever had sex with. And now the idea of Rhea wanting to cross that line with him was making his palms sweaty and his stomach knot up, he was not ready for that at all.

Austin could pick up on his nerves instantly, gently nudging his shoulder. "Look, don't be nervous dude. I know it's been rough but you gotta get back out there. You can't just sulk in misery and vape juice for the rest of your life."

"I'm not nervous." Dominik lied. "And I'm not sulking I'm just...I don't know shut up." He repeated in a grumble as he retreated to placing his forehead back on the counter.

Austin gave him a pat on the back. "Eh, you'll be alright Dom. I'm sure Rheyoncé  will take good care of you."

This made Dominik stand back up straight. "Rheyoncé? You giving her nicknames now?" He smirked.

"I'm workshopping a few," Austin shrugged. "Think she'll like that one?"

Dominik snorted. "I think if you called her that to her face she would rip your head off."

"Back to the drawing board then." Austin said as he started to walk away from the counter to actually go do some work for once. "I'm just saying man, be prepared for tonight." Austin called out, pointing a finger at him, dead serious. "Wear your good boxers. The black ones. You know the ones."

Dominik was begging the floor to open up and swallow him whole. "I hate you so much."

"Love you too, bro!" Austin chirped, already walking away with an extra bounce in his step, probably to bother some poor customer.

Chapter Text

Dominik stared at the message on his screen of Rhea's address as he sat in his car in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He went home to take a shower after he got off and did, in fact, put on his "good boxers" just in case. He had no intentions of trying to have sex with Rhea at all but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The thought alone had him groaning as he leaned forward and rested his head against the steering wheel. He was in way over his head, what was he even doing? About to step into the literal lioness den of a woman that could probably choke him out with just her thighs.

He was jittery as hell in that half-high, half-panic way. He couldn't stop fidgeting, scratching at the back of his neck, adjusting his beanie, pulling out his phone, checking it, locking it, unlocking it again like something else might be there besides Rhea's text with her address and a single middle finger emoji.

"Fuck it." Dominik mumbled to himself as he sat up and started, well tried, to start up his car. The engine sputtered like it was barely hanging on.

Reaching his hand out the open window, Dominik gently tapped the side of his car a few times. "Come on girl, don't do this tonight. We got plans."

Trying the key again, the engine finally turned over causing him to let out a sigh of relief as he started his gps for the twenty minute drive that was ahead of him.

It took three U-turns, one panicked re-check of the address, and five full minutes of self-doubt before Dominik finally pulled up to Rhea's building half an hour later.

He didn't know what to expect pulling up to Rhea's apartment complex, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting this. The building stood like a temple of aesthetic superiority—sleek, modern, and definitely out of his league. He parked his sad little Toyota in a visitor space, feeling like someone was going to tow it just for ruining the view of the luxury vehicles that surrounded it.

Dominik approached the building, letting out one last sigh before pulling open the heavy door and stepping inside.

His nerves were at an all time high the entire elevator ride to the 5th floor. His reflection in the shiny metal of the elevator doors had him smoothing the wrinkles out of his t-shirt and combing his fingers through his mustache, readjusting his beanie like it actually made a difference.

Stepping out of the elevator, he walked the hall and quickly approached her unit. His fist hovered nervously in front of the door.

Was he supposed to knock? Maybe he should just call or send a text? Do people still knock on doors? How many knocks are normal without seeming too eager? Two? Three?

Dominik's existential knocking crisis was thankfully interrupted by the door suddenly swinging open and there she stood; Rhea in a cropped black hoodie and matching high waisted shorts, barefoot with her hair pulled back into a ponytail with her arms crossed and eyebrow raised at him.

"About time." She said with an exasperated sigh. "How long were you gonna hover by the door like a lost puppy?"

"I wasn't hovering." Dominik mumbled in protest.

"You were hovering." Rhea declared as she spun on her heels and began walking away.

Dominik followed her inside. "How would you know that anyway? What were you standing around looking out the peephole waiting for me?"

This made Rhea stop in her tracks briefly and glanced at him over her shoulder. "No...shut up."

He couldn't even fight off the smirk that graced his face at the thought of Rhea being anxious for his arrival. His eyes flickered to the several pairs of shoes by the front door and cleared his throat.

"Do you uh, want me to take my shoes off?"

Rhea let out a scoff. "Obviously, I'm not a bloody cavewoman."

Dominik kicked off his Vans, glancing down at his mismatched socks. He didn't even bother putting the matching pairs together anymore when he did laundry, just always dumping them into the drawer all together and grabbing the first two he could get his hands on when he needed them. Now looking down at his one blue sock with smiley faces and black and yellow Cobra Kai sock made him feel like an idiot, maybe he should have worn his good socks too.

"The living room is right through there." She said, gesturing forward. "I'm gonna grab us some drinks, beer okay?"

Dominik gave a small nod and cleared his throat again. "Uh yeah, that's fine."

Her apartment was exactly what he imagined and nothing like he expected all at once.

Sleek black furniture with gold trim, velvet throw pillows, black shelves with a few crystal towers and an amethyst geode. There was a weight rack in the corner like it was just another decorative plant, which there were plenty of, and on the coffee table was a small jar of weed and a lavender candle shaped like a snake.

"You can sit," She said, already padding barefoot into the kitchen.

Dominik sank into the couch cautiously, like it might bite him. It smelled like expensive detergent and her.

Rhea returned a moment later, passing off an opened beer bottle and plopping on the couch next to him, directly next to him.

Dominik was quickly learning that Rhea didn't grasp the concept of personal space as her thigh brushed against his. It made him swallow hard, about to take a sip of his drink before he glanced over at her.

"...you didn't poison this right?"

Rhea just smirked. "Please, don't insult me Dom. If I wanted to kill you I would do it with my bare hands. Poison is for pussies."

Dominik hated that simple sentence had him discreetly adjusting himself in his jeans as he sipped his drink. Rhea noticed, because of course she did, her smirk deepening as she sat her drink onto one of the resin coasters on the table.

Clearing his throat, he looked around the spacious living space. He was sure his entire apartment could fit just in her living room.

"Your place is really nice." He complimented as he watched Rhea reach under the table to grab her rolling tray and began prepping to roll a joint.

"Thanks," She mumbled, more focused on loading up her grinder.

"What do you do?" Dominik wondered. This made Rhea glance over at him.

"Nothing really." She shrugged.

Dominik's eyebrows and lips scrunched up. "What the hell does that mean?"

Rhea just shrugged again as she poured the contents from the grinder onto the Raw paper. "I have a bit of a following from posting fitness content, few endorsements from a couple athleticwear companies, that kind of thing." She revealed. "But it doesn't pay for this place if that's what you're asking."

Dominik bit down on his lip, contemplating his next question.

"--And no I don't have an OnlyFans either." Rhea said with an eyeroll before he could even ask.

He continued to watch her with interest as she licked the Raw paper to seal the joint, the way her tongue darted out lazily gliding across the paper made Dominik's stomach tighten.

"...this lovely apartment is all courtesy of Daddy's money." Rhea finally revealed.

Now that made sense.

"Ah, trust fund baby," Dominik said, nodding slowly as the confusing pieces of the way Rhea lived without a care in the world were finally coming together.

"Correct." Rhea agreed, grabbing her lighter from the table and flicking it, the flames torching the end of the joint as she inhaled. "My dad's in healthcare back home. He's a big deal; chairman, fancy suites, all business and deals, no real human emotions, the usual." She shrugged.

"Back home as in Australia?" Dominik had never officially asked but her accent was impossible to ignore.

"Yup."

"You ever miss it?"

"Nope."

Dominik let out a hum. "How did you end up here?"

Another shrug as she passed him the joint.

"My parents shipped me off to the states for school when I was 18."

This made Dominik frown. "Shipped you off? Like you didn't have a choice?"

"There's never a choice when it comes to my parents and trying to get rid of me." Rhea snorted.

"Let's see," She began as she leaned against the armrest and looked to the ceiling in contemplation. "There was boarding school in London for a year when I was in primary, two years at the boarding school in Brussels that I absolutely hated. Spain when I was 15 and then NYU as soon as I finished high school back home."

"You went to NYU?" Dominik asked with his eyebrows raised, which made hers furrow.

"Yeah, why's that so shocking?"

It was his turn to shrug. "You don't seem like the artsy type."

Rhea scoffed. "I'm not. I went for psychology." She smirked.

Dominik's jaw dropped as he passed the joint back. "So you do think you're a fucking psychologist!" He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I do not!" She defended with a chuckle. "I hate people, they're stupid and annoying...but I like knowing why they're stupid and annoying, makes hating them easier."

Dominik watched her as she leaned forward to flick the ash into the tray on the table.

"....plus if I didn't finish and get my degree my dad was going to make me come back home and I already had gotten accustomed to having way too much freedom here in the States so I stuck it out." Rhea shrugged.

Dominik just stared at her. Here she was treating him like he was the fascinating novel that she wanted to read, but compared to the full and eventful life Rhea had seemed to live, his life was barely worth reading the back cover for. The realization made him want to change the subject.

"So now you're in Florida where you just do like....nothing all day?" He asked, making her eyes roll.

"I don't do nothing." Rhea defended, passing him the joint. "I work out, travel, work out some more–"

"Browse retail stores and abduct their cashiers and bring them back to your place." Dominik cut in with a smirk that made Rhea chuckle.

"That was a one time thing, you should feel special you know."

The truth was, Dominik did feel special sitting with her in her apartment. Nervous and out of place for sure, but still special. Rhea watched him as he hit the joint, his body slumping deeper into the couch.

She was waiting for the sideway glance, the judgmental stare at the reality that Rhea just floated through life without a care. Not having to work, not having to stress over due dates and rent payments. She was used to the judgment by now and was slightly surprised at the lack of follow up questions or snarky remarks coming from Dominik.

"...it must be so fucking cool to not have responsibilities." He found himself muttering as he passed the joint back. "I mean, I just ignore mine but you just don't have any. That's dope."

Ah, yes of course, that's why he wasn't judging. He was the embodiment of doing the bare minimum to get by. It made Rhea smirk as she glanced at him.

"I do have responsibilities. God, you're like... the human version of my rest days," She said, exhaling a slow plume of smoke.

Dominik let out a snort, sinking deeper into the plush couch. "Yeah, I bet those days are your favorite though." He retorted with that same lazy, smug smirk that he gave her earlier and she hated how much she liked it. 

"They are." Rhea admitted softly. His eyes flickered to hers as they stared at each other for a moment, the air in the room suddenly feeling heavier. It was nice but it was brief as Dominik's nerves got the best of him and he broke eye contact and started scratching at the back of his neck.

"Stop doing that." She muttered, flicking his wrist with her nails.

"Doing what?"

"Being so...fidgety." Rhea complained with a frown, tugging his hand away from his neck and offering him the joint instead. "I'm not gonna kill you Dom."

Dominik was looking forward, focusing on hitting the joint between his fingers instead of how he could feel Rhea leaning into him, trying to ignore the way her breath was hitting against the shell of his ear.

"...I like to play with my food first." She said in a breathy whisper that had him choking on the smoke in his throat, instantly bringing his hand up to his mouth and having a cough attack into his fist.

Rhea let out a dark chuckle, fully amused by her ability to make him absolutely flustered.

"Jesus Christ," He muttered once he was finally able to stop hacking up a lung like an idiot. "Here, take this." Dominik passed the joint back before guzzling down half of his beer like that was going to help.

It didn't.

Rhea was grinning like a cat who'd just batted a bird out of the air. "What's the matter, Dom? You gonna survive, or should I call you an ambulance?" She tilted her head innocently, but her eyes glinted like a knife in sunlight, sharp and dangerous.

"Yeah yeah, real funny," Dominik rasped, voice rough, beer bottle clinking as he set it back on the coaster. He tried to glare at her, but his bloodshot eyes gave him more of a kicked puppy vibe than anything threatening. A very cute puppy.

"Aw, am I making poor little Dom Dom nervous?" She cooed, leaning in closer, one elbow draped over the back of the couch.

Dominik squinted at her like a man betrayed. "Do not call me that."

"Dom Dom?" She said again, slower this time, lips curling like she was tasting something sweet. "What? Too soft for your hard little ego?"

"I got a reputation to protect," He mumbled, pretending to be very, very interested in a nearby throw pillow. "Can't have you out here making me sound like a toddler with a bowl cut."

Rhea snorted. "Well you have a mullet and mismatched socks, that's close enough."

"Yeah and you're the one that wanted to see my dick soooo....."

She shoved him, hard. He winced in pain but he was laughing at the exasperated look on her face.

"Oh shut up! I never said that!" She scoffed.

"You were practically begging me to send you a dick pic." He continued to tease.

Rhea full on pouted in frustration as she shoved him again before crossing her arms against her chest. "That is not what happened!" She defended.

"Uh huh, sure."

"Bet if I asked you to whip it out right now you would have a fucking aneurysm." She muttered more to herself.

Dominik rolled his eyes, but he didn't protest further, which told Rhea everything.

"Whatever."

Her lips curved into a mischievous smirk. "Show me then."

His eyes widened for a moment. "Wh-what, no I-i wasn't–"

Rhea laughed, loud. "Chillout dude, I'm just fucking with you."

The tension in his shoulders immediately relaxed as he leaned back into the couch, shaking his head.

She took another slow hit before holding the smoke and gesturing to the TV with the joint. "You wanna watch something?"

Dominik rubbed his neck again, then caught himself mid-motion and dropped his hand like it offended him. "Uh... yeah, sure. Whatever you want."

Rhea rolled her eyes and grabbed the remote, flipping through her streaming apps with barely a glance. "I'm putting on something trashy."

"Thank god," Dominik muttered. "If I have to pretend I understand arthouse cinema one more time I might die."

"You think I look like someone who watches arthouse?" She asked, genuinely offended.

"I dunno," He shrugged. "You went to NYU and you've got... geodes and...houseplants." He responded, gesturing around the room vaguely.

She scoffed. "Everyone has geodes, you walnut. They're aesthetically pleasing and they balance the room."

"They balance the what–" He started, then held his hands up. "You know what, never mind."

"Good choice." Rhea smirked as she put on a random reality show with too much yelling and way too much drink throwing to ever be considered anything close to "real cinema."

Rising from her seat, Rhea ventured off into the kitchen to get some snacks to accompany their impromptu trash TV fest.

Dominik had practically sunk into the couch by the time she came back, relaxed, long legs stretched out in front of him with his eyes fixed on the TV and his arms spread across the back of the couch.

Rhea bit her lip as she sat back down, bowl of chips in her lap as she tried her luck and sat with her back against the armrest and swung her legs into his lap. His eyes flickered over to her, body tensing instantly but when he looked, Rhea was just watching the TV without a care like she hadn't just made his brain short circuit as she popped a chip into her mouth.

Was this normal? Should he say something? Would it be awkward if he said something?

He wasn't sure so he just cleared his throat instead and tried not to move a muscle, he didn't want Rhea to notice him fidgeting again. They sat in silence for a while, comfortable silence for Rhea, restless and very uncomfortable silence for Dominik as he tried to focus on the TV and not the weight of Rhea's feet in his lap.

His eyes flicked down to them briefly; black polished toes, feet crossed at the ankle resting in his lap like they belonged there. He didn't have a fucking clue what to do with his hands and was thankful they were already draped against the back of the couch.

"So," She began, relighting the joint and lifting it to her lips again. "What about you? What's your deal, Dom? What's the master plan for your life? Or are you just taking it day by day, praying your car makes it to the next gas station?"

Dominik snorted, but there was a flicker of embarrassment behind it. "Yeah, no master plan. That'd require ambition and a five-year plan which I definitely don't have. I just... show up, do the job, go home, get high. Rinse, repeat. Classic American dream."

"That's fucking bleak." She frowned.

"Yeah, well at least I'm self-aware about it." He grinned with a shrug, but it didn't quite reach his half lidded eyes. "I'm not out here pretending I'm gonna change the world. I just want a car that doesn't cry when I turn the key."

Rhea studied him quietly for a moment, blowing out a slow stream of smoke toward the ceiling before passing him the joint. "You know what I think?"

Dominik cleared his throat. "No, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me anyway."

"I think you're hiding." She began. "Behind all that lazy charm and the beanies and the 'not giving a fuck'. You're scared of trying because if you actually gave a shit and failed, that would hurt more." She said matter-of-factly.

Rhea knew the feeling a little too well herself. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

Silence settled thick between them like dust.

Dominik stared at the floor for a long second, the joint between his fingers burning low.

"...Okay, psychologist," He muttered, flicking the ash before passing it back. "Chill."

Rhea gave a smug little shrug. "I told you. I like knowing why people are annoying." He looked over at her again and felt that twist in his gut again. She was terrifying in the way a thunderstorm was; loud, dazzling, hard to look away from.

She had already turned her full attention back to the TV, unmoved by Dominik's eyes still on her as he was mulling over what she said for what felt like an eternity.

Rhea's laugh cut through the air, immediately silencing his thoughts as she snickered at something that happened on the TV.

"Could you imagine actually being on a show like this? I mean literally getting paid to stage arguments in public and fight at reunion shows in designer gowns."

This got a small chuckle out of Dominik. "Sounds like that's right up your alley."

Rhea scoffed. "Absolutely fucking not. Forget tossing mattresses in a pool or hiding makeup, piss me off and I'm going full nuclear warfare; I'm burning all of your shit and putting rat poison in champagne flutes." She muttered, eyes fixed on the TV with a slight wickedness in her eyes that made it seem like she was really considering it.

It was equally as terrifying as it was arousing and it made Dominik smirk.

"I thought poison was for pussies." He teased.

Rhea turned to him with a grin that he remembered something so trivial that she said. "Well I can't just flat out bloody murder someone on TV. You have to be a strategist when it comes to these kind of things Dom Dom."

Dominik let out a chuckle with an eyeroll, the nickname starting to grow on him though he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of admitting it. "Good to know I can call you if I ever need to take somebody out."

Rhea was funny. Like actually funny. Sharp and dry and quick, and she had a laugh that cracked open something old and familiar in Dominik's chest.

Her grin widened. "Damn right!...you would just have to actually call me first though." She said with an eyeroll, making Dominik groan.

"Okay, okay I know, I get it. I said I was sorry." He whined.

Rhea quickly raised her leg and kicked him in the stomach with the heel of her foot, the brute force caused him to lean forward with a strained grunt. She was also chaotic, unapologetic, and clearly unaware of her own strength.

"Oh quit your whining I'm just fucking with you, I'm not that mad anymore."

She looked at him for a moment. "Why didn't you reach out though, seriously?" Her voice was soft, much softer than he had ever heard it before and it made his chest ache in the worst way, guilt bubbling in his abdomen, or maybe that was nervous gas, or both he wasn't sure anymore.

"...you said I was fascinating." Dominik said, finally really looking at her for the first time tonight. "Guess I was just scared that I would get too used to you before you realized I'm not worth looking into."

Rhea frowned. "Used to me?"

"Yeah. Like...like I'd like it too much, then I'd get used to it, and then one day you'd be gone. And that would suck."

It wasn't poetic, but it was honest.

She stared at him for a long moment, it felt like he was speaking from personal experience but she didn't push. Instead, she just said–

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard."

Dominik scoffed with a laugh, eyes back on the TV. "Wow, thanks." He deadpanned.

This is exactly why he should just keep his dumb, high thoughts to himself. But the way Rhea would stare at him, he didn't want to. Dominik wanted to tell her the dumb things that filled his mind the more he stared at her, the more her eyes were filled with genuine interest and wonder. They way her lips would curl into a contemplative frown as she tried to figure him out.

"It is dumb." She repeated. "I wouldn't do that to you."

This made his eyes flick over to her again, her brows were furrowed and there was a small pout on her face like she was genuinely offended.

His head was pressed deep into the back of the couch by now, eyes lazy and half lidded as he stared at her. There was just something about her and the way her confidence and effortless coolness would briefly disappear when she would pout like a spoiled brat that wasn't getting her way. It made Dominik bite down on his lip.

"...you sure about that?" He finally asked, his voice low and words dragging.

"I'm certain." She answered with no hesitation.

Dominik let out a hum, turning his attention back to the TV. "Guess we'll have to see then." He ran a lazy hand down his face and sighed. Without even thinking, he rested his hand on Rhea's ankle.

He hadn't even realized he had done it yet, but Rhea did. She glanced down at his hand on her ankle and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

It wasn't much, but it was a start. 

Rhea felt the instant he realized what he was doing when his hand stiffened out of nowhere minutes later. He started to pull away but Rhea just moved and placed her other leg on top of his hand to keep it in place, flexing her calf muscles just enough to remind him that she could, in fact, crush him if she wanted to.

She was also looking at him like she might, so Dominik didn't bother trying to move his again for the rest of the night.

____________________________________

They spent the next few hours smoking, watching trash TV, and talking about everything and nothing. By the time the credits rolled on their third show Dominik's eyelids were heavy, his cheeks sore from grinning, and his limbs entirely too comfortable on Rhea's couch. The bowl of chips was now a graveyard of crumbs, and the two joints had been smoked down to the ash.

Rhea was walking him to her door, the initial tension between them had faded. Dominik, completely obsessed with hearing her laugh, found himself cracking jokes all night and Rhea was loving every second.

She was leaning against the doorframe watching him put his shoes back on. "Will I be seeing you again soon?" Rhea asked. "Or will I have to hunt you down again?"

Dominik just smirked, sliding past her to go out the door with a nod.

"Yeah, you'll be seeing me. I'm certain." He grinned, giving her a lazy salute and trotting towards the elevator with almost goofy pep in his step.

Dominik had fun tonight, more fun than he could remember having in a long time. It made him grin to himself as he sat in his car already replaying the small moments from tonight; Rhea relentlessly shoving and kicking without a care and how much he strangely liked it, how she would frown when she was confused, and her laugh.

He pulled out his phone and opened his notes app to jot something down before his high mind forgot it.

    Rhea laughs like an evil villain who's remembering something dangerous and she pouts like a brat when she's thinking too hard and will probably kill me at some point

____________________________________

Hours later, Rhea was about to turn down for the night, deep into her skincare routine as she brushed her teeth when her phone vibrated against the marble counter.

Dom❤️‍🔥😍🖤😘:  Attachment: 1 image

Rhea quickly unlocked her phone and opened the message to see a picture of Dominik's tattooed middle finger poking out through the zipper of his jeans. It made her full out belly laugh, toothpaste dripping down her chin as she clutched her stomach.

Dominik was a fucking idiot, but the more time she spent around him the more she didn't mind that he was an idiot.

No—scratch that.

She liked it. She liked him.

She liked the way he made her laugh when she didn't want to, liked the way he looked at her like she was a puzzle he was desperate to solve but didn't mind taking his sweet time with, even if she was getting restless and impatient herself.

And sure, he was a little lost. A little... pathetic in the way stray cats were. But there was something charming about that too. Like maybe he needed someone to teach him how to expect more out of life, to actually want more out of life.

And Rhea already knew she would be the perfect teacher.

Chapter Text

Dominik had hung out at Rhea's place three times now by the next week and despite the way their conversations would flow so effortlessly, despite all the teasing and flirting she did with him, and despite the rough housing they would do, rolling around aimlessly on the floor with Rhea trying to put him in a headlock when his comments got too cheeky, Dominik still wasn't convinced that his thing with Rhea was anything more than just casual friendship.

Well at least that's what he kept trying to convince himself.

"Are you actually coming tonight, or do you have plans with your girlfriend again?" Austin asked, leaned up against the metal shelf on the endcap.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Dominik mumbled with another click of the sticker gun as he updated the clearance tags on the boxes of the bluetooth speakers from last year that they were trying to get rid of. "And she's not my girlfriend."

Austin let out a scoff. "You've turned down my invites twice now to go hangout with her, she's your girlfriend."

"We're just friends! Plus I always turn down your invites." Dominik reminded him with an eyeroll. "You try to get shitfaced literally every day of the week."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Dominik just shook his head. "I know your liver fucking hates you."

Austin ignored him like always. "You kiss her yet?"

"No, stop asking me that." He grumbled. "We're friends. Friends don't kiss."

"Have you boned? Friends definitely do that."

Dominik shot him a look. "I just said we haven't kissed, clearly I haven't had sex with her idiot."

Austin frowned. "Dude, you can fuck without ever kissing. I do it all the time, it's safer. You don't know where these girls' mouths have been."

Dominik was resisting the urge to sticker Austin's mouth shut.

"Safer? So you'll stick your dick in anything but mouth kissing is where you draw the line? That makes no sense."

"Condoms and semantics." Austin waved off. "You should bring Rhea tonight."

"Absolutely not." Dominik frowned, crouched down in the aisle on his knees as he continued marking down the items on the bottom shelf.

"Whyyyy?" Austin groaned. "If I had someone like that interested in me I would be parading her around everywhere."

"We're. Just. Friends." Dominik reiterated. "She's not 'interested' in me. She tolerates me at best."

The sound of the sliding doors opening caught Austin's attention and he smirked before glancing down to a blissfully unaware Dominik.

"...I wouldn't be too sure about that." Austin said with a grin.

"What are you talk–"

Dominik was cut off by Rhea casually approaching him with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

"There you are," She announced. "Aw look at you, actually doing your job."

Dominik flinched like he got caught doing something he had no business doing. The sticker gun slipped in his hand, thunking pathetically to the floor as he looked up from his crouched position to see Rhea, all long legs and smug confidence towering over him.

He gulped.

She was in an oversized band T-shirt that rested at the top of her thighs, the shorts she wore barely peeking out from underneath with her hair pulled back, makeup free and Converse on her feet that she refused to tie.

"Rhea." Dominik blinked up at her, shifting on to his knees. "What are you doing here?" He asked looking up at her, the position he was currently in suddenly making him feel like a medieval peasant receiving a visit from the queen.

She shrugged with casual grace, rocking slightly on the heels of her sneakers.

"I was in the area."

Not true.

"...and I needed batteries."

Also not true.

"...and I was bored and figured I should bless you with my presence."

That was true.

Her eyes flicked to the sticker gun and razor with scraped off, discarded old stickers at his feet. "Didn't know playing arts and crafts was a part of the job."

Dominik stood, brushing his hands off on his jeans like that would somehow make him look cooler. It didn't.

"Yeah, it's super important work. Big time stuff, life changing markdowns." He said dryly, making her snort.

Austin was still leaning, elbow perched and head propped up on his fist like he was watching a Nicholas Sparks movie in real time.

"Oh yeah, RiRi," He called out, making Rhea's eyes snap to him with a glare.

"Don't ever call me that again." She threatened, lips curling into a scowl.

"My bad," Austin said quickly as he put his hands up in surrender, mentally crossing the nickname off his list. "Dom told you about tonight, right?"

Dominik's eyes widened slightly, his stomach dropping to his ass.

"What's tonight?" Rhea frowned in confusion.

It was Dominik's turn to glare at him with a look that said 'You better fucking not.'

But Austin did anyway, of course he did.

"Me and Dom and a few friends are checking out that new arcade bar off Palmetto. You should come. It'll be a friendly night out for friendsssss." Austin dragged out as Dominik ran an exasperated hand through his hair.

"Why are you talking like that? Are you having a stroke?" Rhea grimaced. "You're so fucking weird."

"Just ignore him, please." Dominik begged.

She turned her attention back to Dominik. "You're going?"

Dominik chewed on the inside of his cheek before nodding softly. "Yeah." He muttered, already knowing where this was going. Her being forced to be in the same proximity as Austin was one thing, but he was sure when Rhea met his other 'friends', she would write him off as the loser that he was.

"Okay." Rhea shrugged. "I'll go."

"Yes!" Austin cheered, punching the air like his team had just made a game winning touchdown. It made Rhea's face twist in disgust but she just rolled her eyes and focused on Dominik again.

"Text me the address?"

Dominik frowned. "You're gonna drive? No, I'll just come pick you up." He offered, well demanded before his brain could even process what he was doing.

Rhea's brows raised but she didn't say anything.

"Okay." She agreed with a smirk.

"Sick! We're carpooling? Come get me too bro."

"No." Dominik and Rhea said in unison.

______________________________________

This wasn't a date, Rhea knew that. It was just a casual night out with friends like Austin said.

But granted she didn't give a damn about Austin or whoever was going to be there, she just cared about Dominik and how he insisted that he pick her up. So she gave herself one last over in the mirror, adjusting her boobs in her top just as her phone vibrated with a message from Dominik letting her know he was outside.

This wasn't a date, not even a little bit and Dominik knew that. But it didn't stop him from being utterly nervous. He changed his outfit multiple times (aka he flip flopped between whether he should wear a white t-shirt or a black one). He ultimately decided on black as he sat in the driver seat, fidgeting with the cross pendant on his chain.

He cleaned out his car twice, checking the backseat for crumbs and vacuuming the mats that hadn't been touched in months and killed some time and very nervous energy by going to the carwash before picking Rhea up.

Rhea must have been taking her sweet time just to make him antsy (she definitely was) because it felt like a lifetime had passed before he saw the heavy doors to her building open and her walking out.

And what he saw made his breath catch. He was accustomed to seeing Rhea in her usual oversized shirts or workout sets, barefaced and hair pulled back. What he was not accustomed to was this.

She was sauntering through the parking lot in a deep cut black, lacy corset top with various stacked necklaces adorning her pale skin, tattoos and collarbone on full display. She had on high waisted black pants that were so tight they looked like a second skin and tall, chunky platform ankle boots with spikes along the back of the heels. Her makeup was heavy; black eyeshadow with pops of purple around her inner corner, thick eyeliner, and black lipstick lined her lips so crisp that the corners made it look like her face was resting in a permanent smirk.

Dominik could hear his own gulp as she got closer. This was the version of Rhea he was sure would truly eat him alive.

Finally snapping out of just staring at her like a man possessed, Dominik cleared his throat and leaned over to open the passenger door just as she approached the car.

She slid into the seat with a small hum and a faint smile on her face. "Oh quite the gentleman I see."

"Nah," Dominik brushed off as he started the car and tried his hardest not to look at her and tried to ignore the way her scent instantly filled his nostrils. "The handle is broke, only opens from the inside."

This made Rhea snort, of course it was.

"How charming."

"...you look nice." Dominik complimented. Rhea was beaming.

"Thank you."

Dominik drove like a man who knew he was being followed; tense, stiff, too aware of his every move. One hand on the wheel, the other nervously fidgeting with his chain still. He kept his eyes fixed forward, ignoring the goth succubus perched in his passenger seat who looked like she ate lesser men for brunch and washed them down with a tequila shot.

Rhea, as expected, was as cool as her ice blue eyes, reclining back with one boot casually propped against the dash. She was scrolling through her phone, occasionally glancing at him with a sly smirk that made the little hairs on the back of his neck stand at full salute.

She usually hated sitting around in silence, but she was doing it tonight on purpose; just sitting quietly watching him squirm and waiting to see if he would initiate conversation.

He didn't of course, but that was fine.

They made it to the bar fifteen minutes later. Rhea was standing next to the car as Dominik emerged from the driver seat. She was stretching, arms extended above her head, leaning backwards extending the length of her torso. Dominik couldn't help but look as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Rhea noticed of course and smirked as they began walking across the parking lot to the entrance.

"You're quiet tonight." She muttered, nudging him with her shoulder.

"I'm always quiet." Dominik said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Liar." Rhea smirked, yanking his hand away from his neck. "What? Scared of me meeting your friends?"

Dominik scoffed. "No, I'm scared of them meeting you."

Rhea just chuckled, that deep chuckle that sounded like it came from a sinister place and would send a chill down his spine every time.

The bar was colorful and loud, neon lights from the various arcade machines bouncing off of each other and the smell of beer and fried food wafting through the air.

Austin spotted them the second they walked through the door, standing up from the booth, flapping his arms like a moron and yelling across the bar.

"DOM!!! Bro over here!" He howled like they hadn't seen each other in months instead of just a few hours ago.

Dominik groaned lowly.

Rhea's lips twitched, but she said nothing, following beside him like a panther in leather pants.

The pair approached the booth where Austin was sitting with two other guys, they looked like a group of boy band rejects but Rhea decided to keep her comments to herself for once.

Austin was already elbowing his friend with a not-so-subtle 'Dude, that's her' expression all over his dumb face.

"This is Rhea," Dominik muttered, rubbing a hand down his jaw. "Rhea, that's Grayson and that's Xaiver and of course you know Austin already."

"Unfortunately." Rhea mumbled with a smirk.

"We're besties." Austin leaned over to explain to Grayson as Dominik and Rhea slid into the booth.

"Hey, I know you," The guy she just learned was Xavier called out to Rhea.

"Oh yeah?" She responded coolly, like she couldn't care less.

"Yeah! You're that chick from instagram with the insane traps, your back is shredded."

Rhea just grinned.

Dominik watched, horrified, as Xavier pulled out his phone like he was about to whip up visual evidence right then and there and of course he did.

Xavier turned the screen around proudly, showing off Rhea's own Instagram profile back at her.

"See?"

Rhea leaned over the table, resting her chin on her palm. "You were able to do that very quickly, should I be concerned?" She teased with her eyebrow raised and a smirk that already had Xavier tripping over his words.

"N-nah, it's not..l-like that uh–"

Rhea laughed, loud. "Chillout dude, I'm just messing with you."

Grayson's ears perked up, picking up on her accent instantly.

"Aussie?"

"Obviously."

"Where?"

"Adelaide, you?"

"Sydney."

"Gross." Rhea's face scrunched up playfully, making Grayson roll his eyes but he was smiling.

The two continued to make small talk, making fun of each other's accents like they didn't sound exactly the same to everyone else in the room.

Xavier leaned over to Dominik. "Dude–" He mumbled.

"Dont." Dominik tried and failed to stop him from saying whatever dumbass thing he was about to say.

"How the hell did you manage to pull her?"

Austin quickly joined the conversation, leaning in and practically throwing himself into Xavier's side.

"Bro and she's like obsessed with him, it's fucking crazy!" He tried to say quietly, but he was already three beers in and clearly unaware of how loud he was "whispering."

Dominik shot him a look and delivered a swift kick to him under the table. He was going to need a fucking drink to make it through this night.

He shoved them both away before turning his attention back to Rhea who was being scolded by Grayson for not being a "real" Australian because she had never done a shoey before. Rhea had been known to try anything once but even she had her limits, and drinking beer out of her own shoe was that limit.

"America has corrupted you." Grayson said exasperated while shaking his head. "You're forgetting your roots."

"No, you're corrupted and disgusting." She snorted before feeling Dominik's eyes on her.

"You want a drink?" He offered.

"Desperately." Rhea groaned.

"What do you want?"

Rhea just shrugged. "Surprise me."

Dominik frowned slightly but took on the challenge anyway as Rhea stood to let him slide back out of the booth and make his way to the bar.

Surprise me. What the hell did that mean? Was this a test?

His thoughts were already working overtime as he drummed his fingers against the bar in absolutely no rush to try and get the bartender's attention because he didn't even know what the hell he was ordering yet.

This was Rhea and Rhea was difficult, this had to be a test. What if he chose the wrong thing? She liked beer, that he knew but you don't just 'surprise' someone with whatever hipster IPA is on tap.

What do hot goth girls that can crush you with their thighs drink? He wondered with the temptation to just flat out ask google.

HIs ex always ordered vodka sodas but Rhea didn't seem like the vodka type. Dominik hated vodka, it made him sad now for more reasons than one so that was out of the question.

Rhea carried an effortless confidence of someone who sipped full glasses of whiskey in dark corners of a speakeasy but she also had an air of chaos that clung to her like a rambunctious cloud.

Dominik, brooding like he was solving the Da Vinci code instead of just ordering a damn drink, bit on the inside of his cheek.

"Fuck it." He muttered under his breath before finally flagging down the bartender.

When he returned to the booth after another existential crisis at the hands of Rhea, Dominik was surprised to find her chatting with his friends like she knew them longer than he had, her usual charm clearing the air of any awkwardness. She didn't even bother standing when she saw Dominik come back and just scooted closer to Xavier instead (who visibly gulped) to let Dominik grab the seat at the end.

He was starting to wonder why he was so nervous about Rhea meeting his friends in the first place. She had already proven to him that she could thrive in any social setting, a skill he didn't think he would be able to master in this life or the next.

Dominik slid the shot glass in front of her and had one for himself.

"Tequila." He announced as her eyes were already locked on him. "Figured we should just cut the bullshit." Dominik shrugged, making Rhea smirk.

"Smart man. I hate cocktails." She leaned closer to him. "You really do know how to woo a girl," She purred, voice rich with amusement as she picked up her glass.

Dominik tried to ignore the way his stomach flipped as he raised his glass as well. They clinked and tossed their shots back.

Rhea slammed her glass on to the table with a wicked grin on her face. "Alright, who's ready to get their ass handed to them in air hockey?"

Austin practically leaped from his seat. "Oh you're on!"

_____________________________

Rhea did in fact absolutely crush Austin at air hockey, and Street Fighter....and the zombie shooting game....and basketball...and somehow Dance Dance Revolution where her heavy boots stomped on the dance mat with her arms crossed the entire time and a bored look on her face like she would rather be doing anything else.

Austin was not taking the losses well and was determined to find something, anything that he could beat her at much to her amusement.

She was strolling towards the back of their little group, side by side with Dominik. She was sipping his beer that he originally got for himself but at some point Rhea grabbed it right out of his hand and decided she wanted it and Dominik valued his life enough to just let her.

"We gotta do this one!" Xavier called out, gesturing to the boxing game. It was one of those 'test your strength' punching arcade games where a singular, small punching bag was suspended in the air.

Austin was already cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders in preparation. Now this was his specialty.

"Oooo I'm going first!" Grayson announced, scanning his wristband to activate the machine. "Stand back boys."

He cocked his fist back and landed a heavy punch to the bag. The group was watching in anticipation as the number counter which would give a score between 100 and 1000 was quickly flashing on the screen.

732

"Not bad." Xavier said, giving an impressed nod.

"Pffft! That was nothing," Austin declared. "You gotta start working out with me again, you're falling off."

Grayson rolled his eyes as Austin was still stretching like he was preparing for the olympics.

Xavier went next and scored a respectable 815.

"You're up Dom," Austin called out. "Gotta save the best for last."

"Absolutely not." He deadpanned, making Rhea snort in amusement as she sipped his drink with a mischievous glint in her eyes like she was holding on to a secret.

"Buzzkill," Austin muttered under his breath as he approached the machine for his turn. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and cracking his neck before cocking his hand back and throwing his fist into the machine with a loud grunt that made Rhea want to gag.

929

"And that's how you do it!" Austin was already kissing his own biceps, barking and grunting as he hyped his own self up along with Xavier who was shaking him by the shoulders yelling right along with him and Grayson who had been documenting the whole thing for his instagram story.

"Your friends are idiots." Rhea muttered as she passed Dominik the beer and took her place in front of the punching bag to scan her wristband.

"Aw, Rhea." Austin said with mock sympathy. "Since we're besties I won't make you hurt your pride like that. You don't have to go, I'll let you take your L with dignity." He offered, placing his hand over his heart and patting her on the shoulder.

Rhea didn't bother to respond. She just pushed his hand away and waited for the countdown.

She wasn't showy, she wasn't loud, she didn't even cock her fist all the way back. Her stance was solid as she lifted her wrist and sent a quick punch right to the center of the bag, immediately placing her hands on her hips as she watched her score on the screen rising, quickly.

961.

Rhea couldn't even fight off the huge grin on her face, she loved winning.

The group was stunned into silence, well everyone except Dominik who was grinning just as big.

"Damnnnnn Mami! That was sick!" He praised.

Rhea's head snapped over to him, her grin even wider.

Mami. She liked that.

"Yeah?"

"Hell yeah!" Dominik agreed, passing her back his drink. She downed the rest of it with an over the top sigh and shoved the empty glass in Austin's hands.

"Better luck next time, mate." She teased, pinching his cheek between her nails.

"Un-fucking-belivable!" Austin complained as he started walking off through the arcade area, exasperated that Rhea just had to be good at everything. He was ranting again but Rhea wasn't listening at all.

She was staring, again, at Dominik as they walked side by side, shoulders brushing.

Rhea was giving him that look—that slow, dangerous one where her lashes lowered and her smirk curled up at the ends like a cat spotting something fun to torment.

"What?" He asked, glancing over at her.

"Nothing." She said simply with a shrug, but internally she was already trying to figure out how to get him to call her Mami again.

_________________________________

Their little group had split up at some point as the night went on; Austin being the sore loser he was, decided he didn't want to play anymore games and was at the bar "networking" (bothering) women and Grayson and Xavier were having an intense Tekken competition with each other.

That just left Rhea and Dominik who were still walking the arcade floor together.

They were passing the claw machine games when Rhea let out a sudden gasp.

Dominik watched as she darted over to one of the machines, forehead pressed against the glass and her hands gripping either side of the machine with her mouth hung open.

He followed her and found her staring at a bunch of little figures inside in awe.

"What is it?"

"They have Labubus," She said in an amazed whisper.

Dominik frowned. "Labu-whats?"

Rhea turned to him, frantic. "Labubus!" She reiterated before turning her attention back to the machine. "Ugh I love these little gremlins!" She gasped again.

"Oh and look! The little purple one, I don't have that one yet." Rhea was already scanning her wristband to start the machine. "I have to have it." She declared as she gave her full concentration to operating the claw with the joystick.

Dominik watched her in amusement with a smirk as Rhea bit down on her lip, eyes full of focus.

The claw was hovering perfectly over the one she wanted. "Come on, come on." She muttered to herself as she pressed the button to lower the claw. It gripped the figure right by its ears and lifted it for a very brief second before it fell right back down causing Rhea to groan in exasperation.

"Ughhhhh!" Rhea was annoyed but she wasn't deterred as she tried again, and again....and again, not being able to win each time.

"You know these things are a scam right?" Dominik chuckled as Rhea started banging her forehead against the glass.

"Your life's a scam." Rhea muttered, already starting up the machine again. "Be useful and get me another drink, I need to focus and the reflection of your cute, dumb face in the glass is distracting me."

Dominik put his hands up in surrender with a smirk and walked away to do what she said.

He was still chuckling to himself as he headed for the bar. Cute, dumb face. He'd take it.

Austin was chatting some blonde's ear off who clearly wasn't listening when Dominik approached the bar.

"Leave her alone, man." He said, nudging Austin's shoulder as he stood next to him.

Austin instantly turned to him, clearly wasted. "Dom!" He shouted as the blonde mouthed a silent "Thank you." to Dominik before slipping away quietly.

"I've never seen you have more than two drinks anywhere, you finally letting loose tonight?" Austin asked.

"Nah, it's for Rhea."

"Oooooo and how is it going with you and your Mami?" Austin asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Dominik frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Rhea!" He replied in a duh tone. "Mami, that's what you called her!"

"No I did not." Dominik said with his face twisted in confusion.

"Uh, yes you did!" Austin reiterated. "You were all like 'Damnnnnn Mami, you're so strong and cool and powerful, please punch me next!'" He mocked in a deep voice, much to Dominik's annoyance.

He replayed the moment in his head and–fuck. Dominik did call her Mami and he didn't even realize he done it.

".....that's why she was looking at me like that." He muttered to himself in absolute horror. Dominik wished he could crawl into a hole and just live there forever.

"Yall are so cute." Austin continued, unfazed. "I mean, she's gonna eat you alive for sure but at least you'll go out happy." He patted Dominik on the back before slapping his hand repeatedly on the bar.

Dominik was still stuck on the fact that he called her that, it just slipped out so naturally. And from the look on her face afterwards she seemed to actually like it.

This was good. This was a good thing right? Not something to be freaking out over like he currently was.

"Aye my man! Can I get a drink down here for my boy? It's an emergency, it's for his goth queen!"

_________________________________

By the time he came back, drink in hand, he found Rhea in the exact same position: forehead pressed to the glass like a woman possessed, muttering curses under her breath as she battled the evil claw machine with a single-minded vengeance that Dominik found both deeply hilarious and a little terrifying.

"Any luck?" He teased, passing her the drink.

Rhea huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she accepted the drink without even looking at him. She downed it and one gulp and shoved the empty glass right back in his hands.

"No. I'm two seconds away from breaking the glass and freeing them."

Dominik snorted. "You tryna get us kicked out?"

"I'm trying to give them a happy home." She defended.

He leaned his elbow casually against the side of the machine, watching her. There was something stupidly adorable about how serious she was taking this — the way her eyebrows furrowed, the way her tongue poked out just slightly in concentration when she moved the joystick. She looked like she was plotting a jewel heist.

Rhea did another five unsuccessful attempts before she finally ran out of credits.

"Ughhhhhhh!" She groaned. "I need to reload my wristband."

"Rhea," Dominik chuckled. "It's not that serious. I'm not about to let you waste another single dollar trying to beat this, it's rigged!"

"I don't care!"

"You can literally just buy that exact same one off the internet yourself." He tried to reason with her.

Rhea was starting to pout by now, that same small pout that made Dominik's stomach flip.

"That's not the point." She muttered, crossing her arms.

"Then what's the point then?" Dominik asked with a smirk as he stepped closer to her.

"The point is that I want it."

Dominik let out an amused breath. "Well you can't always have what you want. Plus we're about to head out, Austin's wasted and we need to get him outta here before he gets thrown out of here." He said with an eyeroll.

Rhea's face twisted into offense, not even registering the second half of what he said.

Can't always have what you want, says who?

Rhea wanted the Labubu so she was going to get it and no one, not even Dominik could stop her.

"I'm going to reload my wristband." She declared about to walk away just as Dominik grabbed her wrist.

"Rhea, no." He chuckled.

His fingers slid down to her hand, interlocking his with hers as he started to pull her in the other direction.

"Come on, Mami. We're leaving."

Rhea allowed herself to be pulled behind as she stared down at their intertwined hands with a huge grin on her face. She didn't give a damn about the Labubu anymore as Dominik navigated them through the crowd.

Chapter Text

Dominik grabbing her hand and initiating physical contact was literally all Rhea needed to not give him an ounce of personal space for the rest of the night; she held on to his hand as they left the bar, slipped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder as they stood and watched Grayson and Xavier trying to load a very drunk Austin in the backseat of Grayson’s car as he complained about not wanting the night to end, and grabbing Dominik’s hand and making him rest it on her thigh when they were finally back in the car.

Dominik himself didn’t really want the night to end either so when Rhea suggested they grab something to eat, he didn’t hesitate for once. They found a food truck, got a few tacos and ate them as they sat on the trunk of his car.

They had long finished their food and were now sharing a joint in the pretty much deserted parking lot that the food truck was in. Dominik was still sitting on the trunk while Rhea had jumped down when she went to throw their trash away and was now standing comfortably between his legs, her hands resting on his thighs as they passed the joint back and forth.

Dominik had his music playing, some soft sad boy R&B shit Rhea never heard before, Brent something or other, she already couldn’t remember.

He was high, relaxed, and much more comfortable with Rhea’s touch as her fingers traced random patterns absentmindedly on his jeans, his brain still able to actually process a thought despite her closeness for once.

The realization made him chuckle to himself as he hit the joint.

“What?” Rhea asked with a slight frown.

“Nothing.” He said, shaking his head.

Her eyes squinted before she shoved him. “Better not be laughing at me.”

Dominik passed her the joint with a smirk. “And if I was?”

“I’d rip your vocal cords out and you would never laugh again.” She said matter of factly before bringing the joint to her lips, the conviction in her voice made Dominik smile.

“I’m sure you would, but nah I was just thinking about the look on Austin’s face when beat his score on the punching game.”

This made Rhea chuckle, tapping the joint with her nail to flick the ash onto the asphalt. “Highlight of my night.”

“Mine too, that was hot.” Dominik agreed without even thinking about it.

Rhea was elated, her grin spreading wide on her black covered lips. Her tall boots made her eye level with Dominik and her close proximity had them face to face with each other. He had never observed her up this close before or seen her smile so big.

The stark contrast of her lipstick against her had the whites of her teeth absolutely dazzling in the moonlight and Dominik couldn’t help but stare. Her grin was wicked and sharp, and apparently so were here teeth as Dominik suddenly noticed–

“Do you have fangs?” He asked with a snort.

Rhea ran her tongue across her top teeth with a deep chuckle and she passed the joint back.

“Yeah.”

“Why? How?”

She just shrugged. “I’m a vampire.”

Dominik shook his head in disbelief, laughing as he hit the joint. “No you’re fucking not.”

“Yes I am!” Rhea tried to defend but even she was laughing.

“Liar.” He said, leaning back and letting himself rest against the back windshield. “I’ve seen you in the sunlight, your skin doesn’t even sparkle.”

There was a small pause before Rhea’s jaw dropped in full offense with a scoff. Her brows furrowed and she started punching the shit out of his arm repeatedly.

“If I was a vampire you think I would be a fucking Twilight vampire!?” She fussed between punches. “That’s what you think of me?”

Dominik just smirked despite the fact that his arm was now radiating in pain. “Nah, I knew it would piss you off though.”

Rhea shoved him and narrowed her eyes. “You just love ticking me off, huh?”

“I do.” He agreed. “It’s easy to do. Plus you get all serious and worked up and start rambling, it’s cute.” He shrugged.

Her face scrunched in disgust. “Cute? I beg your finest pardon, I am not cute. Cute is for puppies and Labubus. I am a woman, Dominik, not some soft, plush collectible or–”

“Mami.” Dominik suddenly called out, making Rhea’s mouth snap shut.

That smug ass grin was back on Dominik’s face and Rhea hated how much she was enjoying it.

“See? I know how to get you started and how to make you stop.” He said lazily as he hit the joint, letting the smoke fill his mouth before he slowly and purposely blew it out in her face. “You’re not the only one that can read people NYU, I get your whole deal too.”

Rhea scoffed and snatched the joint from his fingers as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. “You don’t get anything.” She muttered more to herself, maybe just to convince herself that it was true.

“Tell me about your fangs forreal Buffy.”

She let out the most over the top exasperated sigh. “Bloody hell! Buffy wasn’t a vampire you walnut she was–”

Dominik was already laughing. The sudden realization that she was about to start rambling again made her groan in frustration.

“That proves nothing.” Rhea defended as she hit the joint.

“Yeah, sure.” He was still leaning back against the rear windshield and found himself hooking a finger in her belt loop and tugging her forward gently. “Come onnnn, tell me.”

Her breath hitched slightly as he pulled her closer. She cleared her throat and passed the joint back.

“Fine.” She agreed. “I had to go to this specialty dentist a while back after I accidentally knocked my own tooth out, long story. But yeah, got my tooth fixed and then I found out you can get prosthetic tooth caps made that look like fangs and I wanted them.” Rhea shrugged. “So I got them.”

Dominik let out a humored breath. “You sure do want a lot huh?”

Rhea was grinning as she grabbed him by his shirt to pull him back up to be face to face with her.

“I want everything.” She declared and in that moment with that glimmer of wickedness in her eyes, Dominik wanted to find a way to get her everything.

“...you ever use those things on anybody?” He found himself asking, still staring at her teeth.

Releasing his shirt with a shove, Rhea sighed. “Not yet unfortunately. What, you wanna be my first victim?” She teased as she raised her eyebrows.

Dominik didn’t answer, just stared at her but Rhea noticed the flicker of desire in his half lidded eyes.

She gasped. “Oh you do, don’t you?” Her chuckle was down right sinister as she stepped closer in his space. “You gonna let me bite you Dom Dom?”

His tongue jutted out across his bottom lip in contemplation as his eyes surveyed the area.

“Out here?”

Rhea just leaned in closer, mischief in her eyes. “Oh, come on. Nobody is paying attention.” She said low. She moved in even closer, her lips hovering over the skin of his neck as her nails trailed up his back. “It’ll be quick…or slow if that’s how you want it.” She teased.

Dominik’s stomach flipped. Was he really about to let her do this?

“...don’t go too deep.” He found himself muttering.

“I won’t.” She promised.

Rhea tilted his head slightly to expose more of his neck. His tattoo was on full display the word VILLANO in a bold font tattooed vertically down the side of his neck. She traced along it lightly with her nails.

“Why do you have this?” Rhea asked.

Dominik gave a small shrug. “I always end up being the bad guy in someone’s story, figured I make it permanent like a warning label.” He answered, that self-deprecating tone she was used to from him suddenly back.

Rhea let out a hum.

“I have always preferred the bad guys.” She declared before replacing her fingers with her mouth and sinking her teeth in slowly right where his tattoo was.

Dominik let out a low, involuntary sound, somewhere between a hiss and a whimper mixed with a breathy laugh. The joint slipped from his fingers, abandoned on the asphalt as his hands found her waist, fingers flexing against her hips as she went deeper. It didn’t hurt, not really. Not with the dull, soft pressure she was applying.

It was more heat than pain, more tease than threat but Dominik felt everything; her warm breath against his skin, the way her lips were suctioned to his neck, the slight sting of her teeth. It had his heart racing as his fingers dug into her sides.

Here he was at one in the morning in a random parking lot getting bit by a girl with prosthetic fangs that he didn’t even know two weeks ago like this was just normal. Dominik was quickly learning with Rhea around, nothing probably would ever be normal about his life again, not with her in it.

He felt her tongue flick across the spot she had bitten when she finally started to pull away.

“Holy shit,” Dominik muttered. “You’ve definitely done that before.”

Rhea smirked against his skin, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze. “Told you I hadn’t. But I bite convincingly, don’t I?”

“You bite too good.” Dominik’s voice was lower and rougher now.

“Good,” She purred. “Maybe you’ll think twice before comparing me to Twilight again.”

He huffed out a laugh, eyes dropping to her mouth, her lipstick slightly smudged. “...you’re trouble.”

Rhea just grinned and draped her arms around his shoulders. “I’m fun.” She corrected.

Dominik smirked at her. “Yeah, the type of fun that’s going to send me to an early grave.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t make me bite you again.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” He mumbled without even thinking, his hands still on her waist.

There was a pause, a shift, a lingering in the air as they stared at each other. It was heavy with something unsaid, untamed, and absolutely not allowed to happen in a parking lot next to a taco truck.

Rhea’s eyes softened slightly as her eyes flicked down to his lips.

“Dom,” She said lowly.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to kiss me.”

Dominik’s stomach dropped. He didn’t mean to hesitate, he didn’t want to hesitate but he did. His eyes searched her face for any even sliver of doubt or concern but of course there was none. One thing he knew about Rhea, she was sure of the things she wanted and right now what she wanted was for him to kiss her. Still he found himself asking–

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain.” She said without a second thought.

That was all Dominik needed as he removed his hands from her waist and cupped them around her face instead and leaned in.

It wasn’t deep, wasn’t rough or messy, there wasn’t even any tongue. It was gentle. He placed a soft kiss on her lips like he was scared if he pressed too hard she might break. It wasn’t the type of kiss in the movies where the damsel in distress would gasp into their lover’s mouth as they kissed like they were making up for lost time.

The kiss Dominik placed on her lips was soft, sweet, and quick, it barely lasted two seconds but to Rhea it was enough to make the fireworks in her head go off and butterflies flood her stomach in a frenzy as she grinned against his lips before he pulled away.

Dominik lingered, just an inch away, his breath warm against her cheek and his thumbs still gently brushing the edge of her jaw. Rhea didn’t move, didn’t blink, barely breathed. She was still riding the high of their first kiss, the sheer tenderness of it. It wasn’t the kiss of a guy trying to get laid; it wasn’t cocky or aggressive or drunk on hormones. It was careful, like she was something valuable.

She wasn’t used to that. It made her feel light and airy…and honestly a little strange.

But she decided it was a good strange and a strange that she wanted to feel again. 

Chapter Text

"Sooooo," Tiffany quipped before taking a sip of her mimosa. "What's new with you? I feel like I've missed out on so much." She complained with a frown. She had just gotten back from a three week vacation in Paris with her boyfriend Ludwig.

Tiffany was everything Rhea wasn't; preppy, prim, super girly. She was basically a walking Barbie doll with a mouth that got her into a lot of trouble. Thankfully she could back it up though which Rhea liked.

Her parents were loaded like Rhea's and she had never worked a day in her life. She was a former gymnast, an unbelievably talented one at that, but lost her passion for it years ago and now much preferred living the lavish life of an heiress without a care and being wined and dined and whisked away on spontaneous trips with her just as rich boyfriend.

Tiffany was hated by pretty much everyone in their social circle of rich 20-something-year-olds and Rhea hated...well everyone so it worked.

There was a mischievous smirk on Rhea's face as she cut into her omelette.

"I met someone." She revealed.

Tiffany gasped. "Oh my gosh! Really? I thought you were gonna tell me about a new bench press record or something but this? This is serious, wait—"

She put her hand up to stop Rhea from talking as she grabbed the mimosa pitcher and refilled her drink. She gripped her drink in her hand while closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Okay." She said after finally opening her eyes. "Go. Who is he? What's he like? What's his credit score?"

Rhea smiled and gave a small shrug. "His name is Dom, and he's the father of my future children."

Tiffany almost choked on her drink. "Oh children, plural."

"Yup!" Rhea agreed. "Just two though, a boy and a girl. Hopefully I'll get lucky and have twins so I can knock it out in one go."

Tiffany was full on wheezing now, clutching her chest with manicured fingers. "Twins!? Rhea, you don't even like children."

Rhea gave an unapologetic shrug, cutting another bite of omelette. "Yeah, well, my children won't be annoying. They'll be all cool and stoic, like little tiny versions of Dom and me."

"Oh you're like, actually serious." Tiffany realized. "Who is this guy that has you already planning your own baby shower?"

"Ugh you would hate him." Rhea revealed but her face was absolutely gushing. "He's so perfect and sarcastic and doofy and he has a mullet!"

Tiffany snorted, her face twisted in disgust. "A mullet? Rhea, seriously? What does he even do?"

Rhea lips scrunched to the side of her mouth, she already knew Tiff was going to give her an ear full.

"He's in...sales." She said softly, refusing to make eye contact with Tiffany.

"Oooooo! Like a marketing agent?"

"Not exactly, more like tech." Rhea explained very vaguely.

Tiffany frowned. "Ew like....an IT guy? Ugh they're soooo boring!"

"Gross, no." Rhea said with a scoff. "....you know that shopping center off of Edgewater?"

"No, why would I?" Tiffany said with an even deeper frown, making Rhea roll her eyes.

"Well there's this electronics store, that's where he works." She revealed. "That's where I met him."

Tiffany sipped her drink and gave a very slow nod like she was trying to wrap her head around what Rhea was saying.

"Is he like....the owner?"

"...no."

Another slow nod. "So he's the manager?"

Rhea bit down on her lip. "No, well at least I don't think so. He's just like...a cashier I guess." She shrugged.

The silence at the table thickened as Tiffany just stared at Rhea who was focusing on her omelette like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Tiffany's eyes bulged. "Oh my god. You're dating a peasant!?"

"He's not a peasant!" Rhea defended with a snort. "He's just like...normal." She shrugged.

Tiffany stared at her. "You've lost it."

"I have," Rhea agreed cheerfully. "It's terrible. I want to wrap him in a weighted blanket and lock him away forever." She gushed.

"He's high 90% of the time and looks like he probably owns only two towels. I think I'm in love."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Tiffany said with a fake gag. "How did you even start dating?"

Rhea sighed. "We're not dating, yet." She revealed. "But it was fate." She declared with a dreamy look on her face as she rested her chin in her palm.

This made Tiffany laugh. "Fate!? Rhea, you don't even believe in astrology." She teased.

"Well I believe now!" Rhea defended. "He makes me believe in fate and the stars and whatever other dumb nonsense you're always yapping about."

Tiffany gasped. "What's his sign?"

"I don't know." Rhea frowned.

"Ugh well when's his birthday?"

"...I don't know."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Well, how old is he?" She asked, clearly exasperated.

"I don't know that either." Rhea muttered, more to herself, in realization.

"Well what do you know? Is he at least hot?"

"Disgustingly hot. And he calls me Mami." She said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Mommy?" Tiffany repeated in disgust. "What is he? A little or something?"

Rhea groaned. "No! Not mommy, Mami." She corrected. "Like spicy and hot, it makes me absolutely feral."

Tiffany leaned back in her seat like she'd just been hit with a wave of secondhand embarrassment. "You're feral now? What the hell is happening? I leave you for a few weeks and you've been domesticated by some scruffy stoner with two towels and a part-time job?"

Rhea stabbed another piece of omelette. "Three towels, probably. I haven't counted yet."

Tiffany shook her head slowly, taking a long, dramatic sip of her mimosa. "This is the most chaotic thing you've ever done and I've literally watched you throw a man in a dumpster before."

"He deserved it." Rhea said casually with a shrug.

"This is destined for failure, you know that right?" Tiffany asked, voice suddenly serious.

Rhea frowned. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's the truth." Tiffany scoffed. "Rhea, he can't give you the life you're used to. It would never work."

Rhea couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I don't care about that."

"Well you should care!" Tiffany said, voice full of exasperation. "Imagine if your dad found out you were galavanting around with a man with a mullet that probably uses Axe body spray unironically, he would cut you off so fast!"

Rhea snorted. Dominik probably did use Axe body spray.

"He would not cut me off." She tried to defend though deep down, she knew her dad would have a fucking aneurysm if she brought someone like Dominik back home. Rhea was also well aware of the fact that made her like Dominik even more.

"Rhea you said yourself he's shipped you off to boarding schools for much less." Tiffany said with a bored expression on her face. "I know you're all, like, rebellious or whatever but now you're just being reckless." Tiffany said with a frown.

"And then what if you guys get married? Your dad is going to stop funding your life and then you're going to be stuck with a burnout that can't even provide for you."

Rhea blinked at her, fork frozen mid-air. "Would you shut up? I'm not marrying him, we're not even serious!"

Tiffany just stared at her. "You literally introduced him as your baby daddy." She reminded her, much to Rhea's annoyance.

"Ugh! You just–you don't get it!" She complained. "He has this voice—this low, gravelly, scruffy man voice, and he says stupid shit like, 'You ever think Bigfoot's just really misunderstood?' and means it with his whole chest." Rhea gushed as Tiffany looked at her with a face full of amusement.

"He rolls me joints and makes me laugh until I snort," Rhea said dreamily, head propped in her palm. "And he sends me the stupidest memes at 3 in the morning and he gets all squirmy and nervous when I touch him, but I'm working on that."

Tiffany was trying very hard not to smile now, sipping at her drink with a feigned grimace. "You're going to get your heart broken."

"I know," Rhea said softly, lips twitching. "Isn't it exciting?"

"You're going to ruin him."

"Yeah." Rhea said with a hum. "Probably."

Tiffany stared at her in contemplation before asking–

"Okay, but how's the di—"

"We haven't," Rhea cut in, tone dry and bored.

Tiffany's jaw dropped. "WHAT!?"

"I know!" Rhea groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "I think he's trying to like...be respectful or whatever. We just hang out; we smoke, we laugh, we watch shitty reality shows." She shrugged.

"Sounds boring." Tiffany frowned.

"I love it." Rhea said with a sigh, making Tiffany chuckle.

"Okay, but like...does he at least have nice hands?"

Rhea smiled wide. "Gorgeous. Veiny. Big. Covered in tattoos. You'd die. I want him to choke me out with them."

"Freak." Tiffany smirked. "If this man breaks your heart, I will burn that electronics store to the ground."

Rhea smiled sweetly. "If he breaks my heart, you won't have to. I'll do it myself and then salt the earth."

"Perfect," Tiffany said with a grin, raising her glass. "To your inevitable downfall."

Rhea lifted her glass. "To the mullet that ruined my life."

_____________________________

After brunch, Rhea found herself sitting in her car thinking about Dominik and her conversation with Tiff. She didn't care too much about Tiffany's opinions but it did have her questioning to herself how her and Dominik would work if they ever did get serious, which of course they were going to at some point because Rhea already decided that they would.

She was starting to realize she didn't know much about him, if anything really. She didn't even know how old he was for fuck's sake. The flood of unanswered questions filled her mind and before she knew it, she had pulled out her phone to call him.

Dominik was sprawled on his couch looking at the note he updated about Rhea from the night he kissed her.

Rhea laughs like an evil villain who's remembering something dangerous and she pouts like a brat when she's thinking too hard and will probably kill me at some point

Rhea is competitive and is definitely stronger than me and her lips taste like cherries

Rhea loves Labubus (remember to google this)

Dominik thought about the night before, the arcade bar, the kiss, the bite. He hadn't stopped thinking about it since it happened. He suddenly remembered Xavier bringing up her social media and decided to check it for himself.

He thought it would be hard to find but all he did was type in 'Rhea' into the search bar and she came up right away. Rhea_Ripley

Dominik quickly realized she had completely undersold her "small following." She had over a million followers and a lot of fitness content. He clicked on the most recent post and his eyes widened as he watched her back muscles flex as she filmed herself using a lat and row machine. He scrolled through her posts for what felt like forever, watching one video in particular of her using dumbbells in a bikini repeatedly.

Was this creepy? He should probably stop.

Just as he was about to close his instagram, his phone started ringing.

Rhea.

Dominik's eyes widened as he frantically looked around the room. She knew. She knew he was sitting on his couch stalking her socials like a creep. Did he accidentally like something from years ago? Probably.

Clearing his throat, he answered the call.

"H-hello?"

"Are you at work?" Rhea asked, cutting right to the chase.

"No."

"Where are you?" She demanded.

"At...home?" Dominik answered suspiciously.

"Good. Text me your address, I'm coming over."

This made Dominik sit all the way up. "You wanna come over here? Like to my house where I live?"

He heard Rhea scoff on the other end. "No where you sell artisanal soaps. Of course where you live you walnut."

His eyes darted around his unkempt apartment and gulped. "Or I can just come over to your place! You know, like normal." He rushed out quickly.

"No." Rhea answered. "I'm already out and I don't feel like going home. Text me the address." She said before abruptly ending the call.

Rhea was coming over. This was fine, right? Totally normal, totally not a reason to be freaking the fuck out like he was.

Running a hand through his hair, Dominik sent the address before jumping to his feet and starting to clean his apartment in a frenzy.

He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag, tossing armfuls of water bottles and takeout cups into it and wiping ashes off of his coffee table. He didn't technically have time to vacuum, so he kicked some crumbs under the couch with his sock and decided that counted as tidying. He even lit a candle, which was a bold choice considering it was cinnamon scented and smelled aggressively like a mall in December.

Thank god he showered already and wasn't just sitting around rotting on his couch on his day off like normal.

By the time he finished running around "cleaning" like a madman, he collapsed back onto the couch dramatically like he just finished a marathon, just as there was a sharp knock on the door.

He yelped a little, like actually yelped. Like a startled cartoon animal.

Approaching the door, he opened it and was immediately hit with the familiar punch-to-the-gut effect that always seemed to accompany Rhea's presence.

She was wearing all black as usual; a halter top with knives on it and a leather skater skirt with fishnets. Sunglasses adorned her face along with silver stacked necklaces and rings on her fingers.

Rhea stepped in without a word, removing her sunglasses and looking around the apartment slowly. It looked exactly how she expected it to; awful warm lighting, zero decor anywhere unless you counted the small pile of hoodies on the armchair as decor.

Her lip twitched.

"I see you tried."

Dominik's pride deflated like a balloon. "Is it that obvious?"

She turned in a slow circle, her eyes landing on the candle. "You lit a cinnamon candle in July and I can smell Febreze in the air like it's trying to suffocate me, so yeah."

Dominik scratched the back of his neck and gave a sheepish grin. "What can I say? I aim to impress."

Rhea toed out of her boots before making her way to the couch.

"Do you want anything to drink?" He offered.

"Do you have anything to drink?" Rhea teased with her brow raised.

"I have water!" Dominik defended. "And probably like Mountain Dew or something, maybe." He muttered. That made her snort.

"Water is fine."

Dominik disappeared into the kitchen as Rhea made herself comfortable, grabbing the remote to put on something to watch.

He returned a few moments later with a glass of water for her and passed it off.

She was just about to take a sip when she cut her eyes at him.

"Is this tap water?" Rhea questioned.

Dominik just rolled his eyes. "No boujee. It's distilled water from the jug in my fridge." He revealed as he plopped down next to her. "What, you too good for tap water?"

Rhea scoffed. "People dying from dehydration in the Sahara are too good for Florida tap water." She muttered as she took a sip, making Dominik chuckle. She took another sip before setting the glass down on the clearly, coasterless table and turned her body and swung her legs into his lap like they belonged there, which to her, they did.

Dominik glanced at her briefly, shaking his head. His eyes started to trail down her body to her legs. He found himself reaching out to toy with the hem of her skirt without even thinking about it.

"Where were you?" He asked as he rubbed the leather material between his fingers.

Rhea raised a brow.

"I was at brunch." She revealed.

"With who?" He asked.

Possessive are we?

"My friend Tiff. Like my outfit?"

"Mhmm." He muttered, eyes now gazing at her fishnet covered thighs and how her tattoos were peeking through. "...you look nice."

"Nice?" She repeated flatly, voice dipped in unimpressed sarcasm. "We got a real Shakespeare over here."

Dominik's eyes flicked up, catching the challenging tilt of her brow. "What, you want me to write a sonnet about your thighs or something?"

"If you're gonna gawk at them like they're art, might as well treat 'em like it," She shot back, reclining further into the couch like she lived there.

Dominik snorted, rubbing the side of his jaw, a smirk creeping its way up. "I wasn't gawking."

"You totally were. But anyway, focus. I'm here for a reason, I need to ask you some questions."

Dominik stiffened. "Oh god." He groaned, leaning forward and grabbing his joint off the table and lighting it to prepare for whatever the hell this was.

She leaned forward slightly, legs still draped lazily over his lap. "How old are you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "How old do you think I am?" He challenged.

Rhea stared him up and down in contemplation. "Hmmm I don't know, you're hiding a babyface under that mustache I just know it." This made him smirk.

"I'm 27." He revealed as he lazily hit his joint.

Rhea let out a hum. "Me too, well until October. When's your birthday?"

Dominik was picking with her fishnets around her ankle at this point as he answered her questions.

"April 5th."

"What sign is that?"

"Aries."

She let out another small hum, making a mental note to ask Tiff what that meant.

"....how many towels do you own?"

Dominik started choking on the smoke in his mouth through a laugh.

"What kinda question is that?"

Rhea shoved him. "An important one! Just answer."

"I don't know like four I think."

Rhea nodded, pleased with his answer. That was more than she thought, maybe he wasn't a lost cause after all.

"Have you ever been in love before?"

This made Dominik freeze. His hand stilled on her ankle and he looked over at her to find her leaning forward, watching him in anticipation.

"What's with the third degree?" He muttered in absolutely no mood to talk about this with her.

Rhea noticed the moment he got uncomfortable but did that stop her pursuit? Of course not.

"Stop avoiding the question Dom."

"Why do you wanna know that?"

Letting out an exasperated groan, Rhea crossed her arms against her chest. "I need to know." She corrected. "I need to know if you possess literally any emotional maturity or not."

Dominik put out the joint, flicking it onto his rolling tray with a sigh.

"Yeah...I have." He muttered.

"Recently?" Rhea pressed, making Dominik rub the back of his neck.

"Yes? No?...kinda I don't know." He said defeated.

This made Rhea frown. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I got out of a relationship not too long ago okay?" Dominik finally revealed. "We've been together since we were 16 and then she dumped me on New Year's this year."

Rhea blinked. "...Damn."

Dominik leaned back, arms splayed across the back of the couch, gaze fixed on some invisible spot on the ceiling. "Yeah. Real festive start to the year; fireworks and heartbreak."

"What happened?"

Dominik just shrugged. "She wanted someone with ambition and goals. Someone with a five year plan and I barely had a five-minute plan. She got tired of waiting for me to grow up I think."

Rhea didn't say anything at first, she just stared at him.

"We're not even from here." He revealed. "I followed her here for school. We're from San Diego but she always dreamed of going to the University of Miami for college because they have a really good law program and I wasn't doing shit so I came with her, worked dead end retail jobs to afford our shitty apartment while she was in school. And then she graduated, got a great job offer here in Orlando, we moved to this nice ass townhouse, little fence in the backyard and everything and then she woke up one day and decided that I just...wasn't doing enough, that I 'didn't care enough' as she likes to put it."

He was still looking up at the ceiling, Rhea watching the way his jaw tightened as he talked about it.

"So she just...gave up on you?"

Dominik glanced over at her, he never thought about it that way. The way he saw it, he gave up on himself more than anything.

"...she sounds like a bitch." Rhea finally muttered.

That got a good chuckle out of him, one hand running down his face. "Nah... well yeah, she was kind of a bitch towards the end," He admitted, voice lighter now with the weight of memory shrugged halfway off. "But she wasn't wrong either."

Rhea raised a brow, shifting to sit up straighter, her legs still tangled in his lap. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." He blew out a breath, squinting at the ceiling like it owed him a better answer, "I was a piece of shit. Still kinda am, if we're being real. I coast. I clock in, clock out, smoke some weed, watch YouTube documentaries about haunted places I'm never gonna visit, typical fuckboy shit."

"Ew." Rhea grimaced. "Don't call yourself that. You're not that bad."

Dominik glanced over at her with an amused smirk. "Oh, gee thanks." He deadpanned.

"I mean it. Sure you've got this whole wounded puppy thing going on, and yeah, your apartment smells like a Yankee Candle on Black Friday, and you don't own a single framed photo, and yeah–"

"Is there a 'but' coming soon or are you just going to keep ripping into me?" He interrupted.

"Buuut," She dragged out. "You're not hopeless. Not completely."

Dominik gave a small smile, eyes on her now. "You're really bad at compliments."

Rhea scoffed. "Says the man whose vocabulary doesn't expand beyond 'you look nice.'"

"You do look nice though." He defended. "I like this, you look pretty." He complimented, fingers tugging at the hem of her skirt again.

She could feel the blush creeping up the back of her neck as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

"...shut up." She muttered, making Dominik's smirk deepen.

"Do you want me to compliment you or not?" He teased. "God you're so confusing."

Rhea rolled her eyes and swatted at his chest. "No you're the confusing one. One minute you're all stoner slacker with no depth, next you're Mr. Deep Emotional Wound with a tragic backstory. Which one is it, huh?"

Dominik just grinned. "Plot twist—it's both. I've got layers Mami, like a gas station burrito."

That made her laugh, loud and sudden and real. It startled him a little, the way it always did when she broke into that villainous cackle of hers, like she knew something he didn't, or maybe she just found his life so ridiculous she had no choice but to laugh. Whatever was the case, Dominik liked being the cause of it.

His fingers were skimming across her calves, biting down on his lip in contemplation.

"I have a question." He said softly, making Rhea sit up and adjust herself.

"Oh I've gotta hear this." She smirked.

"This doesn't make things...like weird right? Like my ex and stuff?" He wondered. "I know I'm not the most emotionally available person right now but...I like hanging out with you and doing...well whatever this is." He admitted.

It wasn't exactly what Rhea wanted to hear, but it was honest and she could respect that. Okay so maybe the wedding and baby shower would be postponed for a bit longer now, but that was fine.

"Depends." Rhea finally said after a moment of silence.

Dominik's eyes found hers instantly. "Depends on what?"

"If we can still kiss." She answered with a smirk.

Dominik blinked twice. His brain skipped like a scratched CD before his mouth caught up.

"...What?"

"You heard me." Rhea said, calm as ever, like she hadn't just wrecked his brain with one simple request. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes fixed on him with a smirk.

He swallowed. "Kiss like...right now?"

"I don't know, Dom," She said, almost too casual as she leaned back again, stretching like a cat with absolutely no regard for the butterflies she was punching in his stomach as her heels dug into his lap, her shirt rising up just enough to get his attention. "You said you liked hanging out with me, but if that comes with conditions now..." She trailed off with a shrug.

His hand was still on her leg, fingers twitching as he tried, and failed, to ignore the way the heels of her feet were digging into his lap.

"Okay first of all, that's manipulative as hell," He muttered, even as he leaned slightly closer. "Second of all...I didn't say we couldn't kiss. I was just...trying to be, you know, mature or whatever."

Rhea's lips curled. "That's adorable. Don't ever do it again."

He snorted. "Noted."

A silence fell over them, Rhea's interest suddenly back on the TV. The temptation was thick in the air as Dominik stared at her.

"Soooo...." He tried to begin coolly. "Do you still wanna–"

That was all Rhea needed to hear, quickly sitting up and throwing her leg over his lap to straddle him.

Her thighs caged him in, fishnets brushing against his thighs where his shorts had risen up, her silver rings cold against his jaw as she held his face steady. She was looking at him like she had been waiting all day for this moment.

Dominik blinked up at her, stunned silent, which Rhea found deeply amusing.

"You gonna make me do all the work?" She muttered with a smirk.

"Right, yeah, I—no, yeah, I got it," He stammered, hands finding her waist automatically.

Rhea leaned slowly. "You sure? You look like you're about to pass out mi villanito." She dragged the last words out just to mess with him.

"Wh-where did that come from?"

She just shrugged. "You started it with the Mami shit."

"You like the Mami shit." He smirked.

"I love it." Rhea corrected. "And if you ever stop calling me that, I'll be very, very disappointed." She admitted as she dragged her thumb across his bottom lip like she owned it.

"I won't." He found himself promising before his brain could even catch up to his mouth.

Rhea didn't give him time to recover. She leaned in, slow and teasing, her mouth brushing the corner of his with a whisper of a kiss. Dominik chased it instinctively, but she pulled back just enough to smirk at him again, glowing with amusement.

Another question suddenly popped into her head.

"You don't use Axe body spray right?"

"No." Dominik scoffed with a frown. "What am I 12? I'm an Old Spice kinda guy."

Rhea groaned. "God, you're the worst." She muttered, but she leaned in and kissed him anyway.

Chapter Text

Kissing Rhea had quickly become one of Dominik’s favorite pastimes. Rhea kissed with purpose, like she was trying to suck his soul out right with her lips; reverence, lip biting, nails digging into his scalp and yanking him by the hair (which he loved), teeth that grazed his skin, and a tongue that always prodded into his mouth like it belonged there.

It drove Dominik absolutely crazy. It started as something casual, something with edges, something messy. Something sharp in the way they talked to each other, but soft in the pauses until their lips found each other. He couldn't even remember who kissed who first anymore, most of the time it was Rhea, but sometimes Dominik liked to shut her up mid rant with his lips, and it worked every time.

But sometimes Rhea kissed him back harder. Sometimes, she bit his bottom lip until he groaned into her mouth and forgot what they were even arguing about. Sometimes, she climbed into his lap like she won the fight simply by making him melt, which was usually true.

Their whole thing, or lack thereof, was chaotic; beautiful and absolutely ridiculous chaos like oil and fire. Every interaction was laced with tension, like a fuse waiting to be lit. They bickered over everything: who smoked the last joint, what movie to watch, if pineapple belonged on pizza (Rhea said yes, Dominik said hell no, and then she ordered it just to spite him and made him eat it). But it always ended the same way; him with his back against the couch, or a wall, or the goddamn floor with Rhea pressing into him like she was trying to crawl under his skin.

That was the other thing; Rhea without a care would kiss him anytime and anywhere.

In his car when she climbed over the center console just to straddle his lap and kiss him breathless while the takeout order went cold in the backseat.

In the shopping center parking lot when she would come see him after the gym on his lunch break, Rhea sweat-damp and grinning, grabbing his jaw, her nails digging into his skin like she was claiming territory.

And the time when she kissed him in the grocery store, right in the middle of the chip aisle when he called her a genius for declaring that Doritos were way better than Cheetos. She kissed him stupid right there in the aisle without a care in the world and Dominik didn’t even think twice about it as he let her push him up against the shelves.

They weren’t dating. Not officially, not out loud, not in any way that made sense if you asked either of them. But it felt like something tangled up in late night texts and shared lighters, and it was beginning to get hard for Dominik to ignore.

Rhea haunted him.

Not in a creepy, exorcist way but more in a "every time he closed his eyes, she was there" kind of way. Her smirk, her scent, the weight of her on his lap, the way she would tug his hair and whisper shit like “you missed me?” in that voice, even though they had just seen each other six hours ago.

And he had missed her, every single time.

Like now, as he was sat at the bar with Austin, head propped in his palm frowning at everyone around him because they weren’t Rhea.

It was late and he was wasted. Austin had convinced him into going out by promising that he would play designated driver for once and Dominik took full advantage of that without even meaning to.

Every time Rhea crossed his mind, he ordered another drink which is why he was sitting here drunker than he had ever been in years, eyes half lidded, swaying in his seat and sad like his lover had just been shipped off to war.

Austin was guzzling down the rest of his Red Bull when his eyes landed on Dominik.

“You’re pathetic bro.” He chuckled. “I wanted you to let loose tonight, not drink yourself into despair over a chick you literally see everyday.”

“Fuck you.” Dominik muttered, his words slurring. “And I don’t see her everyday.” He corrected. “I didn’t see her today or yesterday and now I think I’m dying because of it. I’m going to be the first man to die from alcohol poisoning and yearning.”

Austin shook his head, exasperated and wildly entertained. “Alright, Romeo. That’s enough drunken poetry. Bar’s closing, let’s go.”

Dominik huffed but stood to his feet, following Austin on wobbly legs outside the bar and to Austin’s car, flopping dramatically into the passenger seat.

Austin watched in amusement as Dominik leaned his head against the window with a sigh, his fingers trailing down the glass like he was in a music video.

“I told you she was going to ruin you.” Austin smirked.

“She has!” Dominik agreed. “I miss her,” He moaned into his hands, muffled and dramatic.

Just as Austin was about to start the car, Dominik’s head shot up with a gasp, eyes wild and glassy.

“Take me to her.” He declared, much to Austin’s surprise.

“Dude…what?”

“Take me to Rhea. I need to see her.”

Austin just scoffed. “Dom, it's almost two in the morning. She’s probably sleeping.”

“Nuh uh! She’s a creature of the night, she has fangs! She’s never sleeping.”

That was true. It didn’t matter what time of day or night it was, if Dominik texted Rhea she was always awake. It had him starting to consider her actually being a vampire that didn’t need sleep.

“You can’t just show up drunk to her house bro, she’s going to think you’re crazy.”

Dominik was groaning in exasperation by this point. “She would like it.” He defended. “You wouldn’t understand. She misses me dude, I can feel it. She wants to see me.”

Austin had never seen Dominik like this before so…emotional. It was hilarious and terrifying, and a little pathetic if he was being honest.

Rolling his eyes, Austin extended his hand out to Dominik. “If I’m driving your lovesick ass across town, I’m not getting murdered by your situationship for showing up uninvited. Give me your phone.”

Dominik didn’t need to be told twice, quickly fishing his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Austin.

Scrolling through his contacts, Austin frowned when he couldn’t find Rhea’s name.

“I don’t even see her name.” He complained.

“It’s under Mami, idiot!” Dominik fussed, making Austin suck his teeth.

“Fucking simp,” Austin muttered under his breath as he pressed her contact and put the phone up to his ear as the call connected.

“Tell her I miss her.” Dominik slurred. “And that I’ll perform the sonnet about her thighs if she lets me come over.”

Austin gave him a weird look as the phone rang twice before Rhea’s voice was on the other end.

“What Dom?”

“It’s Austin actually.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“Where’s Dom? Why do you have his phone? What did you do to him!?” She rushed out, her voice so loud Austin had to pull the phone away from his ear.

“I’m right here Mami! I’m fine!” Dominik yelled, leaning over the center console and trying to grab the phone.

“Dude, move!” Austin complained as he shoved him away. “He’s okay, he’s just wasted and demanding that I take him to you.”

He heard Rhea let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Demanding huh?”

Dominik shoved him back. “Her thighs! Tell her about her thighs!” He tried to say in a hush whisper but Rhea heard him anyway.

“Yes, demanding and uh–he’s gonna sing a song to your thighs or some shit.”

This made Rhea snort.

“Fine.” She declared. “Bring him.”

Austin glanced over at Dominik who looked like he was waiting in absolute agony for Rhea’s response.

“You sure? I can just drive around in circles until he passes out and dump him off on his couch.” He offered. “Dom is a little….too in touch with his emotions right now.”

Rhea raised a brow. Now this she had to see.

“Traitor! Why would you say thattttttt?” Dominik whined. “I am not! You’re making me sound like a bitch!”

“Just bring him and call me when you’re outside. Do not let him wander into my building by himself.” She said before abruptly ending the call.

Austin lowered the phone with a smirk and tossed it into Dominik’s lap.

“She said yes, lover boy. Put in her address.”

Dominik gasped, clutching the phone and fingers moving sloppily and frantically to his maps app.

By the time they made it to her building, Rhea was already standing out front waiting in a tank top and pair of shorts stoically with her arms crossed as Austin pulled up to the front door.

The car barely came to a stop before Dominik was opening the door and clumsily spilling out of it.

Rhea raised a brow as she approached him, watching him literally fall to her feet. She shook her head as she helped him stand.

“God, you’re worse than I thought.”

“Hi Mami.” His hair was a mess, eyes glassy, and he had that dumb lopsided smile he always had when Rhea was involved.

She was rolling her eyes but there was a faint smirk on her face. “Hey Dom, let’s get you inside yeah?”

Rhea leaned down slightly to look through the passenger window at Austin.

“Thanks for bringing him.”

Austin gave her a salute. “No problem Rhea de Janiero.”

This just made her scowl, god she hated him.

“Aye!” Austin suddenly called out just as she was about to walk away with Dominik tucked into her side. “Don’t take advantage of him. I mean he would totally be into it, but that doesn’t make it right.” He said with a very accusatory finger pointing at her.

“You actually grasp the concept of consent? Groundbreaking.” She deadpanned with an eyeroll. “Forget this address and forget you were ever here because if I ever catch you looming around my building I will murder you, goodnight.”

“Noted. Goodnight bestie!”

Inside the elevator Dominik had collapsed into Rhea; head buried into her neck and arms wrapped loosely around her waist as he muttered nonsense into her skin. He was never this openly affectionate but she didn’t mind one bit.

In fact, she loved it, letting out a soft hum and resting her hand on the back of his neck, nails scratching at the nape of his hair.

She guided him out of the elevator and towards her apartment, quickly unlocking the door and ushering him inside with their fingers intertwined.

Dominik kicked his shoes off at the door and trotted wobbly over to the couch with a dramatic flop, long legs draping over the armrest.

Rhea watched him with a smirk before joining him, making him lift up slightly so she could sit down and he could rest his head in her lap.

“How much did you drink tonight mi villanito?” She asked with a smirk, nails scratching lazily through his scalp.

“Mmmm…like five.” Dominik muttered, already melting at the feeling of her nails in his hair.

“Five what?”

“....maybe six.”

Rhea snorted. “Did you have fun?”

“No!” Dominik said with a huff. “You weren’t there and everything was dumb. Austin was annoying, they kept playing fucking Taylor Swift and I was actually starting to understand why she’s so sad all the time.” He frowned. “It was awful.”

Dominik groaned dramatically and turned his body to bury his face in her lap. “I’m much better now though. You smell good, you always smell good. How do you do that?”

“It’s called showering.” She chuckled. “God, you’re like an overgrown man-child right now.”

His head shot up to look at her. “You like that about me though, right? Like it’s a part of my charm?”

Rhea just smiled as she peered down at him. “Yeah, unfortunately for me I do.”

“Good.” He muttered before making himself comfortable again and forcing her fingers back into his scalp.

Rhea sighed dramatically, like having a drunk, affectionate Dominik sprawled across her lap was the biggest inconvenience in the world but she couldn’t help the way her lips were curling in delight and fondness and she lightly tugged on his hair.

He made a sound so content it bordered on obscene.

“You’re purring,” She said, voice low and teasing.

“I do not purr.” He mumbled in protest into her thigh.

“You do when I scratch your head like a lovesick golden retriever with unresolved emotional damage.”

Dominik snorted. “Don’t compare me to a dog. I'm majestic like….like a dragon.”

“You’re drunk and clingy and obsessed with me like a puppy.” She retorted.

He gasped, lifting his head dramatically. “Take that back. I am—” He hiccuped. “...sexy and mysterious and tortured.”

“You’re definitely tortured.” Rhea deadpanned, pressing a finger to his forehead and gently shoving him back into her lap.

She leaned down, her lips hovering right by his ear. “Sexy too.”

Dominik giggled. Rhea couldn’t stop grinning, this was the best night of her life.

There was a long, sleepy silence before he broke it again, voice low and too honest for the tequila still humming through his veins.

“I think I might actually be obsessed with you for real though.”

“Jesus.” Rhea muttered under her breath.

“Like in a cool way,” He added quickly, as if that would fix it. “Not in a ‘I know where you live and made a shrine out of you that I pray to everyday’ kinda way.”

“Wow, that's oddly specific. Very reassuring.” She murmured dryly, but her hand was moving again, now slow and gentle over his back.

“....is this the part where you confess your undying love for me and then vomit on my floor?” Rhea teased just to see what his drunk mouth would say, she knew he wasn’t going to remember a single second of this by tomorrow.

“Maybe.” He yawned, nose brushing against her thigh. “But probably just the love part. I threw up in Austin’s car already.”

Rhea laughed, loud and startled and swatted the back of his head. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” He admitted sheepishly. “But I thought about it.”

“You’re such a little shit.” She chuckled.

“So what did you do all night? Get hit on by guys with 401ks and yachts and vacation homes?”

“No.” She snorted. “I was here.”

“Good.” He said, making Rhea raise a brow. “They wouldn’t be able to handle you anyway.” He muttered more to himself.

Her smirk was down right sinister at this point. “Oh? And you can?”

Dominik scoffed. “Pffft. Hell no. I couldn’t either.”

“Why not? I’m too much?” She smirked.

“Nah, not at all.” He got quiet for a moment. “...I’m just not enough.” Dominik muttered, with a sigh, voice full of defeat.

This made Rhea’s smirk falter, her eyes softening as she looked down at him.

“Don’t say that.” She said quietly, flicking his ear with her nail. “I hate when you talk down on yourself like that.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled into her thigh.

Rhea let out a deep sigh, Dominik really was an emotional drunk and he was starting to make Rhea feel things and she did not like that. Not right now, not at 2 in the morning with a drunken lovesick man-child in her lap.

“Alright Shakespeare, I let you in.” She began changing the subject. “When do I get my sonnet about my thighs?”

Dominik turned his body to be looking directly up at her with a grin.

“Okay I may have gone overboard with the sonnet but what about a haiku?” He offered.

Rhea just raised her brow at him with a smirk and crossed her arms against her chest.

“Your thighs are weapons, beautiful and can crush me…”

Dominik bit on his lip in contemplation.

“But I…would die….glad.” He continued counting out the last line of syllables on his fingers before smiling up at her.

Rhea snorted.

“Drunk you is disgustingly romantic,” She murmured. “Gonna have to punch sober you in the throat to balance it out.”

“I accept my fate,” He said with a tired grin, eyes slipping closed again. “I like you violent. Punch me, smother me, sit on me—whatever you gotta do.”

“You’re a fucking nerd.” Rhea said but there was a smile on her face and a fondness in her eyes that was reserved only for him. “And you rhymed nothing,” She pointed out, brushing his hair off his forehead.

“It’s a haiku, Rhea. You don’t rhyme in haikus,” He scoffed like she had just said the most offensive thing known to man.

“Oh, my bad. Sorry, Sensei.” She rolled her eyes, but her fingers kept their lazy rhythm over his scalp. His lashes fluttered like they were too heavy for his eyes, and he let out the tiniest sound of contentment that nearly made her melt into the cushions.

Alright enough of this.

She patted his side, jolting his eyes open. “Come on Dom Dom, bedtime.”

Dominik started to sit up, eyes wide as he looked at her. “You’re gonna let me sleep in your bed?”

Rhea stood to her feet as she was pulling him up with her. “I could just let you pass out on the couch.” She began, wrapping an arm around him as she ushered them down the hall. “But if you have to throw up in the middle of the night and don’t make it to the bathroom in time I would have to kill you for getting vomit in my carpet and push your face in it like a dog. So you can sleep in my room with me and my adjoining bathroom.”

“Adjoining.” Dominik muttered. “So fancy.”

Rolling her eyes, Rhea pushed her bedroom door open. Dominik was far too drunk by now to appreciate or notice anything in the room other than the bed, already at the foot of it about to plop belly first onto the mattress.

“Aht aht!” Rhea called out. “No outside clothes in my bed gremlin.”

Dominik smirked lazily at her. “You tryna get me naked Mami?”

She was fighting off her smile as she approached him and started to help him out of his shirt. “You fucking wish.”

He shrugged out of his shirt and jeans with a grin. He was floppy and useless, practically melting into her with every step. By the time she got him into bed, he was half-asleep, face buried in her pillow like he paid rent there.

“Rhea,” He mumbled suddenly, voice muffled.

“Yeah?” She asked, tugging the blanket over him.

Dominik looked at her with wide, glassy eyes. “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. You’re unreal, I think you’re secretly an alien.” He admitted.

Rhea snorted. “You know you’re not gonna remember any of this right?”

“I know.” He hummed. “Don’t make fun of me too much in the morning please.”

“We both know that’s not happening.” She chuckled, brushing his hair back again.

There was a moment of silence. Then a quiet, “...I really do like you, you know.”

“I know,” She whispered. “I like you too.”

“Can we cuddle?”

“Yeah.”

“....can I be the little spoon?”

“Sure Dom.”

Rhea grinned as Dominik turned his back to her and scooted into her space, her arm wrapping securely around him.

She chuckled quietly to herself as she felt his body relax and drift off into sleep because come morning, when the sun crawled in through her blinds and the hangover hit him with a vengeance, Dominik wouldn’t remember a thing.

Which was fine.

Because Rhea remembered everything.

Chapter Text

Dominik’s eyes blinked opened slowly, his brows immediately furrowing in confusion as he glanced around the room.

Black walls, unlit candles decorating the space, skull wall decor, and two large, very interesting paintings on the wall.

Where the hell was he?

He tried to turn his head but there was a very muscular arm around his neck like he was in a headlock and a leg draped across his waist, essentially caging him in.

Dominik glanced down at the tattooed arm, he knew those tattoos and that smell from anywhere.

Rhea.

He had woken up in Rhea’s bed and he didn’t have a fucking clue how he got there. Fuck.

Dominik shifted slightly as he tried to put the bits and pieces he could remember from the night before together. His movements caused Rhea to begin to stir, a small groan escaping from her lips as her grip around him tightened.

“Stop moving,” She grumbled.

He froze; eyes wide, body tense, and brain screaming at him in English and in Spanish.

Was he dead? Was this heaven? Or more likely, hell?

Dominik shifted again and tried to look back at her over his shoulder.

“I said stop moving,” She repeated, voice rough and thick with sleep. She nuzzled into the back of his neck, arm flexing slightly around his shoulders in a headlock that was both possessive and kind of endearing in a way that only she could pull off.

Dominik swallowed, loudly. “...Am I…am I being held hostage?”

“Yes.” She muttered.

A beat of silence.

“Did we—?”

“No,” She said before he could even finish. Her tone was dry like she had already anticipated the question.

Dominik let out a breath. “Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool.” He cleared his throat.

“How–uh…how did I get here.”

He could feel Rhea grin against his neck. “I knew you wouldn’t remember shit.” She chuckled.

“Austin called me at like 2 in the morning, apparently you were very adamant about coming to see me.”

Dominik groaned, this was his literal nightmare.

“Did I say anything dumb?”

Rhea removed her arm from the chokehold she had him in and sat up slightly, propping her elbow up and resting her head against her fist.

“...define dumb.”

Another groan.

“Like about wanting to…do stuff.”

“Nah. You were too busy calling yourself a sexy dragon and reciting haikus about my thighs.”

Dominik buried his face into the pillow like he could smother his own existence out of shame. “That’s worse. That’s so much worse.”

“Oh, it was way worse,” Rhea drawled, now fully awake and basking in his humiliation. “You also told me you secretly think I’m an alien because I’m quote ‘so pretty that it’s unreal’.”

“Jesus fucking christ.” Dominik muttered into the pillow in embarrassment.

Okay so yes, he did think that, but Rhea wasn’t supposed to know that. It was thought he had one night while he was way too high and doing way too much scrolling on her instagram.

“Aw come on,” Rhea teased, shoving him playfully. “It wasn’t that bad, you were sweet.”

Dominik rolled onto his back and glanced at her.

“I was being sweet?” He frowned. “Gross.”

Rhea grinned, stretching like a smug cat, her arms reaching high above her head before flopping down onto his bare chest. “Yeah, it was disgusting. I almost puked, so did you. I actually owe you a throat punch for being so mushy, drunk you said you would be okay with that because you like me violent.”

Dominik let out another groan, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Of course I did. Please tell me I didn’t cry.”

Rhea gave a thoughtful little hum. “Nah you didn’t cry. You did get really serious at one point and told me that you were obsessed with me and asked if you could be the little spoon.”

He closed his eyes again and flung an arm over his face. “That’s it. I’m moving to another country. I’ll start a new life. Grow a beard. Change my name to…Roberto or some shit.”

“You don’t look like a Roberto, and plus you could never grow a real beard,” She scoffed, poking at his jaw with her nail. “You’ve got baby cheeks.”

“I could if I tried hard enough.” He muttered.

He couldn’t.

Rhea was rubbing her cheek against his stubble like he was a scratching post.

“You would look weird with a beard.” She declared.

“So would you.”

That made her laugh. She laughed so hard she snorted, burying her face into his shoulder as her body shook with the kind of giddy joy that only came after mocking someone half to death and still being allowed to lay on their chest like a spoiled house cat.

Dominik cracked a grin beneath his arm, peeking at her through the crook of his elbow. “You’d look like a hot Viking, actually. I take it back.”

Rhea raised a brow with a chuckle, dragging her fingers down his chest in lazy, absentminded patterns. “You picturing me with a beard now? That your new thing?”

He pretended to gag. “No! I mean—well, maybe if it was like a cool warrior beard, like with the little braids. But only if you had the axe to match.”

“Oh, I would definitely have an axe,” She said darkly, eyes gleaming with mischief. “And I’d use it on you in a heartbeat.”

“That would be kinda hot though,” He mumbled. “Death by Viking Rhea.”

She leaned over him, her dark hair falling into his face, and tapped his forehead with hers like she was knocking on a melon. “You are so deeply weird.”

Dominik couldn’t help but smile.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

Rhea got that feeling in her stomach again and let out a scoff and briefly straddled him to climb out of the bed.

“Go brush your teeth nerd.” She called out as she slid into her slippers and started to leave the room. “There’s extra toothbrushes in the drawer.”

Dominik lay there for a second longer, dazed and blinking up at the ceiling. Reality set in that he had essentially delivered his drunken self to Rhea’s doorstep and she’d actually let him stay.

Yeah he probably embarrassed himself beyond belief, but that had to mean something, right?

He didn’t realize how hungover he was until he stood, well tried to stand up. His head instantly started to throb, the sun spilling into the room suddenly feeling way too fucking bright as it seemed to only be shining directly in his eyes.

Dominik dragged himself out of the bed with a groan, muscles aching as he pledged to himself that he would never drink again.

Lies.

Rhea’s bathroom matched her bedroom, black everywhere with gold accents. He retrieved a toothbrush from the drawer and glanced at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth.

His hair was a fucking mess and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like death and he felt like it too. After brushing his teeth, he splashed some water in his face like that would make a difference, it didn’t.

Dominik could hear the faint sound of a blender as he reentered the bedroom to throw his shirt back on. He frowned to himself when he saw his jeans crumpled up on the floor but his shirt was nowhere in sight.

He trotted down the hall and into the kitchen where he found Rhea standing at the island making a smoothie and very much wearing his shirt.

There was a glass of water and two pills on a napkin on the counter in front of one of the barstools.

Rhea stopped the blender and gestured towards the pills with her head.

“Your morning after pill,” She announced as she began pouring the thick, bright green concoction into a glass. “Wouldn't want you getting pregnant.”

Dominik frowned in confusion.

"It's just aspirin you walnut. Take them."

He took a seat and popped the pills into his mouth, swallowing them with a sip of water.

Rhea sauntered over to one of the cabinets, standing on her tippy toes as she pulled a huge bottle out and fished out a few different tablets and pills. She walked over to Dominik with an outstretched hand.

“Take these too.”

Dominik raised a suspicious brow at her.

“Vitamins, you look like shit.”

“Oh wow, thanks.” He scoffed but he took the vitamins anyway.

Rhea slid the glass of the green smoothie across the island in front of him.

“And drink this.”

“You’re so bossy.” Dominik complained as he brought the glass up to his nose to sniff it.

“Don’t smell it.” Rhea fussed as she flicked his ear with her nail. “Just drink it.”

Dominik took a very reluctant sip before scrunching his face in disgust.

“Bleh! This tastes like lawn clippings.”

Rhea rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not that bad, stop being dramatic.”

“This is literally the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted.”

“Oh shut up and just pretend it’s weed. It will make you feel better.”

Dominik was muttering under his breath by this point as he took small sips of…whatever the fuck this was as Rhea was busying herself with making a protein shake.

“You working today?” She asked as she measured out the powder.

“Nah,” Dominik answered with a grimace on his face, forcing another mouthful down his throat.

“Wanna hang out?”

“Sure.”

Rhea let out a pleased hum.

Eventually, Dominik was finally able to finish the smoothie, sliding the glass away from him like it had offended him.

“Feel human yet?” Rhea asked without looking up.

“Sorta.” He muttered. “Do I even wanna know what else I said?”

“Oh no, we’re done recapping,” Rhea said breezily. “I’m saving the rest for blackmail purposes.” She smiled as she turned on the blender.

__________________________________

The first time Dominik watched Rhea work out in person he was speechless.

He was seated on her couch, very much still half naked in just his boxers, (they weren’t his good ones but they didn’t have any holes so that was good) bowl of cereal in his lap that conveniently concealed the…situation he had going on at the moment as Rhea stood in the middle of the living room floor in a tank top and tiny shorts and a set of dumbbells in her hands.

The TV was on with the next season of the show they always watched when they were together. Rhea had her music blasting throughout her apartment but it didn’t matter because Dominik had the subtitles on, and also because he wasn’t paying attention to the damn show at all anyway.

He was paying attention to her.

And maybe too much attention, because his cereal had gone soggy, and he hadn’t so much as blinked in five minutes.

Rhea was in the zone, arms flexing with every slow, deliberate curl. Her focus was razor-sharp, and the little crease between her brows made her look dangerous in the most distracting way possible. Her hair was pulled up messily, a few damp strands sticking to her neck, and Dominik was absolutely positive losing it.

She adjusted her stance, glancing at herself in the mirror on the far wall to check her form, and the movement made her shorts shift just enough to reveal a sliver more of her tattooed thigh.

Dominik sat motionless on the couch, spoon frozen halfway to his mouth, flakes going soggy in the milk because his brain had short-circuited the moment she’d picked up the weights.

Realizing he was quite literally frozen in admiration, he cleared his throat.

“Dude,” He whispered to himself, “…you gotta get a grip.”

“Are you talking to yourself again?” Rhea asked without looking over, breathing controlled and posture flawless as she switched to shoulder presses.

Dominik scoffed as he looked down at his cereal. “No.”

“You always talk to yourself when you’re thinking little horny thoughts.”

His jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve known you long enough, Dom Dom,” She said with a teasing grin, still not facing him. “You get real quiet, then you do that weird mouth-breathing thing, then you try to act casual like your boner isn’t staring me in the face.”

“That’s not true, stop doing that.”

Rhea continued her shoulder presses. “Doing what?” She asked through a grunt.

“Analyzing me like a lab rat.” He grumbled, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

“Can’t help it.” She said with a shrug as she dropped the weights to the floor with a thud and peering over her shoulder at him.

“You’re my favorite test subject.” Rhea smirked.

Dominik rolled his eyes but he was smirking right back at her.

There was a beat of comfortable silence as Dominik relaxed on the couch eating his cereal before Rhea rolled her shoulders and began doing squats right in front of him.

The spoon fell right out of his hand, hitting the bowl with a clink.

“Holy shit.” He muttered to himself making Rhea grin to herself as she continued her workout.

———————————————-

Dominik wasn’t sure what he was signing up for when he agreed to hangout with Rhea for the day, but it definitely wasn’t this.

After her workout, Rhea showered, threw on an oversized shirt and biker shorts with her hair up in a clip and large sunglasses adorning her face, and they left the house for the day.

Dominik asked where they were going but Rhea didn’t have any real plans so she just told him to shut up and get in the car, which he did because he was weak…and because he kinda liked when she bossed him around sometimes.

Rhea had all the windows down in her Jeep and music blasting as she flew down the highway, using her turn signal for half a second before jetting across three lanes with barely any warning. Her driving was a little…questionable to say the least but Dominik was smart enough to just keep his mouth shut and clutch onto the door for dear life.

They ended up at some hole in the wall diner, tucked away in a rundown shopping center between an antique shop that looked like it hadn’t had customers in years and a closed down bakery.

“Trust me,” Rhea said, slapping the hood of her car when they hopped out onto the sidewalk. “This place looks like shit, but the food’s really good. I come here when I have a hangover.”

“How did you even find this place?”

Rhea just shrugged. “How does anybody find anything?”

He frowned in confusion at her response, but followed her inside nonetheless.

In typical Rhea fashion, she ended up being absolutely right; the food was good, the perfect balance of greasy and filling. Dominik was ready for a joint and a nap by the time they left but that was not in Rhea’s plans.

They ended up at Target next where Rhea had assured him that she just needed to pick up a “few things.”

He quickly learned that was a fucking lie because she was picking up damn near everything in the store.

She had ten minute debate with herself in the makeup aisle over eyeliner, pursued through the vinyls like a woman with all the time in the world despite the fact that she didn’t even own a record player, and filled the cart she forced Dominik to push around with nearly half of the stuff in the $1, $3, $5 section.

Now they were standing in the candle aisle as Dominik leaned lazily against the cart while Rhea shoved various candles in his face for him to smell.

“What about this one?” She asked.

Dominik leaned in to get a better whiff despite the fact that everything was just starting to smell the same at this point.

“Yeah,” He shrugged. “I like it.”

Rhea tossed it in the cart and grabbed another, quickly removing the top and shoving it in his face.

“This one?”

His nose instantly scrunched up. “Ugh no, smells like old lady perfume.”

Rhea smelled it herself and frowned. “God, you’re right it does.”

Dominik observed her as she continued to look through the different scents.

“Rhea your entire apartment is covered in candles, don’t you, like, have enough?”

“These aren’t for me.” She scoffed. “They’re for you. If I have to smell that cinnamon candle again I’m gonna combust.”

Dominik frowned. “The candle isn’t that bad.”

“It’s a crime against my senses.” She deadpanned before throwing another candle, a matte black one with a label that said Cedar & Rain, into the cart.

“You’re an adult Dom Dom, time for non-seasonal candles.”

He rolled his eyes but there was a hint of a smirk on his face.

“You can’t call me an adult and Dom Dom in the same sentence.”

Rhea turned to him with a grin. “I can call you whatever I want.”

Dominik snorted, brushing his knuckles under his nose, trying not to grin like an idiot in the middle of the damn Target candle aisle. “Says who?”

Rhea didn’t miss a beat as she tossed a lavender (her favorite) candle into the cart. “Says Mami.” She smirked.

She kept walking, and Dominik followed like a puppy, like a chump, like someone who would absolutely let her ruin his life if she smiled while doing it.

By the time they reached the checkout line, they had four candles, a black throw blanket Rhea declared that his couch desperately needed, and a cart full of random shit Rhea most definitely did not need.

They went by Rhea’s PO Box to pick up a few PR packages she needed to make videos for, perused through a thrift store Rhea said she felt “drawn to” when they were passing by, and for some reason ended up at a pet store where Dominik had to talk her out of buying an iguana on a whim because “he looked sad and needed a home” despite the fact that she didn’t know the first thing about reptile care.

Now they were at what Rhea promised him would be the last stop, Home Depot.

“What are we doing here?” He asked, hungry again and slightly grumpy due to the fact he hadn't smoked a single thing today. Dominik couldn’t remember the last time he walked around this much or existed this sober for this long. 

“Please don’t tell me you’re about to buy a chainsaw or some shit.”

Rhea chuckled and shoved him as they walked across the parking lot. “No, my monstera is suffocating.” She said dramatically. “I need to repot it.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

She gave him a look. “It’s a plant. It lives in my living room. You’ve literally seen it.”

“….your plants are real?”

“Bloody hell.” Rhea muttered as they walked through the automatic doors of the gardening section.

Dominik trailed after her, dazed, watching her pick through bags of soil like she was on a mission, brows furrowed as she read through the contents and mineral levels of the different brands.

When she finally made her choice she squatted and scooped the heavy bag up, lugging it onto her shoulder like it was nothing as she started to walk away.

“I could—uh carry that for you.” Dominik offered.

Rhea peered over her shoulder with her brow raised. “You sure?”

He wasn’t sure at all actually, but he was already committed.

“Yeah I got it.” He reached out and took the bag from her, trying to stifle the grunt of discomfort he let out as he tried to prop the bag on his shoulder like she did. He quickly gave up on that idea and cradled the bag in his arms like it was a baby, a very large, very heavy baby.

Rhea just looked at him with an amused smirk before announcing she was going to grab a cart.

Dominik said a thankful prayer to himself when she returned and chucked the bag in the cart.

“Is that all you needed?”

Rhea pushed the cart with her lips twisted in contemplation. “Mmm just one more thing.”

They approached a table of small potted plants. Rhea was going through picking up each one, checking their leaves, peeking at the drainage holes on the bottoms of the pots and poking her nail into the soil to check for moisture.

She finally settled on one in a black plastic pot and presented it to Dominik with a smile.

“This one’s yours now.” She declared.

Dominik raised a brow at her. “Is that a threat?”

Rolling her eyes, Rhea let out a scoff. “It’s a snake plant, you literally can’t kill it.”

“You underestimate me.”

She shoved it into the cart anyway and started to walk away making it clear there was no room for debate.

“What am I supposed to do with it?”

Rhea shrugged. “Name it, put it in your windowsill, water it, talk to it so it doesn’t get depressed living in your bleak ass apartment.”

“Rude.” Dominik frowned. “But fair.”

————————————————

They got to Dominik’s apartment just before sunset, the sky burning orange and violet as he pushed open his door with his arms full of target bags and his snake plant because apparently he was a plant dad now.

He dumped everything on the coffee table and could barely blink before Rhea got to work.

She kicked off her shoes and went straight for the windows, opening the blinds to let the last bit of sunlight in. She reorganized the coffee table, placing the candles in the most aesthetically pleasing way she could before lighting the cedar one.

Rhea took the throw blanket and draped it across the back of the couch with flourish before grabbing the plant and sitting it in the windowsill, taking her time turning it to make sure it was facing at just the right angle.

Dominik just stood there watching her with his arms crossed.

“Are you like…marking your territory?”

Rhea snorted. “No, I’m elevating your life. Big difference.”

She spun on her heels to face him. “Now make sure you water it at least once a week. They’re very forgiving so if you forget every once in a while it’s not the end of the world. And do not give it tap water.” She said pointing a finger at him.

“It can handle the weed smoke from your stoner dungeon but still open a window every once in a while, and turn it from time to time so it gets sun evenly. Oh! And make sure you talk to it, I wasn’t kidding.”

“Damn anything else?”

“Actually yes.” She grinned. “Hurry up and take a shower and roll me a joint. I’m bored and hungry. I’m picking what we’re ordering and picking the movie.”

Dominik rolled his eyes, but went to do exactly what she said.

___________________________

They were relaxing on his couch after two joints and Chinese takeout. Rhea was resting with her back against the armrest and her feet in his lap with some low budget action movie playing on the TV.

Dominik glanced over at her as she scrolled through her phone.

He watched her for a long beat. The way she made herself at home in his space without asking, without needing to. She didn’t ask for permission—she just fit.

And as the candle flickered on the coffee table, and the snake plant sat on the windowsill, and the throw blanket was draped across Rhea’s lap—Dominik realized something very dangerous.

He liked this.

Like, a lot.

“Rhea.”

“Hmm?”

“Is this how you live everyday?”

She glanced up at him from her phone with a shrug. “More or less. Usually more; I wake up a lot earlier and go to the gym for a lot longer but I had a drunken stoner in my bed last night that was demanding cuddles.” She smirked.

Dominik chuckled. “Yeah sorry for just showing up like that.”

Rhea looked down at his thumb that was tracing absentminded circles around her ankle.

“I didn’t mind. You’re always welcome over, especially if you are like you were last night.” She teased.

“What? Drunk and emotional?”

“No.” She began. “Clingy and sweet.”

Dominik grimaced. “I was being clingy?”

“Oh the clingiest.” Rhea grinned. “You were all over me, probably would have cried if I stopped scratching your scalp.”

He threw his head back onto the couch. “That’s so embarrassing.” He muttered to himself.

“I liked it.” Rhea shrugged. “I like when you’re affectionate, makes me feel good.” She said like it was the most simple thing in the world, eyes back on her phone screen.

Dominik stared at her, mouth slightly open.

“You do?”

Rhea didn’t look up. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I dunno,” He muttered, suddenly hyper-aware of the weight of her legs in his lap and the way his thumb had stopped moving. “You’re like, all scary and stuff and you kiss me like you’re trying to rip my lips off and you like punching me.”

“I do like punching you.” She agreed. “But I’m still a person with feelings. I like softness too.” Rhea shrugged. She decided to leave out the part that she only liked it from him.

Dominik let out a long breath and sank deeper into the couch cushions, his head tilting to the side so he could stare at her properly, like maybe if he looked at her hard enough he could understand how someone like her—tough, composed, unapologetically cool, could also be this kind of soft. The kind of soft that let him rest his head in her lap all night and cuddled him like she was trying to shield him from the rest of the world.

“Damn,” He murmured.

“What?” She said, still not looking up.

“You’re like...emotionally well-rounded. That’s hot.”

Rhea snorted, the corner of her mouth quirking up. “Thanks. You should tell my therapist that.”

For a few beats, the movie filled the room with the sound of fake explosions and stale one-liners, but neither of them was paying much attention. Rhea was scrolling again while Dominik was just staring at her.

His brain was chewing on itself. He wanted to say something, but also very much wanted to not ruin the vibe. But that was never really his strong suit.

“…So when you say you like it when I’m clingy,” He started, carefully casual, “Does that mean you want me to be more like that…on purpose?”

Rhea didn’t respond right away. Just slowly set her phone down on the couch beside her, like this deserved her full attention.

“You mean, like, sober clingy?”

“Yeah. Like. Voluntary cuddles. Non tequila driven affection. I dunno.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly regretting starting this train of thought. “Not tryna be weird. Just, if you like it, maybe I should, I dunno…do it more.” He shrugged.

Rhea tilted her head, staring at him like he was a painting she hadn’t quite decided if she liked yet. “You don’t have to do anything. But yeah, I like it.” She admitted.

“I like when you show me you care without pretending you don’t.”

Dominik nodded, more to himself, and turned his attention back to the TV. Rhea watched him for a moment before rolling her eyes and going back to scrolling through her phone.

He was overthinking….again. Rhea had literally just told him what she liked but he was having a hard time wrapping his head around how and if he should even go about it. Ugh he was too high for this shit.

Dominik looked down at where her feet were still resting in his lap and bit his lip. He could rub her calves like he always did, she seemed to like that. But he always did that so she probably wouldn’t even think anything of it.

Fuck it.

He wrapped both hands around her ankle now, gently tugged it closer so he could rest it higher on his thigh. He ran his hands up the side of her calf, slow and lazy and she didn’t stop him.

Dominik gently lifted her leg is his hands and leaned forward to place a soft kiss against her ankle.

That stopped her scrolling.

He placed another kiss a little bit higher, then he kissed her calf before beginning to turn his body so he could continue to kiss up her leg.

Rhea’s breath hitched, phone long forgotten in the cushions as she stared down at him with her lips slightly parted.

Dominik grabbed the blanket from her lap and tossed it on the floor. His lips made a slow and gentle trail of kisses up both her legs, alternating from one to the other. His hands had made their way to her thighs, rubbing them painfully slow in what felt only like adoration to Rhea.

It had her biting down on her lip so hard she was sure she would break skin. Rhea could feel her pulse in her throat.

This wasn’t like him. Not exactly. Dominik was touchy, sure—affectionate in that lazy way of his when his hands would find her waist when they kissed or how he would trace patterns on her calves.

But this? The soft kisses up her legs, the way he took his time, not like he was trying to get somewhere but like he was already exactly where he wanted to be?

It was dangerous.

Good fucking thing Rhea liked danger.

“You’re being…weird.”

Dominik chuckled. “You just said you like me like this.”

“I do, I just—” Her voice caught as his hands slid further up, thumbs pressing into the meat of her thighs like he was memorizing the shape of them. “I didn’t expect you to listen.”

He kissed the inside of her knee like it was sacred. “Well, I’m evolving.”

Dominik looked up from between her legs, slow and heavy-lidded, the corners of his mouth curled into the softest, most devastating smirk she had ever seen.

“You okay?” He murmured, voice low and lazy, like they had all the time in the world.

“Just peachy.” She breathed out, throwing her head back against the armrest once his lips met her thigh. Her brain was officially soup as her body was currently being treated like a prayer.

Dominik chuckled against her skin.

“This is a very manipulative form of affection.”

“Uh huh.” He kissed higher. “Terrible. Devious. I should be stopped.”

“You should,” She hissed, trying not to squirm as he nuzzled his nose along her inner thigh like he belonged there. “I’m too high for this.”

“Me too,” He said with a smirk, pausing to kiss her inner thigh again, slower this time. “Isn’t it great?”

She gave a choked laugh that turned into a whimper halfway through when he lightly bit her.

His hands brushed at the waistband of her shorts in contemplation. Rhea peered down at him in anticipation.

Nope not ready for that. He decided.

Instead he let his hands slip under her oversized shirt to find her waist, crawling up her body until he was hovering over her.

“You good?” He murmured again, noticing the small pout her lips rested in.

Rhea stared up at him, blinking slowly. “Mhm.”

“You sure Mami?” He grinned now, smug and soft at the same time, like he knew damn well the answer.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re being smug.”

“Not smug,” He whispered, leaning in like he was telling her a secret. “Just affectionate.”

Rhea rolled her eyes, but her hands had already betrayed her, curling into the hem of his shirt, tugging it up just enough to feel the skin of his back under her fingertips. “You’re disgustingly sentimental when you’re high.”

Dominik laughed and kissed her jaw, then her cheekbone, then just below her ear like she was delicate. “Nah. I’m like this all the time. You just scare me too much to say it when I’m sober.”

Rhea let out a pleased hum before she could protest as his mouth continued its trail from her neck, back up to her jaw, and then finally finding her lips.

He kissed her slow and deep. There was no rush for once; no greedy hands, no lip biting, no Rhea trying to suck his damn face off.

She let Dominik take the lead and kiss was soft and slow and she didn’t mind at all.

“Thanks.” He murmured against her lips when they finally began to separate.

“For what?” Rhea asked.

“For letting me in last night. And for today, it was…nice.”

Rhea scoffed. “Nice? We’re back to that?” She teased.

Dominik chuckled as he rested his forehead against hers. “Look, I’m not, like good with words or whatever.

“Liar.” Rhea grinned. “You write poetry about my body parts when you’re drunk."

He let out a groan, burying his face in her neck as she laughed at him. “You’re never gonna let me live that down huh?”

“Never!” She declared with a wicked smile on her face. “I’m gonna bring it up forever, probably include it in your eulogy, and just wait until I tell Austin! He’s gonna have a fucking fiel—“

Dominik shut her up with another kiss.

Rhea had let him take the lead again for awhile before she wrapped her legs around his waist just tight enough that she had enough leverage to flip them, making them tumble down to the floor with her straddling his waist.

She was grinning down at him with that wicked look in her eyes.

Sure, Rhea loved when Dominik was soft with her but she was still Rhea.

“My turn.” She announced cheerfully before tilting his head to expose his neck tattoo and sinking her teeth right into it.

Dominik hissed through his teeth, spine arching just slightly as Rhea bit down, her grin widening against his skin.

“Ohhh fuck,” He groaned, voice stuck somewhere between a moan and a laugh.

Rhea only hummed in satisfaction, letting her tongue trace lazily along the spot she’d just marked before she leaned back to admire her handiwork. A deep, blooming red bruise was already forming beneath the ink and Rhea looked so fucking proud of herself.

“Beautiful,” She declared. “Now that’s affection.”

Chapter Text

It was Rhea’s turn for her eyes to flutter open in confusion. She peered around the dark room, Dominik’s living room sprawled out on top of him.

They were tangled up on the couch under the throw blanket, her head on his chest in just her sports bra and shorts, shirt discarded at some point during the night. He had his arms around her waist, pulling her flush to him, their legs a tangled mess of limbs under the blanket.

They must have fallen into a weed coma at some point during the third movie.

It was pitch black, barely any street lights spilling in from outside. The candle had long gone out and the TV had cut itself off at some point during the night.

Rhea adjusted herself, reaching for her phone or any phone just to see what time it was.

3:51 AM

She let out a small groan and buried her face in Dominik’s neck. She wasn’t supposed to fall asleep. She wasn’t supposed to still be here.

Rhea was supposed to be at home, in her own bed, getting a fucking grip. Not wrapped up in Dominik’s arms and still in his apartment.

She could leave. She probably should leave. Just sneakily slip out of his arms, search around in the darkness for her shirt, and get the fuck out of there.

She removed herself from his neck and just stared at him.

Things were starting to get…complicated for Rhea. Dominik made it clear he was not ready for a relationship or anything serious but the more time they spent together it felt like a relationship and Rhea didn’t know what to do with that because Rhea didn’t do relationships herself.

She should run for the hills while she still had time, put back up her emotional walls where she kept everyone at an arm's length, but she didn’t want to do that.

Rhea liked Dominik and she liked whatever the hell they were doing, even if it was making her soft, even if every time he smirked at her she wanted to barf, kiss him, and punch him at the same time. Even if the way his mustache tickled her neck made her giggle like a lovesick school girl.

God what was happening to her?

She should leave.

But she didn’t. Instead, she looked up at Dominik’s peaceful sleeping dumb face, sighed to herself in defeat and kissed the corner of his mouth before making herself comfortable against his chest again and forced herself to go back to sleep.

Dominik smiled faintly to himself once Rhea had gone still. He could practically feel the internal battle she was having with herself the second she started shifting around. He felt everything; Rhea reaching around for her phone, the panic, her stare piercing into him, the kiss.

She was fighting with herself, but she had ultimately decided to stay and he was glad about that.

__________________________

“Rhea…” She heard softly as Dominik shook her gently.

She let out a small growl, ignoring him and the sunlight pouring into the room, making herself comfortable instead. Rhea did not like being disturbed from her sleep before she was ready to get up.

“Come on Mami, I gotta pee.” Dominik urged.

Rhea scoffed in frustration, but started to sit up nonetheless and shoved him away.

“Good morning to you too brat.” He chuckled, standing to his feet with a slight stumble from being pushed and stretched. His neck was sore as hell from Rhea basically using him as a memory foam mattress all night but he didn’t mind.

“Shut up. Get away from me.” She grumbled, laying back down on the couch dramatically and covering her head with the blanket to block out the sun.

Dominik shuffled off to the bathroom, leaving Rhea a dramatic lump of blanket and grumpiness on his couch.

Rhea groaned under the blanket, everything was too bright and too damn loud. Her mouth was dry and her eyes felt unbelievably heavy.

She could hear Dominik’s loud pee stream from the bathroom, he left the door wide open without a care because of course he did. Even his urine had audacity this morning.

She kicked off the blanket with a growl, sat up, and squinted around the room like a woman scorned by sunlight. Her sports bra had ridden up slightly in the night, and her shorts were askew. She yanked them back into place, grumbling under her breath.

Dominik reappeared, rubbing his face with a towel (one of the four that he owned) and yawning, scratching at his bare chest, sweats hanging dangerously low on his hips.

The absolute nerve to look so good first thing in the morning. It made Rhea’s eyes narrow at him.

He spotted her sitting up, hair wild and eyes glaring at him like it was his fault the sun had come up. He grinned at her.

“Damn you even look hot when you’re grumpy.”

Rhea scoffed. “It’s too early for you to start saying dumb shit. Grumpy? What am I? A toddler?”

He plopped down beside her with zero regard for her personal space.

“When you’re sitting here pouting like you just got woken up from nap time? Yes.”

She rolled her eyes but immediately laid her head on his shoulder, tucking herself into his side.

“Shut up.” She grumbled.

“I thought you said you usually get up early anyway, thought you would be more of a morning person.”

“I am a morning person.” Rhea defended. “But I also don’t usually end my nights passing out on uncomfortable couches after smoking endless joints and stuffing myself with takeout.”

Dominik just grinned and ruffled the top of her hair.

“Welcome to my world sweetheart.”

“Ugh,” She groaned. “You live like a frat boy.”

“Wrong. Frat boys don’t have an extensive candle selection or house plants. I’m domestic as fuck these days, haven’t you heard? I might actually go buy a bath mat later.”

This got a good laugh out of Rhea even though she tried to fight it. Her laugh soon turned into a cough.

“God my mouth is so fucking dry.” She complained.

“I’ll get you a water,” Dominik announced before gripping her chin in his hand and kissing the corner of her mouth.

Rhea sat stunned with her lips slightly parted as Dominik trotted off to the kitchen with a smirk on his face.

“What the hell was that?” She asked with a frown, snatching the water bottle out of his hand when he came back.

“Oh that?” He said as he plopped back down onto the couch. “Just returning the favor.” Dominik shrugged with the smuggest smirk on his face.

“What favor? Stop being weird.”

“I can’t, you kissed me in my sleep.” He said, nudging her with his knee.

Rhea’s entire soul tried to leap out of her body and flee to Australia. “I did not.”

“You did. Right here.” He tapped the corner of his mouth, smug as hell. “Sweetest little smooch. Very lovergirl of you.”

She punched him in the arm, hard.

“Don’t ever call me a lovergirl again. I will end you.”

“Oh yeah?” He pressed, unmoved by her threats. “How? Gonna give me little mouth kisses and nuzzle up against me to death?”

“Shut up!”

Rhea chugged the water and then immediately bonked him in the head with it. She stood to her feet and stalked off to the bathroom to avoid Dominik seeing the blush that was creeping up on her face.

_______________________

Dominik had work today but he promised Rhea he would come over to her place that night. It was slowly starting to become their thing; hanging out everyday and apparently now they crashed at each other's places too.

It should be weird, but it wasn’t. It was just them.

Austin approached the counter with an arm full of sale signs that had expired.

“I just walked this floor for the third time, I think this is the last of them.”

He dumped them on the counter as Dominik began removing the tags from the plastic sleeves and tossing the paper in the trash.

“Good.” Dominik grumbled. “If I have to get a price override one more time today because people can’t fucking read I’m gonna scream.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Austin began. “Screaming would require too much physical effort for you.”

“True.”

Austin leaned against the counter with that glint in his eye—the one that meant he was about to be annoying on purpose. He crossed his arms, eyebrows raised.

“Soooo….” He started. “Rhea.”

Dominik didn’t look up from the stack of sale tags. “What about her?”

Austin made a face. “Don’t play dumb dude. I just hand delivered you to her the other night! What happened? Give me the details.”

“There’s no details to give.” He shrugged. “I was drunk. I said dumb drunk shit and passed out. Thanks for that by the way.” Dominik said with an eyeroll.

“Hey man, you were a lost cause. If I didn’t take you myself you probably would’ve walked or ended up in a sketchy ass Uber. You should be thanking me.”

Dominik just ignored him. He was slightly grateful for it but he’d be damned if he ever gave Austin that kind of credit.

“So, you really not hitting that yet?”

Dominik froze. “Jesus Christ, man.”

“What?” Austin said with zero shame and a grin. “Just asking. You guys are hanging out a lot. She came by last week, what, three times? And you didn’t even pretend to be annoyed about it.”

Dominik smirked slightly, still focused on removing the tags from the sign holders. “I’m always annoyed. I’m just more tolerable when she’s around.”

“Barely.” Austin muttered.

“But to answer your question for the millionth fucking time, no. We haven’t had sex yet.”

Austin let out the most exasperated groan. “What the fuck are you waiting for bro!?” He asked, genuinely confused.

“I’m not waiting for anything.” Dominik defended. “I just…I dunno I like what we have right now. It’s easy. We hang out, we talk shit, we pass out watching dumb movies. I don’t wanna screw it up by pushing it somewhere she’s not ready to go.” He shrugged.

It was a load of bullshit and Dominik knew it; Rhea wasn’t the problem, he was.

Austin just stared at him, deadpanned and unimpressed.

“I’ve seen you two making out in the parking lot like feral gremlins. That girl is more than ready.”

Dominik cracked a crooked smile, immediately biting down on his cheek to hide it.

“Yeah, well making out is safe,” He muttered, stuffing another expired tag into the trash, eyes deliberately not meeting Austin’s. “Clothes stay on. No one catches feelings.”

Austin let out a scoff and laughed loudly, the sound echoing off the aisles of the electronics store. “You already caught feelings, dumbass. You made that very clear when you were pledging your love to her thighs in my passenger seat.”

Dominik chucked a plastic sleeve at him. “Shut the fuck up.”

Dodging it effortlessly, Austin grinned. “You shut up. You’re such a fucking simp. I’ve never seen somebody like a girl so much that they’re scared to smash.”

“I’m not scared.”

Lies.

“You likeeeee her.” Austin continued to tease. “I knew something was up. You haven’t been all pissy and cynical lately. You’re almost, like… cheerful.”

Dominik glared at him, hands going still. “Aye don’t say that shit. That’s slander.”

“The real slander is the fact that you haven’t fucked her yet. What are you waiting for, seriously?”

Eyeing Austin for a moment, Dominik let out a deep sigh.

“Dude, I just got out of a ten-year relationship and I haven’t had sex since. Do you know how terrifying that is? How terrifying Rhea is!?”

Austin nodded solemnly. “…fair point.”

“Exactly. I mean I almost tried something last night.” Dominik revealed, hands still aimlessly removing sign papers and chucking them in the trash. “…but I started overthinking and got too nervous.”

Austin blinked. “You… got nervous?”

Dominik gave a lazy shrug, trying to play it off, but his ears were already betraying him, turning that subtle shade of guilty pink.

“She was wearing these tiny ass shorts,” He muttered, mostly to the pile of sale signs. “And then she looked at me like she was waiting for me to do something and I…I just panicked and kissed her instead.”

Austin blinked again. “So… you folded?”

“I panicked.”

“Jesus Christ, bro. You folded like a goddamn lawn chair.” Austin sighed like this was truly the heaviest burden he had ever carried. “Alright, alright. I get it. You’re rusty. You’re scared. You think your dick’s gonna fall off or explode or something—”

“Austin.”

“—BUT! Hear me out,” Austin said, holding up a finger like he was about to drop life-altering wisdom. “There are other ways to keep her interested until you grow the balls to actually have sex.”

Dominik narrowed his eyes. “…Like what? We already hang out all the time. We smoke, we eat, we watch movies, we cuddle—"

“I meant sexually, dumbass.”

Dominik frowned. “Oh, right.”

Austin leaned both elbows on the counter, lowering his voice like they were plotting a bank heist. “You ever heard of foreplay, Romeo? Hands? Mouth? Literally anything that isn’t P-in-V?”

Dominik groaned and dropped his head against the counter. “I can’t have this conversation with you.”

“You have to have this conversation with me,” Austin insisted. “Because if you don’t, you’re gonna keep spiraling like a fucking middle schooler every time she licks her lips or touches your thigh. You gotta up your game before she thinks you’re not into her.”

Dominik lifted his head, frowning. “I am into her. She knows that.”

“Sure, but it’s not just about vibes and longing stares, bro. Girls like Rhea? She could walk out that door and have five other dudes wrapped around her finger in ten seconds. You think she’s gonna sit around forever waiting for you to get your confidence back?”

Dominik stayed quiet.

“Exactly. You know I’m right. Listen, you gotta start somewhere, grab her tit or something for fuck’s sake.”

“Grab her tit? That’s it. We’re done with this conversation.”

Austin held his hands up in surrender, grinning. “Okay, okay, maybe not just grab it like a caveman. Ease into it. Maybe cradle it tenderly….like a small bird!” He offered.

Dominik dragged both hands down his face and groaned, already regretting every decision that led to this moment. “Get away from me Austin.” He muttered.

“I’m just saying, gotta start somewhere.” Austin repeated before he started walking away. “You know what you gotta do!” He called out, gesturing his hands like he was squeezing a pair of boobs. “Keep her interested bro!”

______________________________

Dominik had pushed Austin’s “advice” to the far back of his mind by the time he got to Rhea’s that night, but as it seemed the universe just liked to fuck with him, he was actually going to need it anyway.

It started off innocent, well as innocent as anything could be when it involved Rhea.

They were in her bed, Dominik in just his boxers because she was adamant about no outside clothes in her bed. (Dominik was still convinced she was just trying to get him naked.) They were passing a joint back and forth. Dominik was laid on his back with one arm tucked behind his head and Rhea’s leg slung lazily over him in shorts that barely counted as shorts and a tank top.

Dominik had convinced her to finally use the projector she bought on a whim and he set it up for her in her bedroom and pointed it towards the ceiling. In true stoner burnout fashion, Dominik connected his phone to it and put on a three hour YouTube video of galaxies and constellations that had low-fi music playing in the background.

The pair laid side by side staring up at the ceiling, lazily passing the joint back and forth, talking about everything and nothing.

They talked about aliens and black holes, what animal they thought they'd be reincarnated as, the possibility that the moon landing was fake (Dominik was convinced it was) and whether or not cereal was a soup. Dominik’s solid stance that it was almost got him kicked out of the bed.

The vibe was slow and hazy, smoke curling towards the ceiling and the occasional snorts of laughter from inside their weed bubble. Dominik hadn’t thought about what Austin said once, until Rhea stretched her arms over her head, tank top riding up in the process, and mentioned something that snapped him right back into hell.

“I think I wanna get another piercing,” She mused aloud, watching the soft swirl of blue stars on the ceiling as she passed the joint to him. “Maybe get eyebrow piercing back or like a dermal or something.”

Dominik, tilted his head lazily to look at her. “Don’t you already have, like, ten?”

“Nine.” She corrected. “Both my nostrils, my septum, tongue, belly button, couple in my ears, and my nipples.

His high mouth was already running before his delayed brain could catch up. “I don’t get the point of those.” He muttered, taking another hit of the joint.

“What piercings?” She frowned.

“Nah, not all piercings. Just like, nipple ones.”

Rhea snorted. “What do you mean you don’t get them? What is there to get? They’re hot.” She shrugged.

“Well I mean obviously but like what’s the point? They’re for show but you can’t publicly show them. They’re just….there.” He said, gesturing vaguely. “Seems like putting yourself through unnecessary pain for nothing. Plus don’t they like, snag on stuff? And what about metal detectors?” He rambled.

“What about metal detectors?” Rhea laughed. “What? You think I can’t take my tits through TSA?”

Dominik choked on the smoke in his mouth through a laugh, starting up at the galaxy covered ceiling with a groan. “I don’t know! I just said I don’t get them.”

Rhea gave him a long, unreadable look. Then, without warning, she climbed over his lap and straddled him.

Dominik immediately froze. “Wait—what are you—”

His confusion was cut short by Rhea gripping the hem of her tank top and pulling it over her head and tossing it down to the floor without a care.

Dominik was dumbfounded, mouth hanging open and body completely still as he tried, and failed, not to look.

Rhea’s smirk was downright sinister as she plucked the joint from his frozen fingers. “That look on your face is the point of them.” She beamed proudly.

His eyes were locked in on them now. Two shiny barbells, one in each nipple, catching the glow of starlight from the projector overhead like tiny glints of moonlight.

Rhea perched on his lap half naked, casted in deep violets and cosmic blues, like she’d been carved from the stars themselves—nipple piercings and all. His eyes trailed down to her toned stomach, finally being to really get a good look at the tattoos that graced her stomach.

He felt like he was looking at a masterpiece.

“Well,” Rhea encouraged. “Say something! And I swear to God if you say they’re nice I’m gonna—“

“They’re really pretty.” Dominik interrupted. “You’re really pretty.” He muttered softly like he was in awe.

That shut her up.

She stared down at him as his eyes trailed her body, slow and reverent like he was committing every single inch of her to memory. It was making her feel weird, that good weird that came from Dominik staring at her like she was something precious.

“….still think they’re just for show?” She asked, voice quieter than normal.

“I’m not thinking much of anything right now.” Dominik admitted.

Rhea’s lip quirked into a small smirk. “Feel then.” She offered.

His brows instantly furrowed in confusion like he had been snapped out of his trance.

“Wh-what?”

“Feel them.” She repeated. “Go on,” Rhea said softly, her voice now lower, heat curling beneath every syllable. “You can touch me. I want you to.”

Dominik knew very well that when Rhea said she wanted something, she really wanted it. So he took a shaky and tentative hand and brushed it along the curve of her waist, fingertips featherlight.

It made her shudder.

His hand rose steadily, tracing over the tattoo under her sternum. There was no rush in his movements as his hand moved, just reverence and appreciation in his touch like his hands were made of glass and she was a priceless artifact he had been entrusted with.

His hand had finally found its way to her breast. He gently cupped the side of it and let his thumb brush against the barbell.

Rhea had to suck in a shaky breath at how the whisper of his touch against her nipple made her stomach flip. His thumb brushed the cool metal barbell again, then circled softly around it, like he was trying to memorize every line and curve, like he was listening to her body with his hands.

She had to take a hit of the joint to hide her moan when his other hand joined in and cupped her other breast. His hands were steady now, but not greedy. He touched her like she was more than just hot, like she was something to be studied. Admired. Worshipped.

Noticing the look on her face, Dominik’s hands stopped for a moment. “You okay?”

Rhea nodded quickly and abandoned the joint on her nightstand. “I’m fine.” She said, voice a little breathier than she intended. “Keep going.”

She leaned forward and slipped her fingers into his hair, yanking it slightly before ushering him to sit up some so he could be eye level with her chest.

Dominik gave her a questionable look to make sure she was requesting what he thought she was. Rhea gave him another nod.

“Go on,” She urged, softly.

He kept gently massaging her breasts in his large hands and leaned forward to place a kiss on her stomach. Her fingers were still tangled in his hair, breathing uneven as he kissed along her ribs.

Dominik was being so gentle with his hands and his mouth that Rhea was about to explode.

She could feel his tongue travel from the valley of her chest before circling ever so gently around her nipple. Rhea let out a groan, unable to fight it anymore and her hips started to roll against him.

He pressed another kiss to her breast, this time letting his tongue flick softly against the barbell again. Her head tipped back with a hiss, eyes fluttering shut as her body responded before her brain even had a chance to catch up. Her grip in his hair tightened. Dominik groaned against her chest, the sound muffled and low like thunder behind the clouds.

He switched sides, kissing a soft path over, letting his lips brush the glinting barbell on the other nipple before his tongue followed.

Rhea cursed under her breath like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to shove him closer or pull him away before she fully combusted.

Dominik slid one hand back up her stomach, fingertips brushing the underside of her breast again, and this time he rolled the piercing between his fingers while sucking on the other one.

“Bloody hell,” She gasped, tossing her head back as her hips kept grinding against the growing bulge beneath her. “You—fuck! You said you didn’t get them.”

Dominik chuckled into her chest, dark and lazy and smug as hell. “Guess I’m a fast learner.”

“Fast my ass,” Rhea muttered, breathless. “You’re savoring.”

He grinned up at her, lips shiny, eyes half-lidded with smoke and lust. “You make it hard not to Mami.”

Rhea whined involuntarily at his words as her whole body shuddered.

He chuckled low, then moved his mouth to her collarbone, kissing his way up her neck like he had all the time in the world. His hands slid down, cupping the backs of her thighs as he shifted beneath her, helping her grind against him in slow, filthy circles that made them both moan. He kissed and sucked a trail down her collarbone, nipping just hard enough to leave a mark, and Rhea loved it. She tilted her head to give him more access, practically panting now.

They were a mess of limbs and heat, her shorts now nothing but a thin barrier and his boxers doing even less to hide how painfully hard he was. He could feel the wet heat of her pressing against him and it was sending every last brain cell he had right into the orbit of galaxies painting the ceiling.

Rhea’s hips moved in restless circles as her nails dug into his scalp. The sensation sent Dominik over the edge unexpectedly, his body suddenly jutting forward with a strangled groan before stilling completely.

Dominik sat mortified. Did he just—

“What’s wrong?” Rhea asked urgently, trying to figure out why his lips weren’t on her anymore.

“N-nothing, uh it’s nothing.” He muttered.

Rhea’s brows furrowed. “Dom? What’s the problem?”

The problem was he just got off to being grinded on by a chaotic woman who flashed him without warning and whose skin tasted like lavender and sin.

Dominik quickly buried his face in the crook of her neck in embarrassment. “I’m the problem.” He whined softly into her skin.

She sat in confusion before she realized his bulge was no longer pressing into her pelvis.

Oh.

Dominik wished he could let the stars above him swallow him whole.

“Hey,” Rhea urged softly, ushering his head out of her neck and cupping his face to make him look at her. “It’s okay.” She said softly. “It happens.”

“Oh god,” Dominik groaned. “Don’t say it like that!” He whined.

“Like what?” She chuckled.

“Like—like I’m like a kid or something that accidentally peed their pants at school or some shit.”

Rhea made a “yikes” face. “Well….” She trailed off.

“Oh my god I’m gonna throw myself off the balcony.”

She was laughing now, fully amused. “Dom, chill out, it’s not a big deal. That was hot as fuck I would be more offended if you didn’t have that reaction.”

Dominik was looking off to the side, unable to make eye contact with her.

“….Yeah?”

“Duh.” She said with an eyeroll.

Rhea just stared at him for a moment before the gears in her head started turning and the mischief returned to her eyes.

“In fact—” She began as she released his face and let one of her hands trail down his stomach. This got his attention as his eyes snapped back to her just as her nails grazed the waistband of his boxers.

“Rhea—“ Dominik said with wide eyes.

She ignored him completely and slipped her hand inside, collecting some of the mess he made onto her index and middle fingers.

Dominik stared at her in both horror and awe as Rhea pulled her hand out and brought the two fingers right up to her mouth and sucked the sticky substance off with a smirk.

“I liked it.”

He was left speechless.

“What’s the matter Dom Dom?” She teased as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“You’re insane.” He said in disbelief.

“So I’ve been told.” Rhea shrugged. “Plus, you think you’re the only one that got off to that just now? Please.” She scoffed.

Dominik bit down on his lip at the thought.

“Wanna see?” She offered.

“Rhea—“

“Shhh,” She said, pressing a finger up to his lips before taking his hand and guiding it down to her shorts.

Dominik could feel his pulse in his throat as his mouth went dry.

“Go on,” Rhea urged.

Taking a large gulp, Dominik slowly slipped his hand down the front of her shorts and into her underwear. The immediate wetness and warmth his fingers were met with had him about to burst…again.

He let his two fingers rub along her folds for a moment, gaining a small whimper from her as she watched him with hooded eyes. He pulled them out a moment later, eyes now fixated on the shine radiating off of his fingertips.

Rhea leaned over and swirled her tongue around his fingers before taking them into her mouth and sucking the substance off.

Dominik was convinced he wasn’t going to make it out of this room alive before spontaneously combusting like a hot ball of gas in the cosmos.

Rhea was so proud of herself and so amused by the starstruck look on Dominik’s face. She grinned at him before leaning in and kissing the corner of his mouth just to be a little shit.

She removed herself from his lap and strutted off towards the bathroom, not even bothering to put her shirt back on.

Closing the door behind her, Rhea immediately pressed her back against the door and threw her head back with a quiet groan.

God she wanted Dominik so bad, she was spiraling.

He was such a fucking tease and he wasn’t even trying to be.

Rhea was muttering curses under her breath as she washed her hands, having no real reason to be in the bathroom other than to get a fucking grip and scream silently into the abyss of another night of not being able to absolutely pounce on the man like she wanted to.

This was fine. Rhea could wait. This was totally normal.

Lies.

She let out another groan before stomping her foot in frustration and splashing water in her face. Accepting her defeat, Rhea went back into the bedroom where Dominik was already laying on his side under the cover.

Rhea slid in beside him silently, pressing her back into his front as he wrapped a lazy arm around her.

“Are you staying?” She asked.

“Yeah, if that’s cool.”

“Yeah that’s fine.” She answered, trying to keep her voice totally chill, totally normal, totally not feral and horny.

They laid in silence for a while but Rhea’s thoughts were loud.

Be patient. She reminded herself.

Let it go. She tried to tell herself.

But Rhea was Rhea and she simply could not just let it go. So before the very small part of her brain that wasn’t driven by impulse and recklessness could intervene, Rhea opened her mouth and said—

“We should have sex soon.”

And she said it so fucking casually too like she was suggesting a movie or where they should get food from.

Dominik tensed instantly.

“I mean—not like, right now obviously. But sometime in the near future.” She peered over her shoulder at him. “Don’t you think?”

“I, uh—well, uh yeah. Yeah, that would be…nice.” He stammered.

The panic was all over his face, but he agreed and that was enough for Rhea.

“Good.” She said with a pleased hum.

“I’m uh, off on Thursday.” He suggested. “I could come over or you could come over, or whatever.”

Rhea let out a snort. “Are you trying to schedule when we have sex?”

“You said soon!” Dominik defended. “I was just letting you know my availability!”

Lies, he was stalling to give himself time to prepare.

Rhea was well aware of this, but didn’t press.

“Fine.” She agreed. “Thursday it is.” 

Chapter Text

Just like anyone else, Dominik had regrets.

He regretted his nose piercing phase when he was 18.

He regretted selling his motorcycle last year.

He regretted letting his parents convince him to bleach his hair when he was a kid.

But there was nothing he regretted more than mentioning his Thursday plans to Austin.

Because now he was sitting on the futon in Austin and Grayson’s apartment Wednesday evening with his head in his hands.

Austin, who was shirtless and in the middle of chugging a protein shake, was standing before him with a look of determination on his face.

Grayson was sitting on the carpet with his long legs stretched out and Xavier sat in the armchair with one leg crossed over the other, elbows resting on the arms of the chair with his fingers interlocked in front of his face like he was a mafia boss about to present an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Alright gentlemen, this is not a drill,” Austin began as he slowly paced the room. “I have called this emergency meeting because our boy Dom here has been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime: he’s finally taking Rhea, Miss Thunder Thighs, herself to pound town and he needs our help.”

Xavier was already nodding slowly in agreement with the most serious look on his face.

Dominik wanted to light himself on fire at this point. “I don’t need anything. And don’t call her that ever again.” He frowned.

“You guys haven’t had sex yet?” Grayson asked in confusion. “What the hell have you guys been doing all this time?”

Austin rolled his eyes. “Hanging out like bros and making out like horny teenagers.”

“Nice.” Grayson said with a proud grin as he leaned over to give Dominik a fist bump.

“Focus!” Austin said with a clap.

“What kind of vibe are we going for?” Xavier asked suddenly.

Dominik frowned. “Vibe? What does that even mean?”

Xavier leaned forward. “The ambiance! Like the mood, are we thinking slow music and candles, or like red light sex dungeon kinda thing?”

Pressing his palms against his eyes Dominik groaned. “Stop saying we.”

“It’s Rhea,” Grayson began. “Sex dungeon for sure, let her tie you up.”

“No no no no!” Austin fussed, still pacing the room. “Dom’s gotta show her he’s in control! I’m talking like an alpha apex predator, you gotta assert your dominance bro.”

Xavier laughed. “Yeah picture that, Rhea would eat him alive.”

Grayson nodded in agreement. “Aussie girls are fucking intense. Dominik’s about to get mauled like a fucking dingo attacking a koala.”

“…I’m literally sitting right here.” Dominik grumbled.

Grayson looked over at Dominik. “The mood is important though, sets the tone for everything. Rhea’s not the kind of girl you put your playlist on and hope for the best.”

Dominik knew he shouldn’t be listening to a single word any of the idiots were saying, but they were his idiots and he didn’t really have anyone else, so with the deepest sigh, he indulged.

“She has this projector,” He began. “I pointed it at the ceiling and played this video of galaxies and stuff, she seemed to like that.”

Xavier gave a slow nod. “Not bad. Maybe you could switch it up, play an endless loop of a fireplace or something.”

“Or porn.” Grayson offered. “Porn always works.”

Austin let out a scoff. “Hell no. Girls only like lesbian porn, turn that on and next thing you know your face is buried between her legs and she moans out some random girl's name.” He grumbled with a frown.

“Sounds like you're speaking from experience.” Dominik smirked.

Austin pointed a dramatic finger at him. “I will not be mocked by a man who came from dry humping.”

Grayson snorted and fell backward on the carpet, wheezing. Xavier covered his mouth with a fist and turned his head like he was trying to respectfully not laugh and failed miserably.

Dominik sat upright with a glare. “I told you that in confidence!” He hissed through his teeth.

“Yeah, well that was your first mistake.” Austin shrugged.

Fair. Okay so Dominik had two very large regrets now.

“What are you gonna wear?” Grayson asked.

“To have sex?” Dominik asked in confusion. “Um nothing!?”

“No, like before!” Grayson fussed. “Need to borrow my silk robe? It’s cheetah print.”

Austin gave an impressed nod. “I’ve seen it, it’s nice.”

Dominik was rubbing his temples, exasperation all over his face. “No, I don't want to borrow your sex robe! Why would I show up to her house in a fucking robe!?”

“You don’t show up in the robe,” Xavier began. “You pack in your bag…you are packing a bag right?”

“Why the fuck would I need an entire bag?”

The three of them let out collective groans.

“Uh hello, condoms.” Austin listed.

“Candles.” Xavier offered.

“Lube.”

“Hydration and snacks.”

“Handcuffs….well Rhea probably already has those.”

“And a robe.” Grayson concluded, pointing a finger at Dominik who was staring off into space recounting every life choice he had ever made that led him to this moment.

“I’m not packing a bag, I’m not gonna try to ravish her like an apex predator, I’m not wearing a fucking robe, I’m not doing any of this!” He snapped.

A brief silence fell over the room.

“….well what are you going to do?” Xavier asked.

“I’m gonna have sex with her!…I’m going to have sex with Rhea.” The realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Oh my god I’m gonna have sex with Rhea.” He muttered to himself before laying down on his side and clutching his stomach. “Oh god my stomach hurts.”

He was spiraling officially.

Austin ran his hands down his face with a groan. “Great, now he has the nervous shits. See, this is why you need us Dom.”

“Yeah dude, you’re literally turning pale right now.”

Dominik pulled his hood onto his head and yanked the strings of his hoodie like maybe it would just swallow him whole and put him out of his misery.

“Okay, okay,” Xavier began. “Let’s regroup, we’re losing him.”

“Stop stressing mate, she clearly likes you. You have nothing to be nervous about.”

“Yeah bro,” Xavier agreed. “She likes you and she’s intense, you can just literally lay there and let her do all the work.”

Dominik groaned. “I don’t wanna just lay there like a fuck doll, I wanna like…do stuff too.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Austin beamed like a proud parent. “Rough her up a little bit, Rhea’s crazy she’ll like that shit.”

“And you gotta talk her through it, girls love that.” Grayson pointed out. “Just don’t like…accidentally call her bro or something.”

Austin smirked. “Nah he’s gonna be too busy calling her Mamiiiii.” He teased.

“Oooooo Mamiiiiii!” Grayson and Xavier said through fake moans.

Dominik rolled over to bury his face in the cushion and let out the loudest groan his lungs could muster. “You guys are so fucking annoying.”

“Ah come on! Spanish dirty talk will get you everywhere, she’s literally gonna melt. I used to hook up with this one Cuban chick and she would call me her ‘mayor arrepentimiento.’” Austin revealed with a dreamy sigh and a smile on his face. “And then she would fuck me like she hated my guts.”

This got a good snort out of Dominik.

“What does that mean?” Grayson asked.

“I dunno.” Austin shrugged. “Mayor of her pussy or some shit.”

Dominik peeked up slowly. “That’s not—nevermind, close enough.”

“We gotta test some lines, quick, say something sexy in Spanish Dom, go!” Austin said.

“No!”

“Do it!”

Dominik chucked a throw pillow at him and stood to his feet. “Whatever this is, is over! I’m leaving.”

The other three let out groans.

“Dom come onnnn—"

“Enough!” Running his hands down his face, Dominik let out a sigh.

“Look, I’m not gonna, like, try to impress her,” He said finally. “I just…want it to feel good. For both of us. I don’t want it to be weird or performative. I just wanna be with her.”

For once, the room fell quiet.

Austin raised a brow. “Bro…”

“...that was kinda beautiful,” Grayson admitted.

“Shut up.” Dominik groaned.

“No really,” Xavier said with a small smile. “If that’s your vibe, then you’re gonna be fine.”

Dominik glanced over to him. “You think so?”

“Yeah, I mean she already likes you. Just bring your usual lazy charm and luscious mullet and you’ll be fine.”

“And a robe.” Grayson reiterated, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ugh! No robes!” Dominik fussed as he grabbed his keys to get the fuck out of there.

“Good luck Dom! We believe in you!” Xavier called out.

“See you on the other side if she lets you live!”

“Make sure you trim your nails and your balls!” Dominik heard Austin yell out right before slamming the door behind him.

_________________________

Rhea was on the opposite side of town hanging out at Tiffany’s condo.

Aka they were stretched out on opposite ends of her ginormous couch with eye masks on, completely ignoring each other's presence as they scrolled through their phones.

Rhea broke the silence with a small sigh. “We’re having sex tomorrow.” She said oh so casually.

Tiffany peered up from her phone with furrowed brows. “We are?”

Letting out a scoff, Rhea rolled her eyes. “You fucking wish.”

“Damn right I do.”

Ignoring her, Rhea continued. “Not us, me and Dom.”

Tiffany frowned. “Why tomorrow.”

Rhea shrugged. “He picked Thursday.” She said without offering any further explanation. Tiffany was used to Rhea’s cut and dry nonsense by now thankfully.

“O…kay then.” Tiffany dropped her phone into her lap and glanced at Rhea. “You’re finally about to sleep with your future baby daddy, I thought you would be more…enthused.”

“I am.” Rhea defended before sighing. “I’ve just been thinking.”

“Uh oh.” Tiffany said unimpressed.

Rhea threw her head back onto the armrest. “What if I’m like…too much? I’m scared I might break him.”

“Likeeeee, mentally, emotionally, or physically?” She asked, counting them on her fingers.

“Ugh!” Rhea groaned. “All of the above.”

“Oh you will,” Tiffany snorted. “But he’ll be fine I’m sure.”

Tossing a pillow across the room, Rhea groaned again. “What if I scare him off? What if I get too into it and say something fucked up? What if I tell him to choke me and he has a meltdown and panics and passes out like one of those fainting goats?”

“Rhea what the actual fuck are you talking about right now?” Tiffany laughed. “You sound insane.”

“That’s the problemmmmm,” She huffed. “I am insane, and intense. What if I ruin him? What if I do that thing I do when I get really into it and start growling?”

Tiffany let out a gasp. “Oh my God, yes. Do that.”

“Tiff!”

Rhea tossed her head to the front of the couch, flipping her body upside down with her legs dangling over the back of the couch like maybe she could force all the blood to rush to her brain and stop her spiraling.

“I don’t get what you’re so worried about. You have been talking about jumping his bones constantly and now you finally are. He already knows you're intense Rhea and it hasn’t scared him off yet.”

“You don’t get it!” She fussed. “Dom is sweet. And weird. And funny. And he’s always kind of smirking like he knows something I don’t. And he’s been doing this little fidget thing with his fingers when he’s nervous, and every time he does it I wanna tackle him and devour his soul.”

Tiffany grimaced. “You sound lovesick.”

Rhea’s hands rushed up to her face with a groan. “I’m not, I’m just…I don’t know.”

“Aww you’re in your feelings,” Tiffany said proudly. “I love this for you. I’ve never seen you this spun out. It’s kinda hot. Keep going.”

“God, I hate this. I don’t get nervous. I am the nervous system.” Rhea fussed.

Tiffany’s voice softened slightly. “Okay, okay real talk. You like Dominik. Like, actual like. Not just ‘he’s hot and doesn’t talk too much’ like. You stare at your phone like a teenager every time he texts you.”

“I do not.”

“You giggle, Rhea.”

“Shut up.”

Tiffany grinned. “You like him. Which is great! But now you’re freaking out that your usual freaky-deaky self is gonna scare him off.”

Rhea groaned. “I will scare him off! I’ve got the stamina of a demon and I once made a guy tap out during foreplay.”

“Ugh! Shut up. My point is, you’re not gonna break him. You’re gonna blow his goddamn mind. It’s going to be the greatest three minutes of his life.”

“Oh God,” Rhea muttered, officially throwing her body onto the carpet with a dramatic flop.

Tiffany was cackling by now. “I’m just joking!...well hopefully.” She said, pursing her lips in contemplation. “.....are you just worried about you being too much or are you worried about him not being good too?”

Rhea flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. “I don’t know, I’m not that worried about that. He’s just so…gentle. Like he touches me like I’m delicate and looks at me like I’m a literal goddess and it makes me feel all weird and horny. He’s gonna be such a nervous fucking wreck tomorrow I can already see it. Him and his stupid, cute face.”

Tiffany smiled softly now, less teasing. “Of course he’ll be nervous because he wants it to go well. Same way you do.”

Rhea started picking with her nails. “I’ve never had to worry about that before. I don’t usually care if I’m too much. That’s sort of the point.”

“But Dominik’s not just a hookup,” Tiffany said gently.

Rhea’s jaw worked like she was chewing on concrete.

“No,” She finally admitted. “He’s not.”

There was a small moment of silence.

Tiffany leaned forward, nudging Rhea who was still sprawled on the ground with her foot. “You like him.” She reiterated.

“I’m fucked,” Rhea groaned, flopping sideways and hiding her face in her hands.

“Totally fucked.” Tiffany agreed. “That’s what you’re really worried about; you’re scared he’s gonna be all soft and gentle with you and next thing you know, boom! Your brain and heart turn to mush and your pussy starts leaking like a faucet.”

Tiffany was right, that was exactly what Rhea was worried about. She was already catching feelings faster than her mouth would ever allow her to openly admit and it was scaring the absolute shit out of her and Rhea wasn’t scared of anything.

“He just got out of a relationship.” She muttered quietly. “Like a real one. I’ve never even had a real relationship before.”

Tiffany glanced down at her friend on the ground with sympathetic eyes.

“People don’t date people like me, Tiff.” Rhea frowned. “And Dom’s not like the guys that usually go for me. He’s…soft in weird ways. Not weak, just—he cares. He thinks too hard. He second guesses everything. He doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”

“I think he does.” Tiffany said. “He’s not stupid….okay, he’s a little stupid—”

“He’s so stupid.” Rhea groaned but there was a faint smirk on her face.

“—BUT not about this! You think he hasn’t noticed you’re a chaos demon with anger issues and a love language that’s 60% acts of violence?”

“...and 40% unsolicited gym advice,” Rhea mumbled from the floor.

“True.” Tiffany agreed.

Rhea sighed dramatically, like the world was ending and she was just too tired to stop it.

“I mean I kinda do want to scare him a little,” She admitted. “Not enough to make him run, but like…just enough to keep him on his toes.”

“There’s my girl!”

“But what if he hates it? Like, what if he doesn’t like rough or me taking charge or—or choking him just a little, like gently, like a reward.”

Tiffany blinked. “That’s very specific.”

“I’ve thought about this extensively. Ugh! This is why I don’t plan things! I should’ve just showed up at his apartment and ravished him right on the floor days ago.”

“Welp you didn’t” Tiffany quipped. “And now you have a dick appointment with a man with two–”

“Four.” Rhea interrupted quickly. “He has four towels and he’s an Aries thank you very much.”

Tiffany gasped. “He is!? Omg that’s soooo cute!”

Rhea sat up slightly to look at Tiffany who was absolutely gushing. “What the hell are you on about?”

“Rhea,” She said in exasperation. “You’re a Libra! You guys are literally sister signs, this is amazing!”

“Sister what?” She frowned.

Tiffany was already typing away on her phone with her nails. “Sister signs! You’re complementary to each other. Ugh! This makes so much sense!” She exclaimed as she flashed her screen at Rhea.

“You two are like opposite opposites. You’re the most impulsive Libra I have ever met in my fucking life and he’s an Aries that actually second guesses himself constantly? This is like a soulmate level pairing!” Tiffany gasped again. “Omg maybe you were right, it is fate!”

Rhea had tuned Tiffany’s rant out by now, unmoved by the article she was shoving in her face. Instead she flopped back down onto her back, eyes locked on the ceiling.

Soulmates.

Well that’s terrifying.

Suddenly, Rhea developed an entire new kind of fear; the fear that Rhea would end up wanting him more than he wanted her.

Tiffany noticed the change in her friend’s posture, not that Rhea had been particularly upright to begin with, but the way she melted into the plush carpet now was distinctly more existential.

“Oooooh no,” Tiffany said cautiously, nudging her again with her foot. “I know that face. You’re thinking too much again.”

“I hate it here,” Rhea said, mumbling into the carpet as she turned her head.

Tiffany dropped her phone onto the coffee table with a soft thud, giving up the Sister Sign article for now. “Alright, spill it. What just spiraled through your demon brain this time?”

“I think…” Rhea paused, her voice muffled by the rug, “I might want him more than he wants me.”

Tiffany didn’t laugh this time. Didn’t tease. Just watched her for a second before asking–

“Where’s that coming from?”

“I dunno,” Rhea muttered. “It’s just—he’s still figuring things out. He doesn’t even know what he wants from life, let alone from me. And I’m just…all in. Or I will be. I know myself. I can already feel it creeping in, like I’m teetering on the edge of a cliff with no fucking harness. And it’s like—I wanna fall. But what if I jump and he doesn’t?”

“Jesus Christ,” Tiffany said, voice soft. “You’re not in your feelings. You’re drowning in them.”

“I’m gonna die,” Rhea declared dramatically.

“No you’re not.”

“I am,” She continued. “They’ll find my body in the gym curled up next to a weight rack, whispering ‘Dominik’ into the abyss.”

Tiffany flopped down onto the floor beside her, lying parallel like they were two corpses in a crime scene of feelings.

“You’re gonna be fine Rhea, nobody dies from liking someone.”

“I might!” Rhea complained. “I’ve never liked someone like this before, my organs are going to fail on me out of sheer confusion.”

Tiffany snorted. “You’re such a mess. A sexy, terrifying mess.”

They laid there in silence for a moment, staring at the ceiling like it might offer better advice.

“…he has this way of looking at me,” Rhea murmured eventually, quieter now. “Like I’m a fucking sunrise. And I know that’s gross and romantic, but it makes my chest feel like it’s going to explode.”

“That’s not gross,” Tiffany said. “It’s kinda beautiful.”

“I don’t do beautiful, Tiff.” Rhea said firmly. “I do powerful, and strong….and occasionally slutty depending on the outfit.”

“You do all of that and you’re beautiful,” Tiffany shrugged. “You just don’t let people see it all at once. Dominik sees it. That’s the problem, isn’t it?”

Rhea swallowed hard. “Yeah. That’s the problem. Ughhh he’s going to ruin me isn’t he.”

“Oh absolutely,” Tiffany chuckled. “He’s gonna kiss your forehead and hand you a joint and call you something stupid in Spanish like preciosa and you’re gonna fucking short circuit.”

Rhea was already throwing her hands to her face when Tiffany caught her wrist and interlocked their fingers and gave her hand a squeeze.

“But, you’re gonna survive and you’re gonna like it and so will he, even if you do growl and try to break his spine.”

Rhea cracked a real smile then, tossing her head back with a dry little chuckle. “He’s got the dumbest smirk when he’s trying to act like he’s not nervous.”

“And it makes you want to jump him, doesn’t it?”

“It makes me want to climb him like a tree and whisper filthy things in his ear while he blushes like a whore.”

Tiffany giggled. “That’s like, actually really romantic coming from you. But my point is, Rhea, he knows you. Or at least he’s learning you. And you’re scared because he’s not trying to change you. He’s trying to see you. And that’s more terrifying than anything else.”

Rhea stared at her best friend, then muttered, “I hate when you go all therapist Barbie on me.”

Tiffany beamed. “I know, I’m amazing. Let him be soft.” She offered, squeezing Rhea’s hand again.

“Let him take care of you,” She continued. “Even if it’s weird. Especially if it’s weird.”

“I’m gonna throw up.” Rhea muttered.

“You’re gonna cum.”

“Tiff!”

“What, it’s true!” Tiffany said, standing and stretching. “And I better get a play-by-play. I wanna know what his weird sex face looks like.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Rhea grumbled.

As Tiffany wandered into the kitchen, Rhea flopped backward again and stared at the ceiling. 

She wasn’t used to worrying about scaring people away. Usually, she didn’t care. Usually, they left before she had the chance to.

But this time… she cared.

Too much, or maybe, hopefully, just enough.

Chapter Text

Did Dominik actually trim his nails and balls? Yes he did.

Was he wearing his good boxers? Better believe it.

Was he still a nervous fucking wreck as he took the elevator up to Rhea's floor? Absolutely.

He didn't pack a bag, just shoved two condoms in his wallet optimistically and prayed to any and every god that would listen to his pleas to last at least two songs and to not utterly embarrass himself in any way, shape, or form.

Reaching Rhea's door, he lifted his fist to knock but the door swung open before he even could.

She stood before him in just an oversized band tee with her hair down, falling to her shoulders with her bangs brushed back away from her face.

"Hi." Rhea said with the faintest smile.

"Hey." Dominik smirked as he followed her inside. "Waiting around for me again?" He teased, kicking his shoes off.

"Maybe." She shrugged. "Or maybe my Dom Dom senses were tingling." Rhea was walking ahead of him, right past the living room and heading towards her bedroom.

"Ooooh so now you can sense me?" He chuckled as he watched the subtle switch of her hips as she walked, bare feet padding against the floor.

"Yeah it's the craziest thing," She began, peering over her shoulder at him with a smirk. "My nipple piercings start going off like sonar now when you're close by."

Dominik let out a laugh as he followed her into her room, his anxiousness starting to melt away. "Shut up."

They had purposely not seen each other since the night they "planned" this and the tension in the room was thick to say the least.

Dominik noticed very quickly that Rhea took the whole "ambiance" thing into her own hands; the LED lights that bordered the room lit in a deep purple, a few of the candles scattered around the room were lit making the room smell mainly of lavender and eucalyptus.

Rhea stood next to the bed and turned to face him as she watched him begin to shrug out of his tshirt and sweats.

She bit down on her lip, picking with her nails. Rhea already knew Dominik was going to be nervous, it was Dominik so she decided to even the playing field and do something that would equally make her nervous.

Maybe it would keep things from getting awkward if they were both nervous, maybe it would keep her from being too much if she was nervous.

"I have to show you something." Rhea said in a voice softer than usual.

Dominik had just finished taking his sweats off as he glanced at her with his eyebrow raised. "What is it?"

Gripping the hem of her shirt with slightly shaky hands, she pulled the oversized tee over her head and tossed it to the ground.

Rhea stood before him in a black, lacy bodysuit with sheer panels in all the right places and delicate floral patterns along her ribs.

She didn't do lingerie, not like this. Rhea was more leather and chains and anything that made her look like she could and would eat you alive. She wasn't used to presenting herself in something so feminine, so delicate, something that just screamed softness and chipped away at her hard edges.

Dominik's eyes trailed her body and Rhea noticed the second his eyes changed. They weren't staring at her in the way of awe and reverence that she had become accustomed to.

His eyes darkened, his stare heavy in what she could only describe as hunger. It made her swallow hard.

Dominik's feet were already moving before he could even think about it.

"Mami..." He muttered as he approached her, his hands instantly finding her waist. Any lingering nerves he had were replaced with desire the second she took her shirt off.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

Dominik's hands smoothed up her sides, fingers brushing the scalloped lace, reverent but undeniably greedy.

"Like it?" He scoffed softly, mouth quirking into something crooked and breathless. "Rhea...you're perfect."

There it was; the softness again that confused her and left her breathless. She fought her natural instinct to tell him to shut up or shove him and instead draped her arms around his shoulders.

"Thank you."

His eyes lingered over her body before finally meeting her eyes.

"...you wore this for me?" He asked, his voice low and lazy.

"Maybe." She muttered, turning her head to look off to the side but his thumbs started rubbing slow circles into her hips, grounding her.

"I think you did."

"Shut up," She mumbled automatically, but it lacked any real venom. More like a knee-jerk reflex from years of being too cool to admit she cared.

Dominik's voice dipped just a bit lower as he leaned in, brushing his nose against her cheek, "Nuh uh, don't go all shy on me now. You don't get to put this on and then act like you tripped and fell into it."

"I could've," Rhea murmured, trying and failing to sound unbothered. "Maybe I was just lounging around the house like this."

He huffed a laugh against her skin. "Yeah? Just vacuuming in lingerie like a pinup or some shit?"

Rhea cracked a smile, cheeks coloring just slightly. It was just enough for him to notice and tuck that moment somewhere sacred. He kissed her jaw, slow and lazy, his stubble grazing her skin and making her shiver.

"Fuck," He muttered, a little dazed. "You make it really hard to think."

"Good," She breathed, her fingers curling in the hair at the nape of his neck. "I want you stupid for me."

Dominik smirked against her skin. "I've been past stupid Mami."

Rhea giggled. She didn't fucking mean to but she did and now she wanted to vomit.

"You wanna lay down?" She quickly asked, a little too casual, as if her pulse wasn't sprinting.

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah."

She climbed onto the bed first, making herself comfortable on her back as she watched him dig into his sweats on the ground to fish out his phone and his wallet.

He connected his phone to the Bluetooth speaker on her dresser and started his playlist, saying another quick prayer to last at least two damn songs before tossing his wallet and phone on the nightstand.

Dominik climbed on to the bed, crawling towards her in absolutely no rush.

He settled between her legs, resting on his forearms. "You good?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You?"

"Genuinely might black out. But like...in a sexy way."

That made her laugh—an unguarded, belly-deep laugh that loosened every remaining knot in his chest. She pulled him down by his chain and kissed him, slow and deep, and so unlike her usual rough self that Dominik was on the verge of going dizzy.

His hands started to roam her in reverence; trailing down her sides, pressing his thumbs into her hips, gripping the flesh of her thighs in a way that made her gasp into his mouth.

He pulled back slightly at her reaction. "Is this okay?" Dominik asked and Rhea could hear the pang of nervousness in his voice.

It prompted her to grip his chin in her hand much rougher than she intended to. "Anything you want to do to me is okay." She revealed. "You're not gonna break me Dom."

His eyes were wandering to the side already. "I know I just—"

She jerked his head back to her, eyes low and piercing. "Don't hold back." It was more of a demand than an invitation and Dominik heard her loud and clear.

They stared at each other for a moment, the energy in the room charged with the permission she had just granted him before Dominik nodded in agreement.

"Okay," He said more to himself than her.

And then he kissed her again—really kissed her. Like he finally realized he was allowed to, like he'd been holding back for weeks and the dam just cracked.

There was no hesitation this time, no second-guessing. His mouth was hot and urgent, his teeth catching her bottom lip, his hands sliding down her sides to cup her thighs and pull her closer, flush against him.

Rhea's head fell back with a quiet, "Fuck..." as he kissed down her neck, letting his tongue leave wet, hot trails along her skin. His pursuit was greedy but the gentle affection he always showed her was still there despite the fact that he was currently sinking his teeth into her jaw.

She wasn't used to this kind of softness from him. Dominik didn't just worship—he devoured with steady hands and low, hungry eyes. He was so in it, like her body was sacred that Rhea instinctively started to arch off the bed.

He kissed down her chest, his nose brushing the delicate lace over her breasts, and she felt it again—that flutter low in her belly that had nothing to do with nerves and everything to do with how carefully he touched her.

Dominik looked up at her as his fingers traced the curve of her hip, the sheer panel of her bodysuit barely veiling her. "You sure?" He asked again, quieter this time.

Rhea didn't roll her eyes. Didn't snap. She just nodded and ran her fingers through his hair, nails grazing his scalp.

"Yeah, Papi," She muttered, and fuck, she didn't even mean to say it like that, but it slipped out on instinct.

His hands stilled, peering up at her with widened eyes. His dick literally jumped in his boxers.

That woke him the fuck up.

Dominik continued his journey down her body, hands roaming every inch that he could. Rhea was trying to keep her breathing under control every time she felt his fingers dig into her skin, fighting the urge of impatience that wanted to grind her hips to feel any kind of friction.

He finally settled between her legs, his head resting lazily on her thigh. He ran his fingers right across the clasp of the bodysuit that rested against her center.

Rhea hissed through her teeth at the featherlight touch and his hand gilded back and forth.

Dominik watched her react to his touch before teasingly popping one of the three buttons with a smirk on his face. She was a squirming mess of frustration and she was trying so hard not to show it or just simply flip them over and ravish him until he was begging for mercy.

His fingers continued their lazy dance along the sheer material that was doing little to separate him from the wetness that was starting to seep through. He popped another button before firmly pressing his thumb to her clit, making her gasp as she threw her head back.

"Don't hold back doesn't mean be a fucking tease either." She complained through gritted teeth.

Dominik grinned against the inside of her thigh, the smug little shit that he was, practically vibrating with pride.

"You gotta be more specific with your instructions, Mami," He said, voice low and thick with amusement. "You told me not to hold back, but you didn't say I couldn't take my time."

Rhea narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, exhaling hard through her nose like she was debating whether to choke him out or ride him senseless. Possibly both.

Definitely both.

"Dominik..." She warned, voice tense, hips shifting restlessly.

"Yes?" He blinked up at her, all mock innocence while his fingers popped the last clasp open with a sinful little click.

Dominik rolled the bodysuit up to her stomach and pushed her thighs further apart to put her on full display.

Rhea felt exposed, but not in a way that made her shrink. She could feel how wet she was, could see the way his eyes drank her in like he'd been starving and just now got permission to eat.

His fingers finally found their way to where she wanted, gliding through her wetness as his lips sat slightly parted in awe.

The purple lights in the room reflecting off the shine covering in her center truly did make her seem otherworldly. Dominik let out a small groan just from hearing the sounds of her wetness mixed with the shaky moans Rhea was letting out mingling in the air.

"Dom..." She tried again, but it came out softer, needier, and that only fed the beast in him.

"I know, Mami," He said, pressing a kiss just to the inside of her thigh. "I know."

And then—blissfully, finally, he gave in.

Dominik licked a long, slow stripe through her folds and groaned like it physically pained him how good she tasted. His grip on her thighs tightened as she bucked beneath him, and he immediately doubled down, mouth open and greedy and thorough as he devoured her like she was something meant to be consumed.

Rhea's fingers dove into his hair, tugging hard enough to make him groan against her.

"Fuck—Papi—" She gasped, and that did it. That absolutely did it.

She bucked her hips up again, trying to grind against his mouth but he gripped her thighs and pinned her down with a strength that caught her off guard.

"Don't make me tie you up," He warned between licks, breath warm and ragged. "I'll do it. You think I won't?"

"Oh my god," She choked out, eyes wide and glassy. "Who are you right now?"

"You called me Papi," Dominik muttered against her core. "You brought this on yourself."

He sucked her clit between his lips, moaning low and filthy as he worked her with his mouth and tongue, one hand snaking up to press flat against her stomach to keep her grounded as her back arched up off the bed.

Rhea was absolutely losing it. She could feel the rapid beat of her heart slamming against her chest and her breathing went ragid. The way he touched her was like worship and chaos all in one; like he wanted to own her but never break her.

She cursed through a growl, one leg jerking as her body tried to decide between staying still or breaking apart completely the second his two fingers slipped inside of her.

"Right there—fuck, don't you dare fucking stop." She groaned, fingers still fisted in his hair. "Right fucking there, Dom—"

He hummed in satisfaction, doubling his efforts; his tongue moving more greedily, fingers pumping in and out of her faster.

She could barely breathe; every inhale was shaky, every exhale a broken moan caught between disbelief and desperation.

Dominik didn't let up.

He couldn't.

Not when she sounded like this. Not when she tasted like this.

"Right there," She cried again, breath hitching, hips twitching against his mouth before he pinned her tighter, hand still planted firm on her stomach like an anchor.

"You're so close, I can feel it," He murmured against her, the vibration of his voice dragging another strangled gasp out of her. "Don't hold back Mami. Let me feel it."

That was all it took. Rhea came hard, voice breaking into a whimper that embarrassed the hell out of her even as it echoed in the room. Her hips bucked and Dominik held her down, working her through it until she was panting, twitching, and half-feral with overstimulation.

He didn't stop, didn't slow down until she was clawing at his shoulders and panting like she'd just run a marathon.

Dominik looked up grinning like the devil, chin shiny, eyes dark and drunk with her. Rhea reached for him, hair wild, breath uneven, pupils blown wide.

He crawled up her body, fingers still hooked inside her and moving at a much slower, gentler pace.

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as he hovered over her. Dominik leaned in to kiss her, lips millimeters away from hers before he pulled back just enough that she found herself leaning forward, chasing his lips.

Dominik chuckled at the small whine she let out when he leaned in just to pull back again.

Rhea huffed in frustration. God, he was so smug.

"You're gonna pay for that." She warned as she dug her nails into his shoulders to keep him from moving again.

"Oh I'm sure," He muttered through a moan against her lips, finally giving in and kissing her. Rhea's tongue prodded into his mouth anxiously to taste herself on his tongue.

Dominik groaned as she deepened this kiss, fingers still teasing inside of her as her hips moved in restless circles.

She bit down on his bottom lip hard and pulled away.

"Off." Rhea demanded. "Get me out of this thing and take your fucking boxers off." She rushed out quickly in desperate need to feel his skin pressed against hers.

"Yes, ma'am," He mumbled, voice half laugh, half moan. He sat up and ushered Rhea to lift her arms as he rolled to bodysuit up her torso and chucked it to the ground without a care and removed his boxers as well.

Rhea was laying on her back, chest heaving in anticipation. "Did you bring a condom?"

Dominik was already reaching for his wallet on the nightstand. "I brought two." He stated proudly.

She rolled her eyes with a snort. "Optimistic are we?"

"I haven't even really done anything yet and look at you, a mess. I'm very optimistic." He smirked.

Smug little shit

"Shut up and fuck me, Dom," Rhea groaned, clawing at his hips now. "Before I put your ass through the wall."

He ripped the wrapper with his teeth, barely managing to roll it on before she hooked a leg around his waist and pulled him in.

Dominik pushed into her in one long, slow, toe-curling stroke that made them both groan.

"Shit," He hissed through clenched teeth, burying his face into her shoulder as he stilled, completely surrounded by her. "You feel—fuck—you feel insane, Rhea."

She let out a broken laugh, her fingers clawing at his back. "Start moving Dom, I'm not a patient woman. I will flip us the fuck over." Rhea reminded him.

Dominik snorted at that, his laugh getting swallowed in the low, thick moan she gave as he began to move. He began slowly and Rhea could feel it. Every damn inch. Every vein and pulse and drag of him sliding into her had her gasping, her nails sinking into his biceps as her eyes fluttered shut.

She let out something between a whimper and a growl, and it made Dominik smirk as he peered down at her. He slid one hand under her thigh and lifted it, angling her hips up just enough to drive in deeper.

He loved this. The chaos in her, the way she surrendered without losing her fire. He loved how her confidence never faltered, even as she unraveled beneath him.

Rhea pulled him in closer, leg still hooked tight around his waist as her other foot planted firmly against the mattress to help her meet each thrust. Her mouth fell open as she arched up into him, her body vibrating with the force of each stroke, each one hitting that perfect spot that had her cursing and moaning and whimpering all at once.

He was addicted to the sounds she made, stroking her with precision so he could keep hearing them.

Dominik leaned back on his knees just enough to get a better angle, his hands gripping her hips now like they were made to fit in his palms. He watched the way she reacted, the way her body arched and trembled, her breasts bouncing with each motion.

"Fuck, look at you," He muttered, staring down at her like she was a miracle. "You're unreal, Rhea. You feel so good, I can't—shit—No puedo creer que seas real."

"Oh god," Rhea gasped out.

Her head dropped back against the pillow like she'd been struck, fingers curling around the sheets in a death grip. "Say that again" She breathed out. "Say that shit again."

Dominik groaned as he drove into her a little harder, a little deeper. The muscles in his arms trembled with restraint as he lowered over her again, their skin slick and sliding together with every sharp thrust.

"No puedo creer que seas real," He whispered against her ear, his breath hot and reverent, sending shivers straight down her spine. "Estás fuera de este mundo, Mami. My fucking goddess."

Rhea whined, low and broken, turning her head to bite down on his shoulder—teeth sinking into his skin with no regard and making him groan and rut into her with less control. Her legs locked around his waist, dragging him impossibly closer as if she was trying to fuse them together.

"You're obsessed with me," She breathed, dazed and cocky all at once, lips brushing his jaw. "Fucking obsessed."

"You have no idea," Dominik muttered, catching her mouth in a kiss that was more teeth and tongue than finesse. His rhythm was rougher now, deeper, more frantic, as if her saying it out loud unlocked something primal in him. "You think I don't dream about this shit? You think I haven't lost my mind thinking about you every goddamn day?"

She loved this. The contradiction of him—how he could be so gentle, so considerate, and then turn around and wreck her like he was built to do it. Like it was in his damn blood.

God, she wanted to ruin him and then she suddenly remembered she could.

Tightening her thighs around his waist, she gripped his shoulders before flipping their position. He looked up at her with widened eyes and a tired chuckle as she straddled his lap, mischief all in her eyes.

"My turn." Rhea teased with a smirk so sinister it made his dick twitch.

Dominik barely had time to breathe, let alone protest, before Rhea rolled her hips down onto him again—slow, controlled, torturously deliberate. His head hit the pillow with a thud, hands shooting up to grab her waist, thumbs digging in like he didn't trust her not to completely destroy him. Which was fair because she was absolutely going to.

"Jesus Christ," He groaned, eyes rolling back as she clenched around him. "You're gonna kill me."

"That's the idea," Rhea said sweetly, leaning down to drag her tongue up the column of his throat. "Now shut up and take it like a good boy."

Dominik let out a strained laugh that melted into a groan the second she started to ride him in slow, rolling waves, her palms splayed against his chest for balance. His hands roamed up her thighs, over her hips, up her stomach to cup her breasts, thumbs flicking over her nipples just to watch her bite her lip and throw her head back.

She arched her back, hands sliding up into her wild hair as she rode him, unapologetically filthy, gloriously in control.

"Dom," She breathed out. "I need you—fuck." Rhea was cut off by his hips thrusted to to meet hers.

"What do you need Mami?" He drawled through a moan.

"I need you...to choke me right the fuck now."

His groan was low, guttural, down right feral—as his hand flew to her throat.

"You really are trying to kill me," He rasped, sitting up just enough to wrap his hand around her throat, thumb brushing along the underside of her jaw.

She grinned in pure pleasure, wicked and beautiful, her breath catching beneath his grip.

Just the look on her face was enough for him to buck his hips up and tighten his grip around her throat, much to Rhea's delight.

"That's it," She moaned, voice ragged and warm, "Choke me a little harder, Papi. I want to feel it tomorrow."

Dominik complied very quickly, fingers digging into the flesh of her throat.

She gasped, mouth falling open in a breathless curse, her body jerking against him. Her hands wrapped around his large wrist, not to stop him but to encourage him, inviting more pressure to be applied.

"Fuck Dominik," She was able to moan out hoarsely.

Her rhythm faltered as he took over, thrusting up into her with brutal precision, hand still wrapped around her throat like a promise.

He was watching her like she was his favorite sin. Eyes dark, mouth parted, sweat trickling down his temples, his other hand trailing down her stomach to find her clit again.

"Ride me, Mami," He growled, voice rough of desire. "Come on. Show me how pretty you look when you fall apart."

That was it. That was the fuse. The match. The ignition.

Rhea found her balance again and bounced herself relentlessly up and down before she completely fell apart.

She cursed so loud it echoed, hips stuttering as she fell forward, forearms bracing against his chest while her body clenched down around him like a vice. Her walls clenched him so tightly that Dominik was following right behind her, spilling into the condom with a guttural moan.

For a moment, the world went still.

Their bodies locked together in a tangle of sweat and gasps and blissed-out chaos, hearts hammering against each other.

They finally collapsed back against the mattress together, Rhea sprawled across his chest.

"You good?" She mumbled against his collarbone.

"Fantastic," He breathed out.

Rhea chuckled, glancing up at his sweat covered face with a mischievous smirk.

"Still feeling optimistic about that second condom?" She teased with a raised brow.

Dominik's chest was still heaving up and down as he formulated his next sentence.

"Y-yeah sure." He said between pants. "Just give me 10 minutes and maybe a Capri sun."

Rhea snorted and rolled her eyes before flicking his ear with her nails.

"You're a bloody idiot." She declared as she climbed off of him and strutted off to the kitchen to get some electrolytes for the man-child in her bed that just fucked her silly and then immediately asked for a juice box.

Chapter Text

Rhea was the first to stir awake. Her leg was thrown over Dominik's middle, face buried in the crook of his neck. She let out a soft sigh as her eyes fluttered open.

The sun had barely begun to spill into the room so she knew it had to be early. She sat up a little and stared at Dominik who was still sleeping peacefully, chest rising and falling in a soft rhythm with his lips slightly parted.

Rhea observed as the breaths he was letting out caused his mustache hairs to flutter with every exhale and smiled to herself...until she realized what the fuck she was doing and scoffed quietly and rolled her eyes.

Last night was everything and then some. The second round Dominik gladly let Rhea take the reigns and now he was worn out, passed out, and knocked the fuck out.

Her eyes landed on the discarded body suit on her floor and bit down on her lip.

Rhea dragged a hand down her face and let her head drop back onto the pillow with a quiet groan. She was sore in places that had no business being sore; her thighs, her neck, definitely her ego as she recalled every time Dominik had her whimpering like a damsel in distress.

And the worst part—

She wanted more. Scratch that, she needed more.

It was pathetic really.

She peeked over at him again, narrowing her eyes like maybe she could convince herself this was just a casual hookup.

But then he made this stupid little noise in his sleep, like a sleepy huff, like he was annoyed that Rhea had rolled away from him as his hand blindly reached out to rest on her thigh.

"Oh, hell no." She muttered under her breath, trying to untangle herself without waking him. "Nope. Not doing this. You don't get to be hot, good in bed and cute in your sleep. That's just greedy."

___________________________

Hours later, Dominik had finally woken up and he was sore to say the least.

He instantly let out a groan as his eyes opened and he stretched his arms above his head.

"Fuck," He muttered, sitting up and twisting his torso to relieve some of the tension in his back. Rhea put him through fucking wringer and he loved every second of it.

The energy between them had shifted last night in a way that was hard to ignore, but better believe he was going to try to anyway.

He rolled his eyes to himself at the thought and swung his legs over the bed, and winced.

"Jesus Christ, my hips hurt. What the hell was I doing? Pilates?"

Dominik dragged himself upright like an old man, reaching for his boxers with the elegance of a wounded gazelle. He was halfway through slipping them on when he noticed something that made him narrow his eyes.

His boxers and sweats were right on the floor where he left them but his shirt was nowhere to be found again.

"Of course," He muttered with an eyeroll but there was a faint smirk on his face.

His eyes wandered around Rhea's bedroom before they landed on something hanging off the back of the door that made his smirk widen.

By the time Rhea heard Dominik's footsteps coming down the hall, she had already had her first cup of morning coffee and protein shake, worked out for two hours, showered and slipped into Dominik's shirt where she stood in the kitchen slicing up some fruit.

She had also come to terms with the fact that there was absolutely nothing casual about what they were doing and the fact that Rhea wanted more. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with this revelation just yet though.

Rhea glanced up when she heard him walk in the kitchen and her mouth immediately fell open with a scoff.

"Absolutely not." She declared.

Dominik was sauntering into the kitchen lazily, yawning while scratching at his bare chest that was barely peeking out of her plush, black robe that he had thrown on and tied around himself like it was his.

"What?" He smirked as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Take that off!"

"Take off my shirt."

"No." Rhea frowned.

"Well then no." Dominik declared, crossing his arms against his chest.

Rhea narrowed her eyes at him as they had a stare down for a moment before she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, fine whatever."

Dominik grinned victoriously before grabbing a seat at the island.

She had just finished cutting another piece of pineapple, stabbing it onto the knife before leaning forward and presenting it to him.

"You sleep okay?" Rhea asked as he met her halfway and bit the pineapple off the end of the knife.

"Mhmm," He said, muffled through bites. "I'm sore as hell though. I think you realigned my spine. Do I look taller? I feel taller."

Rhea let out a snort.

"You're not taller," She said flatly, grabbing another piece of pineapple. "...but your ego might be."

"Oh it definitely is." He smirked as reached across the counter to pluck a grape from the bowl only to have Rhea pop his hand in his pursuit.

"Wash your hands gremlin, I don't know where they've been."

Rolling his eyes, Dominik stood and walked over to the sink. "Inside you," He grumbled just loud enough for her to hear.

"Hey!" She threatened, pointing the knife at him.

"It's the truth Mami," He said with a shrug as he quickly washed his hands.

Rhea snorted again, soft and involuntary, and cursed herself immediately for it. This should be weird, this should be awkward but it wasn't. It just felt natural, like this was just a completely normal morning for them and Rhea really liked that.

"Are you okay forreal though?" Dominik asked as he returned to his seat.

Glancing up at him, Rhea gave a small nod. "Yeah I'm good, you?"

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Good."

"Good." He repeated with a small grin and soft eyes that made her stomach flutter.

She slid the fruit bowl and knife toward him with a small clatter and turned to pour herself another cup of coffee, her back to him now, because if he kept looking at her like that she was going to start humming or twirling her hair or doing something equally unforgivable.

The silence lingered in the kitchen, warm and a little hazy. Dominik took a bite of melon, chewing slowly, eyes still fixed on the shape of Rhea's back. Her shoulders flexed as she poured her coffee, muscles taut from her morning workout. She was already back to being her usual terrifying self, yet somehow still wearing his shirt and cutting up fruit for him like it was nothing.

Like they were nothing.

Which they absolutely were, obviously. Nothing. Just two hot, emotionally unavailable people who happened to have mind-blowing, soul-shattering sex. Twice. In one night. And laughed about it in the morning. And wore each other's clothes. And ate breakfast together. And looked at each other like—

Dominik blinked. "Fuck me."

Rhea turned slightly. "What?"

He cleared his throat. "Uh—nothing."

"It's too early for your horny little thoughts Dominik." She teased, making him roll his eyes. "Take a girl to dinner or something first you slut."

The words slipped out playfully before she could stop them, her hand stilling mid pour. Rhea could practically feel Dominik's smug ass smirk from behind her.

"I didn't mea—"

"You want me to take you on a date, Mami?" The evident amusement in his voice made her scoff as she turned to finally face him, mug in hand and a scowl on her face.

"That's not what I meant." She defended.

"Okay then," Dominik shrugged. "No date then."

He caught the faintest pout on her face before she tried to hide it by taking a sip of her coffee.

"Fine." She agreed, trying to sound unbothered. "You working today?" Rhea asked to change the subject.

"Yeah," Dominik groaned as he popped a piece of melon in his mouth. "I gotta head home soon to get ready."

Another pout.

"That's cool," She tried to brush off nonchalantly. "I have a massage appointment in two hours anyway."

Dominik's jaw dropped. "You're getting a massage after last night? That's cheating!" He frowned. "I'm about to be on my feet for 8 hours sore as hell while you're getting rubbed down."

Rhea let out a chuckle. "Sucks to suck. I told you to stretch before the second round, rookie mistake." She shrugged. "Plus you're literally never standing when I come to your job, you lean and sit on everything like it's furniture."

"Because it is." He defended.

Dominik watched her as she plucked a pineapple from the bowl, licking the juice off her thumb.

"....where do you get your massages anyway?" He asked. "Some luxurious spa with big, brute Bulgarian motherfuckers or something?" He muttered as he stabbed a piece of melon with the knife.

Rhea raised a brow at him with a smirk. Dominik was so jealous sometimes and she loved it.

"I do go to a spa but my masseuse is an older Brazilian lady named Julienne with hands bigger than yours that does deep tissue massages that hurt so good I've almost cried."

Dominik squinted at her, suspicious and entirely unamused. "Julienne, huh?" He echoed.

Rhea snorted again, this time louder. "What? You're gonna go beat up my masseuse?"

"No, I'm gonna ask her for tips on how I can hurt you so good that you'll cry." He smirked, instantly making Rhea chuck a grape at his head.

"You are so fucking smug for someone who was just begging me to let him cum 12 hours ago." She quipped with a raised brow.

"And I'll do it again." Dominik grinned as he stood to his feet and stretched. He rounded the counter to approach her.

"I should probably head out, give me my shirt back gremlin."

"No." Rhea frowned.

He tugged at the hem of his shirt on her body. "Rhea—"

"No." She repeated. "Take one of mine or something, move."

He couldn't stop smirking at this point as she picked with her nails and refused to look at him.

"Why can't I just have my shirt back, Mami?"

Rhea glanced up at him with a shrug. "Because I want it." She declared before grabbing her coffee and the fruit bowl and starting to walk away.

Dominik watched her like she was made of pure sunlight. Every now and then the real Rhea broke through that armor she duct-taped together, and he could see all the softness she tried to pretend wasn't there and it knocked the wind out of him every single time.

And he wanted more of it. Wanted more of her.

But instead of saying any of that—because God forbid they admit anything remotely serious—he leaned over the counter and snatched another piece of fruit before she could get far. "I'm stealing one of your protein bars for the road then."

"Absolutely not."

"I'm doing it."

"They're imported, Dominik. From Australia. That's my motherland protein."

"That's exactly why I want one."

She put the bowl and mug down and crossed the kitchen so fast before he could even make it to the pantry. Rhea grabbed one of his arms and twisted behind his back, making him yelp.

There was a grin on her face as she hooked a leg around him and took him to the floor effortlessly.

"Rhea!"

"Say sorry." She demanded through a laugh, tightening the hold on his arm.

Dominik was face-down on the kitchen floor in his own personal hell.

A plush black robe tangled around his waist, one arm twisted behind his back, and Rhea's thigh pressed firmly across his lower back like she was a bouncer and he'd just tried to sneak into the club with a fake ID.

"Ow—woman!" He grunted, wriggling like a worm. "This is abuse. You can't suplex me over a protein bar!"

"Oh you like it," She said calmly, her voice the definition of morning smug. "Say sorry."

"For what?"

"For trying to steal from me. From my ancestors. From the continent of Australia. You monster."

"Okay, one, your ancestors had nothing to do with—"

"Dominik! I swear to God I'll bend your wrist just enough to make you yelp again. Apologize."

Dominik let out a groan, forehead pressed to the tile. "Ughhh I'm sorry!"

Rhea leaned down and kissed his temple. "Good boy," She whispered with a grin, releasing him and gracefully popping back up to her feet like she hadn't just made her situationship tap in the middle of her kitchen. She stepped over him to reclaim her coffee while Dominik rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"You're such a sick little freak," Rhea teased with a deep chuckle at the bulge in his boxers now that her roughhousing completely untied the robe.

Dominik quickly hopped to his feet and covered his pelvis with his hands. "Shut up." He grumbled as he headed out of the kitchen to get dressed.

When he returned in his sweats and one of her random oversized tees, Rhea was still standing in the kitchen, nursing her cup of coffee.

His hair was messy, eyes low and lazy in that way that they always were as he ran his fingers through his mustache.

Rhea watched him for a second too long.

Dominik caught it and gave her a slow, wolfish grin. "You sure you want me to leave?"

Rhea blinked and instantly scoffed. "Yes. Very."

"Could've fooled me."

"You're delusional."

"You're wearing my shirt."

"Shut up."

They stood in the kitchen like idiots, staring at each other in that half-smiling, heart-thudding way that should've been illegal after casual sex.

Dominik was the first to move, taking a few slow steps until he was in front of her again. He looked down at her mug, then up at her, then leaned in without asking and stole a sip.

"...Did you just drink my coffee?" She asked, affronted.

He licked his lips and nodded.

"You're disgusting."

He leaned closer. "But you like it."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

He kissed her.

Just a soft one—warm, slow, unhurried. A lazy, lingering kind of kiss that tasted like fruit and coffee and something even more dangerous.

When he pulled back, Rhea didn't move, she didn't blink. She just stared at him, startled and furious and maybe a little enchanted.

Dominik smirked. "Text me when you're done getting manhandled by Julienne."

"Text me when you stop limping."

"Touché."

Rhea rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn't fall out of her skull.

But the second the door shut behind him, she grinned into her coffee and whispered to herself, "Bloody idiot."

__________________________

After her much needed massage, Rhea was loose, limber, relaxed, and back to being full on territorial and delusional.

The lingering touches of Dominik were on her skin and he had consumed her thoughts, images of the night before taking hostage in her brain while she was getting her massage to the point she had to bite down on the pillow to keep from making any involuntary noises.

She had decided, once again, that Dominik was hers and there was nothing that anyone could do to change her mind, officially.

Tiffany noticed it the moment Rhea strolled into the café, sunglasses still on her face despite being indoors.

She was radiating. Rhea's whole face had softened into something dreamy and feral all at once, like a lioness curled up with a fresh kill. Her usual cocky swagger had been replaced with something worse—delight. Pure, smug, soul-deep delight.

"Uh oh." Tiffany said as Rhea took a seat at the high bar table across from her, shooing away the waiter that tried to give her a menu.

"I take it last night went well?" Tiffany mused as she sipped her matcha.

Rhea clasped her hands together and rested them on the table. "Oh, it most certainly did. And after some long, hard thinking I have come to some conclusions."

"Uh...huh?" Tiffany said with a brow raised.

"One," Rhea began, counting off on her fingers. "I am going to marry him."

Tiffany just nodded.

"Two; I will bear his children."

"Bear, wow okay."

"And three," She continued, pushing her sunglasses up to the top of her head. "Any woman that looks at him longer than 3 seconds is getting headbutted and their kneecaps broken."

Tiffany blinked slowly, her spoon suspended halfway between her bowl of chia pudding and her lips. "So...we're going with the possessive route, then?"

"He's mine," Rhea said, not as a hope, but a fact. "He doesn't know it yet, but he's mine."

Tiffany stared at her, deadpan. "Are you high right now?"

"No." Rhea gestured broadly with her hands. "I am clarified. I am lucid. That massage broke something open inside of me and now the truth is all I see."

"That's usually called 'a psychotic break.'" Tiffany said, unimpressed.

Rhea ignored her. "He's perfect." She sighed.

"There's no way the sex was that good."

Rhea scoffed before laughing, loudly in offense. "Good!? Talk about transcendent, other worldly, earth shattering, mind-blowing–"

"Okay, okay!" Tiffany chuckled in exasperation. "Details or shut the fuck up already."

Leaning in, Rhea let out the most dreamy sigh. "He was shy about it at first," She began.

"Like he didn't think he could handle me. Kept asking if I was sure. Like he didn't know I'd been mentally riding him for the past month."

"Did you dominate him? Please tell me you dominated him."

"Oh, I did," Rhea said smugly, but then lowered her head in mock shame. "But not before he made me cum...twice." She revealed, making Tiffany gasp.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Oh my god—"

"I know!" Rhea was staring up at the ceiling in deep thought. "....you know how you think someone's gonna be a lazy lay? Like you expect it? Because they're all chill and soft-spoken and high all the time?"

Tiff didn't have a single fucking clue, actually.

"Uh-huh...sureeeee." She agreed anyway.

"And then suddenly he's got his hand on your throat and he's growling in Spanish like he's trying to cast a sex hex on your uterus?"

Tiffany choked. "Wait, he growled?"

"Guttural. Possessive. Filthy. I almost cried."

"I thought you were the dom."

"I am!" Rhea said, scandalized. "But it gets worse, on top of that he was sweet and filthy. Like, he asked if I was okay like three times while choking me."

Tiffany's eyes widened as she put her hands up. "Okay, okay wait. I need a minute to process this."

"I told you!" Rhea said exasperated. "How am I supposed to be normal after this?"

"Rhea, you were never normal." Tiff snorted.

"I want to sit on his lap and lick frosting off his fingers and stab any girl who says 'bless you' when he sneezes."

"That's not healthy."

"I don't want to be healthy. I want him to be obsessed with me."

"Rhea..."

"I want him to look at other girls and immediately lose interest because none of them could ever ride him like I do."

"You're soooo gone."

"Past it." Rhea agreed. "I want to own him, Tiff."

"Oh Jesus."

"Like not in a creepy, 'cut off his friends' kind of way. Just in a... keep him soft for me and mean to everyone else kind of way. Like– like I wanna walk into a room and have him automatically hand me his hoodie and roll me a joint without even blinking."

"That's oddly specific, so you've really been thinking about this I see."

"I wanna ruin his life a little. Just enough that he gets clingy when I leave, I think it's starting to work already because I could tell he didn't want to go home this morning."

Tiffany's jaw dropped. "This morning!? You let him stay?"

Rhea hid her face behind her hand. "This is like...the third time." She revealed.

Tiffany wanted to gag. "Rhea!" She gasped. "You're like–almost domesticated."

"Already am," She said with a shrug. "I'm completely unwell. I had to talk myself down from showing up at his job just to drop off lunch and mark him like a damn tree just so his coworkers know their place. I want to carry his weird little burnout babies and raise them in a gym."

Tiffany sat, stunned into silence, her drink long forgotten.

"He let me flip him. Mid-thrust. Didn't even question it. Just took it. Hands on my hips, head thrown back, moaning like I was the best thing that's ever happened to him." Rhea continued like Tiffany, or any one else in their vicinity had asked.

"I knew he was a pillow princess."

"No, no, he gives, too. Trust me. Man's got stamina. And he gets this look when he's eating me out–"

"Alright, alright! That's enough." Tiff interrupted when she noticed the table next to them glancing in their direction in horror. Not like Rhea gave a damn.

"So, what? You're like, in love with him now?"

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You just described domesticated co-dependency and then smiled like a shark."

"I'm interested." Rhea corrected as she crossed her legs and tilted her head. "He's warm, and funny, and stupidly pretty in that messy, trash-boy way I like. His mouth is reckless. His hands are dangerous and his dick deserves a fucking award."

Tiffany covered her mouth. "You're obsessed with him."

"I would kill for him probably." She admitted like it was nothing. "I would kiss him with the blood still on my hands and then ask him if he wanted to go again."

Tiffany blinked. "You should probably never say that to him."

"I won't. Obviously." Rhea scoffed. "I have some dignity."

"Do you, though?"

Rhea's smirk was down right sinister as she shrugged. "I do, for now."

Just then, Rhea's phone buzzed on the table with a message from Dominik.

Dom❤️‍🔥😍🖤😘: wanna come over when i get off?

Rhea stared at the screen with an expression that could only be described as lust-struck gremlin. Her face crumpled into her elbow as she squealed like a banshee in a hurricane. The entire café turned to look.

"Oh my god." Tiffany groaned, burying her face in her hands. "This is not you. This is...I don't even know who this is. You used to laugh in the face of monogamy and threaten to dropkick people for breathing too close."

"I still will." Rhea declared as she dropped her sunglasses back onto her face. "But only if they breathe too close to my man."

Tiff snorted. "He's not your man."

"He will be."

Chapter Text

Dominik was doing his favorite thing: the bare minimum—leaned against the counter, making a chain out of paper clips as he watched a YouTube conspiracy video on his propped up phone with one AirPod in.

He was bored out of his mind and killing time during the last hour of his shift when Austin, whose break definitely had been over for thirty minutes now, busted through the door from the break room, power walking towards Dominik like a man on a mission.

“Bro!”

“No.” Dominik muttered, unphased with his eyes still locked on his phone screen.

Austin scoffed. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say!”

“Don’t care, still no.”

Ignoring him as always, Austin leaned over the counter and knocked Dominik’s phone over.

“Hey!”

“Focus!” Austin demanded as he grabbed Dominik by his collar. “Bro, you’ve been soft launched.”

Dominik frowned in confusion, shoving himself out of Austin’s grip. “Soft what?”

“She soft launched you man! Rhea!” Austin was practically vibrating now like he shot gunned an energy drink. “You’re on her story!”

Dominik just stared at him, unimpressed. “You’re gonna have to slow down, dude. Use real words. What the hell is a soft launch?”

Austin looked like he had just been personally betrayed. “You don’t know what a soft launch is!? What do you even do on the internet, bro? Look at ocean documentaries and send her your weird stoner art frog and gnome memes you look at all day?”

“Yes.” Dominik said unapologetically. “Now what the fuck are you talking about?”

He pulled out his phone and started frantically scrolling. “Okay, so a soft launch is when a girl posts a hint of a dude she’s dating. Not the whole dude. Just, like…his elbow. Or his hoodie. Or—“

Austin shoved his phone into Dominik's face.

“The tattooed hand of the guy that’s blowing her back out just casually resting on her thigh.”

And that’s exactly what Dominik was looking at; a hand—his hand—tattooed, big, rings on his finger resting on Rhea’s thigh, thumb just slightly dipped in toward her inner thigh.

“Rhea posted this?”

Austin was nodding frantically. “Yup! In her story, no tag, no caption, just an ominous declaration.”

Dominik frowned. “Declaration of what?”

Groaning, Austin put his face in his hands. “God, you’re helpless.” He complained. “She’s announcing you to the world without announcing you. It’s the pre-boyfriend declaration! The test. The toe dip. She’s priming the audience.”

“What audience?”

“Her followers!” Austin said in exasperation. “Everyone who has ever thirst-followed her, the gym girls, the tattoo bros. That one dude who leaves fire emojis under all her posts. They’ve seen this. They’re trying to zoom in on your veins and figure out who you are based on your pinky ring.”

Dominik looked absolutely lost. “That’s so weird.”

“That’s romance now, bro! It’s like carving your initials into a tree but like, for a million people to see. This is digital foreplay. You’re not just in, you’re getting drafted for the starting lineup!”

Dominik blinked. “What the fuck are you even saying to me right now?”

Austin waved the phone in Dominik’s face frantically. “This isn’t just a story post. This is a power move. You’ve been claimed. She’s letting the world know you’re off limits, that she’s off limits!”

Scratching at the back of his neck, Dominik chewed on his bottom lip. Claimed? By Rhea, for over a million people to see.

This was a good thing right? It’s not like anyone would know it was him anyway.

“Am I supposed to like…do it back?” Dominik asked. “Like post her shoulder or like the back of her neck or something?”

“That back of her neck?” Austin grimaced. “Dude, no! Soft launching is chick stuff. Don’t even acknowledge it, just sit pretty like the good little slut that you are and watch the chaos unfold.”

Austin clapped him on the back like a proud father sending his son off to war. “You’re someone’s mysterious thigh hand now, bro. Congratulations.”

Dominik stared at the photo again, his own hand looking way cooler than he felt in real life. It was a good photo, he’d give her that. Artistic. Sexy. Possessive in a way that made his stomach twist in a way he didn’t have the emotional vocabulary for.

“Jesus.” Dominik dragged a hand down his face.

Austin leaned in, voice dropping like he was revealing a secret. “Also? This means she’s probably thinking about taking it to the next level. Like—boyfriend level.”

Dominik froze. “You think?”

“Hell yeah! Rhea’s not out here soft launching random flings. You’re in the majors now, my guy.”

Dominik slumped back against the counter, overwhelmed, flustered, and somehow a little proud.

It was one thing to know Rhea liked him. It was another thing to know she wanted the world to know she liked him. That was...bigger. Scarier. Weirdly flattering. Kind of hot.

“I don’t even think I’m ready for another relationship yet…” Dominik muttered quietly to himself.

Austin let out a snort. “I don’t think Rhea cares bro.” He said, patting Dominik on the shoulder.

“Yeah,” Dominik mumbled, staring off into space. “I don’t think she does either.”

_______________________

Hours later, Dominik went to answer the door after the three loud knocks had banged on it.

He could hear her voice before he even opened the door, loud and exasperated complaining about something.

Rhea entered the house like a tornado; duffle bag slung on her shoulder and phone pressed to her ear as she stalked right past Dominik and straight for the couch.

“Exactly!” She groaned. “You’re off filming some ‘big time movie’ and you’re back after only two weeks? Ugh just when my life was finally starting to get peaceful.” Rhea scoffed. “Bitch probably has two scenes and one line, if that.”

Dominik watched her as she dropped her duffle onto the floor next to the couch and kicked her shoes off. He lazily strolled over to the couch after locking the door and took a seat.

Rhea was still standing, ranting as she took off her socks and shimmied out of her leggings. She was so glad the lines had started to blur between her and Dominik and she could finally stop pretending she didn’t absolutely hate wearing clothes when she didn’t need to.

“And she’s been trying to figure out who my nail tech is, I just know it! So now I have to see if I can pay Trina extra to be mobile for me.” Rhea said like it was the most burdensome thing in the world as she flopped onto the couch and rested her feet in Dominik’s lap.

“Tiff, I swear to god if I ever walk in that salon and see Liv I’m going to burn it to the ground with her inside.” She fussed.

Dominik just watched her with his eyebrow raised in amusement. He wasn’t even really listening to what she was saying, just observing her going off on her tirade as she talked with her hands and scowled.

“Oh please! I wish she would even try! My esthetician is one thing but there is a sacred bond between a woman and her nail tech. She’s so obsessed with me, she probably salivates when I post, god I hate her.”

Rhea still hadn’t even acknowledged his presence yet she was so annoyed.

Dominik, now fully sprawled on the couch like he’d melted into it, rested his hand on Rhea’s bare shin and lightly drummed his fingers there, just to mess with her. She didn’t even flinch. Still on the phone, still pacing in spirit even if her body had collapsed.

“I know you’re laughing,” She snapped into the phone. “I can hear it in your silence, Tiffany. This isn’t funny!”

She squinted staring off into space like she was mentally preparing to start a war, one manicured nail tapping against her thigh.

“Well obviously,” She scoffed. “But that’s not the point.”

Her leg had begun to bounce up and down uncontrollably, causing the heel of her foot to dig into Dominik’s lap repeatedly.

Alright enough of this. He decided.

“The point is…I’m going to murder her.”

Dominik leaned over to hover over her, pressing his forehead against hers.

“Mami,” He whispered quietly.

This finally made her look at him, her scowl softening slightly.

“I’m not being ridiculous, I'm being realistic.” Rhea defended.

Dominik lowered his head and placed a lingering kiss on her jaw that made her sigh softly.

“Tiff, I gotta go.” She declared before abruptly ending the call and dropping her phone onto the carpet.

“Hi.” Dominik smirked.

“Hey.”

“You good, tornado?”

“Ugh!” She groaned. “I hate everyone. I hate women. I hate Florida.”

“You are a woman.” Dominik reminded her.

“I hate myself.”

Dominik snorted as he grabbed the joint he tucked behind his ear and put it between her lips and lit it for her.

“Stop pouting and stop making yourself angry. Chill, you’re here now. Whatever you’re upset about doesn’t matter anymore.”

Rhea just looked at him with a faint smirk on her face as he settled back into the couch.

She hit the joint and could literally feel the tension in her shoulders releasing.

“Bossy,” She muttered to herself in amusement.

“You staying?” Dominik asked, gesturing to the duffle bag on the floor.

“Yup,” Rhea declared. “And there better be clean sheets on your bed because we are not passing out on this god awful couch again.” She frowned as she rolled her eyes.

“Bold of you to assume I own bedsheets.”

Rhea’s eyes widened in horror, making Dominik burst out in laughter.

“Relax, dude I’m kidding.”

She rolled her eyes again as she tried to pass him the joint but he just waved her off.

“Nah, that’s for you.”

Rhea let out a pleased hum, crossing her feet at the ankles in his lap like she was a queen and he was her own personal footrest.

Dominik didn’t mind in the slightest. He tucked one arm behind his head and rested his other hand around her foot, rubbing his thumb absentmindedly across her skin like it soothed him more than her.

“Blanket.” Rhea requested—well demanded and Dominik obliged, grabbing it from the back of the couch and draping it lazily over her bare legs. She adjusted it slightly and sunk deeper into the couch.

“Okay,” She murmured, letting her head fall back onto the armrest as smoke drifted out of her mouth. “This is better. I’m better. You’re right.”

Dominik looked smug. “I usually am.”

She side-eyed him. “You’re never right.”

“Same difference,” He said with a shrug.

Rhea rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the tv. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while as Rhea smoked the joint before she felt Dominik messing with the blanket to untuck her feet from it that were still resting in his lap.

She turned her head to look at him with a smirk on her face.

“You’re such a sick little freak.” Rhea teased with a chuckle.

Dominik looked at her with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“You have a foot fetish.”

His frown deepened in confusion. “I do not!” He said, scandalized.

Rhea was grinning. “You do,” She pressed. “You’re literally always looking at my toes and you love touching them.”

He scoffed. “That’s because you’re literally always putting them on me!” Dominik defended.

“Uh huh, sure.”

“I do not have a foot fetish,” He grumbled. “I just have a gremlin in my life that treats me like an ottoman.”

This made Rhea laugh despite the fact that she was rolling her eyes.

“Fine.” She declared as she hit the joint and removed her feet from his lap and tucked her legs under herself. “No foot fetish then, my mistake.” She said with mock innocence.

Rhea watched him as he crossed his arms against his chest with a slight frown as he kept his attention on the television screen.

Not even a minute had passed before she heard him let out a low grumble.

“…put them back.” He mumbled, irritation and defeat evident in his voice.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Just put them back Rhea.” Dominik repeated louder with a sigh.

Rhea grinned in victory. “Ha! I knew it! You like feet.” She declared as she swung her feet back into his lap. “Sick fuck.”

“Shut up,” He grumbled even though his hand had already went back to rubbing against her skin. “I don’t like feet, I like your feet. That’s different, it’s—just shut up.”

That actually did shut her up as her lips parted slightly in surprise at his admission.

She looked at him, smoke curling from her lips like a slow exhale of disbelief. “You like my feet?” She repeated, her tone edged with curiosity but softened by something else, something suspiciously close to affection.

Dominik refused to look at her now, eyes glued to the TV like it was going to save him from this deeply humiliating interaction. “Yeah,” He mumbled, scratching at his jaw. “Is that a crime?”

“No,” Rhea said slowly, eyes narrowing as a teasing grin played at her lips. “It’s just…weirdly specific.”

“So are you,” He shot back, still refusing to meet her eyes. “I like your weird specifics.”

That shut her up again…for about three seconds.

“…Do you have, like, a favorite toe?” She asked, her grin feral.

Dominik turned to look at her with the driest expression on his face. “You’re not serious.”

“I am one thousand percent serious,” She nodded, kicking him gently with said foot. “Rank them. Toe tier list. Now.”

“Rhea, I swear to God—”

“Say the pinky toe first and I’m leaving,” She warned.

“Rhea—“

“Do my feet get a haiku next?” Rhea teased making him groan.

“Would you shut the fuck up?” He reached over and clamped a hand over her mouth, laughing despite himself. “You done? You got it all out?”

Rhea licked his palm.

“Jesus Christ.” Dominik wiped his hand on her calf, grimacing. “You’re gross.”

“I like your hands.” She revealed casually, flicking the roach of the joint into the ashtray on the table.

It was Dominik’s turn to smirk. “Yeah you made that real obvious today.” He teased. “Didn’t know my hand was IG worthy.

Rhea just shrugged, smug and unbothered. “What can I say? I like what I like.”

“Guess I should put your feet in my story then?”

She instantly scoffed and kicked him in the gut. “Absolutely fucking not. We don’t show feet pics on the internet for free Dom Dom, that’s premium fucking content.”

Dominik snorted. “My bad.”

Rhea sank further into the couch, pleased with herself and the weed and the fact that she had won whatever dumb argument she decided to start this time. The blanket was warm, the lighting was dim in the awful but homey way that Rhea annoyingly had started to like, and Dominik’s hand on her leg had gone from absent-minded to intentional in a way that made her stomach twist just a little.

She liked being here in Dominik’s space. Sure she loved her spacious and perfectly decorated apartment but Dominik’s place actually felt like someone lived there. It wasn’t anything like her apartment or the house she grew up in; bay windows, intricate detailed columns on the exterior, gold trimmed picture frames adoring the walls of the sitting room that literally no one was ever allowed to actually sit in.

Dominik’s apartment was different; a little cramped, his refrigerator humming constantly like it was on its last leg, but it was so perfectly him that she didn’t care. And every time she was here the outside world and whatever rich socialite drama she had going on didn’t matter.

He had barely glanced at her but he noticed the way her jaw had stilled and how she wasn’t really looking at anything in particular.

“Your thoughts are loud.” Dominik mumbled, pulling her legs further into her lap.

“Did you name your plant?”

This made him turn his head to her with a chuckle. “That’s what you’re over there thinking about?”

“Maybe,” She replied with a grin and a small shrug.

“Vinny,” He announced as he turned his attention back to the TV. “Short for Venom, since he’s a snake plant.”

Rhea let out a hum. “Not bad. And have you been talking to him like I told you to?”

“Yes Rhea,” Dominik answered with mock exasperation. “I’ve told him all of my deepest, darkest secrets.” He deadpanned with an eyeroll, making Rhea grin.

“You should do a haiku for him about his leaves, he would like that.”

Dominik cut his eyes over at her. “I will smother you with a pillow.” He threatened.

Rhea sat up with a smirk. “You should choke me out with your big man hands instead, I would like that more.”

“Jesus Christ.” He groaned but he was grinning. “But I’m the sick freak.”

“You are,” Rhea declared as she lifted her leg slightly to wiggle her toes.

He chuckled and caught her ankle, dragging her leg further into his lap until her calf was pressed against his chest and she let out a startled yelp.

“Dom—!”

“What’s the matter Mami?” He teased.

“Don’t you dare—!”

But he had already grabbed her and bit into the arch of her foot.

“Dominik!” She shrieked, kicking at him halfheartedly through laughter.

He grinned like the little demon he was, holding her ankle hostage while she squirmed and howled.

She flexed her calf muscle but he just held on to it tighter.

“Where do you keep getting this random strength from?” Rhea fussed as she tried to free herself.

“I only use it when it matters. Can’t let anyone know I’m actually capable, people will start expecting things out of me.”

Rhea used her other foot and gave him a swift kick to his side that made him groan and lunge forward, finally releasing her ankle.

“Lazy little shit.” She smirked as she watched him clutch his side.

“I prefer selective participation.” Dominik said through a strained voice.

She quickly sat up fully and straddled his lap. “Well I am demanding all of your participation.” Rhea declared as she draped her arms over his shoulders.

His hands instantly found her waist, pulling her in closer. “Oh yeah?”

They stared at each other for a moment, Rhea taking note of how his usual smirk was a little softer, a little less teasing as a question popped into her head.

“….that wasn’t too much right? Posting that picture in my story?”

Dominik was staring at her lips by this point and gave a small shake of the head.

“Nah.”

Unconvinced, Rhea continued to press. “It’s just…you’re really chill about it like I was kinda expecting you to be like…more concerned I guess. You freak out about literally everything.”

He just shrugged. “Austin told me not to make a big deal of it and to just ‘sit pretty like the good little slut I am’.” Dominik revealed with a chuckle, making Rhea frown.

“You’re out here taking advice from Austin?” She grimaced. “Maybe you are helpless.”

His hands slipped down to her ass, giving it a playful smack. “Hey I don’t know how this shit works okay? I didn’t even know what the fuck a soft launch was until today.”

She nodded, chewing at the corner of her mouth, suddenly finding a stray thread on his hoodie very interesting.

“….that was my first time doing something like that.” Rhea admitted, making Dominik raise a brow at her.

“You never posted any of your exes or anything like that.”

She just gave a small shrug, still refusing to look at him. “I don’t have exes.”

Dominik scoffed. “Bullshit.”

“I’m serious!” Rhea defended, her eyes snapping to his. Another shrug. “I’ve never been in a relationship before.”

His hands had found the small of her back now, fingers slipping just under the hem of her shirt, palm warm against bare skin.

“You’re forreal? Like….ever? How is that even possible?”

Rhea rolled her eyes. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Well because you’re—you! A-and you look like this!” Dominik stammered in disbelief.

“What does that even mean?” She chuckled. “And I didn’t always look like this you know.” Rhea admitted as she made herself comfortable and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’ve been told I’m not exactly ‘girlfriend material.’ I’m more like…a rollercoaster at an amusement park right before closing. Like you just have to take one last ride before you go home.”

Dominik frowned as he listened to her.

“I’m not the girl you take home, I’m the girl you have fun with until you decide you actually want something sustainable and realistic. I’m the girl you vacation with in the summer just to end up engaged to a yoga instructor by Christmas. Like a pit stop before you start taking life too seriously.” She muttered.

That sounded too specific of an example, but Dominik didn’t press.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” He mumbled into her hair. “You’re not a pit stop Rhea, you’re a person with feelings.”

“Ugh, gross.” She grumbled.

Dominik chuckled, lips brushing her temple. “You can try to joke your way out of it, but I heard you, Mami.”

“Yeah well,” She muttered, pulling back just enough to look at him, eyes defiant. “Hearing me doesn’t mean you get to fix me, Dom. I’m not, like, a pet project. I’m not Vinny.”

“Good,” He said simply. “Vinny’s kind of an asshole anyway. Got a real attitude lately.”

She laughed, reluctant but genuine, and he felt it in the way her body softened just a little against his and traced her finger along the collar of his hoodie, not saying anything for a moment. He let the silence sit, knowing she was doing that thing again—running mental diagnostics, recalibrating all the ways she let herself be seen just now.

“Wanna make a deal?” He offered.

Her eyes snapped up to him with her eyebrow raised.

“We don’t try to change each other.” He began. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we just…be.”

Rhea stared at him, her gaze narrowing just slightly like she was squinting at sunlight, suspicious of the sincerity in his voice like she was unsure if she deserved it.

“What indie rom-com did you steal that from?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Probably something with Adam Sandler and a woman that’s way out of his league and realistically should never want him.” Dominik smirked.

That earned him a groan, her forehead falling against his. “You’re so fucking stupid.”

“I know,” He murmured into her skin. “But I make you laugh, so who’s really winning here?”

Her smile didn’t fade this time. She let her fingers toy with the drawstrings of his hoodie, looping them around and around in slow spirals. “Okay,” She said finally. “Deal.”

Dominik nodded like they’d just shaken hands in front of a notary. “No trying to change each other. No saving. No fixing. Just vibes.”

“And weed,” She added.

“Obviously weed. It's the only thing holding my personality together.”

Rhea sighed, shifting in his lap until she was curled in a way that felt too natural for how new all of this technically was. Her cheek rested over his heart now, and he didn’t seem to mind.

“You’re making me soft.” She murmured like the words tasted strange on her tongue.

“Yeah and you’re actually making me care about shit, shame on us both.”

She buried her face into his chest. “Ugh we’re changing each other already!”

“No, no no no,” Dominik defended. “We agreed to not try to change each, if it happens naturally that’s totally not our fault. We’re completely blameless.”

Rhea snorted. “God you avoid responsibility like the plague.”

The good kind of comfortable silence had returned; his hand moved in slow, thoughtless circles over her lower back as her breathing evened out.

Dominik, one to never be smooth or coy, let out a sigh.

“Soooooo…….” He began.

“Ugh,” Rhea groaned as she stood to her feet. “Just come on Dom.” She urged yanking him up as well. “You’re like the worst sex initiator ever.” She complained as they trotted off to his bedroom.

Luckily for Dominik, Rhea wouldn’t try to change that about him though. 

Chapter Text

Rhea was having a good day, a great day even. She beat her personal best on the bench press, her evil blonde roots that tried to reappear had been freshly dyed, and Dominik just simply existed so Rhea was in a great mood.

Until she was standing at the pump at the gas station that evening pouring tropical skittles into her mouth without a care when her phone rang.

It was her father. She rolled her eyes, aggressively hanging up the gas pump and shoving her phone back into the pocket of her baggy camouflage pants. Rhea didn’t bother answering knowing her father would much have a one sided conversation with her voicemail just so he could hear himself talk uninterrupted.

Would she even bother listening to the voicemail? Probably not.

Rhea’s day was officially ruined as she hopped into her Jeep, slamming the door with only a fraction of the fury she was currently feeling bubbling in her stomach. She huffed a frustrated breath and bit down on her cheek.

She sat in contemplation for a moment, leg bouncing aggressively before pulling her phone back out and making a call.

“What are you doing?” Rhea asked, cutting straight to the point.

She hummed at the response. “Good. Get dressed.” She demanded, ending the call abruptly and starting her car to speed out of the parking lot.

An hour later Rhea was sat at the bar of some swanky spot with Tiffany beside her sipping their second round of drinks.

Rhea’s plan was simple: get shitfaced, probably start some shit, and then deliver herself straight to Dominik to ride him until he forgot his own name.

Tiffany, always down for the shenanigans, knew how this night was about to go the second Rhea demanded they get an Uber instead of driving themselves. Normally Tiffany’s boyfriend, Ludwig, would be their personal chauffeur on nights like this but he was currently in Brussels on business.

“Ugh, I needed this.” Tiffany groaned. “I miss Ludwig so much.” She said with a frown covering her pink gloss covered lips.

Rhea scoffed. “You just miss him doing everything for you.”

Tiffany threw her head back in exasperation. “You have nooooo idea! I had to get my own dry cleaning today and I had to drive myself to my lash appointment. Do you know how hard it is to focus on the road and the gps with a fresh volume set!?”

Downing the rest of her drink, Rhea rolled her eyes in amusement. “I can only imagine.” She muttered.

Tiffany was the definition of polish and perfection. She sat at the bar in a white corset top with pink bows cascading down the front and a pink mini skirt with a matching pink headband and a pair of heels that were probably twice the cost of Dominik’s monthly rent.

Rhea, still in her camouflage cargos sitting low on her hips and Prada platform sneakers, was already flagging down the bartender again.

The pair sat sipping their drinks and talking shit about the other patrons loud and without a care as the night went on.

Tiffany was the definition of polish and perfection….until there were drinks in her system. Then, her mouth was just as, if not more, reckless than Rhea’s and she had hands to match.

It’s what Rhea loved about Tiffany and what everyone else hated about her.

“…I’m just saying,” Tiffany began as she twirled the tiny black straw in her third drink. “If having bright green hair is your ‘thing’, at least dye your fucking roots.” She complained loudly with a frown.

Rhea cackled, leaning into Tiffany’s side with a nudge. Their loud laughter earned them another glare from the bartender that was trying to decide if the absolute bitch fit he would have to endure if he cut them off was worth it.

The bar was starting to get crowded, people shoulder to shoulder as they tried to get the bartender’s attention. Tiffany and Rhea remained unphased, in no rush to leave or give up their seats that they had been occupying all night.

Rhea had switched to shots at this point, downing a few and sucking on a lime that she was currently pretending was Dominik’s neck instead.

And then it happened—

“Excuse you!” Tiffany scoffed as a girl had barely brushed her shoulder, trying to squeeze in to order a drink.

Rhea’s ears perked up instantly as her posture straightened, finally.

Tiffany was well known for starting shit and Rhea was even better known for ending it.

“Oh sorry I—"

“You should be sorry,” Tiffany interrupted with a scowl. “This is custom.” She turned on the barstool to see the culprit and instantly scoffed. “Oh Fallon, it’s you.”

Tiffany was already standing to get a better look at her. “Ugh you smell like the barn you came from. What are you even doing here? Don’t you have horse shit to shovel?”

Fallon and her entourage crossed their arms with frowns on their faces.

Rhea, eerily calm, stood to her feet behind Tiff just waiting for the moment. There were three of them and only two of them but that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Listen Tiffy—“ Fallon began before being interrupted again.

“No, you listen. You can take you and the dirt underneath your nails, and Jacy’s knockoff McQueen, and Jazmyn’s overdone edges and lack of a personality back to the slums where you came from, toodles!” She smiled mockingly sweet and waved her fingers at them.

“The only knock off here is you Barbie,” Jacy sneered.

“Fake ass Sabrina Carpenter.” Fallon scoffed.

Rhea was already putting her hair up with the hair tie on her wrist, more than eager to let out some needed aggression.

Tiffany just let out a hum with a smirk, nodding slowly and turning like she was about to walk away before abruptly raising her hand and sending a vicious slap across Fallon’s face.

That was all Rhea needed, adrenaline pumping as she stepped beside Tiffany and lunged forward and headbutted Jacy, sending her straight to the floor.

Fallon shrieked as she stumbled into a barstool, clutching her cheek in shock while Tiffany just stood with a smirk on her face.

Jacy was out cold on the ground, hand hovering over her nose like that could somehow stop the pain.

“You crazy bitch!” Jazmyn yelled out at Rhea as she rushed to kneel to check on Jacy.

Fallon lunged forward trying to grab Tiffany by the hair but Tiff was faster, grabbing her by the throat as Fallon wailed in surprise.

“Oh I love it when they scream,” Rhea purred in delight with a wicked grin on her face.

Tiffany and Fallon were trying to choke each other out, bodies swaying side to side as they tried to overpower each other.

Jazmyn stood to her feet, chest heaving up and down in rage before she grabbed a glass from the bar and tried to throw it at Rhea.

Rhea dodged it effortlessly and retaliated by grabbing a metal napkin dispenser and chucking it right back at her, hitting her square in the chest.

People scattered, gasping, drinks flying like confetti.

Tiffany had just kneed Fallon in the gut, making her release the hold on her neck as Fallon jutted forward, clutching her stomach with a groan.

Unbothered, Tiffany dusted off her corset top like she hadn’t just started a fucking brawl just as security had appeared and lifted her off the ground.

“Ugh! What the hell!? Put me down you disgusting barbarian!”

Rhea’s head snapped up from her pursuit of trying to stomp Jazmyn out and sneered at the other security guard that was attempting to collect her.

“Don’t even fucking think about it.” She growled, making the man take a step back with his arms up in surrender.

“Just please leave ma’am.”

Rhea stood, grabbing an abandoned shot that was on the bar and downed it, slamming the glass back down.

“Gladly.”

The guard that had Tiffany roughly dropped her to her feet outside the bar onto the sidewalk, making her stumble into the velvet ropes. Rhea joined her soon after watching Tiffany yell at the guard’s back as he made his way back inside.

“Do you know who I am!?” She screeched. “My boyfriend—no! My father will be hearing about this and he will get this shitty ass place shut the fuck down, do you hear me!? And by the way, putting hibiscus flowers from the grocery store in your cocktails doesn’t make them worth $30 you cheap ass, pretentious cunts!”

Rhea was howling with laughter by this point, clutching her stomach as she drunkenly swayed. She was feeling better already.

“That was fun.” She grinned.

Tiffany turned and looked at her best friend for a moment before matching her grin.

“So much fun,” She agreed before they erupted in laughter, stumbling down the sidewalk together, headed nowhere in particular.

“I’m sooooo drunk.” Tiffany declared.

“Ditto.” Rhea was already fumbling around with her phone trying to order an Uber.

The Uber ride was very short lived. The pair were barely in the car for five minutes before the driver kicked them out because Tiffany had some very unfiltered and loud opinions about the stench that was festering in the car.

Now the two were sitting on a random bench under a street lamp, god knows where.

“The bar and the Uber,” Rhea began. “This is a new low for us.”

Tiffany was grinning. “Impressive if you ask me. Plus the Uber wasn’t even our fault. Your job is literally your car the least you can do it buy a fucking air freshener.”

“True.” Rhea agreed. Her head collapsed onto Tiffany’s shoulder with a drunk sigh. “What do we do now? Lyft?”

“Gross, no. That’s even worse.” She frowned. “Ugh I wish Ludwig was here. He would never let me slum it up on a sticky ass bench like this.”

This made Rhea’s head snap back up suddenly remembering her objectives for tonight.

Get shitfaced: ✅

Start some shit: ✅

All that was left was— Dominik.

She unlocked her phone in an instant.

“I’m calling Dom,” She declared. “He’ll come get us.”

Tiffany gasped. “I’m finally gonna meet the mysterious mullet man!” She squealed just as Rhea pressed the call button and put her phone up to her ear.

Dominik’s voice came through after three rings.

“Mami?” He drawled in that half sleepy, lazy groggy voice that had Rhea biting her lip. “You good?”

“Mmmm define good.”

There was a beat of silence.

“What did you do?”

“I got kicked out of a bar.”

“Rhea—"

“….and an Uber.”

“Rhea.”

“It wasn’t our fault! The bitch shoulder checked Tiff like she was a fucking linebacker!”

“Yeah!” Tiffany agreed loudly despite the fact that was 100% what did not happen.

Dominik let out a sigh. “Where are you?”

Rhea scrunched her lips to the side of her mouth as she looked around. “That’s a great question.” She pulled her phone from her ear for a moment.

“Tiff, where are we?”

“Ummm….” She began looking around herself. “By a trash can?”

Scoffing, Rhea rolled her eyes. “Papi,” She tried sweetly. “I don’t know where I am but can you come get us?”

She could practically feel Dominik rolling his eyes on the other end as he muttered to himself about having to put on pants.

“Send me your location and don’t move.”

“Thank youuuuu.”

“I’m not kidding Rhea, stay right where you are.” He reiterated.

Rhea frowned. “Okay, okay I won’t! Stop being so bossy gosh.” She grumbled before ending the call.

“He’s coming.” Rhea revealed to Tiffany who let out a sigh of relief. “Be nice to him and don’t talk shit about his car or I will headbutt you next.”

Tiffany giggled, unmoved by her threat. “When am I not nice?”

“When you’re breathing,” Rhea said with an eyeroll.

They sat on the bench drunk in silence, leaning on each other like they were the only thing keeping each other upright, which technically they were.

“….hey Rhe?”

“Hmmm?”

“Why did you wanna come out tonight?” Tiffany knew Rhea only got like this, getting shitfaced and violent, when she was trying not to think about something.

Rhea chewed on the inside of her cheek for a beat before she answered.

“Dad called.” She said simply, not offering an additional explanation.

She could feel Tiffany nodding slowly in understanding against her shoulder.

“Fuck him.” She drunkenly muttered.

“Yeah.” Rhea agreed. “Fuck him.”

That man had a way of worming his way back into her brain. All gentle condescension, followed by guilt-laced obligation. She didn’t owe him shit. Not anymore. Not ever.

She quickly shook off the thought, staring up at the night sky with Tiffany’s cheek warm against her shoulder.

Rhea wasn’t sure how much time had passed before a low rumble pulled around the corner, headlights sweeping across the sidewalk. She perked up instantly as she watched Dominik’s beat up Toyota pulling up the curb in front of the bench.

“Oh my god,” Tiffany whispered, eyes wide with unfiltered fascination. “He’s real.”

Chuckling, Rhea started to stand on wobbly legs. “What? Thought I made him up?”

“A little bit.” Tiffany hiccupped as Dominik leaned over to pop the broken passenger door open before stepping out of the car.

He was in a wrinkled white tee and sweats, mullet messy probably from laying on it as he sauntered around the car to approach the girls.

Tiffany raised a brow before speaking lowly to Rhea. “Okay, I get it….I totally get it.”

“Told you,” Rhea smirked.

Her pussy was practically purring as she made a beeline for him, swinging her arms to drape around his shoulders as she backed him up into the rear of the car.

She wasted no time pressing her black colored lips along his jaw slowly.

“Hey,” Rhea mumbled into his skin as his hands found her waist, pulling her in closer.

“Hey,” He chuckled, catching her lips in a kiss. “You taste like tequila and trouble. Dominik smirked.

Rhea let out a deep laugh, grinning with pride. “Thank you.”

The sound of Tiffany clearing her throat behind them pulled them from their own little world.

“Oh!” Rhea said, removing Dominik’s arms from around her and stumbling back against his chest as she turned her body.

“Dom, that’s Tiff. Tiff, this is Dom.”

“Hey baby daddy.” Tiffany greeted with a smirk, making Dominik raise a brow in confusion.

“Tiff!” Rhea fussed, cheeks warming in embarrassment. “Ignore her.” She said sweetly as she turned her attention back to Dominik who was now more amused than confused.

“Come on you two,” Dominik announced, ushering Rhea into the passenger seat and opening the back door for Tiffany who cautiously climbed inside.

Dominik jogged around to the driver’s seat and peeled off from the curb.

“Where am I going? Your place?” He asked Rhea who just nodded with a hum.

“So,” Dominik began. “Do I even wanna know what happened?”

“Oh I’ll tell you!” Tiffany declared who by now had made herself more than comfortable in the backseat as she kicked her heels off and stretched her legs across the seat.

“That backwoods barn bitch bumped me and she didn’t even say excuse me!”

“Exactly! And Tiff put her right in her place as she should.”

“And then!” Tiffany continued to ramble. “The bitch had the nerve to call me a discount Sabrina Carpenter! Can you believe that Dom?”

Dominik didn’t even know who that was if he was being honest.

“Sabrina Carpenter wishes she had tits like yours.” Rhea scoffed.

“Mhmm.” Tiffany agreed.

Dominik hid a laugh behind his fist. “So how did that end up with you guys getting kicked out the bar?”

“Easy,” Rhea shrugged. “Tiffany slapped the shit out of her obviously.”

Glancing at her through the rear view mirror, Dominik’s eyes widened. “You started it?” He asked, confident it was Rhea that threw the first punch.

“I sure did.” Tiffany said proudly. “And I’ll do it again! Rhea headbutted the one with the chin and threw a napkin dispenser at the other one while I was choking out the farm whore.”

Dominik was too stunned to laugh at this point but thoroughly amused. “Wait, wait, wait. There was three of them!?”

“Yeah.” The girls shrugged in unison.

He turned his head to Rhea with a smirk. “You’re out here headbutting people Mami?”

Rhea gave a small shrug with a sheepish grin at the way he was looking at her with unmistakable pride on his face.

“Just the people who deserve it.”

Dominik interlocked their fingers with a chuckle, shaking his head as he brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. “That’s fucking hot. You’re insane.”

Rhea giggled and Tiffany’s mouth had dropped watching the two of them.

“Oh my gosh,” She muttered to herself. “They’re both crazy.” Tiffany was accustomed to long lectures from Ludwig about ‘decorum’ and ‘being a lady’ on the nights where she and Rhea got a little too out of hand.

Turning in her seat to face him, Rhea shifted and brought her legs up in the seat so she could lean across the center console.

Her face found his, slowly rubbing her cheek against his stubble as she murmured in his ear.

“I missed you.”

Dominik slipped his hand down to her thigh and squeezed in a warning. “Rhea—“

“You didn’t miss me Papi?” She continued to mutter, lightly biting on his earlobe, making him suck in a breath.

“You know I did.” He said with a sigh of restraint.

“Mmmm.” Rhea hummed as she pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Are you gonna let me show you how much I missed you?”

Her nails were trailing down his chest now, slow and deliberate.

Tiffany let out an over dramatic scoff from the backseat, snapping Dominik back into reality.

“You two are disgusting.” She declared as she rolled her window down and stuck her head out of the window.

“Ugh! I MISS MY BOYFRIEND!” Tiffany yelled out into the abyss as they drove down the street.

Dominik chuckled and squeezed Rhea’s thigh again. “Sit back.” He ordered which Rhea reluctantly obliged with an eyeroll.

She flopped back in her seat with a huff, arms crossed like he had just denied her dessert. “Buzzkill,” She muttered, toying with the hem of her top.

Dominik gave her a side glance, his lips quirking up. “I’d rather not kill us all on the way to you showing me how much you missed me. Just a thought.”

Tiffany groaned from the back. “Is this what it’s like third wheeling? Rhea how do you do this? This is awful. I’m about to open the door and tuck and roll out of here.”

“Seatbelt, Barbie.” Dominik said lazily, glancing in the rearview mirror. “You’re not that acrobatic.”

“I was a fucking gymnast thank you very much!” “She could have been an Olympian!” Tiffany and Rhea yelled over one another.

“Jesus Christ, my bad.”

By the time they made it to Rhea’s apartment, Tiffany was passed out in the backseat and Rhea took full advantage as she continued to murmur filthy things in his ear just to watch him grip the steering wheel tighter.

Rhea and Dominik piled out of the car, Rhea instantly going to the backseat before Dominik could.

“I got her,” She declared, opening the door and scooping Tiffany into her arms like she weighed nothing. “Can you grab her shoes?”

Dominik obliged and trailed behind Rhea who was carrying Tiffany in her arms like a damsel in distress and a mini skirt. They took the elevator up to her floor where she got Dominik to unlock the door so she could deposit Tiff into the bed in the guest room.

Kicking off his shoes, Dominik headed straight for Rhea’s bedroom, slipping out of his shirt and sweats and sprawling out on her mattress like it was his.

Rhea entered the room a few minutes later, discarding her articles of clothing across her floor as she sauntered towards the bathroom. She eventually returned, barefaced, hair pulled back in a bralette and matching panties.

She climbed onto the bed and made herself comfortable on top of him, tangling her legs with his and burying her face in his neck.

Dominik could feel the tension leaving her body as she sighed deeply, melting into him like it was the first time she was able to relax all night. His hand found the small of her back as he began to rub soothing circles into her skin.

“You good?” He asked. Rhea took his hand that was on her back and lowered it down to her butt with a hum.

“Yup. Much better now.”

Dominik chuckled and continued to rub his hand along to where she wanted it. “You do that often?” He questioned.

“Do what?”

“Get into bar fights, launch projectiles at people?”

He could feel the warm huff of air on his neck as Rhea snorted.

“I wouldn’t say often. Just….every now and then.” She said vaguely.

Dominik let out a low, amused breath through his nose. “Oh good. That’s very reassuring.”

Rhea lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest so she could look at him. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“No sweat, you would do the same for me.”

Rhea wanted to scoff, she wanted to deny that she would but even she knew that wasn’t true so instead she just kissed the corner of his mouth and said–

“Yeah, I would.”

They laid in silence for a moment, Rhea recounting her day as she melted deeper into Dominik’s chest. The liquor in her system had softened her slightly, thoughts running a mile a minute.

“....my dad called me today.” She revealed quietly, like she didn’t want him to hear.

His hand kept moving, grounding her with his touch. “Is that a bad thing?”

Rhea shrugged. “Yes? No? Not really–I don’t know.”

He hummed, low and understanding. “He say some shit?”

“I dunno. I didn’t answer.”

Dominik didn’t respond right away, but he could tell this was something that clearly had been bothering Rhea all day.

“You want me to fight your dad?” He offered. “I’ll get on a plane right now.”

She snorted again. “You couldn’t take him.”

“Damn, what? Is he mean and scary like you?”

“Nah, just rich,” She muttered. “Rich and smug and always right. And really fucking good at reminding me that I’ll never be good enough in the ways that count to him.” The words drunkenly spilled out before she could stop them, hanging in the air between them as Dominik’s hand stilled.

Then it started moving again, slower this time, slipping back up to her lower back.

“I don’t give a shit about what counts to him,” Dominik declared. “You headbutted a woman tonight and still carried your drunk best friend through your massive ass lobby like it was nothing when you could barely stand up straight yourself. You’re better than anyone he knows.”

Rhea grinned, burying her face back into his neck.

“I hate how much I needed to hear that.” She admitted.

“I’ll tell you everyday.” Dominik said, kissing the top of her head.

Rhea didn’t answer right away, she just lay there, inhaling the scent of his skin like it was oxygen. Soap, sweat, weed, and whatever deodorant he used that probably came from a dollar store and still somehow smelled like heaven. Rhea was resisting her drunk urge to bury her face in his armpit just to get a better whiff. He was warm and solid beneath her, grounding in a way she wasn’t used to, but she liked it.

“You’re my favorite person.” She murmured like she was thinking it but didn’t actually mean to say it.

Dominik felt his stomach flip and adjusted her so she was on him completely.

“Even more than Tiff?” He teased.

Rhea chuckled but nodded. “Yeah, just…maybe don’t tell her. She might try to take you out in a jealous rage.”

“Noted.” He grinned. “...you’re my favorite person too.”

“Well obviously.” Rhea scoffed. “Austin better not even be a close second.”

“Austin thinks he’s everyone’s favorite person.” Dominik snorted. “Wouldn’t matter if I told him he wasn’t or not.”

Rhea kissed his jaw, her voice sticky with mischief. “You should tell him anyway. And I wanna be there when you do it just so I can rub it in his face.” She declared, making him laugh.

She laid back down, ear pressed to his heartbeat like it could sync hers back into rhythm. His hand kept rubbing slow circles along her spine like he knew what it was doing for her.

“Hey,” Dominik murmured, nudging her gently. “You wanna talk more about it? The shit with your dad?”

“No.”

Yes.

“Cool.”

Thank you.

“.......wanna makeout?” He offered.

“Yes.” Rhea said, sitting up. “I would like that a lot actually.”

Dominik didn’t hesitate.

He sat up and pulled her right into his lap, and just like that, her legs were hooked around his waist like it was instinct. Because it was. They had fallen into each other with such reckless ease that sometimes it felt like muscle memory, like her body had known his before her brain even caught up.

It was messy and chaotic, laced with avoidance and the things they weren’t saying, but for now, that was enough for Dominik and more than enough for Rhea.

Chapter Text

Rhea liked control, she thrived on it really. She liked when things went her way and she liked being in the driver’s seat. Which is why she was currently straddling Dominik, his arms pinned down on the mattress by her as she worked her hips in endless circles.

Still slightly tipsy, Rhea was fighting off a grin as she bit down on her lip watching Dominik completely under her control beneath her.

“Fuck Mami,” He groaned. Rhea clenched her walls around him with a deep chuckle.

“I told you I missed you,” She purred as she lowered her head down to his.

Dragging out the movement of her hips, she placed her face in the crook of his neck and bit down, making Dominik hiss. The saltiness of his skin coated her tongue, her walls clenching around him again.

Rhea could feel his body starting to squirm, his breathing picking up rapidly as she continued to suck and bite along his neck.

“What’s the matter Dom Dom?” She teased.

“N-nothing.” He breathed out. “I’m fine, ke-keep going.”

Dominik really was perfectly fine, he was great actually. He liked the intensity that came from Rhea when she was like this. There was something about the pain that came from when she would bite him or how she would tug his hair that made him want more. He had never experienced a high that could ever compare to the way Rhea made him feel when he was pinned under her at her full mercy.

It was kinda fucked up, but it was them.

His eyes fluttered open as Rhea continued her endless pursuit of riding him until he couldn’t take it anymore. The muscles in her shoulders flexed as she applied more pressure at holding his arms down. It made him groan in pleasure as he watched the sweat trickling down her chest.

Her body was a masterpiece in motion; from every controlled twist of her hips to every calculated clench of her thighs. She knew exactly what she was doing and Dominik felt like he was losing his mind and he didn’t want to find it either.

“You look so pretty like this,” Rhea whispered near his ear, her breath hot and sticky from sweat and liquor.

Dominik whimpered, a sound he never thought would come out of his mouth, but he couldn’t stop it. He had never been called pretty before and the fact that he didn’t care in the slightest was confusing him even more.

His hips were jerking up of their own accord now, chasing the friction she delivered with the effortless grace of someone who knew exactly what kind of power they held.

“So perfect for me,” She murmured as she dug her nails into his wrists and slowed the pace of her hips, moving with deliberate intent. “Aren’t you Dom Dom?”

“Yes.” He moaned through a hiss at the sudden sting he felt from the crescent shaped marks blooming on the skin of his wrists, making her chuckle.

Rhea sat up slightly and Dominik’s eyes looked up at her instantly. Her hair was falling forward now, dark strands sticking to the sheen on her shoulders, and Dominik swore he’d never seen anything more perfect than Rhea in that moment.

From getting into a bar fight to pinning him to the mattress, the air of chaos that followed Rhea everywhere she went was all consuming like a thunderstorm; loud, dark, but beautiful in a way that could only be understood if you really took the time to take it in.

And right now, Rhea was Dominik’s own personal storm, looming over him with a deep chuckle that rumbled like thunder, sharp nails that stung flashes of pain in his skin like lightning, and a wetness between her thighs that coated him like rain and Dominik was more than prepared to drown in it.

“Mami…” He rasped, voice raw from all the groaning he had been doing.

Rhea peered down at him with a smirk, feeling his thighs clenching. “You gonna cum for me already?” She teased. “So easy for me, huh?”

He swallowed hard as his face flushed. “If you keep going like this—”

She stopped moving.

Dominik choked out a strangled noise, his whole body twitching in protest. “Rhea! Please.”

“Oh, now you’re begging?” She mocked, eyes sparkling down at him with mischief and delight as she finally let his wrists go. “That desperate for it?”

He groaned, hands flying up to her hips as if he could pull her back into motion himself, but she just slapped them away roughly and wrapped a hand around his throat in warning.

“Did I say you could touch me?”

“No Mami,” He breathed, swallowing hard and fingers curling into the sheets instead. “Sorry.”

“Mmm,” She purred, pleased, dragging her nails lightly down his chest with her other hand, leaving trails of red marks along his skin. “That’s better.”

She rolled her hips again in the most slow, punishing, and deliberate manner that Dominik nearly sobbed.

“Rhea I’m gonna—“

Her hand tightened around his throat in an instant.

“You will do no such thing.” She threatened. “You will when I tell you to, understood?”

Dominik nodded the best he could with her hand digging into his neck.

Rhea picked up her pace, raising and lowering herself against his length. “Good boy.” She murmured, voice dark like velvet.

She liked him like this; Surrendered. Sweet. Starved.

Completely hers. Even if it was just for tonight.

A lazy smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she rose to the balls of her feet. The sight of him below her absolutely wrecked, eyes hazy, jaw clenched, chest rising and falling in uneven bursts, was enough to make her core clench around him again, just to feel that desperate shudder ripple through his body.

It had her leaking.

“Such a pretty mess,” She murmured, leaning down to kiss his jaw, then his neck, then the hollow of his throat. “All for me.”

She began to move again even faster. Rhea was grinding herself against him in a way that had his back arching off the bed as though he could somehow chase her rhythm deeper.

Her hands framed his face now, thumbs brushing along his cheekbones with a kind of twisted tenderness that made him whimper again.

“I can feel how close you are, you’re throbbing.” She whispered, dragging her lips along his ear. “You gonna be a good boy and let me have it?”

He nodded so fast it made her laugh.

“Go ahead Dom Dom,” She encouraged. “Show me how pretty you are when you fall apart for me.” Rhea cooed mockingly, mimicking what he had said to her with a pleased and wicked smirk on her face.

Dominik didn’t need to be told twice.

His body convulsed under her, a guttural groan ripping from his throat as pleasure ripped through him like a lightning strike. She held him through it, hips moving slower now, hands cradling his face as he choked out her name over and over like it was the only word he remembered.

His whole body shuddered, chest heaving, face completely wrecked with bliss.

And Rhea smiled, soft and smug, as she leaned down and kissed his forehead like she hadn’t just broken him in half.

“See?” She whispered. “Told you I missed you.”

Dominik’s voice was a ruined murmur against her shoulder. “You’re evil.”

“Eh, you like it.” Rhea declared before kissing the corner of his mouth and rolling off of him.

_______________________________

Tiffany’s head was throbbing by the time her eyes fluttered open. She let out a whine as the sun spilling in the room made her grimace.

Rubbing at her eyes, she realized she was in Rhea’s guest room as the events from the night before came spilling in; the drinks, the fight, meeting Dominik.

She chucked to herself, god Ludwig was going to give her an ear full if there was a video going around from the bar, which there probably was.

Sighing, Tiffany swung her legs down to the ground and saw the two piece gym set; camo with the faintest touch of pink on the logo in the center (the literal only pink thing Rhea owned), resting at the foot of the bed for her.

Tiffany freshened up in the bathroom and got dressed quickly before making her way to the kitchen where she could hear Rhea and Dominik.

She walked in to see Dominik seated at the island with his back to her in Rhea’s robe, eating cereal while Rhea, who never seemed to grasp the concept of personal space, was standing right beside him, head resting on his shoulder as she showed him videos on her phone.

“Okay which one of these lunge sets looks better?” Rhea began showing the first video. "This one?"

“Damn,” Tiffany could hear Dominik mutter under his breath as she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“Orrrr, this one.” Rhea loaded up the other video as they both leaned forward to get a better look.

“Hmmm,” Dominik pondered, mouth closed as he chewed on his cereal. “Well your ass looks really good in the first one.”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Rhea declared, making Dominik chuckle. “So the first one then?”

“Mhmm.” He nodded in agreement, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth.

Rhea smirked at him, knowing very well that Dominik would have little bursts of random possessiveness when it came to her. “You sure you don’t mind knowing my followers are gonna be gawking over my ass just like you?” She teased.

Tiffany wanted to vomit, and not just because she was hungover. She had never seen Rhea like this.

“Nah,” Dominik said casually. “They can look all they want, but they can’t—“

SMACK!

Dominik’s hand landed hard against Rhea’s ass, making her gasp.

A hand flew up to Tiffany’s mouth in shock as her eyes widened. Oh Rhea was going to absolutely kill him. Well at least that’s what she thought until Rhea yelled out a surprised—

“Dominik!” Before giggling, like full on giggling like a schoolgirl girl as she just tucked herself deeper into his side while he soothingly rubbed the spot he just hit.

“I’m in the fucking twilight zone,” Tiffany muttered as she fully entered the kitchen now.

Rhea glanced over her shoulder at her.

“About time, thought you were dead. Good morning.”

“Morning,” Tiffany grumbled as she grabbed the end barstool to take a seat.

“You drank more than I did, how the hell are you so chipper right now?” Tiffany frowned.

Rhea scoffed. “Because I’m an adult that can handle my liquor.” She declared as she removed herself from Dominik’s side and went to the cabinet to grab Tiffany some aspirin. The reality was, Rhea was still riding the adrenaline high of last night of the bar fight and waking up next to Dominik again, that nothing could ruin her mood this morning.

She passed off the pills along with a water bottle. Tiffany frowned.

“Ugh I don’t need aspirin, I need an iced caramel macchiato and an acai bowl with extra granola.” She complained, but took the pills anyway.

Rhea rolled her eyes as Dominik glanced over at Tiffany.

“Want some cereal? Mami has the extra fancy organic kind with the big clusters of granola and she has Frosted Flakes. She let me mix them together, see?” He said proudly, showing off his bowl.

Actually, Rhea agreed to let him have the Frosted Flakes only if he ate the other kind too.

Tiffany just stared at him.

“....no thanks.”

Dominik shrugged and went back to his bowl. “How come you’re not making her drink one of your hangover death smoothies?” He asked, turning his attention back to Rhea.

“Because,” Rhea began as she made her way to her fridge. “Tiffany actually eats vegetables on a regular basis like a normal person.”

Dominik scoffed. “You know nothing about my vegetable intake.”

“You have no vegetable intake, that’s the problem. I have literally watched you take the lettuce and tomato off of your burgers you man-child.” She deadpanned.

Tiffany hid a chuckle behind her fist at the look of offense on Dominik’s face as Rhea rummaged through her fridge.

“First of all, they make the burger unnecessarily soggy, and second, tomatoes are a fruit so ha!”

Rhea peered over her shoulder. “So ha what? You know the basics of produce and don’t eat your fruits either, want a cookie?”

“Over vegetables? Obviously.”

Tiffany glanced between the two of them, face furrowed in confusion.

“You two are–this is just…what the hell is happening!?”

Rhea closed the fridge, arms full of and ingredients and walk back towards the counter across from them, dumping everything down and leaned against it.

“What?” She asked.

“This is just so….domestic. You just headbutted a woman last night and now you’re spoonfeeding cereal to a man wearing your robe? I feel like I’m in a simulation.” Tiffany exaggerated.

Dominik had the smuggest smirk on his face as he continued to eat his cereal.

“.....you saw me feeding him?” Rhea asked in horror.

Tiffany put her head in her hands. “Oh my gosh, I have to get out of here.”

“Not before you eat something,” Rhea declared, ignoring her dramatics. “I can make you an omelette or some avocado toast or something.”

“Hey!” Dominik frowned. “You didn’t offer me any of that.”

“Dominik, you literally asked me for cereal.”

“Well I didn’t know I had options!”

Rhea just rolled her eyes. “You would’ve just picked cereal anyway.” She grumbled as she started to maneuver around the kitchen to find a skillet.

“Not if I would have known you only ever have almond milk. You need to get some 2% in this bitch.” Dominik complained with his mouth full.

“Cow milk isn’t good for you, you walnut. Humans shouldn’t drink milk from other mammals.”

“That’s true.” Tiffany agreed as she watched Rhea start cracking eggs into a bowl. “I only drink oat milk.”

“But drinking milk from nuts and oats is normal?” Dominik scoffed. “That doesn’t even sound right.”

Tiffany just looked at him.

“God, you really are a man-child. And Rhea stop trying to fill me with protein and carbs you muscle demon! I’m getting out of here and getting my acai bowl and enjoying the time difference before Ludwig wakes up and sees me bitch slapping Fallon all over his feed.” Tiffany said with a sigh.

“You’re eating this omelette and you will like it. Plus, isn’t it like evening time over there right now? He’s definitely seen it.” Rhea chuckled.

Tiffany typed on her phone frantically, her eyes widening in horror.

“Oh my god, you’re right and he hasn’t said a word. Oh nooooo!” She groaned.

“Yikes, silent treatment. No new Van Noten for you.” Rhea teased as she cracked another egg into the bowl.

“I gotta get out of here,” Tiffany repeated.

“Need me to drop you off?” Dominik offered.

Tiffany gave him a tight lipped smile. “Thanks but no thanks.” She declared. “Last night was one thing, but I would never be caught dead in your car in broad daylight. Someone might see me, I could get cancelled.”

Dominik just shrugged, not feeling offended in the slightest.

“Tiff!” Rhea fussed. “I told you to be nice!”

“I was being nice! I literally said thanks.” She said, holding her hands up in defense.

“Aye, you got it.” Dominik began, standing to rinse out his bowl. “I saw the video, you slapped the shit out of her. I don’t want those problems.”

“Please,” Rhea scoffed. “I would murder her before she even got the chance to breathe on you.” She said without a second thought, making Tiffany frown.

“Ugh so much for chicks before dicks.”

Rhea just shrugged with a smirk as Dominik approached her and kissed her cheek before announcing he was going to watch tv.

Tiffany watched him trot out of the kitchen and quickly turned her attention back to Rhea, slamming her hands on the counter.

“Okay,” She began in a hushed voice. “What. The. Fuck?”

“What?” Rhea asked unbothered, whisking the eggs and other ingredients she added together.

“You’re feeding him? Letting him wear your clothes and slapping you on the ass all before noon? Like….like a fucking stepford wife!”

Rhea’s hand stilled as she glanced up from the bowl at Tiffany. “Don’t ever call me that again unless you want me to shove this omelette down your throat until you choke on it.”

Tiffany put her hands up in defense. “I’m just saying. Rhea this isn’t like you.”

Groaning, Rhea poured the mixture into the skillet. “I know, I knowwwww. I told you he makes me unwell!”

“You’re past unwell.” Tiffany declared.

Rhea stirred the skillet with a practiced flick of her wrist, biting her bottom lip as the corners of her mouth twitched up in a smile. “Yeah,” She muttered. “It’s disgusting. I hate it.”

Tiffany narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sound like you hate it.”

“Because I hate how much I like it,” Rhea corrected, sliding the spatula under the edges of the omelette.

“He’s just…” She started, then paused, staring into the sizzling skillet. “He’s funny and smart in a dumb way. Like he knows he’s stupid, but it works for him? And he’s kind of an asshole but only to people who deserve it. And he smells so good and he doesn’t take shit from me which is, ugh! It’s soooo annoying, but also kind of hot? And when he sleeps he makes this tiny snoring noise like a cartoon bear. And he lets me be me without trying to change me, like I can just punch him or bite him and he isn’t even phased, he likes it.”

Tiffany stared at Rhea and couldn’t even fight off her own faint smile.

“You know this is, like, the third time you have ranted to me about how ‘amazing’ he is.”

“I can’t help it,” She groaned. “He makes me rant. He makes me feel things Tiff. Like he showed up for me last night and let me dom him right after. I want to crawl into his skin and set up shop for the rest of my life.”

Tiffany chuckled while shaking her head. “I’m so glad I was passed the fuck out last night.” She muttered to herself in amusement. “So, what now? He seems just as into…whatever this is, just as much as you.”

Rhea shrugged as she plated the omelette and slid it towards Tiffany with a fork. “We’re figuring it out as we go, we decided. ‘No stress, just vibes’ as he likes to say.”

Scrunching her lips to the side of her mouth, Tiffany cut into the omelette. “Sounds like emotional avoidance and delusion to me.”

“Yeah, well that’s kinda been my brand for awhile now, so it works.” She shrugged.

Tiffany gave her a look; one of those slow blinks of judgment only a best friend could get away with before stabbing her fork into the omelette again.

“Well, delusional or not, this is good,” She mumbled through a mouthful.

Rhea smirked. “Duh. I may be in denial, but I still know how to make a goddamn omelette.”

“God, you're so ridiculous.” Tiffany muttered fondly, reaching for the water bottle again. “I should be more worried about you, but honestly? Watching you go full soft girlfriend mode is kind of entertaining.”

“I’m not soft!” Rhea insisted, a touch too quickly.

“You’re not hard either,” Tiffany said in a sing-songy manner. “You’re like….medium. No! Al dente. Like firm when you try to bite into it but still squishy in the center.”

“I’m going to stab you with this spatula,” Rhea warned.

“There she is,” Tiffany grinned. “My violent little gremlin.”

Rhea rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the way her lips curled, smile tugging at the corners like Dominik was still in the room and whispering dumb things into her ear.

“You should bring him to Karmen’s party Friday.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. I don’t know Tiff, that’s not really his scene. He’s sooo awkward sometimes.”

Tiffany was grinning as she cut another piece before shoveling it into her mouth.

“That’s exactly why you should bring him, duh! He’s going to think everyone is so weird. He’ll be like a raccoon that wandered into a gala, it’ll be fun!”

“Sounds like it would be fun for you.” Rhea deadpanned.

“For you too!” Tiffany defended. “You can make him bring you drinks all night and threaten violence on anyone who stares at him too long.” She offered.

Rhea let out a hum. That did sound fun and having Dominik there with her would make the night less insufferable. Rhea always hated these dumb parties, but Tiffany loved them despite the fact that most of the time the people there didn’t like her. If anything, that just made Tiffany want to attend them even more.

“Fine.” Rhea agreed.

By the time Tiffany had left, Rhea walked into the living room to see Dominik laid out across the couch lazily, still clad in her robe watching tv.

She approached him, bare feet padding against the floor.

“Do you work today?”

“Yeah,” He answered, not even turning his attention from the screen. “I’m closing though, so I have a few hours before I have to go.”

Rhea resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She had about enough of his stupid job that prevented them from spending every waking second together.

Leaning down, Rhea untied the robe and opened it up before climbing on top of him and making herself comfortable against his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso.

“What are you doing?” He chuckled.

“Close it.” She demanded. “Tie it back up.”

Dominik rolled his eyes but he was smirking. He reached around and secured the robe around the both of them before tying it back closed, essentially caging them inside the robe together.

He pulled the knot tight with a dramatic little flourish, then looked down at her with that dopey grin she was starting to hate how much she loved.

“There. One human burrito, extra clingy, just how you like it.”

Rhea snuggled in tighter, resting her cheek against the warm expanse of his chest. “You’re the clingy one,” She mumbled.

“I literally watched you waddle over here like a penguin just to stuff yourself inside my robe.”

“It’s my robe.”

“Yeah,” He smirked. “But I’ve marked it with my musk now, so legally I own it.…..plus, I may have sorta kinda…spilled milk on it too.”

She groaned loudly, face buried in his chest.

Rhea couldn’t believe this was her life now, and even more, she couldn’t believe how much she liked it. 

Chapter Text

“We’re going to a party Friday.” Rhea announced as she watched Dominik get dressed to prepare to leave, much to her annoyance.

“Who?” He asked, slipping into his sweats. “You and Tiff?”

She scoffed. “What? No, you and me. Tiff will be there too though.”

His movements stilled. “You asking or telling me?”

Rhea just stared at him with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised, making his eyes roll.

“Fine.” He grumbled. “What kind of party?”

With a shrug, she leaned back on her hands as she sat at the edge of her bed. “The usual, influencers, aspiring Tubi actors, crypto idiots, just a bunch of pretentious cunts all pretending they don’t hate each other.”

Dominik frowned immediately. “That sounds fucking awful.”

“Oh it will be.” She declared, flopping onto her back with a chuckle. “But we can talk shit about people all night and go find places to make out when we get bored.” Rhea offered.

He made a face in contemplation. “Okay, I’m sold. Can I bring Austin?”

She shot up from her laying position so fast, it was a surprise she didn’t get whiplash. “Ew, gross no! Why would you want to bring him?”

“Come on Rhea,” He groaned. “I need him. Austin’s my emotional support meathead with no social awareness. He talks people’s heads off for me when I don’t want to and keeps them away from me.”

“Absolutely not,” Rhea said, face twisted like she was tasting something sour. “He’s going to annoy me and make a fool of himself trying to flirt with anyone with a pulse.”

Dominik smirked. “Exactly, more free entertainment.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Come onnnn Mami, please? You want me stuck to your side all night like a helpless puppy while you and Tiff gossip with people you hate?”

Well yes, obviously.

Rhea wanted to shut the idea of Austin even breathing her air down, but then Dominik started making that dumb, sad face with his big, dumb, brown eyes.

Sighing deeply, she rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “Fine.” She begrudgingly agreed. “But now, you’re not riding with me. I will not be seen walking into an event like this with him.”

“Deal.” Dominik said with a nod.

“And he cannot try to flirt with Tiff.”

He started scratching at his chin. “Yeah….yeah I can’t promise that one.”

Rhea stood, pointing a finger at him. “I mean it Dom. Tiffany’s boyfriend is legitimately crazy when it comes to her.” She began with a warning.

“He had this business partner that he knew for years, like way before Tiff. And the guy made one comment about her, called her sexy or something in passing and Ludwig found out and no one has seen the guy since.”

Dominik’s brows instantly shot up. “Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh.” Rhea said, nodding her head with her arms crossed. “Rumor is Ludwig scared him off so bad that the guy fled from the states and went back to Italy. He doesn’t even post on social media anymore, he just….vanished.”

As much as Rhea would absolutely love for Austin to also disappear in thin air and never be a part of her life again, Dominik was a part of her life and he, very unfortunately for her, actually tolerated Austin. So just this once, she would try to spare the idiot’s life.

“What is he? Like a mob boss or something?”

Rhea shrugged. “I have no fucking clue. Every time I try to ask Tiff what happened she just shrugs with this stupid smirk on her face.” She said with an eyeroll.

Dominik scratched at the back of his neck. “That’s why she doesn’t give a damn about starting shit.” He mumbled, more to himself.

“Mhmmm. She’s a spoiled rotten little crash out with no fear or filter.” Rhea let out a fond sigh. “I love her.”

“So….you basically?”

Rhea frowned. “What? No, I’m not spoiled.”

Dominik just scrunched his lips together, he wasn’t even going to bother hitting her with the reality check that she was hands down the most spoiled person he had ever met.

“Right.” He resigned. “No letting Austin flirt with Tiff, got it.”

_______________________________

By the time Friday rolled around, Dominik wasn’t even too concerned about the party; there was a very, very small part of him that was actually looking forward to it.

That was until Rhea started listing off demands and warnings that now had him currently wondering what the hell he was getting himself into.

He was sitting in the break room on Facetime with her while she was at the gym, phone propped up on the elliptical she was using, talking through labored breaths.

“It starts at 8,” She began. “But don’t actually be there at 8 like a loser. The later the better.”

Dominik nodded, half listening, fully watching beads of sweat travel from her forehead down to the valley of her chest and into her sports bra.

“Mhmmm.”

“And make Austin drive so he has no choice but to be the designated driver.” Rhea decided to leave out the part that she wanted to ensure Dominik’s car would be nowhere in sight because if anybody said anything about it she would have to body slam them onto the concrete and she didn’t have time for that tonight.

“And don’t talk to anybody that refers to themselves as a brand.” She continued. “If you hear the words ‘let’s collab’, just walk away, no words, no eye contact. Just leave the conversation.”

Pretty much everything was going in one ear and out the other for Dominik because there was one particular bead of sweat that was making a very slow travel from the edge of her lip and down the curve of her jaw.

“Did the shirt fit?” She asked through a huff as she continued her workout.

Rhea had gone out and got Dominik a white Palm Angels button up the day before after asking him if he owned any “nice” shirts and he proudly displayed a graphic tee that literally said “This is my nice shirt.” on it.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Don’t spill anything on it,” She added, shooting him a pointed glare mid-stride on the elliptical. “If you show up smelling like weed and ranch, I will pretend I don’t know you.”

Dominik’s lips curled into a lazy grin as he leaned back in his breakroom chair, balancing it dangerously on two legs, watching the way her sports bra clung tighter to her with each stride.

“I’m gonna spill something on it on purpose now. Just to test how strong your loyalty really is.”

“Try me.” She warned.

Unphased, Dominik shrugged. “If you pretend you don’t know me, I’ll just try to woo you all night. Like foreplay, until you have no choice but to want to trap me in a closet and try to rip my clothes off.”

This made Rhea pause in contemplation. That could be fun.

“Freak.” Dominik snorted in amusement. “I was kidding. I’m not going to spill anything on it Mami, I promise.”

There was a faint pout on her face that quickly turned into a scowl as she went back to working her arms and legs much more aggressively now.

“You better not,” She snapped, though the threat was weakened slightly by the fact that she was now imagining said shirt crumpled somewhere on the floor, and Dominik pinned to a wall with that stupid cocky smirk on his face.

Dominik caught the shift, he always did. He sat forward in his chair with a slow, smug stretch, arms flexing in his polo just enough to be annoying. “You’re picturing it, huh?”

“I’m picturing myself punching you in the throat.”

“Kinky.”

“You’re distracting me and being annoying, I’m hanging up. I’ll see you tonight.”

_____________________________________________

Austin was buzzing as they pulled up the address Rhea had sent to Dominik. There were cars everywhere lining the driveway of the massive mansion that looked like it had definitely been used for a music video before.

It was a little after 9 and people were filing inside in designer cocktail dresses as Austin adjusted the collar of his way too fucking tight black polo shirt that his muscles were popping out of, it barely looked like he could breath.

Cutting the engine to his truck, he glanced over at Dominik and scoffed.

“Dude, lose the beanie.”

Dominik frowned. “What’s wrong with my beanie?”

“You look ridiculous.” He snatched it off of Dominik’s head and tossed it into the backseat.

“Hey!”

Ignoring him, Austin leaned over and started fiddling with Dominik’s cross chain that was peering out from under his collar.

Dominik immediately slapped his hands away. “Would you stop?” He fussed.

“Listen, this is a big night for me!” Austin began. “You already have your meal ticket, I’m trying to find mine. I will not let you and your need to be so ‘careless and chill’ ruin this for me!”

Rolling his eyes, Dominik opened the door and exited the truck. Maybe he should have listened to Rhea, because quite frankly, he didn’t want to be seen walking in with Austin himself at this point.

Austin came around the truck, strutting like he was about to get offered a cologne deal on the spot. His biceps were already flexing and he was doing that thing he always did when he was nervous; pretending he was really confident instead.

“You see that?” He said, pointing at the nearest group of girls in glittering mini-dresses and platform heels. “That’s opportunity, bro. I’m so getting laid tonight.”

Dominik ignored him as they made the walk up the long driveway and up the door.

The massive double doors swung open and it was immediately loud and smelled like expensive perfume, cashmere, and the faint underlying tension of people who only pretended to like each other online. Dominik had only taken three steps inside before he heard someone say the word “algorithm” and immediately regretted everything.

Austin, on the other hand, was fighting off the urge to drop his jaw and he stared around at everything in awe.

“Dude….” He began.

“This is–” Dominik tried to cut in.

“Going to be the best night of our fucking lives!” Austin declared as he grabbed Dominik by the shoulders and shook him in excitement.

Dominik shrugged him off and walked further into the party, scanning the crowd for Rhea. He knew she would be hard to miss and frowned to himself when he couldn’t find her.

Austin was right on his heels, scoping out potential prospects that he could be sucking face with by the end of the night.

There were eyes on the two of them the entire time. People trying to figure out who the hell they were and where they came from. It made Dominik feel slightly anxious as he scratched at the back of his neck and looked for any sign of Rhea.

His nerves were how they ended up in the much less crowded kitchen. Dominik was distracting himself with the luxurious spread of the charcuterie board that was more like a charcuterie table that took up the entire kitchen island. He kept his fingers busy and head down as he popped different cheeses into his mouth.

“Dude,” Austin began with a bored expression on his face. “We literally just got here. We’re not hiding in the kitchen all night.”

“I’m not hiding, I’m just…partaking in the party perks. Someone worked hard to set this spread up, you know. Wouldn’t want all that effort going to waste because half of the people here are probably vegan or are counting their calories or whatever.” He mumbled.

Ignoring him, Austin tilted his head and asked–

“Think there’s coke here?”

Dominik let out an amused breath. “There’s rich white people in here, there’s definitely coke somewhere and don’t even fucking think of asking.”

Rolling his eyes, Austin stood next to him and helped himself to some of the fancy crackers that were textured and had specks of some type of herb in them. “I wasn’t.” He grumbled. “Just…curious.”

Sure.

“This is the greatest thing I have ever tasted.” Austin groaned with his mouth full, stacking some prosciutto on another.

Dominik nodded in agreement. “Dude, you gotta try this fig jam shit. It’s amazing.”

“I love rich people. Thank you Rhea.”

The two stood side by side, grazing through the spread for a bit before Dominik heard–

“I knew you would be in here.”

He looked up to see Tiffany strutting towards them in a strapless, pink glittery mini dress and a very knowing smirk on her face. She had a fresh spray tan and shimmering body oil across her chest that had her sparkling under the lights in the kitchen.

Austin’s eyes zeroed in on her breasts, sitting perky and perfect in her dress and dropped the cracker he was holding right back onto the counter with his mouth hung open.

“Hey,” Dominik greeted her. “Tiff this is–”

“Austin.” He very quickly interrupted, practically leaping across the counter to extend his hand to Tiffany who just looked at it up and down like it was poisonous.

“Rhea told me not to engage with you and to scream if you touched me.” She declared, shooing his hand away.

Of course she did. Austin sucked his teeth and retracted his hand in defeat.

“Where is Rhea?” Dominik asked, cutting straight to the chase.

“Oh she’s coming. She likes to make an entrance.”

Before he could press for more details, a wave of motion stirred from the hallway. The room itself seemed to lean in, voices dipping in hushed whispers and small gasps.

Dominik followed the sound to the archway that led back into the main area of the party and sure enough, there she was.

Rhea.

Descending into the room like sin in a silk dress. It was a black dress of course, short with thin straps that had her broad shoulders on full display, a dangerously high slit and plunging neckline that clung to her like a second skin.

A few people were calling out to her as she walked in, the crowd practically parting for her. She turned every now and then to smile or wave her fingers at someone like they were her adoring fans.

Tiffany was standing right next to Dominik now with a smirk, observing the dumbfounded look on his face.

“I thought these people hated you guys?” He asked.

“Oh please,” She scoffed. “They love Rhea, everybody does. They just don’t like me and Rhea hates them because they don’t like me. It’s simple really.”

That sentence alone made Dominik’s brain hurt.

“Simple, sure.”

Rhea was passing right by the archway where they stood and she turned her head and gave Dominik a quick wink that nearly made him fall to his knees as she made her way deeper into the party.

“Welp, that’s my cue. Toodles!” Tiffany declared before going to join Rhea.

Dominik felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Mami🖤 :  going to mingle with ppl i hate come find me in a few so i dont have to introduce you

Mami🖤: and behave 😘

Austin had left the kitchen to do god knows what by now, leaving Dominik to continue his pursuit of apparently eating an entire charcuterie spread by himself while he gave Rhea some time before going to find her.

He was content, humming along to the music blasting through the house as he spread some fig jam on a piece of pepperoni just to see if it would taste good. (He was high, so of course it did.)

Dominik was actually enjoying himself when a chipper and piercing voice cut through the noise.

“Hi!”

He turned his head to see a short, blonde woman standing extremely close to him with blue eyes that were wide…and kinda…manic?

“Uh, hi.” Dominik replied as he took a side step to get some space.

“I’ve never seen you before, what’s your name?”

There was something…off about her that Dominik didn’t like. She was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet like she couldn’t stand still.

“....Roberto,” He said cautiously, already clocking this was weird. She was too close. Too smiley. Too... something.

The woman laughed, loud and shrieking like she just knew he was lying.

“You’re so funny!” She cackled, playfully shoving him.

Dominik brought his arm up with his hand pressed against his chest, turning slightly to avoid her from touching him.

Her eyes zeroed in on the tattoo on the back of his hand. It was the same dragon head from the hand in Rhea’s story, the same pinky ring on his finger.

It was him.

The woman was staring at Dominik like he was a piece of pepperoni covered in fig jam and he was officially disturbed. He didn’t even try to think of an excuse as he scratched at the back of his neck.

“I gotta–”

He didn’t even get the opportunity to move an inch before the woman leaned into him and raised her phone in the air.

“Selfie!” She announced just as the flash went off and Dominik stood in bewilderment, mouth half open and brows furrowed in absolute confusion. “Nice meeting you, byeeeeeee!”

What the fuck?

Dominik looked around the kitchen like he was waiting for a camera crew or something to pop out and explain what the entire fuck just happened.

Time to find Rhea and never leave her side.

He stalked out of the kitchen area, eyes scanning the party, half looking for Rhea, fully trying to avoid whoever that fucking nutcase was.

Spotting Austin first, talking to some chick that actually looked like she was interested in whatever he was saying, Dominik approached him, yanking him by the arm to pull Austin away.

“Bro! What the hell!? I was this close to getting her number! She called me dumb and hot, that was practically a marriage proposal!” He complained as Dominik continued to pull him right out the patio door to the pool area.

“Dude, why did you leave me!? The craziest thing just happened to m–”

“Dom!” Rhea’s commanding voice carried from across the yard where she was sitting with Tiffany in the outdoor lounge area.

Thank god.

The boys quickly approached them as Rhea stood to her feet, smirking at a very exasperated Dominik.

“Mami–”

“Don’t you look handsome,” She cooed, grabbing him by the collar to pull him in closer before smoothing the now ruffled edges and adjusting his chain.

Leaning in, her lips hovered by his ear. “You clean up real, real nice Papi.” Rhea purred. “Might have to take you up on that offer to ravish you in a closet.”

Dominik melted into her touch with a dopey grin.

“It never stops,” Tiffany muttered, shaking her head as she took a sip of her drink.

“Are you having fun?” Rhea asked, taking a slight step back to continue smoothing out the wrinkles from his shirt.

“Sorta, there was this–”

Dominik was cut off again by Rhea suddenly and very roughly, gripping his collar in her hands, yanking him close as a low growl spilled from her throat.

“What is she doing here?” She sneered. “Tiff!”

Tiffany looked up to see the culprit, Liv, cackling loudly by the pool and rolled her eyes.

Rhea had shoved Dominik to the side by now as her eyes narrowed on Liv.

“Who the hell even invited her!? Don’t you, like, age out of this shit once you hit 30? She doesn’t even know Karmen!” Rhea fussed.

“Maxine has been live streaming literally all night.”

“Of fucking course,” Rhea grumbled, fists balled tightly at her sides. “Every fucking time.”

“What’s the matter Rhea?” Dominik asked nervously, making her head snap towards him. She almost forgot he was even there.

“Liv,” Rhea hissed. “That’s what!”

Liv. Why did that sound familiar to him?

“Who’s Liv?” Austin asked as they all stood, looking off in the same direction.

“Blonde by the pool with the denim mini skirt.” Tiffany announced. “Rhea’s obsessed nemesis.”

Dominik’s stomach dropped. The nutcase from the kitchen.

This was not good.

“She’s hot.” Austin declared, making Rhea glare at him with a stare so intense it could cut glass.

“I mean, damn it’s hot….out here.” He quickly corrected and cleared his throat.

“Boys!” Rhea demanded. “Stay away from her. Do not talk to her, do not look at her.”

She grabbed Dominik by his collar again. “You especially.”

Dominik swallowed hard and nodded rapidly, the fear evident on his face. It made Tiffany reach over and gently grab Rhea’s shoulders from behind.

“Okaaayyyyy, let’s all just relax. Rhea, calm down and just ignore her like usual and Dom why don’t you go get Rhea a drink and take…him with you.” Tiffany tried to smile sweetly as she rubbed Rhea’s shoulders who was still scowling.

“R-right, right of course. Come on Austin.”

Dominik grabbed Austin by the arm and dragged him off toward the bar like he was towing a misbehaving child away from the candy aisle. Austin looked back over his shoulder at Rhea, who was still glaring death rays in Liv’s general direction.

“Dude. I think she would actually kill for you.” He whispered loudly.

Dominik gave him a side eye. “That’s not as comforting as you think it is.”

Once they were out of earshot, Dominik groaned. “I think I fucked up without even trying to fuck up.”

“What did you do?”

“How mad do you think Rhea would be if Liv may have talked to me already….and maybe, perhaps, took a selfie with me against my will? Like scale of one to ten? Probably like a calm four…right?”

Austin stopped dead in his tracks.

“She did what!?”

Dominik’s stomach felt like it was going to cave in on itself. “I-it wasn’t my fault! I was cornered! It was an ambush! It happened so fast!”

Running his hands down his face, Austin groaned. “Dude, you are sooooo dead! She just told you not to talk to her!”

“I didn’t know!” Dominik whined. “And I didn’t talk to her, she was talking to me! She was just…there–invading my space and then she put a camera in my face! I am a victim!” He whisper-yelled, gripping his hair like he could physically rewind time if he just pulled hard enough.

“You’re a fucking idiot is what you are.”

Austin was full blown pacing now, like he was personally invested in preserving Dominik’s situationship and maybe, well definitely, his own proximity to the social clout Rhea came with.

“Bro,” He hissed. “Do you understand what you’ve done!? You just aided in social media warfare! You’re about to start a girl war.”

Dominik’s hands were getting clammy and he could feel the sweat gathering at the nape of his neck.

“Wait, you don’t think she’ll post it…right?”

Austin let out a sigh, shaking his head. “You better hope she doesn’t.”

“Maybe Rhea won’t even see it!” Dominik offered. “She hates Liv so she probably doesn’t even follow her, right?” He tried to rationalize.

The most exasperated groan bellowed from Austin’s throat. “God you know nothing! How are you this fucking clueless? How have you survived on earth for this long?”

“I gotta fix this before Rhea finds out.” Dominik muttered. “I need you to go talk to Liv and tell her to delete the picture.”

“Oh hell no, are you crazy!? Rhea said not to talk to her and unlike you, I actually listen and respect my bestie because she’s unbelievably fucking terrifying.”

“I’m aware!” Dominik yelled.

“Are you gonna tell her?” Austin asked.

Chewing nervously on the inside of his cheek, Dominik pondered his options. He could:

-Tell Rhea right away and run the risk of her trying to murder Liv, which was definitely going to end with her in handcuffs

Or

-Keep Rhea distracted and entertained for the rest of the night and explain the whole situation when they were back at her place and far away from Liv

Dominik was leaning towards the option that wouldn’t involve him needing bail money that he most certainly did not have

“I’m scared if I tell her now, I’ll die in this house.” He muttered.

Austin sighed in defeat. “You’re probably right.”

When the boys returned to Tiffany and Rhea, Dominik clutching a double shot of tequila for her in his hands, there was still a faint scowl on her face as her foot tapped impatiently.

Dominik offered the glass to her with a sheepish grin.

“Come on Mami, let’s go find a closet.”

This brought a small smile to her face as she gladly accepted the drink and took his hand as he pulled her up to her feet. 

Chapter Text

The closet they ended up finding was a walk-in closet in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

Dominik had Rhea sat atop of one of the dresser drawer counters, legs spread with him standing in between, dress rolled up and panties pushed to the side with his fingers hooked inside of her as he kissed and bit along her neck.

His shirt had long been unbuttoned, chest on display as she threaded her fingers into his mullet, nails digging into his scalp.

Rhea’s head dropped back with a groan as she tightened her thighs around his waist. Her pointy heels were digging into his back but he didn’t even care, too motivated by the groans and low growls bellowing from her throat as he hooked his fingers just right to hit that spot.

“Fuck,” She muttered in pleasure, feeling his lips suction on her neck.

Dominik’s plan was simple really; keep Rhea distracted, make her cum, and then very calmly and very carefully explain what happened and keep Rhea from trying to drown Liv in the pool.

He was a man on a mission. A horny, desperate, mildly terrified man on a mission, and Rhea was the only thing grounding him, thighs tight around his waist and all.

“You like that, Mami?” He whispered against her throat, licking up to the shell of her ear before biting her the small space of flesh that wasn’t adorned with a piercing with just enough pressure to make her squirm.

“Obviously,” Rhea shot back breathlessly, voice laced with irritation and ecstasy in equal measure. Her tone would’ve sounded more threatening if not for the way her body trembled around him, her fingers tugging at his hair like she was trying to anchor herself. “Don’t get cocky.”

Dominik grinned against her skin, feeling her clench around his fingers. “Kinda hard not to when you’re leaking all over my hand.”

Rhea groaned, tossing her head forward so her forehead thunked lightly against his shoulder. “Shut up and finish what you started.”

“Yes, ma’am,” He said, voice cracking just a little because she really did scare the shit out of him.

His fingers pumped faster now, more insistent, and his thumb slid up to press against her clit in tight little circles. Rhea tugged his shirt down his arm and bit down on his shoulder with a moan so loud he glanced at the closet door like he expected the whole party to hear them.

“Fuck, Mami, you’re gonna blow our cover.” He chuckled.

“Then you better figure out how to shut me up,” Rhea growled against his shoulder, voice muffled but dripping with challenge.

“Oh my god,” He muttered in disbelief as he watched her hips start to roll against his hand like her body couldn’t wait for him to catch up.

Her hands slid down to his exposed chest, dragging her nails across his skin slow and teasing. Dominik hissed, his hips jerking forward involuntarily, grinding up against the inside of her thigh like he was the one being wrecked here. Which when it came to her, he always was.

Rhea smirked against his throat. “You’re so easy.”

He couldn’t even argue with that. Not with her body wrapped around him like that. Not with the scent of her skin in his nose and her breath hot against his neck. Not with the wet sounds echoing lewdly in the confined space as his fingers curved just right and she gasped.

“Oh, fuck—there,” Rhea moaned, eyes fluttering open as her thighs locked tighter around his waist. Her nails raked down his back like punishment and pleasure all rolled into one. “Don’t stop.”

“I got you,” He promised, more reverent than cocky now. “I got you, Mami, just like that, come on…”

Rhea came with a sharp cry muffled against his mouth as he kissed her through it.

She slumped against him, breath hot and rapid, face buried in his neck. Dominik held her there, fingers stroking slow now as she panted against his collarbone.

“You good?” He asked softly, brushing the damp hair back from her cheek.

“Mhmm.” She muttered as she finally lifted her head to look at him, lipstick smudged across his bottom lip, making her smirk.

Rhea ran a thumb over his lip to wipe away the lipstick.

“Nude looks good on you,” She teased with a lazy grin.

Dominik chuckled and caught her hand in his and brought it up to his lips with a gentle kiss.

The easy part was over, now for the hard part.

He watched her for a moment as she readjusted her dress, smoothing out the wrinkles with her hands.

She tried to hop down off the counter but Dominik just gripped her waist tightly to keep her in place.

“Mami…” He began. “I need to tell you something.”

Rhea tensed instantly.

“What is it?”

Dominik started scratching at the back of his neck nervously. “Uh, w-well…um—“

She snatched his hand away from his neck and glared at him.

“Dom.” She warned.

“Right, sorry.” He said, clearing his throat and trying again. “That Liv chick talked to me earlier.”

Rhea was already seeing red. “What!?”

“Just let me explain!” Dominik rushed out. “I was in the kitchen minding my own business—after being abandoned by Austin I might add—and she just, she just appeared out of nowhere! This was before I knew who she was, I swear!”

Her jaw was clenched so tight Dominik was sure he could see every single muscle on her face flexing.

“And what did you say to her?” She questioned.

“Nothing!” He quickly defended. “Barely two words, she asked me my name and I panicked and said Roberto because she was staring at me like she was crazy.”

“Because she is crazy!” Rhea hissed.

She could see the fear on his face and sighed, shoulders relaxing just slightly.

“Look, it’s okay Dom. You didn’t do anything wrong, just stay away from—“

“There’s something else.” He muttered, making Rhea raise a brow at him.

“When I was trying to walk away…she pulled out her camera and took a picture with me, against my will!”

Rhea had heard about enough as she tried to hop off the counter again, only to be stopped by Dominik again.

“Wait, wait, wait!” He rushed. “It’s not a big deal, okay? I wasn’t even smiling! She just shoved the phone in my face, I’m sure I look like a startled and confused small animal or something!”

“Not a big deal!?” Rhea fussed as she reached for her clutch and pulled her phone out, fingers tapping on the screen furiously.

Dominik was chewing on his bottom lip as she scrolled and tapped on her screen.

After a moment she finally glanced at him, eyes still angry but tone less pointed. “She hasn’t posted it.” Rhea grumbled with a sigh.

Dominik could feel his body relaxing.

“Yet.” She added, making him wince.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Rhea let out another sigh. “I’m going to drown her.”

“I figured that’s where this was heading, and I support your spirit, I do—but maybe we don’t ruin your friend's party by turning it into a true crime documentary, yeah?”

“These people aren’t my friends Dominik!” She hissed through gritted teeth.

Then why are we even here!? Dominik wanted to ask, but he knew better than to poke the bear.

“I told you about her,” Rhea said, voice shaking more from fury than emotion now. “I warned you, Dom. I told you she was nuts and you let her take a picture.”

“Let is a strong word,” He said defensively. “It was more like I blinked and she had already angled it and boom! Flash.”

Rhea sucked in a sharp breath and cracked her knuckles. “You don’t understand how close I am to committing a felony.”

He reached out and gently gripped her by the hips again, guiding her back to remain on the counter. “And that’s why I brought you here first. Not just for the finger fun, though I won’t lie, that was a bonus–”

“You’re not funny.” She deadpanned.

“Just a little?”

Her lips twitched. Just barely, but it was there; a sliver of an almost smile.

“You think you can distract me from my wrath with sex and jokes?” She asked in fake disbelief.

“...yes?” Dominik tried, hopeful.

Rhea sighed again and leaned her forehead into his shoulder. “You’re so lucky you’re hot and dumb.”

Dominik grinned.

“But seriously Mami, she’s clearly doing this to try and get a reaction out of you. Don’t let her win. Even if she does post it, who cares. It’ll just make her look even more psycho and it’s not like she even knows who I am anyway, she thinks my name is Roberto for crying out loud.”

This made Rhea chuckle as she remained with her head pressed against his shoulder. She wasn’t used to this but it was something about the way his energy calmed her rage even when she wanted to fight against it, the way his fingers rubbed grounding circles into her hips, the way he could never be serious for more than a fucking second, always knowing the right, dumb things to say.

She finally lifted her head and looked at him–really looked at him.

“Fine.” Rhea agreed. “You’re right, I won’t let her ruin my night.”

“Told you I’m always right.” He smirked.

“Don’t start,” She said with an eyeroll and hopped off the counter to grab her clutch so she could fix her lip liner and lipstick.

Dominik leaned back against the closet wall, exhaling like he’d just survived a battle. Which honestly, he kinda had.

________________________________________

Battles were one thing, war was a whole other thing in itself and Dominik was about to learn that very quickly.

It was the next day after the party and he was at work. The night continued without a hitch, by the time they emerged from the closet, Liv was long gone and Rhea was actually enjoying herself as she sipped drinks and talked shit with Tiff with Dominik at her side like the good puppy he was. Austin hadn’t even annoyed Rhea, too busy off doing his own thing and trying to get numbers even though Rhea did still give Austin an earful for leaving Dominik unattended.

Dominik’s shift was dragging as usual. They were having a “Christmas in July” sale that had the store actually busy for once. Customers piling in and out all day being scammed into purchasing things that were usually always on sale anyway. Austin had the day off so it was just Dominik manning the register by himself all day and he was exhausted, annoyed, and overstimulated to say the least.

He had just made it to the alley behind the store for his smoke break. Slumping onto one of the crates piled up against the brick wall, Dominik pulled out his joint and lit it. His shoulders relaxed instantly and he took a slow drag and rested his head on the wall.

Just four more fucking hours of this shit and then he was free to go home and rot on his couch in peace or maybe swing by Rhea’s.

Who was he kidding, he was definitely going to Rhea’s. After a day like today, her king sized bed was practically calling his name.

He pulled out his phone for the first time in hours to text her as he continued to hit his joint, but immediately furrowed his brows at the abundance of notifications from instagram on his screen.

Unlocking his phone, he quickly went to the app and his eyes widened in horror.

yaonlylivonce has followed you

yaonlylivonce liked your post

yaonlylivonce has liked  every  single fucking thing you have ever posted and commented on every single picture

Dominik’s stomach dropped to his ass, scrolling through what felt like an endless stream of likes and comments. He barely even posted, he hadn’t posted since Christmas time the year before.

“Fuck,” He muttered to himself in disbelief. How did she even find him?

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse–

yaonlylivonce tagged you in their story

He looked at the timestamp and it was posted 42 minutes ago

Double fuck.

He tapped on it and sure enough there it was–the picture she snapped of them the night before; blurry with Dominik’s mouth half open and eyebrows scrunched like he was terrified.

There was no caption, no emojis, just a big ol’ tag of his handle under him.

Oh Rhea was going to absolutely kill him.

He scrambled to go to his DMs to send Rhea a message, trying to decide between trying to break the tension with a joke or if he should make a voice note of him just begging for forgiveness.

His pursuit was cut short when he noticed a message from Liv right at the top of his inbox.

He tapped on the message thread with a sigh.

yaonlylivonce: Last night was soooooo fun, we should hang out sometime xoxo 😘💖✨✨✨

“Ah!” Dominik yelped, dropping his phone to the ground like it burned him.

“Nope,” He whispered to himself. “Nope nope nope. I reject this reality. I didn’t see that. That didn’t happen. I’m hallucinating. I’m dehydrated and delirious.”

Dominik was hitting the joint like an absolute junkie at this point, his high brain trying to come up with any solution that would have him not being murdered by Rhea for simply just existing.

“I’ll go straight to her when I get off and explain everything,” He muttered to himself. “Remind her that I’m the victim here….and maybe take her some snacks. Yeah, snacks and my irresistible charm–that’ll fix this!” He convinced himself as he put on his joint, smashing it up against the wall and grabbed his phone off the ground and shoved it into his back pocket.

Just four hours to go to fix this.

___________________________________________

Dominik did a lot of dumb things, he was very aware of that. And right now, the dumbest thing he had done in a long time was convincing himself that the tornado that was Rhea, would be sitting around calmly and patiently waiting for an explanation without taking any action.

It had been about thirty minutes after his smoke break and he was back at the register with a line of customers to ring out.

He had just finished handing off a customer’s receipt and was about to call for the next person in line when the double doors of the store slid open.

“Welcome to–”

“Dominik!” A very loud and piercing Australian accent rang out, making his head snap up.

Rhea.

She was stalking towards the counter like a woman on a mission, with no disregard for the line as she lightly bumped shoulders with the next person about to approach the counter and slammed her palms down onto the counter.

“Hey!” The customer called out.

“Oh shut it!” Rhea barked without even turning to look at the man. “This will only take a minute.”

Dominik gulped. “Mami–”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare ‘Mami’ me right now.” She snarled. “Dominik what the entire fuck is going on huh!?”

“Rhea,” He whispered, tone soft like he was trying not to spook a wild animal. “I’m at work–”

“I don’t care,” She spat. “And I was in the middle for a wax appointment when I seen that sea witch tagging you on her story like you two shared a magical evening together under the fucking moonlight!”

Dominik glanced at the line of customers who were now openly gawking, wide-eyed and shameless, enjoying the free entertainment like this was daytime television. This was his nightmare.

“I know okay, just listen–”

“She’s spammed your likes Dominik! She put fucking heart eyes on a picture of a plate of tacos from fucking 2019 Dominik!”

He had never heard her this angry or using his full name this much and he hated how much it was turning him on just a little.

Get a fucking grip.

“You promised me she didn’t know who you were, how did she find you then huh!?”

“I don’t know!” He tried to defend quickly. “I have no idea, you gotta believe me.” Dominik muttered quietly, noticing someone in line had pulled out their phone to start recording. “Look, can we please just talk about this later? I was going to call you as soon as I got off–”

“Oh of course you were,” Rhea snorted. “Trying to buy time to come up with a good enough excuse of why this bitch is all over your instagram! Why isn’t your page even private to begin with!?” She fussed.

“I-i…–”

“You just let it all hang out huh? Just letting any and everybody take pictures of you and post them for the whole world to see! Even when I tell you to stay away from them!”

Dominik could feel his stomach starting to cramp, his nerves beginning to get the best of him as he could feel the eyes of everyone in the store on them.

“Rhea please,” He tried again softly. “I-i’ll block her, let’s just–”

She gripped him by his collar. “You haven’t blocked her yet!?” She yelled.

Dominik’s soul left his body.

“No block? Oh he’s done for.” He heard a younger woman in line mutter.

“Rhea, please–” He hissed, gripping the edge of the counter. “You’re–you’re being very loud right now.”

“Oh, I know,” She sneered, yanking him down a little by the collar so they were practically nose-to-nose across the counter. “And you were being very stupid last night, weren’t you?”

He wrapped his hands around her wrists to try and calm her down.

“Yes the stupidest, ju-just hear me out!”

“I bet she DMed you too, didn’t she?”

Dominik swallowed hard. “She did.” He said in defeat. “BUT! I didn’t respond! I just opened it so the notification would go away.” He tried to defend.

He thought that would help but the fury in her eyes just seemed to magnify as her lips curled into a snarl.

“YOU OPENED IT!?”

There were a few collective groans from the line that had now felt like an audience to Rhea’s spiraling.

“I-is that bad?”

Rhea released his collar and ran her hands through her hair. “Oh no, it’s not bad.” She mocked him with a smile. “All you did was actually acknowledge her and make her think she has a chance with you, that’s not bad at all!” She chuckled humorlessly.

At that, Dominik rubbed both hands down his face. He was already sweating, humiliated, and dangerously close to catching an HR complaint for having the most unhinged, hottest situationship in retail history.

“Oh my god–”

“Don’t ‘oh my god’ me,” Rhea snapped, reaching across the counter and flicking his nametag. “You said to just ‘let it go’ and I listened and now look at you; tagged and hard launched by a fucking psycho!”

Hard launch? There were more terms!?

“She tagged me before I even knew what was happening!”

“And you didn’t think to un-tag yourself immediately?!” She barked.

“I was at work! I didn’t even know you could do that!”

“I have nails, Dominik, and I have still managed to delete a story post and block three people mid-bikini wax! Don’t talk to me about multitasking!”

“She kinda got a point.” The customer directly behind Rhea whispered, fully invested.

This was getting way out of hand. Dominik felt like an attraction at the zoo; phones out, eyes on him, customers in the aisles now peering around endcaps to see what was going on.

He just wanted it all to stop, he needed it all to stop.

His hands were getting clammy and he could feel sweat beading along the back of his neck as Rhea continued her tirade.

“....and you’re just standing here–speechless and fucking clueless! I’m trying to explain to you how this is making me feel and you’re acting like you don’t care–”

“BECAUSE I DON’T!” Dominik finally snapped, just needing to say anything that would make her fucking stop for two seconds.

And he got his wish because Rhea stopped almost immediately, brows furrowed with a confused pout on her face that lasted for a millisecond before her stare turned cold.

Dominik’s voice echoed in the sudden silence like a gunshot in a church. It was only three words but Rhea felt every. single. one.

He didn’t mean it, he didn’t mean it at all but he could tell from the emotionless expression on her face that the damage was done.

Every phone lowered, every mouth fell open. Her eyes, once wild with fury, now narrowed with something far more terrifying: icy, calculated silence.

She didn’t offer him another glance, Rhea just nodded slowly to herself, grabbing her phone from the counter and muttered–

“Good to know.” Before walking away.

Dominik watched her storm off with his mouth slightly parted, surprised with his own self at his outburst.

Rhea was almost out the door when she stopped abruptly and kicked over a cellphone case display rack with an enraged scream before going out the sliding doors.

The middle aged man that was next in line finally approached the counter, placing his items down as he shook his head.

“She sounds like my ex-wife, trust me, you dodged a bullet kid.”

But Dominik didn’t feel like he dodged a bullet, he felt like he just got run over by an entire bullet train.

__________________________________________

Rhea stormed through the parking lot, swinging the passenger door to Tiffany’s car open and slammed it shut aggressively after climbing inside.

“....what happened?” Tiffany asked cautiously at the eerie silence and anger radiating off of Rhea.

“He said he didn’t care,” She muttered, head pressed against the window.

“Care about what?”

“....about me.”

Tiffany frowned. She could hear the hurt in Rhea’s voice.

“Rhea–”

“I need to get out of this parking lot before I set this whole shopping center on fire.”

“I would offer to help you key his car, but you would probably just be doing him a favor.” Tiffany joked to lighten the mood.

This got a small chuckle out of a Rhea that turned into a faint whimper making Tiffany’s eyes widen.

Okay this was not good.

She needed to think of something quickly to help Rhea feel better.

Pulling out her phone, she got on instagram and went straight to her burner account.

“Come on, come on,” Tiffany muttered to herself as she scrolled aimlessly and tapped through story posts. She let out a small gasp to herself when she found what she was looking for and started the car to peel out of the parking lot.

They rode in silence which was absolutely freaking Tiffany out. Rhea wasn’t ranting, she wasn’t complaining, she was just silent.

It had been twenty minutes and they were on the other side of town where they both lived in the shopping district. Rhea, still gazing out of the window, watched the blurred rows of boutiques and luxury cafes and restaurants as they drove by. It made her scoff.

“Tiff where are we going? I don’t feel like eating my feelings right now….unless you wanna, maybe, go get a pizza and watch Supernatural with me?” She offered.

“We can do that after this,” Tiffany promised. “Almost there.” She said in a voice that was way too chipper for what Rhea was feeling right now.

A few minutes later, Tiffany was parallel parking her car in front of some dance studio looking kind of place.

Rhea’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What the hell is this?”

“Just come on,” Tiffany urged as she cut the engine and hopped out of the car.

Rhea reluctantly followed suit as they stood in front of the large window.

“What do you see?” Tiffany asked with a smirk.

“A bunch of pretentious fucks swaying back and forth on yoga mats. Tiff what are we doing here?”

“Ugh! Look closer!” She urged.

Rhea took a step closer to the window and peered in with her arms crossed. And then she saw it, seated at the front and facing the rest of the class participants–

Liv.

“Oh Tiff, I love you,” Rhea groaned.

“I know,” Tiffany beamed proudly. “She’s apparently ‘mastered’ Japanese Zazen meditation in the two weeks she was there.” She said with an eyeroll. “And now she’s teaching courses.”

Rhea let out a hum, she was about to teach Liv a lesson of her own.

“Are you ready?” Tiffany asked, already fishing a hair tie off her wrist like this was war prep.

“Do I look ready?” Rhea asked dryly, pulling her hoodie off to reveal the cropped tank underneath and tied it around her waist.

Tiffany bit back a wicked grin. “You look like karma, babe.”

The door to the studio swung open with a loud bang as it hit the wall, cutting through the serene music that was playing as several of the women in the class let out gasps.

Liv’s eyes shot open and widened when she saw a very tense, very pissed Rhea standing in the doorway.

Rhea stalked into the room without a care with Tiffany right behind her. She stepped over people, stepped on yoga mats, and kept her eyes locked on Liv the entire time.

“This is a class,” Liv began trying to mask the nervousness in her voice. “You can’t just barge in–”

“Shut it,” Rhea sneered. “You don’t get to try tell me anything about barging in where you don’t fucking belong.”

She was standing directly in front of Liv now, hovering over her as she still sat criss crossed on the ground.

“You’ve pulled a lot of shit Liv and I have let a lot of shit go, but you’ve gone too far this time.”

Liv cackled. “Rhea, don’t be ridiculous. What are you even talking about?”

Rhea leaned down, resting her hands on her knees.

“Oh you know exactly what I’m talking about. Even you aren’t that fucking dumb.” She sneered. “I warned you months ago what would happen if you kept putting yourself in my business and now I’m here to make good on my promise. Get up!” Rhea barked.

“I’m not fighting you,” Liv said through a laugh, her voice laced with the type of smugness that only came from years of ducking accountability. “Not in front of my students.”

“You don’t have students,” Rhea scoffed, standing up to full height and looking around at the group of stunned twenty-somethings in pastel workout sets. “You’ve got hostages in overpriced leggings.”

One of the women in the back snorted.

Liv’s nostrils flared.

Tiffany, arms crossed and leaning against the mirror like a bouncer in a club, cracked her knuckles loudly. “We can do this outside. Preferably somewhere with fewer healing crystals.”

Liv rose slowly, brushing off her thighs. “I don’t know what your problem is, Rhea, but I suggest you take it up with your boyfriend. Maybe if you kept him busy, he wouldn’t be looking around for attention—”

That was all Rhea needed to hear.

She threw her head forward, connecting with Liv’s nose with a vicious headbutt that sent her right back down to the ground.

“Oh my god!” One of the women in the class exclaimed while Tiffany just watched with a smirk like a proud parent.

Liv lay on the ground, gripping her face as blood started to pour from her nose.

“I’m going to tell you one final time,” Rhea began as she crouched down next to Liv and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Stay the fuck away from me and from anyone that has anything to do with me.” She shoved her back onto the hardwood floor before standing to her feet with a pleased sigh as the ladies in the class looked on in horror, some of them beginning to quietly roll up their mats to get the fuck out of there.

Rhea dusted her hands off like she had just finished taking out the trash and strutted right back out the studio door with Tiffany following behind her.

“Namaste bitches!” Tiffany turned and yelled with a mock bow before leaving.

“....should we…should we call the police?” One of the women asked.

“No!” Liv called out quickly, still slumped on the floor and clutching her nose.

Rhea was absolutely beaming as the girls climbed back into Tiffany’s car.

“Feel better?” Tiffany asked.

“Much better.” Rhea agreed as she pulled out her phone.

“Still want that pizza?” She offered.

Rhea snorted. “Nah, I’m good. That was everything I needed,” She declared in a much much better mood.

Going to her contacts, she found Dominik’s name and blocked him and went and did the same on instagram.

Fuck Liv, and fuck him too.

Chapter Text

“This is bad.” Austin declared the next day as he paced back and forth in front of the counter Dominik was leaning against.

It was an early, slow Sunday and Dominik would rather be literally anywhere else than where he was right now; trapped at work, stuck behind the same counter where he experienced full public embarrassment and managed to say one of the dumbest things he had said in a long time.

“She blocked you on instagram too?” Austin asked.

“Yeah,” Dominik muttered solemnly. He tried texting her multiple times that night just for none of them to be delivered and his attempts at calling were useless. Rhea had effectively excommunicated him from her life and he hated how bad it was making him feel.

“One day,” Austin said, slamming his hand down on the counter in frustration as he continued to pace. “I leave you for one day and this is what you do.”

Dominik felt like a child being scolded.

“I told you this would happen!”

“I know.”

“All you had to do was block Liv.” Austin continued to rant.

“I know.”

“But nooooo, not only did you not block her you told Rhea you opened her DM like an idiot!”

Dominik buried his head in his hands with a groan.

“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to!” He said, voice exasperated and muffled behind his hands.

“You don’t know anything apparently.” Austin scoffed.

Placing his hands on his hips, Austin gazed out at nothing in particular. “I should’ve been here.” He said seriously. “I could’ve prevented this.”

“Well you weren’t and now I’m fucked. Rhea hates me, she’s probably gonna blindside me in the parking lot and kick me in the dick and then set my car on fire.”

“And she would be right to do so. You really told her you didn’t care bro?”

Dominik slid down to the floor behind the counter with a groan, looking defeated in the worst way.

“I didn’t mean it.” He muttered. “There was…there was just too much going on at once; Rhea was yelling, people were looking at me–you know I hate that! And she wouldn’t let me get a word in, I was–I was just trying to get her to stop and listen to me.”

Austin peered down at Dominik sympathetically. “Well then you have to show her you care dude.”

Dominik didn’t respond. He just sat there, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“....you do care, right?” Austin pressed at Dominik’s sudden silence.

“Of course I care.” He scoffed. “I didn’t realize I cared until I opened my stupid mouth and said I didn’t. But I do, I care so fucking much it’s messing with my appetite and my weed tolerance and my stomach won’t stop fucking hurting.” Dominik flopped onto his side on the ground behind the counter with a groan.

Austin whistled low, shaking his head. “Damn. You are down bad.”

“I’m losing my mind, man.”

“Okay, then listen to me.” Austin leaned over the counter, suddenly serious. “You hurt her, like, deep. Rhea doesn’t just let people in but you got through the wall, and then you threw a grenade back over your shoulder on your way out.”

Dominik winced.

“But! You can still fix this.”

Dominik stared up at him from the ground, unimpressed. “How the hell am I supposed to do that if she blocked me? She literally wants nothing to do with me.”

Austin scoffed with a chuckle. “You’re going to let something like a block hold you back? Do you know how many girls I chased after just because they blocked me? That’s a part of the thrill!”

“That doesn’t sound right.” Dominik said with squinted eyes.

“Dude, trust me. Girls only block you to see how serious you are about them. It forces the ball into your court while Rhea gets to sit back pissed and probably horny while she waits for you to get your head out of your ass.”

Dominik groaned. “There’s too many layers and rules to this shit. I never had to deal with any of this crap before.”

“Well this is what comes with dealing with a chronically online, goth, influencer with a purse collection that’s worth more than your net worth.” Austin shrugged. “Time to decide if she’s worth the hassle and blonde stalkers or if you’re just gonna cut your losses while you can.”

Dominik frowned from his new home on the floor of the electronics store. He didn’t want to cut his losses.

It hadn’t even been a full day but he missed Rhea already and he said he didn’t care.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Maybe he could fix this, he should fix this….he just had to figure out how the hell he was going to do that.

___________________________________________________

Dr. Belair loved her job and she was good at it. And while she tried her best not to have any personal biases; her lips always seemed to twitch into a small smile when she saw Rhea was on her schedule for a session.

She didn’t have favorites, or at least that’s what she told herself, but she knew if Rhea was involved, her day would never be boring.

It was Monday morning and Rhea was her second client of the day.

In true Rhea fashion, she sauntered into Bianca’s office without a care, baggy cargo pants low on her hips and sunglasses still on her face like she hadn’t been sitting in the lobby waiting for over fifteen minutes.

Bianca watched her from her seat, legs crossed at the ankles and notebook perched on her lap, as Rhea flopped onto the sofa unceremoniously, laying across it completely and kicking her feet up.

“Hey B,” Rhea greeted casually, staring up at the ceiling with her sunglasses still on.

“Rhea,” She chuckled. “Good to see you as always.”

“Mhmm.” Rhea muttered. “You too.”

Bianca raised a brow. “How have you been?”

“Fine.” She answered breezily, but Bianca had already noticed her fingers drumming against her thigh.

“Uh…huh.” Bianca muttered as she jotted something down on her notepad.

“Writing already? Uh oh.” Rhea said sarcastically with a sigh.

“It’s nothing bad.” Bianca chuckled. “You just seem a little…tense today, but you’re pretending not to be.”

Rhea frowned. “I’m not tense, I literally just said I was fine.”

“Yeah and I literally don’t believe you.” Bianca retorted, making Rhea roll her eyes behind her shades. “How’s Dominik?”

Bianca had gotten accustomed to listening to Rhea ramble and rave over Dominik their entire hour sessions, he was all Rhea ever talked about lately.

“Tuh!” Rhea scoffed. “That’s done.”

“What!?” Bianca exclaimed. “Since when?”

“Since he decided to be an asshole that doesn’t give a damn about me or my feelings.” She answered matter-of-factly.

Bianca’s hand was scribbling across her notepad in a frenzy. She knew Rhea had a tendency to be a little…dramatic, so she pressed further.

“Okay, okay back up and tell me what happened because just last week you were—“ She paused briefly as she flipped to the previous page.

“—‘going to crush the windpipes of any woman that said ‘bless you’ when he sneezed’.”

Another scoff. To think she was threatening physical harm for a man that didn’t even care about her, pathetic.

“He literally told me he didn’t care about my feelings, right to my face!” Rhea said, exasperated. “Who does that!?”

Bianca frowned. “Why would he say that?”

“Because he’s a dick!”

“No, no I mean, what was the context? Were you guys arguing? Yelling?”

Rhea bit down on her lip in contemplation; her usual telltale sign to Bianca that Rhea was about to give her version of the truth.

“Not exactly.” She muttered. “I was confronting him about something—"

“What were you confronting him about?” Bianca pressed.

This finally made Rhea sit up with a huff. “This is all Liv’s fucking fault!” She began.

Bianca’s hand stilled for a moment as she glanced at Rhea. She was very familiar with Liv and the drama she seemed to bring into Rhea’s life.

“Dom was at a party with me on Friday and Liv just corners him like a deranged lunatic and takes a picture with him! And then she had the nerve to post it and tag him when she doesn’t even fucking know him.”

“Oh lord.” Bianca muttered under her breath. “Okay so Liv posted Dominik, I can understand your frustration, but why were you confronting him?”

“Becauseeeee!” Rhea groaned. “Not only did she post him but she was spamming and commenting on all of his posts and he just—he did nothing! He didn’t block her, he didn’t reach out to me or anything, he just let it all happen!”

Bianca nodded slowly like she was trying to put the pieces of Rhea’s tirade together.

“Okay, so you guys were hanging out and you brought up your frustrations?”

Rhea was quiet for a beat.

“Well we weren’t hanging out per se."

“….uh huh?”

“I hadn’t heard anything from him for over an hour after it all happened so I went to his job to figure out what was going on.”

“Rhea,” Bianca began as she went right back to scribbling on her notepad with a shake of the head. “You popped up at his job?”

“I didn’t pop up,” Rhea corrected quickly, too quickly as she pushed her sunglasses up into her hair so Bianca could get the full wide eyed effect of her very insistent denial. “It was more of a… spontaneous wellness check.”

Bianca blinked. “At his job?”

“Exactly. Thank you.”

“Where he works. During business hours.” She deadpanned.

“Well what else was I supposed to do? Just wait?”

“Obviously.”

“Pfft.” Rhea frowned. “Yeah right.”

Bianca shook her head with a chuckle. “Okay so you’re at his job, how did you approach him?”

“I was very subtle.” Rhea lied straight through her teeth. “I was calm and patient.”

“Rhea,” Bianca pressed with the most bored look on her face.

“I was!” Rhea defended. “....at first.”

“And then?”

“.....and then maybe I got a little upset but like, just a smidge! I barely raised my voice.”

“You know, I’m finding this very hard to believe Rhea.” Bianca began. “Dominik doesn’t seem like the type to just tell you he doesn’t care when you’re calmly expressing your frustrations. Was there more going on? Were there other people involved?”

Rhea bit on her lip again. “I mean…just the people that were in line listening but it was none of their business anyway! This was between me and Dom.”

“Wait, wait, wait, people in line? Like, multiple outsiders listening into a private matter between you and Dominik…while he was working?”

There was a small pout on Rhea’s face. “Well when you say it like that it sounds all bad and stuff.”

Bianca set her notepad down gently in her lap and leaned forward.

“Rhea,” She said with the calm, maternal edge of someone who had absolutely seen this coming. “You had a public meltdown…at his job…during a business day… in front of strangers?”

Rhea crossed her arms like an angsty teenager. “I wouldn’t call it a meltdown, more like a firm emotional expression.”

“Girl,” Bianca chuckled. “And you said he said he didn’t care about you during this emotional expression? How did that happen?”

“I, very calmly, said that I was trying to tell him how I feel and it felt like he just didn’t care. And then he said, no yelled, verbatim, ‘because I don’t’. He literally told me to my face that he didn’t care about my feelings.”

“Oof.”

“Right!?”

“And how did you react to hearing that?”

Crossing her arms against her chest, Rhea leaned back onto the couch. “I walked out like a goddamn lady with dignity.”

Bianca nodded, impressed. “You didn’t throw anything?”

“No,” Rhea scoffed. “.....I just kicked over a cell phone case display on my way out.”

“Rhea!” Bianca gasped with a laugh.

“But I did it in a very ladylike manner, full leg extension, I pointed my toes and everything.”

Bianca couldn’t stop chuckling at this point.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Rhea whined.

“I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing at the fact that Dominik probably had to restock that case display with a single tear rolling down his face.”

Rhea grumbled and slid back down on the couch dramatically, tossing an arm over her face like she was in a tragic Victorian novel. “Serves him right. He didn’t even chase after me.”

“Rhea, he was working.”

“Still!”

Bianca sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Let’s talk about what you wanted to happen when you went up there.”

Rhea pouted. “I wanted him to be like, ‘Oh my god, Mami, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how much that bothered you. I’ll delete Liv off everything and then we can go get food and I’ll rub your feet and quit this dumb job so I’ll never be left unattended again for crazy ass, fake ass yogi blondes to try and take advantage of me ever again.’”

Bianca just stared at her with a brow raised. “You wanted him to say all of that?”

Rhea peeked at her from under her arm. “Okay, maybe not in those exact words. But I wanted him to care.”

“And you wanted him to chase after you?”

Rhea gave a small shrug. God she felt so pathetic.

“It would have been nice,” She muttered.

“Because that would make you feel like he cared.” Bianca offered.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Bianca nodded slowly as she went back to jotting her notes down.

“Did he reach out to you at all after?”

“I dunno.” Rhea said without a care. “I blocked him.”

This made Bianca frown. “Why did you do that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Rhea scoffed. “He made it clear that he doesn’t care. I don’t need that kind of shit in my life. He doesn’t care so I don’t care.”

Bianca let out a hum and said nothing, making Rhea narrow her eyes at her.

“What are you ‘hmm’ing about?”

“I just find it interesting.” She shrugged.

“Find what interesting?”

“Well,” Bianca began. “You wanted him to chase after you but then went and blocked him to prevent him from reaching out to you, why?”

Rhea groaned in exasperation. “I just told you why!”

Another hum. “Wanna know what I think?”

“That’s what I pay you for,” Rhea mumbled, making Bianca snort.

“I don’t think that’s why you blocked him.” She said gently. “I think you did it because it would be easier to stop contact than having to deal with the possibility of how much it would hurt if he didn’t reach out.”

Rhea was biting on her lip so hard it was a wonder how she didn’t break skin.

“You took away that option from him to protect yourself so you wouldn’t have to deal with the disappointment.”

The room fell quiet besides the gentle ticking of the wall clock and the faint sound of Rhea's breath, shallow now, as she stared at the ceiling like it might offer her a loophole, a detour, a way to wiggle out of the uncomfortable clarity Bianca had just laid out.

“That’s not what I—” Rhea started, her voice cracking slightly. “I mean… maybe.”

“Maybe?” Bianca prompted softly, a brow arched just enough to coax the truth out of her.

Rhea sat up again, slower this time. She curled her legs under her and tugged her sleeves down over her palms, something Bianca hadn’t seen her do since their first few sessions, back when Rhea was all jagged edges and mistrust.

“I just…I just didn’t want to wonder.” She admitted. “I didn’t want to be sitting around staring at my screen all day waiting on a message or a call that might never come. It’s pathetic I know, I’m pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic,” Bianca said immediately, voice calm and certain. “You’re hurt. And you're trying to protect yourself from more hurt. That’s not pathetic, that’s human.”

Rhea swallowed hard, lips twitching like she wanted to smirk but the emotion behind her eyes was too raw. “Then why do I feel like an idiot?” She muttered.

“Because you cared,” Bianca said. “Because you let yourself be seen, which is something you don’t allow yourself to do too often. And because despite everything, you were hoping he would see past the chaos and recognize what you were really trying to say.”

Rhea rolled her eyes, not at Bianca but at herself. “God, you’re annoying with your wisdom and shit.”

“It’s literally my job,” Bianca grinned.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Wanna hear something messed up?” Rhea muttered after a beat.

“Duh. Always.”

“I…I keep checking to see if he made a new account to find me. Like some desperate, loser version of me is hoping he found some way to still talk to me.” She groaned. “Who am I?”

“Someone who wants to be wanted,” Bianca said gently. “This is new territory for you and it’s confusing and messy but it’s also been beneficial for you. You’ve been the happiest I’ve seen you in months since Dominik came around. Maybe you shouldn’t throw in the towel so soon.” She offered.

Rhea’s lips scrunched to the side of her mouth in contemplation.

“To me? It sounds like a misunderstanding between two people who are trying to learn how to navigate their emotions. Have you considered how Dominik may have felt in that moment? You said he’s awkward, he probably doesn’t do well with confrontation–public confrontation at that.”

Okay so Rhea had not considered that. She hadn’t really considered Dominik’s feelings at all if she was being honest.

“....so you think I should give him another chance?”

Bianca put her pen down and sighed. “I think you need to give yourself another chance. Whether that means continuing to protect your peace and keeping no contact, or reaching out to him yourself–or just unblocking him to give him the option to reach out first, it’s up to you.” She offered with a shrug.

Rhea was prideful more than anything so her reaching out was definitely not going to happen.

But she could consider the other options….maybe.

______________________________________

Later that afternoon, Dominik was laid out on his couch, still very much blocked by Rhea and he was absolutely miserable.

He was supposed to be at work but he just didn’t have the energy to pull himself to go so instead he called out so he could sulk around his apartment in peace.

The place was a disaster; half a pizza on the coffee table, crusts abandoned like broken dreams and an empty weed jar that he kept staring at like it might refill itself out of pity. He couldn’t even bring himself to leave the house to meet his dealer. This was a new low even for him.

He hadn’t moved in hours except to check his phone.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Still blocked, still dead silence.

He dragged a hand down his face with a long, exaggerated groan that echoed off the walls of his sad-boy cave.

“God, I’m such an idiot,” He muttered to no one.

He hadn’t even meant what he said, not really, not like that. It had just come out all ugly and sharp, like a knife he didn’t even know he was holding. She had stormed in like a whole damn hurricane, beautiful and chaotic and loud, and yeah, he froze up. He panicked and said something awful just to gain some control over the situation.

The words haunted him now as they played on a loop, echoing every time he closed his eyes. “Because I don’t.” Like he was trying to hurt her. Like he wanted to watch her fall apart.

And that’s exactly what she did. God he was such an idiot.

He ran a hand through his messy mullet and let out a long, tortured groan into the universe. He should have just gone to work to distract himself because sitting here trapped with his own feelings was starting to be much, much worse.

There was also a small part of him that was terrified he would walk out after his shift to find his car set ablaze in the parking lot of the shopping center.

But then he suddenly remembered Rhea knew where he lived too and shot up from the couch to go to the window to scan the parking lot. He wasn’t even concerned about the possibility of her burning his car to a crisp, he was just hoping there was a chance he could catch her in the act so he had an excuse to talk to her.

Pathetic.

Sure enough, his hunk of junk remained untouched in his complex’s parking lot and he sighed in disappointment that there was no chaotic woman with biceps that could snap his neck currently pouring lighter fluid all over his car.

Dominik glanced over at his plant on the window sill and grabbed it before sulking back over to the couch. He plopped down on the cushion with the plant resting in his lap.

“Vinny,” He began with a defeated tone. “Your mom hates me. I’m probably going to be a single father now.” Dominik groaned as he threw his head back.

“Maybe I can put her on child support or something and schedule weekend visits so she has no choice but to see me…god I sound like my deadbeat.” He muttered.

Vinny the plant remained deeply silent.

Dominik narrowed his eyes at the plant. “You’re judging me, I can tell. Ugh you’re just like your mother, I knew you liked her more than me.”

He exhaled dramatically, clutching the plant like it had the power to bring Rhea back and fix his life. Vinny, in all his leafy stillness, offered no solutions. Rude. He stared at the plant’s green leaves, then lowered his head until his chin was practically resting on the rim of the pot.

“I should’ve just said sorry,” He mumbled. “Like a normal fucking person.”

He flopped onto his side, Vinny now cradled in one arm like a baby. “She looked so mad, Vinny. But like…hurt mad, not just ‘I’ll swift kick you in the dick’ mad.”

Dominik reached for a crust from the box on the coffee table, took one bite, then tossed it back like it offended him. “I should’ve chased after her,” He grumbled with his mouth full. “I should’ve said something–anything. But I didn’t and now she hates me.”

He laid in silence for a moment before muttering out–

“I miss her.”

He missed the way she made everything feel more alive even when she was yelling. Especially when she was yelling. He missed her hands on his neck, her teasing little smirks, her voice when she got all soft and lazy after they had been laying around for hours. He missed her crooked smile when he made her laugh even when she didn’t want to.

He missed her.

So much it physically hurt.

“Ughhhhh,” He groaned for the thousandth time today as he clutched his stomach.

Dominik couldn’t take it anymore; he had to fix this.

Fuck it, he was going to fix this.

He sat up abruptly and placed his plant on the table.

“Vinny, I’m gonna go try and get your mom back so you’re not raised in a broken home. If I don’t come back…she probably killed me and I leave all my possessions to you.” Dominik announced before grabbing his keys and slipping his shoes on and headed out the door.

_____________________________________________

By the time Dominik made it to Rhea’s apartment hours later, the sun had gone down. He stood in front of her door, one clammy hand balled up in a fist as he contemplated knocking.

“Let’s just get this over with,” He muttered to himself at one last chance to psych himself up. “If she kills you, she kills you.”

He gave the door two timid knocks and then one harder one just in case and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

He stood there for what felt like forever, anxiously rocking back and forth on his heels and his hands behind his back.

Dominik wasn’t sure how much time had gone by before the door finally swung open and there she stood–

Rhea.

Hair down and dressed in just an oversized tee with no expression on her face.

“H-hey,” Dominik greeted softly.

Rhea just cocked a brow at him before scoffing and attempting to shut the door.

“Wait wait wait!” He called out as he stopped the door with his foot. “I come with a peace offering.”

Removing his hands from behind his back, he presented them to her.

Rhea glanced down at his hands, one holding a bag of tropical skittles and the other holding the purple Labubu from the arcade. She stared at the small gifts for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek to keep from smirking.

She snatched the things from his hands without a word and turned on her heels to go back inside, leaving the door open.

Dominik let out a sigh of relief as he cautiously followed her inside and shut and locked the door behind him. She wasn’t actively trying to rip his head off so that was good.

He kicked off his shoes and went into the living room where she was already seated on the couch, staring at the Labubu in her hands.

Dominik took a seat right next to her on the couch and Rhea made a big show of standing to go sit at the opposite end away from him.

“Right, right. Sorry.” He muttered.

He glanced down the length of the couch at her. She wasn’t yelling. That was terrifying. Her silence was louder than any of her usual insults. She didn’t even look at him. Just stared ahead, lips pressed into a tight line, like she was trying to decide whether to exile him or behead him.

“Soooooo…” Dominik began, dragging the word out like it might soften the blow. “I-uh didn’t mean to just show up unannounced but, you know, I’m blocked and whatnot so…yeah.”

Still nothing.

Okay. Cool. This was going great.

He practiced what he was going to say in the car but all that had been long forgotten as soon as he laid eyes on her. Dominik could practically feel her hurt radiating off of her and it was making his brain useless.

“I missed you,” He tried again, voice lower this time. Less performative, more honest. “Like, really bad. It’s only been two days but my stomach keeps cramping, I think I’m getting an ulcer.”

Rhea tilted her head slightly toward him but said nothing, like she was trying to fight off the urge to roll her eyes at his dramatics. Her nails were scratching along the fur of the plushie in her hand without a word.

“Vinny misses you too.” He offered. “I’ve noticed a few of his leaves started to droop a little, our separation is really affecting him.”

She gave a short, unimpressed snort at that but still didn’t speak.

Dominik sighed to himself. He knew he couldn’t just joke his way out of this like usual, if he wanted to fix this, he was going to have to be honest with himself and with Rhea.

“Look Rhea, I didn’t mean what I said, like at all.” He said softly. “I do care. Way too much. That’s the whole fucking problem. You came in looking all, well like you! And I panicked because I knew I was about to get my ass handed to me and I didn’t know how to handle it. So I defaulted to being a dumbass. I’m sorry.”

Finally, her eyes flicked over to him; cold and sharp, but not entirely closed off.

“And what exactly did you mean then?” She asked, voice flat.

Dominik ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “I just–I just meant I didn’t care about the Liv stuff, not that I didn’t care about your feelings. The social media stuff; the likes, blocking, and all this launching shit–it’s just not important to me and I don’t understand it! You’re what’s important to me, you’re what I care about. You’re the only thing I care about Rhea.”

This made Rhea soften slightly as she turned her body just a little to face him.

“What I said was wrong and it came out wrong and I’m sorry, I was feeling anxious and people were staring…I was just trying to get you to calm down for a second but I just made it way worse. I just…I just wish I could have gotten the opportunity to talk to you about it first so I could explain myself before you just…showed up. That’s my job Rhea, I can’t just stop everything I’m doing on a whim like that and I didn’t want my personal stuff just on display for everyone to hear about, I was just trying to make it all stop, that's all.”

Rhea chewed on her bottom lip as she recalled Bianca’s words from earlier, guilt starting to creep in as her throat tightened.

“....did I get you in trouble?” She finally muttered, voice soft with embarrassment.

“Nah,” He chuckled softly with a faint smirk. “You were definitely the talk for the rest of the day though.” Dominik said to lighten the mood but that just made Rhea’s shoulders slump more.

“I may have…overreacted.” She admitted.

Dominik glanced over at her as she fidgeted with the plushie in her hands. “I wouldn’t say all that. That was exactly how I would expect you to react.” He laughed. “Just maybe next time, you don’t do it at my job…and maybe give me the opportunity to actually explain myself a little more?” He offered.

Rhea let out a slow exhale, like steam escaping from a kettle that had just been yanked off the burner. Her posture loosened just a touch, and the Labubu in her hands got a reprieve from the minor assault her fingers had been waging on its fur.

“Yeah,” She murmured, barely above a whisper. “Okay.”

It was quiet, and it wasn’t much, but coming from Rhea, it meant everything and Dominik knew that.

She sighed and grabbed the bag of skittles and ripped it open before tossing a few into her mouth. “I blocked you because I didn’t want to say something I couldn’t take back,” She said honestly. “I was pissed. But I was…hurt too. It felt like you were just brushing me off, like I didn’t matter.”

Dominik’s throat tightened. He hated that he made her feel that.

“I get it,” He said softly. “And I deserved it. You’re right, I acted like an asshole. But I swear that wasn’t me brushing you off. That was me spiraling, like a dumbass. I care Rhea, you’re the first thing I’ve actually cared about in awhile and it’s terrifying as fuck but not being able to talk to you or see you these last few days has been even worse.”

Dominik let out a deep sigh and rested his head against the back of the couch. “I regret what I said and I wish I could take it back because I didn’t even fucking mean it.” He grumbled more to himself like he was disappointed.

Rhea pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. Then, finally, she set the plushie and skittles aside and crawled across the couch, climbing into his lap with a sigh.

Dominik went rigid for a second like he couldn’t believe she was actually touching him again, then slowly relaxed his arms around her, letting out a breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

“You hurt my feelings.” She muttered, almost childlike.

“I know Mami, I’m sorr–”

She gripped his chin in her hand and lowered his head to be eye level with her.

“That was your one and only opportunity to do so.” She interrupted. “I’ll never allow you another.”

It was a threat and a promise and Dominik heard her loud and clear.

“Understood.”

Rhea stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowed as she took in his features. She missed him so much it made her want to vomit.

It hit her all at once; the scruffy mess of him. The chubbiness of his cheeks, the ridiculous way his mustache hair hung over his top lip, and those eyes. Those big, soft, guilty brown eyes like he was a dog waiting for her to give him the permission to come back inside the house.

“Ugh I hate how cute you are.” She grumbled under her breath.

He grinned so hard it looked like it physically hurt him to hold it in.

Rhea rolled her eyes but settled into him anyway, arms curling loosely around his shoulders like she couldn’t help herself, like no matter how mad she had been, no matter how justified, this was where her body instinctively knew it belonged.

There was a long pause. Just breathing, skin on skin. The quiet rhythm of forgiveness stitched slowly back together with every second of silence. Rhea, of course, was the first to break it.

“You really went back to the arcade to get the Labubu?”

“I did.”

Rhea looked up at him with a grin. “How many tries did it take?”

Dominik groaned. “You don’t even wanna know.”

There was mischief back in her smile now as she continued to press. “Oh I most certainly do!”

With a sigh, Dominik slipped his hands under the hem of her shirt to start rubbing her back. “I hate to refill my wristband twice. And I got cussed out by a group of sorority girls for hogging the machine for over an hour.” He revealed, making Rhea laugh.

“Nuh uh, god you’re such a little simp.” She teased.

“It was worth it,” He shrugged with a smirk. “That alone deserves an unblocking don’t you think?”

Rhea rolled her eyes in mock exasperation because she was smiling and she leaned over to grab her phone. “Fine, I guess so.”

She unblocked his contact and then went to instagram, her eyes immediately shooting up at him with a glare.

“Did you–”

“Yes I blocked her Rhea.” He interrupted.

Rhea let out a pleased hum. “Good.”

Locking her phone, she tossed it onto the couch cushion and made herself comfortable in his lap again.

“Am I like….banned from your job now?” She wondered.

“Nah,” Dominik said with a snort. “There is a picture of you from the security camera when you were kicking over the rack that’s pinned to the bulletin board in the breakroom though.”

Rhea’s head shot up from its place resting on his shoulder with a gasp. “So you see me everyday when you’re at work now?”

Dominik couldn’t help but smirk at the look of surprised joy on her face. “Yeah, Mami. Yeah I do.”

Rhea grinned wide, looking downright pleased with herself like she just found out she was voted Employee of the Month at a job she didn’t even work at. She hummed and nestled in close, pressing her cheek against his shoulder.

A moment passed. He was tracing soft circles against the small of her back, and she was pulling at the fabric of his shirt, curling her fingers in the hem like she wanted to melt into him completely. Her legs had snaked their way around his waist by this point. Every curve of her molded into every mess of him like they were made to argue at volume and then tangle up on couches just like this.

“I missed you so bad.” He murmured. “Thought I was gonna lose my mind.”

“I missed you too.” She admitted.

“....sure you’re not mad at me anymore?” Dominik asked.

“Mhmm.”

“You sure you’re sure? Because I had one last offering if the skittles and Labubu didn’t work.”

She turned her head slightly to look up at him with her eyebrow raised.

“I was gonna eat you out until you cried.” He revealed.

This made her head snap all the way up.

“I mean….you still can.”

Dominik smirked and adjusted them and guided her to lean back onto the couch, more than eager to earn her last bit of forgiveness.

Chapter Text

Ever since they had made up a few days ago, Dominik had become clingy as hell. Rhea didn’t care in the slightest of course, she welcomed it.

They were currently in Dominik’s apartment; him laid out on the couch with his head in her lap as she scratched her nails through his scalp. They had been like this for awhile, not even talking much, just watching tv together after eating the food Rhea had showed up with when she came over after his shift.

Rhea glanced down at Dominik. He looked so content as he let out a soft sigh, eyes low and lazy like always. She brought her other hand that wasn’t busy scratching aimless patterns into his scalp to cup his face as she brushed her thumb back and forth against his stubble.

She would never say it out loud, but these were the moments Rhea loved the most. The quiet, softer moments where they could just simply exist together. Dominik had stumbled into her life at a time where she was starting to feel more lonely than usual.

Sure she had Tiff and sure she had her hundreds of thousands of followers and her other “friends” that didn’t even really know her and that she barely even liked, but that was beginning to not be enough.

Everything in her life was starting to feel like forced, unimportant interactions which is why she rarely went out anymore, trapping herself in the walls of the gym and her apartment.

But then Dominik came along and Rhea realized she didn’t want to be alone anymore. She didn’t want to isolate herself unless she was isolating herself with him. He was the first person that made her feel like she didn’t have to put on a show or be a certain version of herself that she had spent years crafting; she could just be herself–rough edges, reckless mouth, and impulsiveness. But she could also be the version of herself that nobody saw; the softer version that allowed herself to be the little spoon sometimes and didn’t mind giving scalp massages to the lazy, doofy man whose head was currently laying in her lap.

As if he could read her mind, Dominik reciprocated her touch, wrapping his hand around the outside of her thigh and brushing his thumb back and forth against her skin with a content hum.

Ugh disgusting. She should shove him off of the couch just for being so adorable.

But she didn’t of course. Instead Rhea leaned down and kissed his temple while being internally annoyed with herself for doing it so instinctively.

“Don’t fall asleep.” She murmured.

“I won’t.”

She narrowed her eyes as she stared down at him. “You always fall asleep.”

Rhea could feel his chest vibrate as he chuckled because he knew that was true.

“I’m up, I promise. I’m just….comfortable.”

“Yeah sure,” She retorted with an eyeroll as she flicked his ear but went right back to scratching his scalp. “How was work?”

Dominik shrugged. “The same. Boring, dumb, continuing to chip away at my mental sanity and tolerance for people.”

Rhea chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at him.

“You should quit.”

This really made him laugh.

Dominik turned his head slightly to squint up at her. “You trying to make me homeless, Mami?”

“I’m trying to make you free,” Rhea corrected, lips curving into the faintest smirk. “There’s a difference.”

He let out a slow sigh, dragging his hand down her leg before tucking it back around her thigh. “Yeah, well it’s not that simple.” He muttered, turning his attention back to the tv.

“I know that, it’s just–” Rhea paused for a brief moment. She cared about Dominik and she was realizing she was doing that thing she always did when she cared about someone, caring too much.

“...it’s just you hate it! And you come home looking so tired and miserable all of the time. You deserve better than that.” She argued, eyebrows furrowing in frustration–not at Dominik of course, but at his current situation.

“Well I need the money.” His voice was soft now. “And I’m not good at much else.”

That got her.

Rhea sat a little straighter, the hand in his hair slowing as she looked down at him with a faint pout on her lips. “That’s not true.”

“Mhmm,” He muttered, clearly not buying it.

“I’m serious, Dom.” Her tone sharpened with conviction. “You’re smart. You just don’t use it unless it benefits your laziness.”

He cracked a small smile at that. “Harsh.”

“True.” She poked his temple. “And you’re, like, weirdly patient. Insanely patient. You sit through all my gym rants and you listen even when I’m just pacing around your apartment being dramatic and spiraling.”

He shifted slightly, like he didn’t quite know how to take the compliment and looked up at her with a smirk.

“I thought you weren’t dramatic?” He teased.

“Stop deflecting.” Rhea scoffed, but she was smiling. “All I’m saying is you could do more. Like something you actually like. You don’t have to settle just because you’ve always been told to.”

Dominik didn’t respond right away. He just let the words sit between them. The idea that he could do more was completely foreign to him and also terrifying as hell.

Rhea’s jaw tightened at his silence. He was overthinking and she knew it and she hated it.

She hated that he had taught himself to live small, to expect less, to settle into mediocrity like it was some kind of safety net.

“...what if I don’t know what I like?” He murmured.

This softened Rhea a bit as she went back to brushing her thumb along his cheek and gave a small shrug. “You still have time to figure that out.”

“I should probably figure that out first before I just up and quit my job.” He snorted.

“Okay true.” Rhea agreed. “....still think you should quit though.” She muttered.

Dominik groaned with a chuckle and turned his head to bury his face in her lap, arms wrapping around her waist. “You’re making me think too much, stop. My brain is turned off for the day.”

“Your brain is always turned off,” Rhea snorted, gaining a pinch from him to her side.

“Hey!” She yelped, flicking the back of his head with her nail.

Rhea could feel him grinning against her before he slightly turned his head and sunk his teeth into her thigh.

“Dom!” She said through a hiss. “You’re such a little shit!” Rhea fussed as she hooked an arm around Dominik’s neck and yanked him up into a headlock.

He let out a dramatic yelp as she locked him in, his laugh muffled against her side.

“Mami!”

She squeezed her arm around him tighter with a grin. “Say sorry!”

“I didn’t even do anything!” Dominik wheezed through a laugh, arms flailing about.

“You bit me!” Rhea argued. “Like a feral toddler.”

Dominik was barely putting up a real fight as he tried to squirm out of her hold. “You literally bite me all the time.”

Rhea’s hold tightened even more. “Because it’s hot when I do it. Those are love bites!”

Smirking to himself, Dominik quickly brought his hands to her waist and started tickling her sides, making her gasp.

Her hold was instantly broken as she tried to shove him away but Dominik moved faster and grabbed her wrists and flipped their positions as he hovered over her and pinned her arms down on the couch above her head.

Rhea was breathing hard; all franticness and frustration.

“You can’t tickle that’s cheatingggg!” She groaned as her lips fell into a pout before quickly turning to a scowl.

Dominik grinned at her with his eyes narrowed. “Are you—are you whining right now?”

Rhea scoffed. “Ugh, no! I do not whine.”

“That’s cheatinggggg!” He mocked with an over the top high pitched voice.

“I do not sound like that!” Rhea growled as she tried to shimmy herself out of his hold. “I have never sounded like that in my life!”

Dominik grinned like he was proud of himself, because of course he was. He was basking in the rare win of having the upper hand, both literally and metaphorically.

“You sounded exactly like that,” He said smugly, adjusting his grip so he could pin her wrists with one hand while brushing her hair out of her face with the other. “It was all pouty and bratty; ‘thaaat’s cheaaating’.” He mocked again.

Rhea kicked her leg in protest like she was contemplating bucking him off the couch entirely. “Dom, I swear—”

“You do whine.” He interrupted.

Using his leg, he pushed the space between her thighs even wider before pressing his knee into her crotch, making her suck in a breath.

“Don’t you Mami?” He teased as he lowered his face closer to hers.

“No I don’t!” She seethed, teeth bared, but there was no real venom behind it, just that wicked glint in her eye that told him she wanted to be mad, but he was making it really hard.

“Oh you don’t?” He drawled, dragging his words out low and slow. “So that wasn’t you the other night? With your thighs clamped around my head? Whimpering, groaning—“

He leaned in so their noses were touching. His knee rocked forward slightly with just enough pressure to make her gasp, and his breath ghosted her lips.

“—whining.”

Rhea jerked in his grip, face flushed in a way she couldn’t even pretend was all anger. “You’re such a fucking menace,” She muttered, breathing faster now. “Get off of me!”

“Say it,” He grinned. “Say you whine.”

“Never.” Rhea protested though she was doing little to get him off of her as he rocked his knee again.

“Admit it.” Dominik continued to press.

Rhea was well aware of the fact that she could simply flip him the fuck over to regain control but there was a small, strange part of her that didn’t want to and it was making her brain feel like mush.

“Dom,” She began softer than she intended but there was still frustration in her voice. She was more frustrated with herself than anything.

“Say it.”

Rhea’s breathing hitched, chest rising and falling beneath him like she’d just finished a sprint. He loved seeing her like this; eyes half-lidded with defiance and her lips parted in disbelief that she was still letting him get away with this.

Her voice was low now, rough from trying not to give in.

“I hate you,” She muttered.

“No you don’t,” Dominik said, his grin growing sharper as he leaned in until their foreheads touched. “You hate how much you like me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

He rocked his knee again, slow and deliberate.

“Say it, Mami.”

Rhea’s eyes fluttered shut with a groan, her thighs involuntarily tensing around him, betrayal written across every muscle in her body.

“You whined so pretty,” Dominik mumbled, kissing the corner of her mouth like a secret. “You sounded like you were gonna cry. ‘Papi, please’” remember that?”

“Fuck you,” She growled, turning her head sharply like she was about to spit fire.

“You whined when I did that too.” He smirked.

Rhea was hating and loving every second of this and she could tell that he knew it. Her pride was a brick wall, but Dominik was standing in front of it with a wrecking ball and a shit eating grin.

“Say it,” He whispered again, his lips brushing hers with just the faintest ghost of a touch like he knew that not giving in was the real weapon here.

“I don’t whine.” Rhea mumbled but it lacked the bite. It sounded more like begging now; desperate and shaky like she was holding on by a thread.

“You sure about that?” Dominik continued to tease. “Cause you’re pouting right now.” He revealed in a whisper against her lips that made her thighs clench.

“You’re being such a smug fucking tease right now.” She said, blowing a hard breath from her nose. “I don’t fucking pout and I don’t fucking whine. Now get off me!”

Dominik hummed lowly.

“You don’t want that for real, do you?”

His knee pressed forward again, a bit firmer this time, grinding right where she wanted him most and Rhea’s head tipped back with a sound that was strikingly reminiscent of a whine.

“You don’t, I knew it.” Dominik smirked as he leaned down and kissed the underside of her jaw. “Because that didn’t sound like a growl, Mami. That was a whimper.”

“Shut up!” She hissed. “You’re so full of shit,” Rhea fussed even as her legs hooked around his waist, pulling him in tighter.

He chuckled darkly and tilted his hips down against hers with a slow, taunting grind of his knee that had her eyes rolling back into her skull.

“Maybe,” He said, voice smug and rough in her ear. “But you’re full of lies.”

She groaned, a strangled sound that escaped from the bellows of her throat through her clenched teeth.

Dominik pulled back just enough to look her in the eye.

“Say it.” He said again but this time quieter and gentle. It was almost sweet, like a plea instead of a demand.

Rhea stared at him with narrowed eyes. She took in his stupid soft brown eyes, the cocky curve of his smile, and the infuriating patience in his gaze like he had all night to wait for her to give in.

“Fine.” She spat. “I whine.” Rhea mumbled as she turned her head to the side.

He raised his brows like he didn’t hear it. “Come again?”

“I said I whine, okay?” She snapped, turning her face back to meet his, breathless and flushed and absolutely pissed at herself. “Happy now?”

Dominik leaned in and finally kissed her.

It was messy and hot and borderline rude with how he licked into her mouth like he was claiming victory in the pettiest war imaginable, but it melted her from the inside out. It had her wrists flexing against his grip, desperate to put her hands somewhere—anywhere.

“Mmm,” He groaned into the kiss. “So happy. You have no idea.”

“I’m going to kill you.” Rhea whispered against his mouth, though her hips were already grinding up against his in a completely opposite protest.

She could feel him smirk as he pulled back just enough to mutter—

“Nah you wouldn’t, you would be whining too much about how you miss me once I’m gone.”

Rhea let out the most frustrated groan and she bit down on his bottom lip, making him hiss with a chuckle.

“Oooo love bites,” He cooed playfully just to tick her off, tongue jutting out across his bottom lip to make sure she didn’t break skin. “You’re so obsessed with me.”

Her eyes rolled so hard she swore she could see her own brain for a brief moment.

Okay sure, that may be true but Rhea already admitted one thing tonight and she would be damned if she admitted another.

So instead she got that look in her eye—that wicked glint that Dominik noticed right away.

“Wait!” He began as his eyes slightly widened. But it was already too late.

Rhea tightened her legs around his waist and shimmied right out of the hold he had on her wrists with ease and flipped them right the fuck over and onto the floor with her straddling his waist.

“Hi.” She said sweetly, a proud closed lip grin on her face like she wasn’t about to get every bit of her revenge.

Dominik lay stunned on the floor, one arm flung out dramatically like he'd just been tossed from a second story window and the other curled defensively around her thigh.

“Rhea—“

“I warned you,” She began in a sing-songy voice, dripping in honey with mock sweetness. “You were being smug, and you teased me, and you tickled me!” She declared like it was the most heinous crime known to man. 

“You started it!” Dominik argued, though his hands had absolutely zero intention of pushing her off.

Rhea grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the floor as she leaned down to talk in his ear.

“And now I’m finishing it.” She declared with a smirk. “I have my own theory, you know?” Rhea revealed as her hips made a dangerous roll against him.

Dominik groaned.

“You’re so easy.” She teased. “All I have to do is pout and call you Papi and you would do whatever I say, isn’t that right?” Rhea purred into his ear before lightly biting on it as she rolled her hips again.

“Lies,” He scoffed but his hips were moving right along with him.

“Oh really?” Rhea asked, sitting up slightly with her brow arched. “Let’s test that then.”

And just like that, she leaned down, lips brushing over his jaw, slow and featherlight as she whispered—

“Papi…”

Dominik’s entire soul left his body.

“Tell me I’m pretty,” She cooed, lips pressed against his neck.

“You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Dominik answered instantly and breathlessly like he was relieved to get the words out.

It made Rhea chuckle. She released his wrists and slid her hands down to cup his face. “You’re so whipped.”

Her smirk was downright sinister and she looked so pretty that Dominik forgot he was even supposed to be putting up a fight.

“Say it.” She demanded.

Dominik let out the softest sigh as he stared back up at her. “I’m whipped.”

Rhea hummed, pleased and lowered her head until their foreheads were touching. “Good boy.” She muttered.

She leaned in and let her lips brush against his, hips rolling so painfully slow that he moaned and then—

Rhea stood abruptly with a scoff. “Too fucking easy.”

Dominik was dumbfounded on the floor as looked up at her in confusion with his own pout on his face now.

“Wh-what…Rhea—“

“That’s what you get for being a tease Dom Dom.” She declared as she started strutting off towards his bedroom. “Now come on and get up off the floor and just maybe I’ll let you cuddle me.”

And of course, Dominik sprang right up off the ground because yeah, she may be in denial about it, but Rhea was a brat that whined and pouted when she didn’t get her way and he was whipped over it.

Whipped and not even the least bit ashamed about it. 

Chapter Text

Dominik hated being sick. And like most men, even the slightest runny nose or sore throat made him feel like he was on his deathbed.

He was laid on the couch wrapped up in a blanket because he was freezing despite the fact that he was sweating so much his hair was sticking to his forehead. Crumpled tissues were scattered across the coffee table that he had been blowing his nose into all morning. His body ached, sinuses absolutely clogged, and he kept having coughing fits that made him feel like he might hack up a lung.

Dominik felt like he was dying—scratch that, he knew he was dying. He let out a pitiful groan as he felt his phone vibrate beside him.

Mami🖤: you’re home? thought you opened today

She clearly had checked his location like she always did when she was leaving the gym.

Dom❤️‍🔥😍🖤😘: im sick i think it’s the flu

Dom❤️‍🔥😍🖤😘: or worse im pretty sure im dying my body is gonna give out on me before sunset

Dom❤️‍🔥😍🖤😘: look after vinny when im gone

Dominik tapped his fingers against his phone screen as he sniffled.

He watched the three dots appear for a moment and then disappear. They appeared again for a bit longer and then went away all together making Dominik groan.

She was probably typing out a rant scolding him about how this was bound to happen because Dominik didn’t take care of himself but decided her silence would be better punishment.

Dominik frowned and tossed his phone on the ground. He was dying and Rhea didn’t even care or pity him.

Almost two hours had gone by with Dominik in a blanket cocoon of despair and used tissues when he heard a sharp knock on the door.

He glanced up with furrowed brows as he tried to drag himself up off the couch.

Rhea stood on the other side of the door rocking back and forth on her heels and humming to herself.

She heard someone whistle in her direction on her left before hearing someone call out to her from her right.

“¡Oye! Tengo náuseas,” The guy yelled out from the steps. “¡Ven a cuidarme enfermera!”

Rhea just turned her head and gave him a small smile.

Dominik finally shuffled his way to the door, muscles weary as he opened it and what he saw on the other side made his eyes nearly pop out of his head.

“Rhea!?” He quickly stuck his head out of the door and saw his neighbor blowing kisses in Rhea’s direction and yanked her inside and shut the door.

She allowed herself to be pulled inside without a care and was smoothening out her clothes, or rather her lack there of.

“Rhea,” Dominik repeated. “What the fuck?”

“I’m here to take care of you.” She announced with a smile.

Dominik’s eyes trailed her body as she stood in all of her chaotic glory.

Rhea was dressed in a skimpy, white nurse costume that was clearly a size too small; plunging neckline that was halfway unzipped with a red cross on one side of the costume. The bottom of the costume flared out like a skater skirt but was so short it barely covered anything. Her legs were adorned in black fishnets with red and black, spiked leather garters attached and there was a tiny white cap with another red cross on it attached to a headband that sat atop of her head as her dark hair fell to her shoulders and Dominik could see a very visible amount of a red lacey bra poking out of the costume behind the stethoscope dangling from her neck. She completed her look with a pair of tall, knee high, black leather platform boots, because of course she did.

In her hands that were clasped together in front of her was a duffle bag she packed with medicines, cough drops, soups and gatorade, and whatever else she thought he would need.

Dominik felt like he was having an actual fever dream.

He blinked once as he just stared at her.

“….why are you dressed like that?”

“Because you’re sick!” She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m your nurse and you’re my patient." Rhea continued as she walked further into the apartment.

“I had to make sure I looked the part, we Ripleys take healthcare very seriously you know.” She smirked as she wiggled her brows. “Now come sit.”

Dominik just stood for a moment to make sure he wasn’t dreaming before shuffling slowly towards the couch.

Rhea had dropped the bag on the ground and was now squatting down with her back to him as she rummaged through the bag.

His brow arched as he took note of the sliver of red peeking out from her skirt.

This was definitely a fucking fever dream.

He collapsed back into the corner of the couch with a pathetic little groan and a dramatic head flop into the headrest.

“I feel like I’m hallucinating.” He muttered.

“You probably are.” Rhea declared as she started pulling out supplies without even glancing up at him. “Nurse Rhea has that effect.”

Dominik just watched her in confusion and arousal as she grabbed a thermometer gun and stood to her feet.

“Alright, let’s see how bad you are.” She removed the blanket from around Dominik’s shoulders and tossed it to the side, frowning as she stared at him.

“God you look awful,” She grimaced. His nose was red, nostrils looking like they had been rubbed raw and he had bags under his tired eyes and the most pathetic little pout on his face.

“I feel awful.”

She pointed the thermometer at his forehead and pressed the trigger to get a reading.

“101.2, damn you are sick.”

Dominik’s pout got even more pitiful.

“Let me just double check,” Rhea announced before leaning forward and pointing the thermometer directly at his crotch and letting out an over the top gasp.

“Your dick has a fever too, he needs air lemme just—"

She was already grabbing at the waistband of his sweats making him yelp with a chuckle as he pushed her hands away.

“Rhea!”

“I’m just kidding,” She laughed, putting her hands up in surrender and abandoning her pursuit to get his pants off.

Tossing the thermometer on the table, Rhea unzipped her boots and toed out of them and discarded them with a thud as she threw them towards the front door now that she had made her entrance.

“Okay seriously, how much medicine have you taken already?”

Dominik bit down on his lip. “None.”

Her head snapped in his direction. “None!? What do you mean none, why not? You’re sick.” She said like he didn’t already know that.

“Because I don’t have any.” He muttered under his breath, making her groan.

“So—what? You were just gonna sit here and magically hope to get better?” Rhea fussed as she started pulling medicine out of the bag. “You are so ridiculous sometimes I swear! Who even gets sick in the summertime?”

“I do!” Dominik defended. “It’s the only time I ever get sick.”

“That’s just absurd.” She grumbled as she measured out the flu medicine into the cup before handing it to him. “Drink.”

Dominik stared at the small cup in his hands with a frown. “I can’t even smell but I can already tell this is gonna taste nasty.”

“Dominik.” Rhea warned.

“Just like, let me get a chaser or something.”

“Bloody hell you are such a child,” She complained but tossed him a Gatorade from the bag anyway.

Dominik threw the medicine back like it was a shot, grimacing in disgust as he quickly opened the Gatorade and started chugging it despite the fact his throat was killing him.

“Have you ate? I brought you some soup. Wanna eat it now? The medicine is probably going to make you tired soon.”

“Okay,” He nodded pitifully with a soft voice.

Rhea just shook her head with a small smirk as she grabbed the soup container from the table and walked towards the kitchen to heat it up.

Dominik was being so dramatic just like she expected and she was going to milk this for all it was worth.

She transferred the soup to a bowl and placed it in the microwave to warm it up a bit before taking it to him.

He had already wrapped the blanket back around himself when Rhea had returned with the soup and a spoon and passed it off to him.

“What kind of soup is this?”

“Chicken noodle.” Rhea answered.

Dominik brought it up to his face. “It’s burning my nose like garlic.” He frowned.

“Because there’s garlic in it.” She rolled her eyes as she stared down at his cluttered coffee table.

He eyed her suspiciously. “Where is this from?”

“Stop asking questions and just eat it. It will make you feel better.” Rhea declared as she stalked back off to the kitchen.

Dominik put a hesitant spoonful in his mouth and then immediately hummed in surprise at the faint flavors he could taste. “This is good.”

“Well duh.” Rhea said as she emerged from the kitchen with a trash bag in her hand and started throwing away the tissues and other trash from the table.

He just watched her as she straightened up in her little nurses costume as he continued to eat his soup with a smirk.

“You’re gonna get sick, you know.”

Rhea scoffed. “Pffft! No I won’t. I’m Australian, I have the immune system of an ostrich.”

Dominik chuckled. “What the fuck does that mean?”

She glanced over at him like he just said the dumbest thing ever. “Ostriches have, like, the best immune systems of all animals. Literally everybody knows that.”

“Nobody knows that.” Dominik deadpanned. “That’s what they teach over there in Australia? I guess you would need to know with how many animals over there can fucking kill you.” He muttered, making Rhea snort.

“I didn’t just go to school in Australia, you know that. Plus I learned that on TikTok.”

Of course.

Dominik was still chuckling as he took another bite of soup, steam fogging up the lower half of his face as he sniffled pitifully. “You learn your ridiculous health care practices from TikTok too nurse?”

Rhea crossed her arms, one hip cocked out. “I did actually. Like how to make this ginger-garlic chicken noodle soup that’s gonna have you up and walking by tomorrow, thank you very much.”

His hand stilled mid bite. “You made this?”

“Obviously.” She scoffed as she finished gathering all the trash and went back into the kitchen to wash her hands. “That’s what took me so long to get here.” She called out from the sink.

He smiled small to himself at the thought that Rhea had gone out of her way to do that for him.

It wasn’t just that Rhea had cooked; it was that she showed up. She was in a ridiculous ass, borderline illegal costume, yes, but she had packed a bag, made him food, cleaned his mess, and then roasted him relentlessly. It was the most Rhea-esque act of care he could’ve ever imagined. It was so uniquely Rhea that the smile didn’t leave his face, even as he sluggishly wiped his nose with the back of his hand like a child who hadn’t been properly raised. His whole body still felt like it had been run over by a truck, but for a moment all he could focus on was the warm buzz in his chest that had nothing to do with his fever.

_____________________________________

After finishing his soup and two gatorades, Rhea coaxed him into his bed so he could get some rest. But she had been talking his head off and doting on him the entire time so there wasn’t much resting going on.

He was currently in bed laying on his back, shirtless, with Rhea straddling his lap, thighs caging him in as she opened the jar of vapor rub.

Dominik watched her, hands idly rubbing the side of her thighs and she scooped some of the rub out with her knuckle so it wouldn’t get stuck under her nails. She was still in her costume but her little nurse's hat had been abandoned at some point.

She warmed the rub in her palms a little before using both hands and rubbing the thick ointment along his chest.

“Does that feel okay?” Rhea asked, not even looking up at his face as she worked her hands slowly across his chest and shoulders to relive some of the ache in his muscles.

“Mhmm.” He answered as he just continued to stare at her.

When her eyes finally met his there was a faint smirk on his face.

“What?” She asked with her brows furrowed.

His fingers started to dig deeper into her thighs as he toyed with her fishnets.

“You know this is ridiculous right?” He chuckled.

Rhea just grinned. “You say ridiculous, I say effective. You feel better don’t you?”

His eyes trailed down to her cleavage and the red lace that he could see.

“Much better,” He muttered. “What you got on underneath this?”

He reached up to grab the zipper and was immediately swatted away by Rhea’s hands.

“Stop being handsy perv, I am administering care right now and I take my job very seriously.” She said as she went back to focusing on smearing some more ointment on his chest. Dominik could already feel his sinuses starting to open up slightly as he snorted.

“You’re not even wearing pants.”

“Exactly. Less restriction in case I need to perform CPR.” She said in the most serious voice.

“If I need CPR it will literally be because of you straddling me right now in a slutty nurses costume while you rub ointment on my chest.” He deadpanned.

Rhea smirked at him as she wiggled her brows. “What a way to go, am I right?”

Dominik couldn’t even argue with that.

“This is so ridiculous.” He muttered again. Rhea was done slathering his chest in an unnecessary amount of ointment but she made no attempt to move from his lap so Dominik’s hand slid up from her thigh to her side as he stared up at her.

“I’m not even surprised you own this.” He said, referring to the costume. “Of course you would.” His fingers toyed with the fabric as his eyes trailed over her again.

Rhea scoffed like he just said the most offensive thing known to man. “Own? You think I just had this in my closet? I take Halloween very seriously Dominik, it’s basically my Christmas! I don’t just dress up as a cheap slut on the greatest day of the year.” She fussed. “I went out and bought this earlier from the party supply store.”

Dominik just nodded and reached for the stethoscope. “My bad. Is this real?”

“Yup.”

“How the hell did you manage to find a real stethoscope to buy on such short notice?”

Rhea rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh. “I already had this.”

This just confused Dominik even more. God forbid he accuse her of owning a cheap nurses costume but not knowing that she actually owned a stethoscope for whatever fucking reason.

“Why do you already have a stethoscope?”

“Because I have free will Dominik! Gosh keep up.” She grumbled.

Dominik most certainly could not keep up, so he gave up on that idea to give his delirious, flu brain a break.

“You’re ridiculous,” He said again, but this time it came out softer and more fond.

Rhea smirked, pleased with herself as she leaned down a little closer. “Say it again.”

“What?”

“That I’m ridiculous. I just like hearing it in your little raspy sick voice.” She grinned, tugging gently at the chain he wore around his neck.

“You’re ridiculous,” He whispered, the gravel in his voice making it sound almost reverent.

Dominik caught the way her eyes softened just slightly and she let out a hum. Her hands reached up to cup his face.

“Thank you.” She chuckled.

He melted into her touch, letting his head relax in her hands.

“Mmmm your hands are cold.” He said gratefully like she was literally melting his fever away.

“That’s because I’m dead inside.” She said sweetly with a smile on her face that made him laugh.

“Nah, nice try. You make me soup when I’m sick, you have a heart.”

Rhea just rolled her eyes because she couldn’t argue that. “Shut up.”

Dominik just grinned up at her before yawning.

“I should probably let you get some rest, huh?” She muttered with a frown. “Ugh but then it will be all quiet and boring.”

He stretched his arms above his head before resting them on her waist again. “Nap with me.” He offered. “Or just lay with me, I won’t sleep long I promise.”

Rhea bit down on her lip in contemplation.

“....can we cuddle?”

“Mhmm.” He agreed.

“I can be the big spoon?” She pressed.

“Yup.”

“....can I wake you up in an hour if I get too bored?”

“Yes Rhea.”

She thought about it for a second again before nodding.

“Fine.”

Rhea was attempting to leave his lap to lay next to him but was abruptly stopped by his fingers digging into her sides with that dumb smirk on his face.

“Aht aht!” He scolded. “No outside clothes in the bed.”

Glancing down at her outfit first, her eyes narrowed at him as she scoffed. “That is not a rule here.”

“It is now.” Dominik beamed proudly like he had cracked the code. “What can I say? You’re rubbing off on me Mami, you have shown me the light and changed my ways. Now lose the costume. Chop chop.” He demanded, snapping his fingers.

She flicked his ear with her nail with an eyeroll as she stood to her feet. Dominik turned on his side and propped his head up on his fist in anticipation.

Rhea locked eyes on him, a sly smirk on her face, and made a dramatic and torturously slow show of pinching the zipper between her fingers and dragging it down the front of the costume.

Dominik licked his chapped, sick lips watching her take the stethoscope and toss it to the ground. She let the costume start to slip down her shoulders before shimmying out of it and letting it pool at her feet.

He swallowed a gulp, ignoring the pain radiating in his sore throat as he took her in; red lace bra and matching panties on full display.

She kept her eyes on him as she reached to start undoing her leather garters so she could take the fishnets off, prompting Dominik to call out—

“Whoa whoa whoa!” He interrupted, reaching his hand out. “Leave those on.”

Rhea rolled her eyes with a chuckle but obeyed and quickly straddled him in the bed again so she could lay on the other side.

Dominik lifted the cover for her to let her under and then scooted back into her space and she cozied up to his back.

Wrapping her arms around him, Rhea immediately grimaced.

“God you’re like a fucking furnace.”

“You’ll be alright.” He mumbled through a yawn as he got comfortable and let his eyes begin to close. “You’re a demon, the heat probably reminds you of home. This should be comforting for you.”

Rhea leaned down to bite his shoulder in defense but immediately regretted it.

“Blegh! You’re all sweaty!” She complained.

Dominik snorted, already half-asleep.

“That’s what you get. Biting a sick man on his deathbed you gremlin.”

Rhea made a gagging noise and wiped her mouth on his blanket with dramatic flair.

“You’re gonna get sick,” Dominik mumbled again, more concern in his voice this time.

“I won’t.” Rhea assured as she snuggled in closer. “I actually take care of my body unlike someone. Plus, I took preventative measures before I got here. The amount of Airborne I have consumed today should be illegal.”

Dominik just let out a hum, already drifting off and just content that Rhea was here laying with him despite the fact he was sure he was making her unbelievably hot and uncomfortable.

They fell into a comfortable silence then, his breathing was slowing, body warm and relaxed under her touch. She ran her fingers gently across his stomach, tracing lazy patterns into his skin as her mind wandered. Meaningless things; circles, swirls, a wonky star at one point. It was just something to do, something to hold on to and keep her grounded as she watched him sleep, her chin now perched on his shoulder as she stared at the line of his jaw, the curve of his nose, and the way his lashes fluttered faintly as his drifted deeper into sleep.

She both hated and loved how much she just enjoyed staring at him, especially when he was like this; soft, sleeping, and tucked into her arms.

Rhea let out a sigh to herself. She could keep pretending that she was cold hearted and dead inside all she wanted but she knew the truth and so did Dominik; she cared.

Even if she showed it in the most ridiculous ways possible.

_____________________________

Rhea actually decided to let Dominik get some rest despite the fact that she was indeed bored out of her mind after an hour.

So instead, she climbed out of bed and went to clean up some more.

She had slipped out of her bra and thrown on one of his shirts, keeping the garters and fishnets on for the sick little freak that was currently sleeping off his cold. Rhea was armed with disinfectant and cleaning supplies, wiping down surfaces she knew probably hadn’t been touched in god knows how long.

She threw the throw blanket from the couch in the wash and got a grocery delivery of a few things to stock his fridge with to help him get better faster.

And now, Rhea was on her tippy toes, spraying Windex on the window where she had the blinds pulled all the way up to let in some natural light as she wiped her paper towel-covered hand in circles across the glass to make it shine as she hummed to herself.

She worked her way from one side of the large window to the other before glancing down at the plant on the window sill once she was finished.

Lowering herself back down to the heels of her feet, her eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the plant.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She muttered, pointing the Windex with her finger on the trigger in warning. “I know this is bloody ridiculous okay?” She groaned.

Letting out a sigh, she lowered her weapon. “I’m here willingly taking care of this man, making him soup and cleaning his apartment. Ugh who am I?”

Vinny the plant, as usual, remained silent.

“It’s just…it’s hard not to want to take care of him, you know? It just feels so natural and he’s just so doofy and adorable, ugh this is so pathetic.”

Rhea stood in silence for a moment like the plant would actually offer a response.

“Ugh,” She scoffed. “Dom’s right, you do have an attitude problem.”

She turned the pot slightly to give some of the other leaves direct sunlight before patting the pot with a smile. “That’s probably why I picked you.” She beamed proudly before walking off.

When Dominik finally emerged from his room later, he found Rhea curled up on the couch in his shirt (that he already knew she would find a way to sneak into her duffle bag to never be seen again) and fishnets still on watching some trash reality tv like usual.

He joined her on the couch and she didn’t even flinch when he pulled her legs from underneath her so he could lay down and rest his head in her lap.

Rhea used the back of her hand to check his temperature against his forehead.

“Seems like your fever broke, you feeling better?”

“Mhmm. Much better.” He said sleep still evident in his sick, gravely voice that made her bite down on her lip. Her fingers slipped into his hair naturally, nails scratching at his scalp.

“Thank you,” He muttered softly after a bit. “For everything.”

A lazy little smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, even as she rolled her eyes like the praise inconvenienced her. “You literally just woke up, don’t start getting all sappy before I make you take more medicine.” She threatened.

Dominik snorted, then immediately winced and groaned. “Ow. Okay, nope. Not ready to laugh yet.”

“Serves you right, you absolute manbaby,” Rhea smirked, brushing a strand of hair off his forehead with the kind of soft reverence that would’ve made her gag a month ago.

He shifted slightly, nuzzling his face against her thighs with a soft, content hum that vibrated through her and made her chest tighten. “You like taking care of me,” He mumbled, voice rough and velvet.

“You were the perfect nurse today so I won’t make you admit it out loud as another thank you to you, but I know the truth.”

Rhea scoffed but her fingers didn’t stop moving throughout his hair. “You’re delirious right now. You’re literally running a fever.”

“Yeah, a fever for you Mami.” He smirked.

She groaned and smacked the top of his head, gently and affectionately, but still enough to make him yelp. “You’re such a dumbass.”

“Ow!” He grumbled. “You know if you were actually licensed I would call the board on you.” Dominik threatened.

“Yeah and if you actually had insurance I would admit you to a psych ward.” She shot back.

“Oh wow, low blow.” Dominik chuckled. “Coming for the American that can’t afford healthcare, real classy.”

Rhea just grinned. “Eh you’ll live.”

Dominik turned onto his back to look up at her.

“I will. Because I have the most chaotic demon in my life that will nurse me back to health in outfits that I’m sure have my neighbors convinced I’m shooting low budget pornos in here.” He smirked.

“If they are thinking that, you should’ve at least charged them for a peek. That’s just bad business Dom Dom.”

Dominik cackled, then groaned, his laugh immediately dissolving into a cough that rocked through his whole chest.

Rhea ushered him to lay back on side as she rubbed his back.

He got comfortable again, curling further into her like she was the softest place on Earth. His cheek settled warm and content against her thigh, one arm lazily slung around her calves as if they belonged to him.

He exhaled slowly as he glanced around his apartment. “You cleaned.”

“Obviously. I can’t let you fester in your own filth while you’re sick. That’s like, the worst recovery plan imaginable.” She frowned.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Dominik said quietly.

“....I know.” Rhea said after a beat. “But it’s not a big deal so don’t make it a big deal.” She muttered.

But it was too late. Dominik was already making it a big deal as his arm wrapped more protectively around her calves. He wouldn’t bring it up again, he wouldn’t try to make her say it loud, but Dominik could feel it.

He could feel the way she cared for him in a way he had never experienced before. It made his already tight chest from his constant coughing fits even tighter, made the aches in his tired muscles soften as he relaxed deeper into her lap, and ultimately made his fever ridden brain even more confused.

Despite his confusion, he still found himself turning his head slightly to press a gentle kiss to her fishnet covered thigh as another silent thank you.

It was a thank you for not just taking care of him, but for just being here with him as well while they both fought the urge to say the things they didn’t want to say out loud.

She glanced down at him, smiling in spite of herself, and whispered, “Get some more rest, Dom Dom. I’ll be right here.”

He drifted back into sleep not long after, still latched onto her like he was a koala and she was the world’s coziest security blanket. Rhea didn’t move, even when her legs went a little numb. She just sat there, brushing his hair back and watching the tv.

Vinny, ever the judgmental, sat in his sunbeam and watched the scene unfold.

Rhea glanced at him on the window sill out of the corner of her eye and muttered–

“Shut up.”

But even she couldn’t pretend anymore.

She was in deep.

Chapter Text

Rhea stood in front of her camera, feet shoulder width apart with fifty pound weights in each hand. She hinged her hips and swung one dumbbell forward on one side, engaging her core and glutes before repeating the motion on the other side.

She took deep, steady breaths, in through her nose and pushing out through her mouth with each thrust of the dumbbells.

Her music blared through her apartment as she continued filming reels for her abdominal series she was working on for this week.

Her arms ached, her obliques screamed, and her thighs wobbled slightly from the strain but her stance didn’t falter. This was the kind of torturous pain she lived for.

The camera was perched up in just the right manner, Rhea had perfected the art of angles after a lot of trial and error. She didn’t even mean to mass the amount of success and attention she got online; it just sort of…happened.

It started as a way for her to document her personal progress for herself so she could keep track of her goals and muscle gains and it was like overnight one of her videos had blown up and now she was a glorified fitness influencer.

This wasn’t necessarily Rhea’s ideal career choice, if she could even really call it a career, but she was essentially getting paid for doing the shit she was already doing anyway so she leaned into it, despite the fact she hated the whole social aspect of social media; the networking, the having to actually keep up with similar content creators to make sure she wasn't replicating their ideas, and don’t even get her started on the launch parties and “charity events.”

Rhea rolled her eyes to herself as she sucked in a breath at the thought. She pushed herself through another ten reps before dropping the dumbbells to the floor with a thud.

She walked over and grabbed her phone to stop the video, promising to herself to edit and get it uploaded within the next few hours.

Her sports bra clung to her skin as wiped her face with her towel and draped it around her neck. She lazily trotted towards the kitchen to grab another water.

She stepped through the doorway and smirked at what she saw; Dominik shirtless laid out on his back under her kitchen sink as he fiddled with the pipes.

He had volunteered to fix it for her after hearing her complain about how the sink stopped draining properly and how her garbage disposal wasn’t working, which may have, possibly, been due to the fact that she accidentally turned it on not knowing a shot glass was sitting in the drain. But that was neither here nor there.

His legs were stretched out, sweatpants sitting criminally low on his hips. Rhea could see the script tattoo on his ribs as he angled his body, twisting slightly as the muscles in his arms flexed while he used the wrench on her pipes.

Rhea bit down on her lip. She didn’t know if she had just walked in on the most domestic thing she had ever seen or the start of a porno.

She would be happy with either really.

Stalking over to him quietly, she stood at his feet and cleared her throat.

“How’s it coming?”

Dominik sat up too quickly and bumped his head.

“Aw shit!” He groaned, pressing a hand against his forehead as he shimmied out from under the cabinet.

Rhea smirked down at him and his flushed cheeks, mullet slick and starting to stick to his forehead that made her want to ruin her whole day by climbing on top of him right then and there.

“How long have you been standing right there?” He asked.

Rhea shrugged, unbothered. “Long enough.”

“Creep.”

“Maybe I just like watching you get all sweaty and frustrated.”

Dominik groaned and dropped his wrench dramatically. “Of course you do. Sadist.”

“Guilty.”

Rolling his eyes, he picked up the wrench and went back to work. “I’m almost finished.” He muttered as Rhea grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and hopped on the counter to watch him.

“How are your thirst traps coming?” Dominik teased back.

Rhea scoffed. “They’re not thirst traps, this is educational content. Thank you very much.” She retorted, making Dominik snort.

“In those little ass shorts? That’s a thirst trap.” He replied, tightening the replacement hex nut.

“You sound jealous.” Rhea smirked with a satisfied grin on her face.

Dominik paused, one brow lifting as he slowly dragged his gaze up from the pipes to where Rhea sat swinging her legs on the counter.

“Jealous?” He echoed, tone skeptical and teasing. “Of your thousands of thirsty gym bros commenting ‘step on me please’ under every video?”

Rhea let out a low laugh, head tilted back as she took a swig from her water bottle.

“Only thing I’m jealous of is that they get to gawk at you for free and don’t have to listen to you snore.”

Her jaw dropped with an offended scoff. “I do not snore!” She defended.

“You’re right.” Dominik said unphased from under the sink. “It’s more like a dramatic huff…a whimper if you will.”

Rhea narrowed her eyes at him and closed the water bottle before chucking it at his stomach.

“Ow! What the fuck?” He laughed, rubbing his stomach.

“Don’t start with me Dom Dom or I’m throwing an orange right at your dick next.” She threatened, eyeing the fruit bowl next to her.

He groaned theatrically, crawling out from under the cabinet and sitting back on his heels, wiping his hands on his sweatpants. “Okay, okay. I’m finished anyway. Try the disposal.”

Rhea raised a brow, hopped off the counter and strutted over. She flicked the switch, and the low, mechanical hum of the garbage disposal started up like a charm.

“Well damn,” She murmured. “Look at you. All useful and shit.”

Dominik beamed as he stood to his feet, too proud for someone who had nearly concussed himself in the process. “Told you. I’m a man of many talents.”

“Name five.”

“Fixing sinks, rolling perfect joints, my luscious mullet.” He began counting on his fingers. “I can name every single episode of The Simpsons aaaanddd—“

Dominik leaned into Rhea’s space. “Stamina.” He smirked, making her shove him away as she tried not to grin.

“Your mullet isn’t a talent you walnut.”

Flipping his hair dramatically, he scoffed. “Having a mullet this good? That’s definitely a talent Mami.”

“Whatever.” Rhea muttered, unable to fight off her smile anymore. “How did you even know how to fix that anyway?”

Dominik gave a small shrug as he washed his hands. “When you’re late on rent more often than not, you learn how to fix shit yourself to avoid calling maintenance into your apartment.” He explained. “Plus I don’t trust those motherfuckers anyway.”

Rhea leaned her hip against the counter, watching him with a look that was warmer than her usual smirk. It was something far softer than she would ever admit, almost like fondness.

They were doing it again; falling into easy domesticity, sharing small moments together they weighed on her chest much heavier than they should.

It felt normal and easy, Rhea working on her content while Dominik played the part of her own personal handyman. This was getting dangerous and Rhea wasn’t sure how much “vibing” and “going with the flow” she could take anymore.

Dominik could see the wheels turning in her head as he dried his hands off.

He turned to face her, resting his own hip against the counter.

“Your thoughts are loud.” He murmured as his eyes searched her face.

Rhea had never been one to bite her tongue, ever. But this was different. She understood Dominik’s reluctance to jump into anything serious, especially something serious with her and she didn’t want to ruin their dynamic or make anything weird so she just shrugged with a little hum.

“Just thinking of more shit I can get you to fix. Maybe have you parading around in just your boxers and a little tool belt.”

Dominik could tell that was most definitely not what she was really thinking about, but he didn’t press.

“I bet you would like that huh?” He smirked as he reached out and grabbed her hips, tugging her forward.

Rhea frowned in mock disgust. “Ew, move. You’re all sweaty and so am I.”

Ignoring her, his hands found the small of her back before sliding down to cup the back of her thighs. “Guess we should get cleaned up then.”

“Dominik don’t you dare!” Rhea warned as her eyes widened but it was too late.

He hooked his hands under her thighs and hoisted her up in the air, making her yelp.

“Put me down!” She fussed, trying to shimmy out of his hold as her legs kicked. “I don’t like being lifted Dominik!”

Dominik just grinned like the absolute menace he was, holding her steady as she squirmed in his arms like an angry raccoon in a sports bra.

“Liar,” He teased, pressing a kiss just under her jaw as she wriggled. “You love being manhandled.”

“I most certainly do not!” She hissed while failing miserably to hide her laughter. “This is non consensual lifting!”

“You’re so dramatic.” He chuckled as he carried her towards the bathroom. Rhea tried to continue to protest but the way her legs tightened around his waist and her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck told a completely different story as he kicked the bathroom door open and sat her sideways on the counter with her back against the wall.

“God, you’re the worst,” Rhea muttered, scowling over at her own reflection. Her cheeks were pink, her hair messy from filming, and her sports bra was practically glued to her body from sweat.

“Yeah,” Dominik muttered from beside her, eyes flicking up to meet hers in the mirror. “And you’re still the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

It wasn’t even the words. Rhea had been hit on more times than she could count, but the way he said it. Quiet and unthinking, like it snuck out before he could stop it. Like he meant it.

She blinked at him, eyes darting back and forth between his reflection and his real self as he turned on the shower. The steam was already beginning to fog the mirror when Dominik turned back around and reached for the hem of her sports bra.

“You’re weird.” Rhea said quietly, but lifted her arms to aid her out of her top anyway.

“I know.” He murmured.

And just like that, the air shifted.

He tugged the damp bra over her head, slow and deliberate, like he was unwrapping a present he wanted to preserve the gift wrap of. Rhea didn’t look away this time. She watched the way his eyes lingered, the way he breathed her in like he was trying to memorize the moment like he hadn’t seen her like this before multiple times by now.

It made her feel weird. But the good kind of weird that always came from Dominik and his lingering eyes.

He kept his eyes locked on hers as he tugged his sweatpants down, making her bite down on her lip.

“You getting in with me?” Dominik asked casually like he wasn’t standing completely naked in front of her. Like this was just their new normal.

“Mhmm.” She agreed with a nod as she ignored the hammering in her chest that showering together would now be added to the ever growing list of domestic debauchery she was putting herself through for the most confusing, emotionally unavailable, but softest and most endearing man she had ever met.

_______________________________

Rhea had been in her head all day for the rest of the and Dominik could most certainly tell as they resumed their usual routine of lounging on the couch watching tv, her legs draped across his lap like always.

Dominik didn’t say anything at first. Just sat there rubbing slow, absentminded circles into the bare skin of her calf while pretending to pay attention. But he was watching her with his peripherals, noting how her gaze wasn’t fixed, how she kept absently tugging at her bottom lip with her teeth, blinking like she was shaking thoughts loose every couple of minutes.

Finally, deciding he had enough, he gave her leg a rough tug, making her head turn slowly towards him.

“What?” She asked with a frown.

“You’re quiet.” He leaned his head back against the couch, lazy eyes still on her. “You don’t do quiet.”

Rhea scoffed, but it was weak. “I do quiet.”

“Yeah, when you're asleep or plotting murder.”

Her brow raised, but the smirk didn’t quite come. Instead, she shifted slightly, pulling her legs away and tucking them underneath her as she sat up straighter.

“I’m fine.” Rhea muttered. “I told you I didn’t want to watch this dumb ass documentary.”

“Bullshit.” He said, making her eyes roll. “You said no to literally everything I suggested because you’re in a mood.”

Her face scrunched up in offense. “I’m not ‘in a mood’ like some whiny teenager.” She defended. “I said I was fine, so I’m fine.”

“Fine.” Dominik surrendered, not bothering to press the matter anymore. If she didn’t want to talk about it, which was so unlike her because Rhea always had something to say, then he wasn’t going to make her talk. But he wasn’t about to let her sit around very much like a whiny teenager either.

He reached over and tugged at her legs that she tucked under herself.

“Come back,” He urged.

“No.” Rhea declined with her eyes fixed on the tv.

“Rhea–”

“No.”

His eyebrow arched in confusion and slight frustration.

“Wow, okay.” He muttered more to himself and turned his attention back to the tv.

Rhea was mentally banging her head against the wall. She was doing what she always did when she didn’t know what to make of her own feelings: retreating.

She didn’t even know what she was upset about. Well, yes she did but she didn’t feel like it was something she deserved to be upset about and it wasn’t worth bringing up to Dominik to make everything even more complicated.

God she wanted to pull her hair out and straddle his lap and make her forget about ever being upset in the first place at the same time.

Dominik sat beside her, equally confused and now upset as his stomach warmed in frustration as he tried to figure out what he did wrong.

The silence was entirely too silent.

“Should I—“ He began but stopped himself for a moment to gather his thoughts. “Do you want me to leave?”

Rhea’s head snapped in his direction. “No.” She frowned.

“Then can you tell me what’s going on with you right now? You’re being meaner than normal, which is usually hot but now it’s just hurting my feelings.” He pouted, dramatically.

That earned him a huff of an amused breath from her nose.

“Gosh you’re such a baby.” She complained but there was a faint hint of a smile on her face.

Untucking her legs from underneath her, she swung them back into his lap. “It’s nothing, I’m fine I promise. Just…thinking.” Rhea murmured.

Dominik just stared at her for a moment.

“I don’t wanna make you upset again, so I won’t press. But you know you can talk to me about stuff Rhea, you do know that right?”

Rhea didn’t answer. She just sat there staring at the tv as she bit down on her lip.

“Mami—"

“Who taught you how to fix stuff?” She interrupted as she changed the subject.

“Rhea—"

“That’s what I want to talk about Dominik.” She declared. “Now tell me.”

Dominik sighed deeply, she was deflecting again.

“I taught myself.” He muttered. “Fixing shit around the house is a piece of cake compared to all of the oil changes and maintenance and shit I had to teach myself to keep my car running."

Rhea let out a hum, allowing herself to sink deeper into the couch cushions.

“How long have you had that death trap anyway?”

Dominik snorted, eyes still on the tv. “Since I was 16. It’s my first car, drove it all the way from San Diego to here.”

Rhea’s eyebrows shot up. “Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh.” He countered. “She’s been with me for a looonngggg time.”

“It’s crazy that thing is still running.”

Dominik shrugged. “Yeah, well my Camry wasn’t really my main mode of transportation until recently. I barely drove the damn thing for a while honestly unless it was like raining or something.”

Rhea watched him as she waited for him to elaborate.

He turned his head towards her with a lazy smirk.

“I had a motorcycle.” He revealed.

This made Rhea sit all the way up.

“Nuh uh!” She repeated. “You’re lying.”

“I’m serious.” He chuckled.

“Bullshit.” Rhea scoffed. “What, like a Harley or something?”

“Fuck no.” Dominik snorted with his face scrunched up in offense. “I had a sports bike. A GSXR-1000. She was silver. Her name was Gina.” He said looking at nothing in particular like he was visualizing flying down the street on it at this very moment.

Rhea blinked and then leaned forward, practically hopping into his lap like the weight of this revelation required physical closeness.

“Dominik.” She began with her mouth hanging open. “You had a motorcycle and you never told me!? How do I not know this?”

“You never asked.” He shrugged, letting one arm wrap around her waist.

“Show me pictures.”

“What?” He frowned.

“Pictures.” She demanded. “Come on I know you have them, I wanna see this Gina bitch.”

Dominik snorted as he shook his head, but pulled his phone out of his pocket regardless.

He scrolled through his pictures with a sigh before showing her the screen.

Rhea stared at the silver and black motorcycle with red detailing. It was clean and shining in perfection like Dominik spent the majority of his time cleaning it, which granted, he did.

“This was when I had just got my new tires.” He explained as he zoomed in on them. “Brand new Pirelli Diablos, greatest fucking tires on the market.”

She didn’t have a fucking clue what he was talking about but she listened anyways as he showed her the different specs and pictures of the customization he had done to it over time.

Rhea couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes lit up as he talked about the bike, mouth running a mile a minute as he recounted where he got the upgrade parts and how he spent days enhancing the engine.

She listened to his rant, biting back her smirk before his finger swiped to a picture of him standing in front of the motorcycle that made her gasp.

“Oh my goshhhhh,” Rhea gushed as she snatched the phone from his hands.

Dominik stood in front of his bike with the biggest grin on his face. His mullet was much shorter, barely grazing his shoulders and his face was clean shaven.

“I knew it!” Rhea declared. “I knew you were hiding a baby face under that mustache!” She had wrapped her arm around his shoulder, yanking him into a damn near headlock as she pressed her cheek against his in a tight hug.

“You look so adorable!”

And just like that her mood had done a complete 180. She was back to her chaotic self, but not in a way that erased the heaviness from earlier. More like she was trying to patch it up with humor and distraction, hoping he would follow her lead instead of pulling the thread again.

Dominik sucked his teeth in mock annoyance despite the fact that he was smiling.

“It’s supposed to be badass, not adorable.” He fussed.

Rhea cackled. “It can be both.” She shrugged. “Although you grinning like a toddler that just saw the ice cream ride pass isn’t really helping your ‘badass’ case.” She teased.

Dominik groaned dramatically, flopping his head back against the couch cushion. “I was happy okay?” He chuckled. “I should’ve never shown you that damn picture.”

He let out a soft exhale as his hand found its way back on her thigh.

“I don’t know why you thought I would react maturely to this information.” She replied, tilting the phone and looking at the picture again. “God, you were such a baby. Look at those cheeks. I could pinch them.”

“You do pinch them, that’s how you flirt.” He pointed out, earning a punch to the forearm from Rhea who immediately bit his cheek afterwards.

“No.” She corrected. “That’s how I flirt.” Rhea beamed proudly. “So what happened to Gina anyway? Still got her?”

There was a small pause.

Dominik’s thumb traced her skin more deliberately now as his eyes flicked back to the tv.

“Nah,” He muttered softly. “Sold it.”

Rhea frowned. “Why?”

Scratching at the back of his neck, he shrugged sluggishly and cleared his throat.

“….needed the money.”

She could feel the switch in the air, a sudden heaviness lingering about that he most certainly did not want to address.

It made Rhea bite down on the inside of her cheek.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

“It’s cool,” Dominik said, turning his head slightly and giving her that lazy grin that didn’t match the sudden emptiness behind his eyes. “Shit happens, life happens.” He shrugged like it didn’t matter, but the way his voice flattened said otherwise.

There was something about the way he said it that made Rhea’s chest pinch in that weird, inconvenient way it had been doing more and more often lately when she looked at him too long.

The tables were now turned with Dominik carrying a defeated and troubled energy while Rhea tried to figure out what just went wrong.

And in their typical avoidant nature, instead of just addressing it, Rhea sat up and straddled his lap, cupping his face in her hands.

She pressed her thumbs into the hollow of his cheeks gently, like trying to wipe away a frown he hadn’t quite let form yet. His gaze met hers, steady and unreadable, but his hands instinctively moved to settle on her hips, grounding him the way she always did when he didn’t even know he needed it.

“You’re not allowed to be sad, Dom Dom,” She murmured. “That’s my thing today and you’re kinda stealing it.”

This got a soft chuckle out of him. “I thought you said you were fine?” He questioned with a raised brow.

“I am.” She stated. “I’m just mad you didn’t tell me you were once a hot little motorcycle gremlin with an adorable baby face, but I’ll let it go. For now.”

They stared at each other for a moment, something too soft and too much sitting between them.

His eyes held hers for a second longer before he grinned that slow, crooked grin. “If I told you I used to race it illegally, would that win me back some badass points?”

Rhea raised a brow. “Did you?”

He paused, then smirked. “No. But I did almost get pulled over for going 105 in a 45. I got away though.”

She gasped, delighted and horrified. “Dominik!”

“I was late for work and I was on my last strike before they fired my ass.” He shrugged.

“You’re literally insane,” She laughed, burying her face in his neck like she couldn’t stand him but also couldn’t pull away.

They were back in their happy little bubble of avoidance and deflection, Rhea deciding to push away the feeling of indifference down to the pits of her stomach and focus on the feeling of being wrapped up in Dominik instead. 

Chapter Text

Rhea’s mood had been capricious over the next few days; one moment she was fine and the next she was in her head and mad at the world.

Thankfully, as she sat with Tiffany at brunch she was in good spirits because it was ten in the morning and she was already three mimosas deep.

“Brunch is the greatest thing to happen to society.” She hummed as she shoved a forkful of waffle into her mouth.

“Agreed.” Tiffany nodded. “There would literally be no wars if men just sat around and drank champagne in the morning while eating avocado toast instead of swinging their dicks around.”

“Oh my god,” Rhea groaned in pleasure from the taste of her food. “Could you imagine how much we could get done in this country if every important decision was made by a group of chicks having brunch?”

“We truly are the superior sex.”

“I’ll cheers to that.” Rhea chuckled as she lifted her glass to clink it against Tiffany’s.

“Speaking of sex…” Tiffany smirked. “Those little bruises on your throat sure do look a lot like finger prints.” She sipped her mimosa with a knowing look on her face.

Rhea just shrugged with a small grin. “They may be…perhaps.”

“You two are truly feral over each other, it’s disgusting.” Tiffany snorted.

Rhea’s grin only widened, eyes twinkling with mischief and far too much champagne.

“It’s so disgusting.” She agreed. “I actually missed him this morning.” Rhea revealed, making Tiffany’s eyes widened.

“He stayed over and had to leave for work this morning, and I just laid there in his t-shirt staring at the pillow he used like an idiot like he got shipped off for war or some shit.”

Tiffany’s hand paused midway to her mouth, fork full of frittata. “Rhea–”

“I know!” She groaned, cutting into her waffle much more aggressively. “It’s pathetic.”

“It’s cute.” Tiffany corrected.

“Ew, gross. Die.” Rhea frowned.

Tiffany ignored her, letting out a delighted little hum. “Lovesick Rhea has definitely been, like, my fave version of you.”

“I’m not lovesick,” She defended. “I’m not in love, he’s not even mine.” She muttered with a slight scowl.

Scoffing, Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Oh please! You have literally been calling him your man since you first saw his dumb little mustache.”

“Well he’s not!” Rhea barked quickly, stabbing her fork into her waffle, nostrils flaring.

Tiffany’s face scrunched in confusion and a little bit of fear. “Okay, bitch.” She said before taking a large sip of her drink. “….what’s all that about?”

“Nothing.” Rhea murmured, eyes fixed on her plate of chicken and waffles that was now reminding her of Dominik and pissing her off even more.

“Somebody’s angryyyyy,” Tiffany said in a sing-songy voice.

“I’m not angry. It’s just–it’s not important.” Rhea brushed off.

“Bullshit.” You look like you’re trying to cut through the plate instead of the chicken tender. “What happened? Mr. ‘Go with the Flow’ has you spiraling again?”

Rhea finally looked up at her best friend with a defeated glare. “I want him Tiff.” She muttered pathetically. “Like I want him to actually be mine and just mine.”

Tiffany nodded slowly and she took another bite of her frittata. She knew it was only a matter of time before Rhea would crack like this. “Have you told him this?”

“No.” Rhea scoffed.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I can’t!” She said exasperated. “I’m trying to be respectful or whatever.”

Tiffany frowned. “Respectful of what?”

“His feelings! His boundaries, his mental sanity.”

Staring at Rhea unimpressed, Tiffany raised a brow at her. “Why would you just telling him how you feel disrupt his mental sanity Rhea?”

Her lips twisted to the side of her mouth with a small shrug. “It’s just…he’s not ready for another relationship. I don’t wanna scare him off just because I am ready.”

“You’re beyond ready.” Tiffany murmured.

Rhea picked up her drink, guzzling down the rest before refilling her glass with the mimosa pitcher and chugged that one too.

“Oh god. Okay, okay slow down gremlin. You’re not gonna scare him off with a simple conversation. You guys are both adults.”

“He’s literally a man-child.” Rhea deadpanned.

“Okay true. But he like, actually cares about you, that’s obvious. I think he can handle hearing about your feelings.”

Rhea let out an exasperated groan. “That’s the problem! We don’t do feelings Tiff. We do weed laced denial and life altering sex sessions.”

“You do domesticity.” Tiffany corrected.

“We do not.” She murmured, not even believing her own denial.

“He wears your robe.”

“I’m a generous hostess.” Rhea countered.

“You have a toothbrush at his place.”

“Because I take my dental hygiene very seriously. I literally have floss in my pocket right now.” She brushed off, cutting into her waffle.

“You’re raising a plant together.”

“The plant doesn’t even like me.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes.

“You made him soup in a nurse costume. for fuck's sake!”

Rhea’s eyes slowly lifted to meet Tiffany’s.

“I did not tell you that for you to use it against me.” She said in a threatening manner as she pointed her fork at her.

“Face the facts babe.” Tiffany shrugged. “You two are one more ‘sleepover’ away from being a married couple.”

This made Rhea snort. “Dom would never marry me.”

Tiffany shook her head to herself as she sipped her drink. “The man almost threw himself into traffic because you blocked him.”

Rhea hid her smile by chomping on a chicken tender.

“Yeah, well, doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t want to be in a relationship.”

“What about what you want Rhea?”

This made Rhea pause for a moment.

“You need to be honest with yourself.” Tiffany continued.

Rhea scoffed and took another big bite of her waffle. “Honesty is overrated. I’d rather just sit in silence and suffer.”

“Oh wow, that’s not absolutely ridiculous at all.” She retorted sarcastically.

“You don’t get it Tiff. He was with his ex for ten years. Ten. A full decade. That’s like, a fucking lifetime!”

“It’s not, it’s like, ten years actually.”

Rhea rolled her eyes so hard it was a mystery they didn’t get stuck that way.

“I’m trying to be serious for once bitch. Tiff, I can’t compete with that.”

Tiffany just shrugged, undeterred by Rhea’s dramatics.

“No one is asking you to compete–”

“I mean, I know I’m better than her. I’m hotter, I’m funnier, better in bed, I’ve probably already made him cum more times than she ever could in ten fucking years.”

“You’ve seen her?”

“Well, no…but I still know it’s true.”

Tiffany nodded in agreement of course. “Obviously. Okay, you’re better than her so what’s the problem?”

“They have history. Like actual history and memories together and shit and all I have is dry humor, a biting problem, and my thighs.”

“Thighs he loves.” Tiffany countered.

Rhea scoffed at that. “Yeah, well not enough to want to be with me.”

It was Tiffany’s turn to groan in exasperation.

“You don’t even know if that’s true because you won’t talk to him about it!”

“Because I don’t want to talk about it.” Rhea hissed.

“You’re being so unfair to yourself.” Tiffany muttered, leaning back into her seat as she shook her head. “You’re literally making your own self miserable playing house with Dom and suffering in silence.”

“I just don’t wanna make him uncomfortable.” Rhea said quietly.

“But it’s okay for you to be uncomfortable?” Tiffany scoffed. “This isn’t just about Dom’s feelings, it’s about yours too.” Tiffany stressed. “It’s not fair that he can just sit around and reap the benefits of having you in his life without the commitment you very clearly want.”

Rhea kept her eyes fixed on her plate as she listened to her best friend’s tirade.

“I get that he just got out of a long relationship and he’s probably hesitant to jump into another one, but if that’s the case he needs to stop acting like a boyfriend and stop leading you on. You need to talk to him about this Rhea.”

Her fork poked listlessly at a syrup soaked waffle corner.

“I just…I don’t want to lose him.”

Tiffany’s features softened. “I know. But do you really think pretending not to care is the thing that’s gonna keep him? Or what will make you happy?”

“....no.” Rhea muttered.

“Exactly.” Tiffany beamed triumphantly. “Now I will ask you again–what do you want?”

Rhea contemplated the question for a moment, her tongue beginning to feel unusually heavy with the words she didn’t want to say out loud.

“I want to be chosen,” She said softly, not her usual bark or smirk or snide tone. “Not as a placeholder or a rebound or a convenient warm body. I want to be wanted back. Loudly.”

Tiffany didn’t say anything for a second, she just stared at her, lips parted like she hadn’t been expecting that particular confession from the usually bulletproof woman across from her.

“…damn.” She whispered. “That was deep.”

“Yeah, well.” Rhea shrugged, immediately annoyed with herself for being so poetic. “Blame the champagne.”

Tiffany leaned forward, elbows on the table, brows knit together. “You know, it’s okay to want more from someone. Wanting something real doesn't make you needy Rhea.”

Needy. Ugh she hated that word.

Rhea groaned and threw her napkin at her friend’s face. “Can you shut up with all this clarity? I didn’t ask for a therapy brunch, I asked for champagne with a splash of orange juice.”

Tiffany just shrugged. “Yeah and I asked for sex details about the bruises on your neck and got a visual of you yearning over a pillow instead.”

“You don’t deserve sex details,” Rhea grumbled. “You ruined brunch by making me feel things. It’s not even noon yet you emotional terrorist Barbie.”

“Truth hurts doesn’t it you emotionally constipated goth witch.” Tiffany retorted with a smirk. “Either talk to him about it or pop his tires, I support either decision.”

“Of course you do.” Rhea said with an eyeroll but she was smiling.

______________________________________

Later that evening, Dominik was in his apartment pulling his warm clothes out from the dryer. He was on his last pair of boxers and in usual Dominik fashion he didn’t do his laundry until he literally didn’t have a choice but to do it.

He was in a bit of a mood that he was trying to ignore. He hadn’t heard much from Rhea today and was slightly disappointed that he didn’t get a text from her as soon as he got off either demanding his presence at her place or her declaring that she was coming over like normal.

Rhea had been acting weird; not necessarily distant just…off and it was starting to make him confused. Confused and worried.

Brushing off the thought, Dominik finished emptying his socks and boxers into his hamper and trotted off to his bedroom.

He stood in front of his dresser, prepared to just dump the entire hamper into his sock drawer because who had time to sit around and match socks? Not him, that's for sure.

Pulling open the damn near empty drawer, Dominik’s movements paused for a moment.

His eyes landed on the small black box in the corner of the drawer, just staring at it like he was frozen in place.

With a hesitant and shaky hand, he let his fingers run along the velvet material.

He gulped and allowed himself to pick up the box.

He should just put it back down or chuck the damn thing out the window, but he didn’t.

Instead, he opened it.

The ring stared back at him mockingly. It looked just how he remembered it; gold band, clean cut square shaped diamond in the center.

It was simplistic, classy, and still expensive as hell.

He scoffed as his thumb rubbed along the diamond.

Dominik didn’t even know why he still kept it tucked away in his dresser like it had been since he originally bought it. It never left that spot. He had never got the opportunity to use it.

Never got the chance to tuck it away in his pocket. Never got the chance to nervously pull it out and get on one bended knee and present it to her.

He never got the opportunity because she dumped him the very day he was going to propose.

His plan was as extravagant as he could make it for their situation at the time; they were going to a New Year’s party that night where all of her friends would be making it the perfect backdrop for the proposal.

Too bad he never made it to that party because she had told him that morning how it wasn’t “working anymore” and how she needed to start “really thinking about her future” which apparently was a future that didn’t involve him.

The irony of the situation would almost be comical if it wasn’t so fucking pathetic.

He never bothered asking for her father’s blessing well, because her father hated Dominik’s fucking guts.

He could remember the day he bought the ring vividly; cold hard cash burning a hole in his pocket when he reached the jewelry store.

Dominik could remember standing outside counting through the bills one more time for good measure as the guy from Facebook marketplace loaded Gina up on the back of his trailer to take her to her new home.

He told himself it was noble, romantic, even; that giving up Gina was just the kind of thing you did when you were ready to commit. But maybe it wasn’t noble. Maybe it was just naive.

He didn’t care at the time–okay that was a lie, he cared immensely. But selling his motorcycle that his ex hated anyway, in exchange for forever sounded like an even trade.

Too bad forever seemed to be on borrowed time.

He let out a dry, humorless chuckle at the thought.

Dominik didn’t even know why he was still holding on to the damn thing.

He should sell it, pawn it off maybe. Or, again, chuck it out the fucking window.

It wasn’t like they would ever get back together. It wasn’t like he would use it for somebody else, that would just be tacky.

Plus this ring wasn’t really Rhea’s style. She would want silver first of all and was far too eccentric for just a simple diamond. She would want something different like onyx or garnet or–

Dominik’s fingers paused for a moment.

Why the hell was he thinking about Rhea and wedding rings? He needed to get a fucking grip officially.

He let out a shaky breath and shut the box with a sharp snap and tossed it back into the drawer.

Dominik grabbed the hamper from the ground and started dumping in its contents into the drawer, burying the box under boxers and mismatched socks before slamming it shut.

Not long after he was on his couch, parked in front of the tv but not paying attention to it. His thoughts were heavy and loud and he couldn’t shake them no matter how hard he tried.

He shouldn’t have opened the box. He shouldn’t have looked at that fucking ring. He was thinking too much, not even the joint he just finished could silence his thoughts.

He couldn’t even describe how he was feeling right now. He wasn’t even angry, he had already burned through that stage months ago. He had already had the nights where he drank too much and paced the apartment.

Dominik wasn’t sad either. He didn’t even cry the day it happened. Yeah, it hurt, yeah it absolutely fucking sucked but he didn’t cry over it. He got a little depressed for a bit naturally, but the urgency of him having to find his own place after the breakup distracted him from that.

He did a lot back then to distract himself now that he thought about it–work, apartment hunting, putting his energy into fixing up his car.

Maybe that’s why he was still holding on to the ring; because he never really dealt with how he felt about the whole situation.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Dominik reached for his phone and started scrolling through his messages.

His thumb hovered hesitantly over the message thread that he hadn’t gotten a text from since April. It was the last time she had reached out to him.

He tapped the message thread and the voice memo that he never listened to stared back at him.

Maybe he shouldn’t do this.

Fuck it.

Dominik let out a heavy sigh and pressed the play button.

“Hey…” The message began, her familiar voice filling his ears and making his chest tighten in discomfort. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch.

“I just wanted to say happy birthday. I know this is probably weird or whatever but I just couldn’t not tell you happy birthday…feel like it would be more weird if I didn’t right? I just…I don’t even know why I’m doing this.” Dominik could hear her let out a sigh.

“I hope you’re doing okay, I’m not saying it just to say it, I mean it. It’s like you fell off the face of the earth. I mean…I don’t expect a play by play of your life or anything like that but you don’t post anymore or look at my stories or anything and it’s just–”

Another frustrated sigh.

“You never reached out to me after you moved out, like at all. You didn’t even try Dominik.”

There was a long stretch of silence before she spoke again, like she was having a moment of realization.

“....but I guess that’s like your whole thing anyway.” She chuckled. “Not trying, not caring. God now I sound bitter. I’m not bitter, I'm just…disappointed. Whatever, this was dumb. Happy birthday, have a good life.”

Yeah this was a terrible idea.

His jaw flexed. “Not trying,” He muttered under his breath.

Dominik did try. He was literally in the process of trying when she pulled the rug out from under his feet.

Okay, maybe he did never reach out after but what the fuck was he even supposed to say? Beg? Grovel? Fuck that.

She sounded hurt and Dominik didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it as he quickly left the message thread and deleted the whole thing.

Her words echoed in his head.

That’s your whole thing anyway. Not trying, not caring

Maybe it was. Or maybe it was just easier to look like he didn’t care than let anyone know how deeply he actually did. Maybe it was easier to be the guy who smoked too much, who made jokes and slept too late and lived in a semi-permanent cloud of apathy, than the guy who got left anyway after giving everything he had.

Dominik scoffed to himself at the thought.

He was definitely getting rid of that fucking ring.

Chapter Text

Late that night, Dominik was still sprawled out on his couch, eyelids heavy as he fought off sleep.

He wasn’t even sure why he was trying to stay up. Maybe still holding on to hope that Rhea would reach out to him despite the fact that he texted her hours ago and got no response.

He was laid out with his head on the armrest, one leg stretched out across the couch and the other dangling off, foot planted on the ground as reruns of Cops played on the tv.

Dominik was just about to give in to his slumber when there was a knock on the door. He sat up slightly with furrowed brows.

The knocking was rough and sluggish and then he heard a thud like someone had dropped their body weight against it.

“Dom!” He heard muffled from the other side and he already knew who it was.

He quickly stood up and went to answer the door and when he swung it open his heart stopped briefly.

Rhea was barely standing there, swaying side to side on wobbly legs. The collar of her oversized shirt was stretched out with what Dominik could tell was a few blood spots on it.

His eyes trailed down to her hands where her right knuckles were busted and bloody and there was a yellowish purplish bruise starting to form on her cheek right underneath her eye.

She looked fucking crazy and it didn’t help that she was just standing there smiling and swaying.

“Hey Papi.” Rhea greeted with a grin.

“Rhea,” Dominik began with wide eyes. “Who did this to you?”

“Don’t freak out.” She interrupted as she pushed past him to walk inside. “I won.”

Dominik just watched her as she kicked off her shoes, holding herself up against the wall to keep from toppling over.

“I didn’t ask if you won, I asked who did it.”

Rhea shrugged. “Some chick at the bar. Who cares? Doesn’t matter anyway, I kicked her ass.”

She started to walk towards the living room but was stopped by Dominik grabbing her wrist. Rhea could barely hold herself up right so she stumbled right into his chest.

“Rhea.” He repeated, eyes searching her face as he tried to mask his concern. “You have a black eye.”

Rhea scoffed in irritation. “Only because the bitch snuck me. It was the only punch she got in.”

Dominik ushered her into the kitchen and patted the dining table and guided her to take a seat.

“Don’t move.” He muttered as he left the kitchen.

“Where the hell would I even go?” She laughed to herself as she sighed and leaned back, resting her hands on the table.

He returned a minute later with his poor excuse of a first aid kit, dropping it on the table beside her with a quiet thud.

Gripping the hem of her shirt, he helped her pull it over her head leaving her in her sports bra.

He quickly tossed her shirt into the washing machine and then went over to the sink and wet the rag that was in his hands with cold water before going to the fridge and grabbing a few ice cubes and bundling them up in the rag.

Dominik pulled out the chair and sat facing her between her legs as she sat perched on the table, just staring at him.

“Here.” He said, offering her the impromptu ice pack.

Rhea took it with a lazy smirk. “What? No bag of frozen peas?”

“In what world would I ever have fucking peas in my freezer?” Dominik muttered as he reached for her hand to examine her knuckles.

Rhea pressed the cold rag to her face with a small hum.

“How did you get here?” He asked her while gently starting to pull off her rings so he could clean up her cuts.

“Ludwig.” She muttered. “I was with Tiff.”

Of course.

She let out a hiss and slightly pulled her hand back when the ring he was trying to take off rubbed against her fresh wound.

“Ow!”

“I gotta get these rings off Mami, I’ll be quick just relax.”

Rhea huffed. He was doing it already; being all soft and gentle and…boyfriendy. It was pissing her off.

“You gonna tell me what happened?” He pressed just as he got the last ring off.

He examined her bare knuckles, they were busted—fresh blood mixing with dried crusted blood and split skin. Dominik leaned in closer to inspect her knuckles, concern all over his face but that’s not what she was focused on.

Rhea was focused on the fact that the entire time his thumbs were rubbing familiar and gentle circles into the back of her hand like he was trying to ground her, like despite the fact she had barged into his apartment like a fucking hurricane she was still something to be handled delicately with care.

God it was pissing her off.

Dominik glanced up at her when he realized she wasn’t going to offer him a response.

Her glassy, low eyes met his.

“….you mad at me?” She muttered, making Dominik just shake his head as he opened up the first aid kit.

“Nah.” He brushed off as he dug through its practically empty contents to find the antiseptic. “I just wanna know what happened. Tiff start it?”

“Tiff wasn’t fighting.” Rhea revealed. “Just me.”

This made his eyes flick up to her as his hands paused.

“I didn’t start it either.” She scoffed in offense. “This girl started talking shit, I talked shit back, she got in my face, I got in her face.” Rhea shrugged as Dominik ripped open an alcohol pad to clean off the crusted blood from her knuckles.

“Then she punched me and well….well I blacked out after that. I just remember broken beer bottles and smashing her fucking face in. Tiff said I was grinning like a psycho at one point, I dunno.”

Dominik was resisting his urge to shake his head and focused on the task at hand.

“You should’ve called me.” He muttered as he began to rub the alcohol pad against the dried spots, doing his best to avoid her open wounds.

“Yeah, well I didn’t—"

Her words were cut off by a hiss at the sting of the alcohol burning her flesh.

Dominik leaned up quickly and pressed a kiss to her lips to distract her from the pain. “Relax.” He murmured against her lips before leaning back into his seat as he finished cleaning her knuckles.

That most certainly did not help her relax. If anything it was getting her all riled up again as she stared down at him, a faint scowl on her face and ice pressed into her cheek.

God he was so fucking confusing.

Rhea kept her eyes on him, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tossed the used wipe onto the table and grabbed the antiseptic.

She had been doing good at suffering in silence, but she officially couldn’t take it anymore.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’ve been acting like a boyfriend lately.” Rhea declared.

It made Dominik’s hands pause as he glanced up at her.

“What?” He asked in confusion, making Rhea’s eyes roll.

She hated when he did that, like he didn’t hear her loud and fucking clear.

“I said,” She reiterated, irritation evident in her voice. “You’ve been acting like a boyfriend lately.”

Dominik didn’t know how to respond to that so he just shrugged and kept his focus on applying the antiseptic to the cuts on her knuckles.

“Yeah and you’ve been acting like a girlfriend lately.”

Rhea groaned in exasperation, throwing her head back.

“Ugh! Stop deflecting, you always fucking do that. ‘I don’t get you.’ ‘Yeah well I don’t get you either.’” She mocked in a deep, doofy voice.

“ ‘You're being weird.’ ‘You’re weird.’ God you’re always flipping it back on me! Are you even going to address what I just said?”

Dominik bit down on his lip, his eyes refusing to look up at her as he kept his focus on her knuckles.

“We shouldn’t have this conversation right now.” He muttered.

“Why the hell not?” She frowned.

“Because you’re drunk Rhea.”

Rhea scoffed. “Oh how fucking convenient.” She said sarcastically. “That’s such a cop out.”

Dominik just ignored her. He knew she was upset but now wasn’t the time for this….and maybe, there was a small part of him that was using her clear drunkenness as an excuse to avoid a conversation he wasn’t ready for.

Another scoff.

“Oh wow, now you’re just gonna act like you don’t hear me. Real fucking mature Dominik.” She muttered.

“We can talk about this tomorrow.”

“Liar.” Rhea pouted. “I don’t even know why I came here.” She muttered.

Her leg began to bounce up and down rapidly as she looked off to the side trying to ignore the fact that even though she was acting like an asshole, he was still being gentle with her as he wrapped a bandage around one of her fingers.

Rhea could literally feel the anger in her stomach starting to rise to her chest.

“I shouldn’t be here.” She groaned. “I can do this shit myself. I should be at home doing this myself with an actual first aid kit instead of sitting on a fucking kitchen table with a cum rag on my face and—“

Rhea paused briefly, dropping the rag on to the table and picked up the antiseptic from the kit as she read the label.

“—fucking ointment that literally expired three months ago.” She chuckled bitterly.

Dominik bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from reacting, letting her go off on her drunken tangent.

“This is so fucking stupid!” She yelled, picking up the rag of ice and chucking it across the room, ice cubes clattering on the kitchen floor.

Dominik didn’t react, he just opened another bandaid.

Rhea let out a deep sigh and leaned back, resting her weight on her palm that currently wasn’t wrapped in Dominik’s hold.

She was breathing heavy; half from rage, half from the swirl of drunken frustration curling up in her throat like smoke. Her chest rose and fell in short, ragged bursts as she stared at a spot on the wall.

Dominik didn’t say anything. He just kept his head down, gently smoothing the bandage over her skin like it was second nature, like this was just a Tuesday night and not a drunk, bloody mess of emotional landmines laid out across his kitchen.

Rhea got quiet. The room was quiet but it wasn’t peaceful. The silence was too loud to be peaceful.

It felt like it stretched on forever before Rhea spoke again.

“…I’ve been avoiding you, you know?” Rhea murmured. “Because you’ve been making me feel all weird and confused lately and I didn’t feel like dealing with that shit today so I told myself I was going to ignore you.” She chuckled as she threw her head back.

“But then in typical Rhea fashion I couldn’t even keep a promise I made to my damn self because some stupid chick said some stupid shit and I just had to react.”

Dominik just listened as she talked. She sounded tired, not physically, but maybe mentally or emotionally. She sounded like she was tired with him, tired with herself, everything.

“I couldn’t even tell you what she said if I’m being honest. It was something…trivial. Wasn’t even worth giving my attention to but I just…couldn’t help it. I’ve been running on rage and alcohol since brunch this morning.” She chuckled again but there was no humor in it.

“And you know what’s even funnier?” Rhea asked even though it was clear she wasn’t waiting for his response.

“As soon as I got kicked out of the bar and we were in Ludwig’s car, I immediately thought ‘I’m gonna go see Dom. He’ll fix this.’ Like I didn’t even give it a second thought, completely forgot I was supposed to be ignoring you. All I wanted to do was come here to this dumb ass apartment and see your dumb face because you make me feel, I don’t know, safe or whatever and I fucking hate it.” She sneered.

They made eye contact and Dominik could see the frustration all over her face.

“You and your forehead kisses and how you touch me like I’m mad of fucking glass and stare at me like I hung the moon and then just go right back to this indifferent asshole that’s just sooooo nonchalant and chill and whatever the fuck else.” Rhea fussed.

“Rhea—“

“No!” She barked out. “I don’t want you to say something all sappy or kiss me to make me shut up or try to crack a fucking joke to break the tension. I don’t want any of that shit right now Dom.”

Rhea was angry, and right now all she wanted was to feel that anger. She didn’t want solutions, she didn’t want answers, she just wanted to be fucking angry. She deserved to be angry.

Anger was something Rhea used as fuel; it pushed her, it’s what she used to accomplish her goals through gritted teeth. She used her anger to prove people wrong. It was a familiar warming in her chest that motivated her and made it easier to put up walls to keep people out.

Even in her drunken rage, Rhea wasn’t immune to the irony that the current anger she was experiencing and wanted to sit in was due to letting Dominik get past those walls.

“….well what do you want?” Dominik asked softly.

Her eyes snapped to him, chest rising and falling rapidly.

What a loaded fucking question that she currently didn’t have the answer to.

She glanced down and her bandaged hand, all cleaned up and rings still cluttered on the table.

Flexing her bandaged fingers, Rhea hopped down from the table.

“I just want to go to bed.” She declared as she started to walk out of the kitchen, officially overwhelmed with her own emotions for the night. “Goodnight Dom.”

Dominik shot up from his chair. “You’re leaving?”

Rhea glanced over her shoulder with a scoff. “No, I don’t even have a fucking shirt on you walnut. Where would I go?” She grumbled, heading towards his bedroom.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he watched her walk away.

Dominik gathered the bloody alcohol pads and bandage wrappers from the table and tossed them in the trash before kicking the ice cubes still on the ground under the fridge.

He collected her rings from the table and went in the living room to cut off the tv and turn all the lights out in the house.

When he entered his bedroom, Rhea was already curled up in his bed, pants discarded on the floor. He could tell by the way her breathing was slowed that she had probably just fallen asleep.

Dropping Rhea’s rings onto the nightstand, he stood by the bed, just watching her for a moment. There was a lump of guilt that developed in his throat as Rhea went on her rant about how confused he was making her feel and he still couldn’t shake the feeling as watched the storm that was Rhea finally calmed and quiet.

It made his chest ache in the worst way that his own hesitation and avoidance was making her frustrated. He knew it was unfair, he knew he was being selfish. He knew he was trying to have his cake and eat it too.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, he sluggishly slipped out of his sweats and climbed in the bed.

Rhea shifted slightly in her sleep feeling the mattress dip.

Dominik laid on his side so he was facing her. Her lips rested in a small pout like she was even fed up in her sleep. He resisted the urge to brush the hair out of her face so he could see her better.

He watched her in the dark, his eyes tracing the soft rise and fall of her chest, the faint outline of the bruise already beginning to blossom along her cheekbone. She looked like hell, but still soft in the way he knew she only ever let him see.

She was right; he had been acting like a boyfriend, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t know how to not care about her. It had been like that from the beginning, even when he was too busy still trying to pretend that he didn’t.

Rhea had come into his life and consumed him; his thoughts, his apartment, his t-shirts she kept stealing–his entire life.

Dominik grabbed his phone and went to his notes app. His eyes scanned the note at the top that he had been updating more often than not.

-Rhea laughs like an evil villain who’s remembering something dangerous and she pouts like a brat when she’s thinking too hard and will probably kill me at some point

-Rhea is competitive and is definitely stronger than me and her lips taste like cherries

-Rhea loves Labubus (remember to google this)

-Rhea has fangs and has knocked her own tooth out

-Rhea doesn’t like being called grumpy

-Rhea is clingy but pretends she’s not and she likes when I’m affectionate

-Rhea likes pineapple on her pizza because she’s psychotic

-Rhea can and will eat an entire family sized bag of chips in one sitting if you let her (one of the hottest things I have ever seen in my life)

-Rhea headbutts people at will (hottest thing I have yet to see)

-Rhea has an extreme hatred for the color pink

-Rhea likes taking care of me

He read through it all again, his little journal of insanity. Each bullet point was like a breadcrumb leading him deeper into whatever mess he had fallen face first into with her.

His eyes lingered on the last line. She did like taking care of him, and she did it loudly and in her own chaotic kind of way and Dominik knew that he liked taking care of her too.

He liked when she showed up to his place mad at the world and sought him out to fix it. Whether that be him just rolling her a joint, or making her laugh, or just picking with her enough to drive her absolutely mad that usually ended up with him in a headlock.

Dominik kept Rhea happy, he kept her distracted. That was their whole thing–distraction, avoidance, burying feelings, and ignoring the obvious reality that they had fallen into this weird attachment to each other.

But after tonight, after everything Rhea had said, Dominik knew he wasn’t going to be able to ignore it anymore. It wasn’t fair to her and quite frankly it wasn’t fair to him either.

His eyes flicked over to his dresser that he could barely even see in the darkness. The ring that laid in the drawer mockingly, reminding him why he was being so hesitant.

The reason he was acting like a fucking coward like Rhea hadn’t just basically declared that she was tired of doing whatever this was with no label or no real definition.

Dominik had always been fluent in sarcasm, in distraction, in weed smoke and lazy grins, but he was illiterate in declarations. He didn’t know how to name things when they mattered, not anymore.

The ring in the drawer had never felt heavier.

Locking his phone, Dominik let out a sigh and slipped it under his pillow. He turned back on his side to face her.

He thought about the night after the arcade when she bit him and declared that she always preferred the villains.

However, Dominik didn’t want to be the villain in Rhea’s story. He wanted to be the hero.

But to be the hero meant he actually needed to do something heroic—something that wasn’t going to be easy and was more than likely going to be uncomfortable and difficult.

But for her? He was sure it would be worth it.

He finally allowed himself to touch her, reaching out and placing a gentle arm around her waist to pull her into his space.

Rhea reciprocated immediately as she allowed herself to be pulled and made herself comfortable on his chest.

“I’m sorry I’m so confusing.” He whispered, not even really thinking she heard him.

One of her eyes popped open as she glanced up at him. She stared at him for a moment before lifting her head with a scoff.

“Shut up.” Rhea muttered before kissing the corner of his mouth and laying back down to drift back into her slumber.

The laugh that curled out of him was soft, half relieved and half exhausted. Of course she heard him and of course that was her response.

Rhea might have fangs and a villain’s laugh, but she wasn’t invincible and Dominik was finally realizing that the longer he avoided defining this thing between them, the more likely he was to lose the one person who made his messy, useless life feel like it was pointed in some kind of direction.

He turned his face into her hair and let his eyes close, not bothering to fight sleep anymore.

For now, he would sleep. But soon he knew, he would have to be the hero. 

Chapter Text

It was a little after 10:30 in the morning when Dominik stirred awake the next day. Rhea had staked her claim as usual, completely laying on top of him with her head buried in his neck.

Dominik let out a soft sigh as his hands traced gently along her lower back. He adjusted her slightly so her knee would stop digging into his side. How he slept so peacefully with Rhea using him as her own personal memory foam mattress was truly a mystery to him.

She usually always woke up first but after the night before, Dominik wasn’t surprised that he was able to wiggle his way out from underneath her with barely any protest from Rhea; she let out a brief, sleepy grumble but quickly was right back to being asleep.

Dominik sluggishly walked to the bathroom to relive himself and brush his teeth and wash his face.

After washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror as the bristles of the toothbrush ran back and forth across his teeth.

He had spent the night prior thinking of ways to officially ask Rhea to be his girlfriend. He wanted to do something like a grand gesture that was still them, but he was having a hard time coming up with something.

What he did know was that he was getting rid of that fucking ring today first and foremost. He mulled over if he wanted Rhea to be a part of that as he spit into the sink.

Dominik wasn’t even sure if he wanted Rhea to even know about the ring. He didn’t want to make shit weird but he also wanted her to understand why he was being weird about everything in the first place.

He groaned to himself as he rinsed off his toothbrush, this was already proving to be difficult and uncomfortable already.

This was the one time in his life he wished he didn’t overthink and second guess himself so much, heroes didn’t overthink—they just did. Dominik didn’t know how to do that but now was a better time than ever to figure it the fuck out he supposed.

Deciding he wanted to give Rhea something nice to wake up to, he went into the kitchen to make her breakfast. The problem was he didn’t have much to work with besides scrambled eggs and toast but he was going to make it work.

Rhea shuffled into the kitchen later, hair all over the place and one of Dominik’s shirts on and a frown on her face. She was greeted with a plate of eggs and toast on the table along with a napkin with two pills on it and a bottle of water.

“Morning,” A shirtless Dominik greeted from the sink as he washed out the pan he just finished using.

“It’s after 11.” Rhea grumbled as she took a seat. “Why did you let me sleep so late?”

Dominik just shrugged. “Because you hate being woken up.”

“Yeah well I hate waking up alone even more.” She pouted. “You left me.”

A smirk found his face, Rhea was being her usual grumpy morning self. “My bad Mami, won’t happen again.”

“Better not.” She mumbled as she disregarded the aspirin and started digging into the eggs with her fork.

Dominik dried his hands off as he watched her. The bruise under her eye had darkened to a deep purple but it had already decreased a lot in size thankfully.

Rhea let out a pleased hum, biting into the toast. She seemed to be in a better mood despite her grumpiness and she had yet to mention her blow up from the night before. Dominik was starting to wonder if she even remembered what she said, probably not.

And truth be told, if she wasn’t going to bring it up, neither would he.

“How’s your hand?” He asked.

Rhea glanced down at it, brows furrowing like she was trying to put the pieces together and just shrugged.

“It’s fine.”

“Are you busy today? Wanna hang out?”

Rhea’s ears perked up at that.

“You’re off?” She pressed, shoveling another forkful of eggs in her mouth.

“Mhmm.” Dominik nodded. “I just uh…got some errands to run.” He said vaguely as he scratched at the back of his neck.

“You have errands?” Rhea snorted. “Yeah this I gotta see. What, are we meeting with your dealer and going beanie shopping?” She teased, making him roll his eyes.

“No.” He deadpanned. “Just something important I need to do today.”

Rhea narrowed her eyes at him, taking an aggressive bite out of her toast. What the hell did that mean?

“Fine.” She agreed. “But I need to get in some kind of workout today first. I’m already way behind my usual schedule and my body is not happy about it.”

Dominik nodded. Perfect, that would give him even more time to try to figure out something they could do together today after leaving the pawn shop he ultimately decided he wanted her to be there for.

“I’ll shower and get dressed really quick and then I’ll take you to your place so you can workout and do the same.” He offered.

Rhea just nodded in agreement as she focused on finishing her food.

Dominik walked over and kissed the top of her head before leaving the kitchen making her scoff to herself.

____________________________

After breakfast, they headed to Rhea’s place where she spent an hour working out and then another hour and a half getting ready and replacing the bandages on her knuckles. The bruise of her face was still tender and sore but that didn’t stop Rhea from covering it up with makeup…or from constantly poking at it because she liked the flash of pain that surged through the nerves in her face.

“Rhea stop touching your face.” Dominik scolded as they entered the elevator to head back out. The ring box was burning a hole in his pocket. He was so anxious to get rid of it and even more anxious about Rhea’s reaction to the whole thing.

“Stop being dramatic, it barely hurts.” She muttered, pushing the button to head down to the lobby so they could go do whatever Dominik’s version of “errands” was. He was being so vague which was weird to her and he started doing all of that nervous, fidgety bullshit again like he did when they first met.

The elevator started to descend but then stopped on the third floor, the doors sliding opening.

A guy with sunglasses stepped inside the elevator and immediately grinned when he saw Rhea. It made Dominik frown.

“Miss Ripley,” He greeted, rubbing his hands together as he stood beside her on the other side that Dominik wasn’t occupying.

Dominik found himself looking the guy up and down while the elevator started up again. He was dressed in a slightly cropped, sleeveless shirt, light brown skin and a piss poor excuse for a mullet if you asked Dominik. And he couldn’t stop fucking grinning at Rhea.

“Hey Jey,” Rhea replied with a small smirk. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of Dominik already.

“I haven’t seen you in a minute. Starting to feel like you’ve been ducking me.” Jey teased, nudging her shoulder with his.

Dominik’s frown deepened as he grabbed the loose fabric of the back of Rhea’s oversized shirt and tugged her closer to him.

Jey noticed but wasn’t deterred.

Rhea had to bite down on her cheek to keep from absolutely beaming like she had just won a prize and just shrugged instead.

“Nah, I’ve just been…busy.” Rhea smirked, eyes briefly flickering to Dominik just as the elevator doors opened again.

She stepped out first with Dominik right on her heels, damn near pressing into her back as he followed her out, still frowning.

“See you around Jey,” Rhea called out, not even bothering to look back at him.

Dominik didn’t say a word as they exited the building but his silence was louder than any smart ass remark he could’ve made.

Rhea was practically skipping down across the parking lot towards Dominik’s car.

She could feel him behind her, body close and vibrating with annoyance. She was delighted.

When they reached the car, Rhea was standing by the passenger door with her hands clasped behind her, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, smug as hell like a cat that just knocked something expensive off a mantel just to watch it fall.

Dominik unlocked the car and climbed into the driver’s seat, leaning over to pop Rhea’s door open.

She slid into her seat, still smiling as Dominik started up the car.

“You good?” She asked sweetly, perching her elbow on the center console and resting her head in her palm.

“Mhmm.” Dominik muttered as he backed out of the parking space. “Who’s that guy?”

“That’s just Jey,” Rhea waved off. “One of my neighbors. He lives on the third floor.”

Dominik let out a grunt. “A neighbor you’ve been ducking apparently.”

She had to bite down on her lip to keep from absolutely relishing in this. “Well yeah because he’s annoying. He talked my head off in our apartment's gym before.” She said with an eyeroll. “He’s also the reason why I refuse to workout there anymore.”

Another grunt. “He’s real friendly.” Dominik said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Ugh I know, he’s soooo happy all the time, it makes me want to barf.”

This got a small smirk out of Dominik.

Rhea observed how his brows were still slightly furrowed.

“Are you jealous Dom Dom?” She teased, voice mockingly sweet.

“Pffft. No,” He said, trying to sound unbothered and failing miserably.

“Yes you are.” Rhea grinned as she leaned back into her seat and propped her feet up on the dashboard. “I don’t know what for, Jey’s pushing 40 and wears crop tops and has a Blade fade.” She frowned. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

Dominik let out a snort, eyes still on the road and shrugged. “Well you like vampires and shit, I dunno.”

This made Rhea laugh loudly before they settled into a comfortable silence.

“….his mullet is shitty.” Dominik grumbled under his breath, making Rhea’s head turn to him.

“The shittiest.” She agreed with a grin. “Where are we going anyway?”

Dominik scratched at the back of his neck, jaw set. “I just gotta take care of something really quick, we’re almost there.”

Rhea raised a brow at him but surprisingly didn’t press. She just remained leaned back in her seat, feet up on the dash and started scrolling through her phone.

They eventually pulled into a little strip mall, tucked between a laundromat and a boarded up vape shop.

“Pawn shop?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow as she looked out the window.

“Yeah.” Dominik muttered as he pulled into a parking spot right in front of Foley’s Finds. It was the first pawn shop that popped up when he did his search earlier, more than ready to just get this shit over with.

They climbed out of the car, walking side by side towards the door.

“What are we doing here?” Rhea pressed as Dominik held the door open for her.

“I’m pawning something.” He revealed vaguely without offering any further details.

Rhea just shrugged it off as she took in the shop—fluorescent lighting bouncing off the display cases of different knickknacks and oddities. It was a collector’s heaven.

In true Rhea fashion, she had already gotten distracted by a weapons display and ventured off to the side of the store as Dominik went to approach the front counter.

They were the only people in the store besides the older guy behind the counter. He had messy, curly brown hair and a grey beard. The man was leaned against the counter dressed in a red flannel he had open with a black shirt underneath and from what Dominik could see, several missing teeth.

“How can I help ya?” He greeted.

Dominik glanced over his shoulder at Rhea who was still in her own world currently making googly eyes at a vintage knife with a sheath with intricate designs on it. He fished the box out of his jean pocket and placed it on the counter and cleared his throat.

“I wanted to see how much I could get for this.”

The guy opened the box and let out a low whistle as he took in the diamond ring.

“You pawning or selling?” He asked, bringing the ring closer to his face to get a good look at it.

“Selling, definitely.” Dominik declared.

The old man grunted approvingly, pulling out a jeweler's loupe and fitting it to his eye to make sure the diamond was real.

“I take it this isn’t for your friend over there?”

Dominik glanced back toward Rhea.

She now had the vintage knife out of the case because of course she did, and was holding it like she was about to challenge someone to a duel. Her face was scrunched in deep concentration, admiring the blade.

“Nah,” Dominik said sheepishly, a faint grin on his face.

“Hands off the merchandise ma’am,” The old man called out, not even taking his eyes off from examining the ring.

“Sorry!” Rhea replied quickly, slipping the knife back into the display she shouldn’t have been able to open in the first place.

The man pulled out a touchstone and scratched the band against it to test the gold.

Rhea had appeared at Dominik’s side as the man dropped the acid on the scratch left by the gold, focused and concentrated.

Her eyes flicked between the ring in his hands and Dominik. She chewed on the inside of her cheek in confusion but didn’t say anything.

Dominik could feel her stare lingering on him and swallowed hard and slipped his hands into his pockets.

The man grabbed a calculator, typing rapidly like he had been doing this for years, which granted he had.

“I can do $1,200.” He offered.

Dominik immediately frowned. He knew he would be able to get the full $2,600 he paid for it back, but he was at least hoping for more than that.

Rhea noticed and crossed her arms against her chest.

“How many carats is it?” She asked Dominik.

“.75.” He muttered. “18K gold band.”

“Oh bullshit!” Rhea accused the man. “You can do better than fucking $1,200. What is this 2005? Please be serious.” She fussed with a scoff.

The man’s lip quipped into a slight smile. She clearly knew her stuff.

“Listen if you were pawning it I could do more, but I wouldn’t be able to sell this for more than $1,600.” He said putting his hands up in defense as he removed the magnifier from his eye. “$1,200 is the best I can do.”

“That’s such a crock of shit and you know it.” Rhea retorted, putting her hands on her hips. “You can easily sell that for $2,300 at least.” She challenged.

“Do you think we were born yesterday you sleezeball? $2,000 or we walk.” Rhea declared.

The man let out an amused breath. “The name is Mick, not sleezeball.” He corrected. “$1,500.”

“$1,900 Mick.” Rhea countered.

Mick placed his hands down on the counter, leaning forward.

“$1,800.”

Rhea squinted her eyes at him as they stared at each other in challenge. Dominik glanced between the two of them in confusion and amusement.

She broke first, scoffing as she let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ugh, fine! $1,800.” She agreed.

Mick grinned, victorious in that greasy pawn shop kind of way. He pulled a little receipt pad from under the counter, flipping it open like it was the final card in a poker hand. "Alright then. $1,800 it is."

He grabbed a pen and did that thing that old people did where they licked the tip of the pen before they started writing like it actually did anything other than putting unnecessary germs on their tongues. It made Rhea grimace in amusement.

Dominik glanced over at Rhea, her nose scrunched up in disgust despite the fact that her lips were curled up in a smirk.

“Hey,” He said, nudging her with his shoulder, hands still tucked in his pockets. “You want that knife?” He asked as he gestured with his head towards the weapons display.

Rhea’s eyes lit up like a pyromaniac on the Fourth of July. “You serious?”

“Dead serious. Just don’t stab me in my sleep….or when I’m awake for that matter.”

“No promises,” She grinned, and practically skipped back over to the weapons case. Dominik watched her go, heart light, the weight of the ring no longer in his pocket.

“Hands off the merchandise kid!” Mick reiterated.

“Oh lighten up Mick,” Rhea yelled back, already somehow back in the display case. “This baby is coming home with me anyway.”

She approached the counter with the knife and sheath just as Mick finished writing up Dominik’s receipt.

They watched as he went over to the register and started counting through bills.

“Alright, so with the cost of the knife—that brings you to $1,500.”

“Oh bullshit!” Rhea immediately called out, making Mick groan in exasperation.

“That knife is not worth $300.” She scoffed.

“Hey, my prices are final.” He declared. “That’s a German scout knife from the 50’s!”

“I don’t give a damn if it was used in World War Two itself, it’s a fucking 4 inch blade!” She countered.

“You’re busting my balls kid. $250, final offer.”

“$200.” Rhea countered, leaning forward.

And just like that, they were back in a staredown, silently waiting for one of them to give up.

Mick broke first this time with a huff.

“Fine, fine whatever.” He grumbled even though Dominik could see the smile on his face he was fighting off.

“Ha!” Rhea declared victoriously, staring down at her knife with a new level of fondness that not only had she gotten it, but she had gotten it her way. She loved winning.

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rhea waved off, making a ‘gimmie’ motion with her hand. “Count those bills faster Mick before we change our mind.”

Dominik chuckled as Mick thumbed through the rest of the money and slid it across the counter to Dominik along with his receipt.

Rhea was already walking towards the door when Mick leaned forward.

“You better hold on to her.” He advised softly. “You’ll never pay full price for anything ever again.”

Dominik just gave him a smirk and a head nod as he shoved the money in his pocket and went to catch up with Rhea.

“You’re rich, why the hell do you know how to haggle?” He questioned as he held the door open for her.

“Because I’m rich, duh.” Rhea said as they crossed the parking lot. “….plus I also get a kick out of being difficult.”

Obviously.

“Good to know.” Dominik chuckled.

They were back in the car now, Rhea in the passenger seat admiring her new knife as he started the car.

“Sooooo,” Rhea began, trying to sound as chill as one could after watching their situationship clearly pawn off an engagement ring while holding a literal weapon in her hands. “What was that?”

Dominik chewed on his lip for a beat. “That,” He began with a sigh. “….was Gina.” He revealed.

Her brows scrunched in confusion before it dawned on her.

“Oh. Oooooooh.” She said, nodding slowly. “Damn.”

“Yup.” Dominik replied, popping the P sound.

“You sold your bike…so you could propose?” Rhea asked softly for clarification.

His eyes were fixed on the road. “That was the plan.” He turned his head to her with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “Didn’t quite work out that way though.”

Rhea sat in stunned silence for a moment, still cradling her brand new knife in her hands like it was a puppy she just adopted.

“…did she know?”

“Nah,” Dominik answered. “I sold my bike in November and bought the ring that same day. I was gonna propose on Christmas but I chickened out.” He revealed.

There was a small beat of silence as Rhea kept her eyes on the sheath in her hands, tracing over the designs in the leather with her nail.

“…I decided I was going to try again on New Year’s.”

This made her head snap over to him with wide eyes.

“You mean—“

“Yup.” He interrupted. “I was going to propose the day she dumped me.”

“Damn.” She repeated. “That’s fucking dark.”

Dominik let out an amused breath. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

“What made you want to sell it today?”

He gave a small shrug. “Felt like it was finally time, I guess. I wasn’t holding onto it in hopes or anything, I just never felt like dealing with it. But now…I guess I finally have a reason to get rid of it.”

His eyes flicked over to her briefly and Rhea understood exactly what he meant by that.

Silence filled the car again as he continued to drive with no real destination in mind. He was still trying to think of somewhere he could take her, or something he could do for her to show her that he was all in.

As if pawning off a literal engagement ring from his past to buy the chaotic women in his passenger seat who thrived on violence a knife wasn't enough already.

Rhea leaned her head back against the seat, letting the sunlight stream through the windshield and wash over her bruised cheek, now faintly throbbing under the makeup. It made her want to poke at it just to feel something other than the lump in her throat.

She finally got it—really got it. Why Dominik was the way he was, why he constantly hid himself behind indifference, why he carried himself like just getting by was enough. It made her chest ache but her heart softened.

She wanted to say something, maybe offer some words of wisdom, or make him laugh like he always did for her, or declare that his ex had to be the dumbest bitch on the planet for giving up on him. But instead she just reached over and placed a hand on his thigh and said—

“Well everything happens for a reason, right?”

Dominik’s lazy eyes trailed over to hers, a faint smile on his face. He reached down and gave her hand a squeeze before placing back on the steering wheel.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He agreed.

“So,” Rhea began to pivot away from the heaviness of the conversation they just had. “Where to next?”

He scratched at his chin in contemplation. “That was really the only thing I had planned but I was thinking we could, I dunno, go to dinner or something later if you want.” He offered, unable to look at her.

Rhea raised a brow. “Like, a date?”

Dominik gave a small shrug. “Yeah.”

She was chewing on her bottom lip to keep from grinning. “I would like that.” She agreed. “But if we have some time to kill I demand we go to the grocery store and you use some of that money to actually stock your kitchen with actual groceries.”

This made him snort. “Groceries? I don’t need groceries.”

“Dominik,” She deadpanned. “You made me scrambled eggs and toast this morning like a sim with a level one cooking skill that was milliseconds away from their stove catching on fire. You need groceries.”

Dominik was full out belly laughing at this point. “Fine, fine. Groceries first, dinner later.”

__________________________

They made a small detour back to Dominik’s place first because he was adamant that he could not survive in Walmart without a joint first (fair).

And now the two were walking the aisles of the grocery side with Rhea pushing the cart as she naturally criticized everything Dominik was picking up.

They were bickering the entire time as usual, shoving each other, knocking things out of each others hands, and laughing way too loudly for a grocery store aisle in the middle of the day.

They were currently standing in the chip aisle, cart abandoned off to the side as they stood in the middle of the aisle.

Well actually Rhea was currently on her tippy toes trying to snatch a bag of chips out of Dominik’s hand as he held it above his high head with his long arm and a smug smirk on his face.

“Dom! Give it!” She demanded. “I will climb you like a tree in this store, don’t think I won’t.”

Dominik remained unbothered as he used his other arm to keep her at an elbow’s distance away.

“We’re supposed to be shopping for me. I’m not keeping these nasty ass pickle flavored chips in my apartment.”

“They’re not for you! They’re for me.” She demanded, practically clawing at his arm in frustration. “I need variety when I stay over. All you ever want is Doritos and fucking flaming hot Cheetos. That is not a way to live.”

“Pickle chips are an abomination,” Dominik declared. He waved the offending bag like a victory flag, holding it higher still. “I don’t want their cursed vinegar air stinking up my place.”

Rhea grunted, fingers barely brushing the plastic. “You live in a mancave, Dom. The smell of pickle chips would elevate the atmosphere.”

“You wanna elevate my atmosphere, buy a candle.”

“I did.” She said exasperated. “Now buy me my pickle chips.”

“Gotta reach them first.” He grinned as he quickly switched hands and held them up even higher. Finally his height advantage over her was useful for something.

The two continued to bicker without a care in the world, unaware of the eyes watching them from the end of the aisle.

Arianna stood there like she had seen a ghost. Dominik looked different since she had seen him months ago—his hair had gotten so much longer as it fell past his shoulders and he apparently had a mustache now.

She watched him, frozen in place, with a girl she had never seen before. The girl almost looked like a mirror to Dominik, like they complimented each other. Her arms and legs were covered in tattoos just like his, her dark hair just as long and effortlessly messy like his.

They even dressed similar Arianna noticed as the girl stood in an oversized band tee and loose shorts, white socks pulled up to her calves and untied Vans on her feet.

She looked like the type that laughed at all of Dominik’s jokes, probably loved smoking with him and watching horror movies.

But what Arianna had noticed more than anything was the way Dominik smiled at her as she shoved and fussed at him. He had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, just grinning down at her despite the fact she was trying to free herself from his grasp.

She hadn’t seen Dominik smile like that in forever. She couldn’t even remember the last time he smiled at her like that.

He looked genuinely happy, a feeling she didn’t typically associate with Dominik and his indifference towards….well everything.

It was making her feel weird in a way she couldn’t put into words. Hurt maybe? Or just sheer confusion, perhaps.

Whatever it was, it was enough to make her start walking down the aisle towards them.

Arianna didn’t plan it, didn’t think it through, didn’t even register what her legs were doing until she was halfway down the chip aisle and the girl’s laughter was ringing in her ears like static. Dominik hadn’t noticed her yet, he was too busy holding her in a half hug/half headlock as she tried to peel his fingers off the chip bag with theatrical outrage.

“Dominik?”

His name cut through the noise like a record scratch.

Rhea stopped mid struggle, blinking up at him. Dominik’s grip loosened. He turned his head, and his face shifted in slow, dawning recognition. The grin faded. His whole body stilled.

It put Rhea on high alert.

“…Arianna?”

His eyes met hers, and they didn’t do that warm, nostalgic lock they used to.

Rhea could feel his body tensing up and his face fell into a look of confusion. His hand that was in the air lowered, making Rhea take the opportunity to snatch the bag out of his hand and tossed it in the cart as the air suddenly seemed to become heavy with tension.

She eyed whoever this Arianna girl was; she was on the taller side like Rhea, thin model-like physique, long wavy brown hair, large eyes and long lashes. She was gorgeous, and that put Rhea on an even higher alert.

Dominik still had his arm wrapped loosely around her waist. Rhea turned slightly to face the girl, and placed her hand on Dominik’s chest.

Arianna looked between the two with a tight lipped smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“It’s been a while.” She said with a nervous laugh, eyes more on Rhea than on him.

Rhea was staring right back at her with a bored look on her face. Dominik probably couldn’t tell, but the girls were sizing each other up. If they were animals in the wild, Rhea would be baring her teeth and hissing by now.

“Uh, y-yeah.” Dominik agreed, scratching at the back of his neck. He wished he could teleport or maybe just vanish into thin air to get away from whatever this was.

The universe was fucking with him again. Of course he would run into her the same day he decided to stop holding on to the last piece of their failed relationship.

Rhea could sense that Dominik was uncomfortable and it was making her angry. It didn’t take long for her to realize who the girl was; the infamous ex.

“Is this your girlfriend?” Arianna asked.

Before Dominik could even begin to open his mouth, Rhea leaned into him and said—

“Yes.” She smiled back at the girl with a tight lipped grin that was anything but friendly.

Dominik blinked but didn’t bother saying anything.

Arianna’s eyebrows rose. “Oh!” She said louder and quicker than she intended, it made Rhea smirk.

“What? Is that a problem?” Rhea challenged.

“N-no! No, not at all.” Arianna stammered with another nervous chuckle.

She was clearly bothered and Rhea was thriving.

“It’s just…I didn’t expect Dominik to—“

“Didn’t expect what?” Rhea interrupted. “For him to move on? Thought he would still be sitting around sulking in the pit of despair you left him in?”

Rhea tilted her head like a predator indulging in a moment of curiosity before the pounce. Her eyes stayed fixed on Arianna, the corners of her mouth twitching in a smile so sweet it bordered on threatening.

Arianna hesitated, caught in the headlights of Rhea’s very pointed presence. “No, I just meant—“

“It doesn’t matter really,” She interrupted again. Her smile widened like a switchblade. “Dom’s happy, mentally, emotionally, sexually, he’s thriving really.” Rhea said sweetly as she glanced up at him with warm eyes and a smirk and gripped his chin in her hand.

She turned her head to look at Arianna again, tone sharp and sarcastic. “I guess I have you to thank for that huh?”

Dominik stood frozen, caught between horror and awe. Arianna’s eyes flicked to him, almost pleading like she wanted him to say something to defend her.

Rhea noticed instantly and took a step forward, casually putting herself between her and Dominik.

Possessive? Absolutely. Subtle? Not even a little bit.

“Look, I don’t know what you came over here expecting, but if it’s closure, you’re not getting it. Not today, not ever.”

Arianna stood with her mouth agape in disbelief.

“You don’t get to give up on the sweetest, funniest, hardest working man on the planet and just try to waltz your way back in his life. I’m here now, so I hope all the memories you have of him are enough cause that’s all you’re gonna be left with.” Rhea continued with a sweet smile, her tone still polite enough to technically be acceptable in public but laced with enough venom to kill.

Dominik was absolutely stunned into silence as he picked with his fingers and chewed on his bottom lip.

Rhea glanced back at him briefly before letting out a sigh.

“This has been fun or whatever, but your presence is making my boyfriend be all weird and fidgety so we’re gonna go now. He just bought me a vintage knife and I don't want to have to use it so soon.” Rhea declared. “And don’t even think of pulling that lame ass ex shit and try to text him a few days from now with that ‘it was so crazy running into you like that’ bullshit, because I will reply with a picture of him shoving his tongue down my throat…or in my cunt depending on the mood I’m in.”

Rhea gave Arianna one last up and down look before abruptly turning on her heels and starting to push the cart and walk away. She hooked her finger in Dominik’s belt loop and tugged him along with her.

“Come on Dom Dom.”

Dominik allowed himself to pulled, stumbling slightly as he walked away with her.

Arianna stood in the aisle, shoulders slumped and heart crushed. Dominik didn’t even spare her another glance as the pair disappeared down the aisle and around the corner.

Dominik still hadn’t said a word as they walked towards the checkout counter because Rhea was more than ready to get the fuck out of there.

She was grumbling under her breath in irritation. The nerve of that girl. She was so lucky Rhea’s punching hand was fucked up already.

“Ugh I should’ve headbutted her.” She muttered to herself as she scanned and bagged the stuff at the self checkout.

Dominik was just staring at her the whole time. He had just watched her verbally throat punch his ex and spoke up for him like he was worth defending.

That interaction solidified what Dominik had already known; he was completely over Arianna. He didn’t miss her, he wasn’t even happy to see her. He didn’t feel longing or hurt when he looked into her eyes. He didn’t feel anything really until Rhea opened her mouth and declared that she was his girlfriend.

His stomach flipped when she did it. He liked how confidently she had claimed him. He liked the idea of being hers. He wanted to be hers.

By the time they were leaving the store, Rhea was pushing the cart across the parking lot like she was on a warpath, still muttering and grumbling to herself about the absolute nerve of “Arianna” whose name she kept saying mockingly in a high pitched voice.

Dominik trailed behind her, hands tucked into his pockets. He still hadn’t said a word.

Rhea got to the car first, hands on her hips and foot tapping restlessly. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Dominik walking up to her instead of the drivers side of the car.

“What are you doing?” She fussed. “Come on and get in the car so you can open my door Dom, I’m ready to go.”

Dominik ignored her demands and just kept walking up to her. It made her frown as she turned to fully face him.

“You said you were my girlfriend.” He said softly as his eyes searched her face.

Rhea let out a sigh and crossed her arms against her chest. “Yes I did. Look, if you think I overstepped I don’t care. She doesn’t just get to waltz in and—“

He cut her off with a kiss, gripping her waist and pushing her up against the car. Her arms naturally draped over his shoulders and she kissed him back.

It wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was greedy, and hungry, and possessive. Rhea let out a surprised little noise that turned into a hum against his mouth as she deepened the kiss, tilting her head just slightly, sliding one hand into his hair. Dominik fingers dug into her sides as pressed himself against her and the car. Their tongues were fighting for dominance that he normally surrendered to her but not this time. Rhea moaned as she fought the urge to wrap her legs around him.

Dominik kissed her like she had just thrown herself in front of a bullet for him.

His hands slipped under the hem of her shirt, palms resting on her warm skin as he pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers.

“I want it to be real.” He stated confidently.

“….what?” Rhea asked in confusion.

“You, us. I want it to be real. I want you to be my girlfriend.”

Rhea was stunned into silence for the first time in her life. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies and she felt that giddy feeling that usually made her want to throw herself into traffic creeping up in her throat.

She pulled back and started glancing around the parking lot before locking eyes with him again. She searched his face for any hesitation or uncertainty but found none.

“Dom..” She said quietly, it was the softest she had ever said his name. “You want me to be your girlfriend?” She repeated to make sure she wasn’t going crazy.

Dominik nodded, pressing his forehead back against hers, breath warm and uneven between them.

“Yeah,” He murmured, voice rasping like it had to push past the lump in his throat. “I want you to be mine. For real.”

Rhea’s hands slid down his arms, slow and tentative, like she was grounding herself and needed to feel his skin to know that he was real, that this moment was real. She looked at him like he had just placed his entire heart in her hands and then asked her if she wanted to keep it.

“You’re serious?”

“Dead serious,” He replied, his thumb stroking along her waist just under her shirt like he was trying to memorize the moment. “I’m tired of pretending I don’t want to kiss you every five seconds. I’m tired of lying to myself about what this is. I’m tired of acting like you’re not the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Rhea stared up at him like he had just flipped the entire axis of her world sideways. She studied him for a moment longer, silent and still. Then she reached up and cupped his face, cold hands pressing against his cheeks.

“You really want to be mine?” She asked, searching his eyes. “Officially?”

Dominik nodded again, leaning into her touch like he had been waiting for it all his life. “Yeah Mami.”

Rhea’s lips twitched upward, heart thudding so loud she swore it echoed across the parking lot.

“…Okay. I’m in.” She declared.

Dominik’s entire face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She grinned.

He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled her right back in for another kiss. The urgency that he crashed his lips into hers with made her giggle against his lips.

Rhea imagined the first time someone asked her out would be magical, like a grand gesture with fireworks or something extravagant like a promposal or something.

But here she was, pressed up against Dominik’s shitty Camry, getting kissed stupid in the Walmart parking lot after verbally assaulting  his ex.

It was so fucking ridiculous, but it was so them that Rhea couldn’t picture this moment going any other way.

She was so giddy she could barely contain herself. It made her feel weird, but a good weird that only came from finally getting the one thing she had been wanting for so long now—to be his. 

Chapter Text

They didn’t make it to dinner that night but Rhea didn’t give a damn. She was much more content in her current position; getting railed into the mattress by her boyfriend.

Dominik currently had her on her back in his apartment, rolling his hips into her through strangled groans. He peered down at her—Rhea’s eyes already locked on his. It made him bite down on his bottom lip as his hand trailed from pinning her arms above her head to slip down to her throat.

Her eyes lit up instantly. Dominik liked when Rhea surrendered control like this because it gave him the ability to discover more of the things that would have her absolutely leaking in pleasure.

Choking was her favorite by far—she would get that wicked glint in her eyes and her lips would always curl into a lazy and satisfied grin when Dominik would tighten his grip around her throat just right and her walls would tighten right around him in response.

Rhea liked anything rough Dominik had learned, especially if it left marks. He discovered this when he caught Rhea in the mirror admiring the bruising on her hips from him digging his fingers into her skin with a smirk on her face when she didn’t think he was paying attention.

Dominik could read her better than she wanted him to; her body, her breathing, her lips, her eyes. Especially her eyes.

They fluttered half-lidded and greedy when he tightened his fingers around her throat, her legs already locked tight around his waist like she was trying to keep him there forever. His thrusts stayed deep and deliberate, dragging out groans from both of them, the kind of noises that came from people who were finally done fighting against the way the universe essentially forced them into each other’s orbit.

“Fuuuck,” He hissed, voice thick and low, sweat dripping from his temple as he leaned in, brushing his lips against the shell of her ear. “You look so good like this.”

He loved when she let go, didn’t try to be tough, didn’t try to hide how much she wanted him. And right now, beneath him, flushed and arching with her thighs trembling against his hips, she wasn’t hiding anything.

“So fucking pretty when you let me do what I want.” He murmured in her ear.

Rhea chuckled that filthy, sinful, deep little chuckle that always made him weak and hard at the same time. “So do it.” She rasped, voice absolutely wrecked.

“Do whatever the fuck you want.”

He groaned, tightening his grip just slightly as her mouth dropped open, a soundless moan escaping.

Dominik kissed her hard, all lip biting and tongue, and pushed her legs up higher so he could thrust deeper, hitting that spot that made her cry out and grab at his shoulders.

Her nails dug in and left angry red crescents down his back, making him hiss in pleasure. “That's all you got Mami?” He taunted as he pulled back.

Rhea let out another breathless laugh, eyes hooded. “You want it to hurt Dom Dom?”

“You know I do,” He groaned, hips meeting hers in a rhythm that had her really clawing at his back now and arching into him like she couldn’t get close enough.

“Harder,” She whispered like a dare, demand, and challenge all laced in sin. “Fuck me harder then.”

Dominik didn’t need to be told twice as he sat back on his knees, dragging her with him—hands locking under her thighs as he pushed them up, nearly folding her in half, giving himself the perfect view of Rhea absolutely wrecked.

Her lips were parted in a perfect little gasp, her chest rising and falling so fast it looked like she’d just run a marathon.

Dominik slammed into her with a rhythm that made the headboard crack against the wall repeatedly and made something fall off of his nightstand.

Rhea’s moan was practically a scream as her hands scrambled for anything to hold on to. They found his forearms and she fiercely dug her nails into his skin with zero regard, dragging them sharply down his arms which only motivated him to drill into her harder, lewd moans and shuddered curses slipping from both of their mouths.

“Don’t–fuck! Don’t stop Dom.” She demanded, causing him to double his efforts. His hand slipped down between them, right where she wanted him most. His fingers rubbing angry, frantic circles against her clit. Rhea gasped loudly and yanked at his other arm, pulling it close to her face so she could bite down on his forearm to keep from crying out.

The second her teeth sank into his arm, Dominik nearly lost it.

“Shit Rhea.” The sting from her bite, the shake of her thighs, the raw heat of her gripping him like she wanted to keep him buried inside her for eternity, was all consuming.

“You’re gonna fucking break me, Mami,” He muttered hoarsely, eyes locked on the way her mouth opened around his arm, breath hitching, brows furrowed with that same wrecked expression that made him feral. She didn’t let up either, Rhea just licked a stripe up the mark she made and kissed it like she was proud of herself.

Rhea was wild when she wanted to be; unapologetic and bold, claiming him like she waited her whole damn life just to do it right. Every inch of her screamed possession, from her grip on his body to the way her legs wouldn’t let him pull back as she locked her ankles behind his neck.

“You love this shit, huh?” He rasped out, pressing his forehead to hers as he slowed down just enough to roll his hips deep, slow enough to feel every flutter of her stomach and every clench of her walls.

She didn’t answer with words, just another loud moan but she did love it. Rhea loved it when Dominik got cocky and vocal. It made her fight against her usual need for control. She liked surrendering to him, sometimes. She was a girlfriend now after all, girlfriends let their boyfriends take the reigns every now and then.

“Look at me, Mami,” He breathed out, thumbing her jaw until her eyes met his.

Her pupils were blown wide–eyes completely open and vulnerable but still looking at him with that wicked glint like she was in control.

Which maybe she always was, even when she gave him the reins.

The look in her eyes had him teetering on the edge as his mouth fell open and his hips stuttered briefly. Rhea noticed right away and it made the corners of her lips curl into a grin. Dominik was currently fighting for his life and Rhea was just smiling at him like the menace she was.

She tightened herself around him repeatedly in challenge as she watched the muscles in his jaw flex. His hand flew right back up to her throat, much to her delight. Dominik’s thrusts got more intense, pressing himself fully into her, further pushing her legs back as he delivered messy, rapid strokes into her core that had her coming undone right underneath him.

Rhea could barely let out a sound with his thumb pressed into the column of her throat as her body shuddered, thighs shaking through her release. Dominik followed right behind her, groaning as he collapsed, burying his face in her neck as his dick twitched and throbbed inside of her.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Rhea fought off the urge to chuckle at how his body went limp on top of her. She adjusted herself slightly and let her legs wrap around his torso, nails scratching random and gentle patterns into his back.

They laid in silence for a moment, the only sound filling the air was the huffs of them both trying to catch their breaths. Eventually, Dominik lifted his head slightly and kissed her neck, then her collarbone, then her shoulder.

“You okay?” He murmured, the words quiet and sincere against her skin.

Rhea was better than okay, she was ecstatic really. But she just gave a small nod and offered a simple–

“Mhmm.” Fighting off the urge to grin or sound too eager.

After a much needed water break and cleaning themselves up, the pair was back in Dominik’s bed, laying on their sides facing one another.

“Sorry we didn’t go on our date.” Dominik offered, arm draped across Rhea’s waist.

“Please,” She said with a scoff. “I got to give an old man a hard time, you got me a knife and I got to threaten to stab your ex with it. This was like, the greatest day ever. Felt like a date to me.”

Dominik let out an amused huff. “Yeah?”

“Mhmm.” She nodded eagerly. “Do you know how long I have been waiting to threaten physical harm over you? I am thriving right now.”

He cracked a grin, his fingers idly tracing circles on the small of her back. "You’re actually insane."

"Yup," Rhea said proudly, not a hint of shame in sight. “You finally caught on. Took you long enough.”

He leaned in, brushing his nose against hers with a lazy smile. “You were real quick with that ‘I’m his girlfriend’ line though…”

She just shrugged. “You looked like you wanted the ground to swallow you whole. I had to be quick before you just stood there stammering like an idiot.” She said with an eyeroll.

“Well you were very convincing.” Dominik chuckled. “So convincing it made me wonder what the fuck I was waiting for in the first place.”

It was a rare occasion that Rhea didn’t have a retort or smart remark for that as she bit down on her lip and busied herself with fiddling with his chain so she didn’t have to look at him.

“I mean…I get it.” She offered. “I didn’t at first, thought you were just an apathetic asshole who didn’t want anything serious. But after seeing the ring and well…seeing her…I get it. You’ve been through a lot.”

Dominik studied her—how her hair was still slightly damp and clinging to her shoulders, how her lashes fluttered against the purple bruise under her eye, how she looked completely and utterly at ease in his bed.

“....did you mean what you said?” He asked in a soft voice, making her eyes finally lock with his.

“What? About you thriving sexually? Of course.” She scoffed. “Do you see the sex we just had?”

“Nah, the sweet and hardworking part. Did you mean it or were you just like…laying it on thick to make her jealous?”

Rhea observed him for a minute, eyes searching his face that rested in his usual self deprecating manner like there was no way she actually meant the words she said, it made her chest tighten.

“Dom.” She reached up and cupped his cheek with her palm.

“I meant it.” She said definitively, leaving no room for questions. “You’re funny and you’re sweet, and yes, you are one of the most hardworking people I know. You get up everyday and drag yourself to a place you hate and you rarely ever complain, that’s like, unheard of to me.”

Dominik’s grip on her waist tightened as he pulled her closer.

“Plus you deal with me everyday which is a job within itself even though I’m a fucking delight to be around.” She countered. “But yeah, I would say you’re pretty fucking hardworking.”

This got a good chuckle out of Dominik.

“You really wanted to fight her, huh?” He murmured after a beat.

“Oh, Dom. I wanted to end her,” Rhea replied, eyes fluttering closed like she was dreaming it all over again. “I had whole fantasy scenarios lined up; headbutting her, or maybe dumping a jar of salsa on her head and ripping a bag of tortilla chips over her for dramatics, quick little roundhouse kick to the temple. You know, nothing too crazy.”

Dominik snorted so loud he nearly startled himself. “You’ve got issues.”

“I’ve got passion,” She corrected, cracking an eye open to smirk at him. “......and rage, but mostly passion.”

Dominik grinned, eyes half-lidded and content, fingertips lazily brushing the small of her back. “I like it. I like that you’re ready to start swinging for me, like I’m your little damsel.”

“You are my little damsel.” She said it smugly, like a fact carved into stone. “You’ve got those big, sad eyes and that stupid pouty mouth, my awkward little sad boy. You’re basically a Disney princess with tattoos.” Rhea declared, squishing his cheeks with her nails. “And now, you’re mine.”

Dominik just stared at her, hopelessly infatuated, completely whipped, not even the least bit bothered by her princess remark. His smile softened as he tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers lingering against her cheek. “Yours huh? You plan on keeping me, then?”

“Hmm,” Rhea pretended to consider, lips twitching. “I mean, you are kind of doofy. And you talk a lot.”

“You like when I talk,” He countered, dragging a slow finger down the center of her chest. “Especially when I’m—”

“Dom.” Her warning was sharp, but her eyes sparkled. “Don’t make me punch you with my good hand.”

He grinned like the smug menace he was. “So violent. So mean. So hot.”

“Don’t you forget it.” She kissed the corner of his mouth. “And yeah,” She added after a beat, softer now, a little more real. “I’m keeping you.” Rhea grinned.

“....at least for now. But you haven’t fed me all day so if you don’t order a pizza within the next ten minutes, I’m breaking up with you.”

Dominik rolled his eyes but reached over to grab his phone to do what she said anyway.

____________________________

Rhea never half-assed anything. If she did something–she went all out.

Which is why she was currently sitting criss-crossed on her couch the next day in Dominik’s hoodie she managed to “just so happen” to be wearing when she had left that morning, with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she scrolled carefully through her camera roll.

Today was her first full day as a girlfriend and she was more than ready to announce it to the entire world that she had the perfect cocky, grumpy, sweet (only to her) boyfriend on the planet.

Rhea was always sneaking pictures or shoving her phone camera in Dominik’s face when they were together so she had several options. She continued to look through her photos, favoriting a picture ever so often as she tried to cultivate the absolute perfect hard launch that would send the internet into a frenzy.

Her finger hovered frozen over one particular photo; Dominik’s head rested on her shoulder, eyes low and barely visible from the closed mouth grin on his face. Rhea was doing her best to look annoyed in the picture but her eyes told it all–how happy and content she was with his presence. She favorited it, she would be posting that one for sure.

She hadn’t told anyone yet that her and Dominik were official and the sudden realization made her stop right in her tracks. Rhea closed her photos app briefly and went to call Tiffany before she committed one of the most criminal bestie offenses known to man.

“Helloooooo,” Tiff’s chipper voice rang out. “To what do I owe the pleasure my favorite greml–”

“Dom asked me to be his girlfriend.” Rhea interrupted. “I won Tiff, he’s mine.”

Tiffany was stunned into silence for a moment.

“Wait…..WHAT!?”

“He bought me a knife too.” She continued, unbothered by Tiffany’s shock. “And get this, I met the ex, same fucking day! I’m totally hotter than her by the way, just like I already knew. She’s like some lawyer, pageant queen buzzkill. I mean instantly ruined Dom’s whole vibe just breathing his air, I wanted to choke her out. But anyways, I got my man and I’m winning at life. I’m about to post him and crush thousands of people’s fantasies that they would ever have a chance with me. I’ll give you more details later, okay bye!”

“Wait–” Tiffany tried to call out but it was too late as Rhea had already ended the call.

Back to business.

Rhea cracked her knuckles like a professional. Her screen brightness was turned all the way up and she was focused. She had been training for this moment her entire life and now she had the material, the man, and the motivation.

She opened her instagram app and immediately went to the new post section. Rhea decided a photo dump would be the perfect hard launch to show just how very off the market she, and Dominik especially, was.

The first picture was the one with Dominik’s head on her shoulder, cutting straight to the point.

The next was Rhea sitting on the counter in her bathroom taking a mirror pic with one eye squinted shut and her tongue sticking out with Dominik standing behind her with both of his middle fingers up, very classy, very them.

The third was more for the aesthetic–just Rhea’s bare, tattooed legs resting in Dominik’s lap, his arm conveniently draped covering her feet because feet pics were premium fucking content. The picture was black and white, Dominik’s side profile looking off at the TV, joint tucked behind his ear.

There was another picture they had taken in the reflection of one of the fish tanks from the pet store where they were both leaning in, Dominik with his cheeks blown out like a puffer fish and Rhea sucking in her cheeks to make fish lips.

The final was a short video–one Rhea had taken at the arcade of Dominik playing skeeball and doing terribly as Rhea cackled in the background. He turned to look over her shoulder at her with a grin that quickly faded when he noticed she was recording and ended with him trying to knock her phone out of her hand through her fit of laughter.

It made her smile just recounting that night. God, she was down bad over him then and even worse now.

Pleased with her selection, she added a simple caption before hitting the share button.

Rhea_ripley: Mine. Still mean af to everyone and will murder you but I’m nice to him…sometimes 🖤

“Oh, they’re gonna freak,” She muttered to herself with the smugness of a woman who knew exactly what kind of bomb she just dropped.

And freak out they did.

Chapter Text

Austin was still hiding out in the employee bathroom where he had been for over thirty minutes now just doom scrolling on his phone.

He was bored out of his mind and it didn’t help that Dominik, who was in a strangely good mood for once, actually felt like doing his job today and was cleaning out the drawers up front and reorganizing everything and dusting shelves while he hummed to himself like a weirdo.

Austin had his chin propped up on his elbow as he sighed and refreshed his feed for the hundredth time today and what he saw made his jaw nearly hit the fucking floor.

“No way!” He exclaimed.

Standing to his feet abruptly, his legs almost gave out from going numb from sitting for so long as he scrambled to pull his pants back up and wash his hands before hightailing it out to the sales floor.

Dominik was behind the counter rearranging the money in the register so all of the bills were facing the same way, still humming to himself.

“You spineless coward!” He suddenly heard, making him snap his head in Austin’s direction who was barreling towards him like a man on a mission.

“What?” He frowned as Austin approached the counter and gripped Dominik by his collar.

“Does our friendship mean nothing to you!?”

Dominik raised a brow at him. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

Ignoring him, Austin tightened the grip he had on him and yanked him closer. “You and Rhea are official, and you didn’t even tell me!?”

Hearing her name instantly put a grin on his face, unmoved by Austin’s dramatics. “Oh yeah, I asked her out yesterday.” He replied oh so casually.

Austin wanted to smack the shit out of him. He was seething.

“You asked her out yesterday!?” He repeated, voice climbing an octave. “I’ve had to listen to you muttering to yourself like a sad poet for weeks over her and you finally get her and I find out on social media like everyone else? Like—like a common whore!?” Austin fussed like a scorn lover, releasing Dominik with a shove.

Dominik, who was only half listening, tilted his head. “Wait, it’s on social media?”

“Big time.” Austin revealed. “Check your instagram, you just got launched into the stratosphere, like nuclear level possession.”

Fishing his phone out of his pocket, the screen was already filled with notifications of random people following him, making him frown in confusion.

He opened the app and sure enough, the first post he saw was Rhea’s.

Dominik’s eyes flicked to each photo like he was flipping through memories in real time; him with his head on her shoulder, that stupid mirror pic, her legs in his lap, the pet store, the arcade. His smirk turned into a slow-building smile that climbed up his cheekbones.

Austin let out a groan. “Ugh look at you, you’re actually smiling. Stop it, you’re making me uncomfortable.”

Dominik just chuckled as he read her caption and liked the post. There were already over 50,000 likes and a sea of comments.

Not being able to resist, he tapped on the comments thread.

Dominik scrolled past a flood of heart emojis, fire emojis, “it should've been me” gifs, and a few very aggressive thirst comments that made his brows lift.

@itstiffytime: MY PARENTS 💞

@C_Kelly: I’m SICK! Congratulations 🥲💔

@musclemommy52: i just KNOW he’s the type to fall asleep with his hand on her tit 😭 #luckyaf

@grayson420: THATS MY BOY 🍾 #poweroftherobe

@blakemonroe: the lesbian community is in mourning 😞 pls respect our privacy at this time

@PunkedPrincess_: HE BETTER TREAT HER RIGHT OR WE RIDE AT DAWN

@zelina_vega: you really got your lil burnout bf and now you’re all soft nshit 😭💀 good for you i guess

@mosher69: omg the couples content were about to be fed 😭 pls benchpress him

@getroxed: wait he’s kinda fine tho wtf

“This is crazy,” Dominik chucked, his grin never leaving his face.

Austin groaned again, louder this time like it physically pained him. “I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me! What are we if not two grown men gossiping during slow shifts to avoid actual labor?”

Dominik just shrugged. “My bad bro, didn’t think you would care.”

Austin scoffed, face full of exasperated offense like Dominik just insulted his biceps. “Didn’t think I would care!? How could I not care about the relationship I built myself?”

Frowning, Dominik glanced up at Austin. “You didn’t build us.”

“Um yes the fuck I did.” He defended. “If it weren’t for me you would still be muttering and stammering like a nervous fainting goat every time she looked at you.”

“Fuck off.” Dominik grumbled because there was no way he was going to acknowledge that technically, maybe, perhaps, Austin was actually right.

“So how did you ask her? Come on bro, details. Did you spell out ‘Be my gf’ in joints or what?” He pressed.

“Nah,” Dominik chuckled. “I just…asked her.”

Austin’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “That’s it!? But like how did you ask her? Did she threaten you?”

“We were in Walmart.” Dominik began, making Austin roll his eyes.

“Of fucking course.” Austin muttered.

“One minute we’re fighting over pickle chips and then the next Arianna is there, and Rhea is just laying in on her.”

Austin’s eyes widened. “Nuh uh!”

“Bro I have never seen Arianna stunned into silence like that ever. She looked like she was about to piss herself and Rhea’s just standing there threatening her and defending my honor and bragging about my dick, it was insane.”

Placing one hand on his chest and wiping away nonexistent tears with the other, Austin fake sniffled.

“That is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.”

Dominik snorted as he closed out the comments and locked his phone, slipping it back into his pocket.

“After that, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It just…clicked I guess. Like I realized I needed her to be mine.”

Austin rounded the counter in an instant and engulfed Dominik in a hug, squeezing him tightly.

“You actually acknowledged you have feelings, it’s a miracle!” He exclaimed as his grip tightened around a very stiff Dominik and lifted him off the ground slightly.

“Austin, get the fuck off of me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Austin began as he lowered him to the ground and released him but clapped his hands down on Dominik’s shoulders. “It’s just…I’m so proud!” Austin grinned. “We’re winning so bad at life right now.”

“We?” Dominik snorted.

“Yes we! This is gonna be great for me, girls are gonna see Rhea gushing over you which of course will naturally make them want you and once they realize that Rhea will literally bludgeon them to death for just looking at you, they’ll settle for me.” Austin declared with a grin. “My stock is about to go through the roof.”

Dominik just rolled his eyes with a smirk as he watched Austin get back on his phone, fingers moving swiftly as he typed away on his keyboard.

“There!” He said with a proud smile. “Let’s get the ball rolling, repost that.”

Raising an eyebrow at him, Dominik reluctantly opened his instagram again and saw a story tag notification from Austin.

He tapped it and immediately snorted. It was picture of Austin at work grinning wide at the camera with his arm high in air to capture Dominik in the background leaning over the counter with Rhea on the other side, elbows perched with her chin rested on her fists and they were grinning at each other like they were the only people in the store.

@theory_365: I did this btw #yourewelcomeamerica

#andaustralia #drlove #meandwho

Dominik let out a laugh loud enough that a woman across the store turned her head in their direction.

“‘Dr. Love’ is insane,” He said, shaking his head, but the grin on his face made it clear he wasn’t mad.

Austin, who was now sitting on the counter, kicked his feet and looked far too pleased with himself. “Hey, don’t knock the branding—it’s clean, it’s international, you’re the product, I’m the campaign.”

“Rhea’s gonna kill you for tagging her, you know that right?”

“My bestie would never lay a hand on me.” Austin scoffed. “You guys are a couple now, she’s basically my sister-in-law.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Dominik muttered, unimpressed.

Austin waved him off with a dramatic flick of the wrist, like he was fanning away Dominik’s skepticism. “You underestimate how charming I am. I’m family now. Rhea loves me.”

_________________________

“Ugh I hate him.” Rhea scoffed from the passenger seat as she sipped her smoothie.

“Who?” Tiffany asked. She had started making her way towards Rhea’s apartment the second she hung the phone up on her because, well of course and took Rhea out for celebratory smoothies and a much needed gossip session.

“Austin.” She frowned. “He tagged me in a post and now people will know that I know him.” Rhea complained in exasperation as she threw her head back into the headrest.

“Ew, gross.” Tiffany grimaced.

“Right?” Rhea groaned. “Now it looks like I associate with him on purpose, not because of my stupidly hot boyfriend that likes to surround himself with idiots.”

Tiffany shook her head, sipping her smoothie. “Austin is like a fungus; thrives in dark places, can’t be reasoned with, probably immune to bleach.”

“Exactly. And now he’s out here calling himself ‘Dr. Love’ at my expense.” Rhea held up her phone, displaying the offending story for Tiffany to see. “‘This is my villain origin story. I’m not even kidding.”

“You were already a villain.” Tiffany waved off. “Now you’re just a lovesick villain parading around your mullet man and breaking the internet.”

Rhea snorted at that. “People are genuinely freaking the fuck out. Liv was the first to like it, I want to choke her out.” She said with an eyeroll. “I know that bitch has my post notifications on.”

Tiffany grinned with a giggle. “Of course she does. I was looking through the comments and the lesbians have lost their minds.” She chuckled. “And every meathead in a 50 mile radius is chugging protein shakes and eating their feelings over this tragic loss.”

“Good.” Rhea smirked. “Let them. Maybe my DMs will finally stop looking like a cesspool of overly confident nobodies talking to themselves….or it’ll get worse.”

“Oh it’s definitely going to get worse, but you live for this kind of shit.”

“True.” Rhea agreed before taking a long sip of her smoothie and then sighing dramatically and flopping sideways in her seat. “He asked me to be his girlfriend, Tiff. In a parking lot after I threatened his ex with bodily harm and pictures of my cunt. I feel like I’m in a fairytale.”

“Soooo you’re the princess now, not the villain?”

Rhea grimaced at the accusation. “I’m still the villain, Dom’s the princess, he already knows this.”

“Romance isn’t dead,” Tiffany whispered with mock reverence.

Rhea rolled her eyes but she was smiling as she chewed on her straw. “I just…I didn’t think he would ever actually ask me, you know? Like the other night when you guys dropped me off I went on this whole fucking drunk sad girl tirade just going off on him for being so…him, you know like all sweet and gentle and shit. God it was so embarrassing.” She grimaced.

“Having feelings isn’t embarrassing Rhea.”

“Ugh shut up, yes it is!” Rhea defended. “But anyways I’m going the fuck off and he just listened. Like I wanted him to yell or argue with me or get defensive or something, anything! But he didn’t, he just…let me get it all out.”

Tiffany glanced over at her best friend as she gazed out the window at nothing in particular like she was in deep thought.

“He always lets me do that,” Rhea muttered, almost to herself. “Like, I’ll be mean as hell, just going for blood, and he just—lets me. Not like in a doormat way, not like he’s scared. He’s just…patient.” Her voice trailed off, caught between admiration and disbelief, like the very concept of someone not immediately firing back at her felt unnatural. Borderline fucking illegal.

“That’s good,” Tiffany encouraged. “Here you were all concerned that you would be too much for him and in reality he’s probably the only man on this planet that can handle you.”

Rhea grinned, heat crawling up her neck as she leaned her head against the window. “Oh he can handle me alright.” She smirked as flashes from the night before fluttered her mind.

“Oh?” Tiffany pressed, always one for the sex details.

“Yes! Literally first time of us having sex as a couple and the man was trying fuck me into the mattress. He had me folded Tiffany. Me. Folded.” She reiterated for emphasis. “I don’t know how his shitty ass headboard even survived the attack it had banging into the wall so fucking much.”

Tiffany’s mouth fell open.

“And I let him and I liked it.” She found herself admitting. “He gets like these random bursts of strength and starts tossing me around like I’m the rag doll and I don’t even fight back—well actually that’s not true I have to fight back, that’s just me, I can’t help it. But he likes it, like I’ll bite him and I can see his face light up like I just baptized him in saliva and pussy juice.”

“Good lord.” Tiffany snorted.

“He gets me, like even the weird parts. I like him, Tiff. Like, actually like him. Not just the fun kind of like–the scary kind.”

“Oh no,” Tiffany gasped with a grin. “You’re catching feelings.”

“I’m caught bitch,” Rhea groaned. “It’s over. I’m doomed. He asked me to be his girlfriend in a fucking parking lot and I melted like butter in a microwave. I had to look away so I didn’t spontaneously combust.”

Tiffany squealed. “This is, like, my favorite timeline. Omg do you know what this means!? We can go on double dates now!”

Rhea’s ears perked up at that. “Oh my gosh you’re right! I’ll finally have someone to order my drinks for me and hold my purse when I have to go batshit on a bitch.” She declared, sighing dreamily to herself.

“And we can go on couples trips together!” Tiffany added. “Omg do you wanna go to Italy next week?”

Rhea let out a snort. “Dom’s not like that. My boyfriend can’t just pack up and go out of the country on a whim like you and Ludwig. He has, like, responsibilities and shit. He probably doesn’t even have a fucking passport.”

Tiffany frowned. “Blegh! That sounds fucking awful.”

“I know right.” Rhea agreed. “I hate it but he looks so cute in his little work polo.” She pouted. “His neck tattoo sticks out just right when he pushes his hair out the way. God it’s so hot, I want to eat him alive.” She groaned as she threw her head back, crossing her ankles in her seat and squeezing her thighs together.

“You’re obsessed.” Tiffany chuckled in horror at Rhea’s antics.

“Am not.” Rhea grumbled as she started chewing on her straw again.

“Rhea I’m literally driving you up to his job right now because you’re too impatient to wait for him to get off.”

“I’m doing this for him not me,” She tried to defend. “My girlfriend senses are tingling and they are telling me that my boyfriend misses me terribly.”

“You’ve said boyfriend at least twenty times over the last thirty minutes.”

“…is that not what he is?” Rhea frowned, making Tiffany roll her eyes.

She pulled into the parking lot of the shopping center and parked before pushing her shades up into her hair. “Well, come on girlfriend, let’s ruin that man’s shift.”

Rhea just grinned as she hopped out the car, smoothie in hand and hips swaying much more aggressively than needed with Tiffany right behind her.

The sliding doors of the electronics store opened and her smile widened seeing Dominik standing behind the counter.

Her smile instantly faded watching Austin perk up from his spot on the counter with a grin, dramatically waving his hand at them.

“Oh god.” Tiffany muttered.

Austin hopped down from the counter as soon as they were close enough and threw his arms around Rhea, much much to her annoyance and Tiffany’s absolute horror.

“Sis!” He beamed, giving Rhea a squeeze.

Rhea cut her eyes to Dominik.

“Dom.” She warned. “Get. Him.” She hissed through gritted teeth.

Dominik leaned forward and smacked his hand across the back of Austin’s neck before gripping him by the back of his collar and yanked him away from Rhea.

“Get off her dude.”

Austin stumbled backward, rubbing the back of his neck with an exaggerated whine. “Ow! Bro, domestic violence much?”

“Shut up,” Dominik muttered, already rolling his eyes.

“When the hell did you get so strong?” Austin continued to complain.

Rhea smirked before taking a sip of her smoothie. “Dom’s been really working on his core recently. Aint that right Dom Dom?”

Dominik couldn’t help the sly grin that spread across his face as Tiffany grimaced.

“You two are disgusting.” She declared.

“Hi Tiffany,” Austin greeted after clearing his throat. “Good to see you again.”

Tiffany turned her attention to him with a bored expression. “Hello fungus.”

Austin’s eyebrows raised at that. Was that a nickname? Sweet, his stock was going up already.

“What are you here anyway Mami?” Dominik asked, ignoring Austin’s usual lack of social awareness. “I get off in an hour.”

“I know. I got Tiff to bring me so I can go home with you. My nipples are hard so I know that meant you’ve been dying to see me. See?” She offered, grabbing his hand and putting it on her boob like they weren’t standing directly under the camera above the register.

Dominik allowed himself a quick squeeze before pulling his hand away.

“Mami,” He whispered under his breath, throwing a nervous glance at the camera. “Cameras.”

“Then they can watch,” Rhea replied without missing a beat, taking another long sip from her smoothie like it was a fine wine and shrugged.

“Do you ever chill?” He chuckled, reaching out to grab the smoothie from her hand.

“When it comes to you?” She began as she placed her palms on the counter and leaned forward. “Absolutely not.”

Dominik couldn’t fight off his smirk as he brought the straw up to his lips.

“What is this?”

“A protein berry smoothie. Drink it, it’s good.” She encouraged a little too eagerly for his liking. It made him narrow his eyes at her.

“….is there spinach in this?”

“Obviously.” Rhea scoffed. “Almond milk too, but you can barely taste anything other than the berries, now drink it.”

Dominik took a tentative sip from the straw, brows lifting in surprise. “...that’s not bad.”

“Right?” Rhea grinned, bouncing on her heels a little, pleased with herself. “It’s good for your skin, too. You’re welcome, boyfriend.”

“You’re really leaning into that word, huh?” He smirked.

“She won’t stop saying it.” Tiffany said with an eyeroll. “You’ve created a monster.”

Rhea, suddenly remembering that her and Dominik weren’t the only people in the world to exist, turned to her best friend and gave her a light shove.

“Buy something.” She urged a very confused Tiffany.

“What?”

“Buy something!” Rhea reiterated as she gestured towards Dominik. “Support the family business.”

Austin placed his hand up to his heart. “I knew it. We’re one big happy family.”

Rhea cut her eyes at him quickly with a scowl.

“What am I supposed to buy?” Tiffany frowned, unimpressed with just the sheer lack of ambiance in the store.

“I dunno.” Rhea shrugged. “Get an iPad or something.”

Tiffany’s lips scrunched together in contemplation for a moment before she just shrugged and ventured off to the Apple section.

“Oh, let me help you with that!” Austin offered, following after her.

“Hey!” Rhea barked, making Austin stop dead in his tracks. “Hands in your pockets at all times and don’t breathe on her.” She threatened.

“You got it bestie!” Austin agreed, giving her a lazy salute before shoving his hands in his pockets and jogging after Tiffany.

Rhea was still watching him with a scowl and a low growl spilling from her throat.

“Relax Mami,” Dominik chuckled.

Her eyes snapped back over to him and immediately softened as he took another sip of her smoothie.

“I’m fine.” She muttered, standing up straight and crossing her arms against her chest. “Now get from around that corner and kiss me properly before I break up with you.”

Dominik just shook his head but complied because apparently Rhea’s thing now was constantly threatening to break up with him just because she could, but of course she never really meant it.

He circled the register and approached her, his hands immediately finding her waist and placed a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.

For once, it was Rhea who pulled away before they could get carried away because she was getting the sudden urge to toss him on the counter and straddle him, stupid cameras.

Dominik kept his hands on her, thumbs rubbing circles into her hips. “You really couldn’t wait one more hour to see me, huh?”

“I missed you.” Rhea shrugged like it was nothing, but her voice was soft.

Dominik blinked. That was the first time she had actually said that when she wasn’t drunk or horny. She had threatened to burn things down in his honor, sure. She had showed up uninvited, stolen half his closet, and left him little love-bite souvenirs on his collarbone. But this was new.

And it melted him in a way he wasn’t ready for.

“I missed you too,” He said, tugging her gently closer by the waistband of her sweatpants.

“You better.” She muttered, trying to ignore how the way he said it so definitively like it was a fact rather than a feeling made her stomach flip.

Dominik chuckled as he tucked a loose strand from her bangs behind her ear. “You look pretty today Mami.” He complimented, which just made Rhea want to melt, vomit, and punch him at the same time.

“I’m literally wearing a tank top and sweats right now.” She scoffed.

“Yeah but your hair is different.” He pointed out. She had been growing her hair out for a while and was experimenting with styles. Today she had it half up in a tight bun with spikes of her hair sticking out and the other half down with her bangs out.

“I like it.” Dominik continued.

Rhea could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she bit down on her lip. Compliments weren’t foreign to her; people complimented her all the time, her comments were a sea of praise and compliments from people she knew and didn’t know and it never really meant much to her if she was being honest.

But it was something about when Dominik complimented her that made her want to melt into a puddle of mush right in his arms when his voice got all soft and reverent.

“Thanks,” She muttered, eyes trying to look anywhere but at him.

Dominik smiled knowingly, watching her try to play it cool when her whole face was practically lighting up.

He leaned in a little closer, voice dipped just above a whisper. “You’re cute when you get shy, Mami.”

Rhea blinked. Her? Shy? She nearly recoiled like a cat caught being affectionate.

“Shy?” She scoffed, lifting her chin defiantly. “I’m not shy, I just didn’t know we were getting all mushy in the middle of the day in a knock off Best Buy.” Rhea grumbled.

“Complimenting my girlfriend is mushy now and deserving of insults?” He smirked watching the way the word slipped off his tongue affected her instantly.

“Stop being smug.” Rhea warned with a shove that didn’t deter him in the slightest. If anything it just made his grip on her tighten.

“My place again tonight?” He asked.

Rhea shrugged and let her arms drape over his shoulders. “Sure. Or mine, doesn’t matter.”

Dominik’s brows raised. “Oh I actually get to pick? That’s a first.” He teased.

“Don’t get used to it.” Rhea chuckled. “I’m still picking what we’re eating boyfriend.”

“Deal.” He agreed with a nod. “You’re back to being the breadwinner around here though. I used the rest of the ring money to get ahead on my rent for next month so I’m broke until payday.”

Rhea frowned at that. Not because she had to go back to paying for everything, she never gave a damn about that. She just hated the reality that Dominik had finally caught a break and just like, he was right back where he started.

She didn’t like that for him.

“Tiff!” Rhea called out suddenly, yelling across the store.

“Yeah?” Tiffany yelled back without a care.

“Get two iPads!”

“Okay!”

Dominik groaned and buried his face in the crook of her neck with a muffled laugh. “You are so fucking dramatic.”

“I’m simply just helping to stimulate the economy.” She said innocently…well as innocently as Rhea could say anything because everything naturally sounded like a threat when it came out of her mouth.

He pulled back just enough to give her a look, but the smile tugging at his lips betrayed him. “Thank you,” He said, voice dipped in reluctant amusement. “But also, you're completely out of your mind.”

“You think I got this far in life by being sane?” Rhea grinned.

Before he could respond, Tiffany reappeared at the counter with Austin on her heels, hands still very much in his pockets.

“I got two iPads like the maniac told me to.” She announced as she dropped them onto the counter.

Dominik went back behind the register to ring her out.

“Is this gonna be enough for you to quit this place?” Tiffany pondered and she watched him scan the first iPad. “You’re ruining our Italy trip for next week.” She pouted.

“What?” Dominik asked in confusion. “You’re going to Italy?” He asked, slight panic in his voice as his eyes darted over to Rhea.

“No I'm not.” She hissed, glaring at Tiffany who just shrugged. “Ignore her and make sure you put the warranty on both iPads.”

“What are you even gonna do with two iPads?” Austin pondered in disbelief that Rhea and Tiffany were really the kind of people that could just do shit like this simply because they wanted to.

“Hmm I dunno,” Tiffany began. “I’ll give one to my maid, her birthday is coming up and I guess I’ll give the other one to the less fortunate and unbelievably annoying.”

Her eyes flicked briefly to Austin. “…do you want it?” She offered.

“Uh duh!” Austin exclaimed not even registering that she offered it to him as an insult or he probably just didn’t give a damn because hello, free iPad.

Rhea rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“Your total is—“

Tiffany waved Dominik off and tapped her black card on the terminal without even glancing at the screen.

Dominik bagged one of the tablets and passed the other one to Austin before handing Tiffany her bag.

“Well this has been…fun.” She said with a tight lipped smile. “I’m getting out of here before Rhea pounces on you in the middle of this store like the feral freak she is. Bye Rhea, bye Dom, goodbye fungus.” Tiffany declared as she put her shades back on, grabbed her smoothie and strutted out of the store.

“Bye Tiffany!” Austin damn near yelled, waving his arm goodbye frantically as he clutched his new iPad to his chest with his other hand.

“Okay boyfriend,” Rhea began. “You still have over a half hour left of your shift, where can we makeout uninterrupted with no cameras around this place in peace?”

Dominik didn’t even respond, just rounded the counter and interlocked their fingers together before dragging her away, leaving a very confused and kinda aroused Austin to man the register by himself. 

Chapter Text

Rhea was pacing across the carpet in front of her closet, grumbling and muttering to herself.

Everything was either "too tight" or "too loose" or "not slutty enough."

Tiffany watched her best friend from her spot in Rhea's vanity chair as she rummaged through her drawers of makeup and smelled and tested her various perfumes.

"Rhea just pick something, you're just gonna wear all black anyway." She scoffed with an eyeroll.

"That's not the point!" Rhea fussed, pulling out yet another black corset top and putting it against herself as she looked in the mirror. "This is our first real date, I wanna wear something that will have him wanting to knock everything off the table and ravish me before we can even get offered dessert."

After calling Dominik earlier while he was at work to let him know that she and Tiffany had decided that they were going on a double date that upcoming weekend, Dominik declared he was going to take Rhea out tonight after he got off because he refused to let their first real date be something he didn't plan with another couple.

Rhea was practically salivating listening to him demand that she be ready at 7:00 and to stop asking so many questions about where they were going or what she should wear. Which is why it was now 6:13 and she was in the middle of an existential crisis standing half naked in front her closet with a full face of makeup on and an extremely unhelpful best friend lounging in front of her vanity like this wasn't the most important decision of Rhea's life.

"You could wear a clown costume and he would still try to sneak you off to the bathroom for a quickie."

True.

"Well duh," Rhea grumbled. "I would be an unbelievably sexy and terrifying clown. That's not the point either."

Ugh this top wasn't good enough either she decided as she chucked it to the floor.

"I'm starting to think you don't even know what the point is yourself." Tiffany quipped, helping herself to Rhea's liquid highlighter and refreshing her cheeks. "Wear that little cropped mesh piece with the corset top with the spikes. Ooooo or that see through lace two piece set, you always look good in that."

Rhea scrunched her lips to the side of her mouth, she did always feel confident when there were spikes involved.

"Why are you overthinking this so much? It's just Dom, your boyfriend rememberrrr?" Tiffany continued.

"Ugh I know!" Rhea groaned. "I don't know why I'm so nervous, I've literally sat on his face before. This is just a bloody dinner date."

Tiffany snorted so hard she nearly dropped Rhea's $80 highlight stick.

"Exactly! You've defiled each other in like...half the rooms of your apartment. This is not new territory." She looked over her shoulder briefly with a frown. "Wait...have you guys fucked in this chair?"

Rhea's head popped from outside the closet and narrowed her eyes in contemplation.

"No...wait yes......wait no I think we tried but just ended up on the floor instead. Yeah, that sounds right because Dom almost got rug burn on his ass."

"Jesus Christ," Tiffany grumbled. "And you're telling me you're stressed about a dinner?" She drawled as she dabbed a little more shimmer on the bridge of her nose, utterly unfazed.

"He's probably not even gonna iron his fucking shirt and you're in here spiraling."

"That's not helping," Rhea hissed, both hands fisting through her closet. "It's not about the sex. It's the moment, okay? He's doing the whole boyfriendy thing and I wanna match the energy, like in the movies. Like I wanna be soft and let him open doors for me and shit but I don't wanna look soft so he still remembers that my thighs are his personal plate to eat off but I can still snap his fucking neck with them."

Tiffany nodded in agreement. "Okay, then that definitely calls for the mesh crop top with the spiked corset top, leather mini skirt, fishnets, and your Jeffrey Campbell ankle boots with the spikes."

Rhea visualized the outfit in her head and was pleasantly surprised with how that perfectly encapsulated exactly what she was going for.

"Damn, you're good. Ugh what would I do without you?"

"Get buried in cargo pants and a sports bra probably." She snorted with a smirk. "Now hurry up and get dressed so I can give the final outfit approval and get out of here before Dom sees you and you two don't even make it to the restaurant."

_________________________

Dominik had just entered Rhea's building at 7:02 and was headed to the elevator, flowers in hand. He kept his outfit simple; black tee, his black jeans that had the least amount of rips in them, and all black vans with his gold cross chain adorning his neck and half a bottle of cologne seeping from his pores.

He was relaxed and calm as he entered the elevator, actually looking forward to taking Rhea out for the first time. He stood with his back against the wall, letting his head rest on the wall as the doors of the elevator began to shut.

"Aye hold the elevator!" A familiar voice called out, making Dominik scoff as he leaned forward to press the 'doors close' button repeatedly but it was already too late as a white Air Force one stuck inside the elevator, prompting the door to reopen.

"Thanks uce," The guy said out of breath with a grin and tapped the button for the third floor. It was Rhea's friendly ass neighbor again.

Jey glanced over at Dominik as the elevator began its ascent and lifted his sunglasses briefly to get a better look at him.

"Aye, you look familiar. Don't I know you?"

Dominik had to resist his urge to roll his eyes because he knew damn well that Jey knew exactly who he was. But instead of letting himself get visibly upset, he just smirked and said—

"Nah. You've probably heard my name before though." He began calmly. "It's Dom. Rhea has a tendency to scream it a lot when I'm over and I know she can be pretty loud when she gets carried away, sorry if we've been keeping you up some nights."

Jey blinked, his lips parting in stunned silence for all of two seconds, then he let out a bark of laughter so loud it echoed off the elevator walls.

"Damnnnn!" He wheezed. "It's like that? Okay, okay! I see you, lil homie."

Dominik frowned, unimpressed and took a side step when Jey tried to nudge his shoulder.

"I see you got your lil flowers and all that, you two must be real serious?" He tried to press an unfazed Dominik.

"Dead serious." He retorted. "And the only thing 'lil' in here is that crop top you got on my guy." Dominik snorted just as the elevator doors opened to the third floor.

Jey let out a humorless laugh and stepped out the small space "accidentally" bumping Dominik's shoulder on the way out.

"Be easy uce, I'll see you around." He tried to say in a friendly manner, but Dominik wasn't dumb; he could hear the hint of threat in Jey's tone. Not like he gave a damn though as he just smirked at him as the elevator doors closed.

When he finally made it to Rhea's floor, he approached her door and lifted his hand to knock but the door swung open before his fist could hit the wood.

Dominik's jaw instantly dropped as he took Rhea in—eyes trailing slowly down her body and soaking in every detail of the mesh that adorned her arms and the fishnets on her legs under her skirt that was criminally short. Her breasts sat perky in her spiked black corset top and her makeup was heavy and done to perfection with her signature black lipstick that crisp corners gave her that permanent smirk that made his stomach flip every time.

"Hi." She greeted in a sweet voice that didn't match the outfit of sin she had wrapped herself in.

"Fuck." Was all Dominik was able to mutter out, observing the way her tattoos were peering through the netted material on her arms and legs.

"You're late." Rhea declared, finally making him snap out of his trance.

"Sorry Mami," He found himself apologizing despite the fact it was literally only 7:04, still just absolutely gawking at her, not a single thought in his brain.

"Are those for me orrrr....?" Rhea trailed off, gesturing at the purple carnations in his hand.

"Oh!" Dominik exclaimed, fumbling with the bouquet before presenting them to her. "Yeah, sorry here you go. I don't know if you like these but this was literally the only bouquet that didn't have pink in it. Why are there so many fucking pink flowers?"

Rhea just snorted as she took the bouquet from his hand and brought them up to her nose. She didn't really care for flowers and they never smelled like anything other than grass to her but that's what they always did in the movies so Rhea took a big whiff and smiled like it was the best thing she ever smelled.

"Thanks Dom Dom, I'll put these in water and then I'll be ready to go."

She didn't actually own any vases now that she thought about it so she quickly scrambled to the kitchen and grabbed a pitcher and filled it with water and placed the flowers inside. That would suffice for now.

____________________________

Dominik was being the absolute perfect gentleman and it had Rhea fighting off her smile as he held her hand on the elevator and through the lobby, opened the doors for her, and drove with his palm rested on her thigh, squeezing it every so often like he wanted to make sure she didn't forget he was there.

Her stomach was overrun with butterflies and nerves. It felt like they had switched–for once, it was Dominik that was all easy going and calm while Rhea was still fighting off her anxiousness as she fidgeted with her nails in her lap. Rhea could barely even remember the last time she went on a date, let alone a date she actually cared about.

She wondered what kind of place he would take her, was he the type that would try to order for her (she hoped not), or how soft was too soft. Gosh, being a girlfriend was a lot. She hated overthinking, is this what Dominik feels all the time? She pondered.

No wonder he could barely make a decision to save his life, this was fucking awful.

Just as her thoughts started to spiral into the deep end, she felt his thumb pressing into her inner thigh like he just knew she was going through her own personal mental torment at the moment.

He glanced over at her with that lazy smirk that always had her thighs clenching.

"We're almost there." He revealed. "You good?"

"Mhmm," Rhea answered with a nod. "Just starving."

Dominik knew that was a crock of shit but just agreed and turned his attention back to the road. "Yeah, me too."

The restaurant he took her to had a diner feel to it but she could tell it was a newer place from the decor and young patrons that filled the tables.

Dominik had his hand resting comfortably on her lower back as they stood by the front and waited for the hostess.

When she asked if they wanted a table or a booth, they said booth and unison and were whisked off to a corner towards the back of the restaurant.

Rhea had to resist her urge to sit on the same side directly beside him like she wanted to and slid into the other side across from him. She opened her menu and looked through it as she scratched her nail against her chin like she was in deep thought.

He was watching her over the top of his menu, a quiet smile dancing on his lips. She hadn't stopped fidgeting; twisting one of her rings or bouncing a leg slightly under the table.

"You nervous or something, Mami?" He asked gently, breaking the silence.

Rhea shot him a glare that had just a hint of panic behind it. "No. I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing important."

He didn't push, just reached across the table and took her fidgeting hand in his, lacing their fingers together. His thumb grazed the band of rings on hers, and for a second Rhea forgot how to breathe.

"Did I already tell you how good you look tonight?"

Rhea bit down on her lip to keep from grinning like a schoolgirl. "You may have mentioned it once or twice," She muttered, her menu suddenly becoming very very interesting.

"Well I mean it." He continued. "Me estás quintando el aliento."

She could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks and groaned softly at the way her body chemistry was betraying her. "Shut uppp!" She said with a whine but Dominik noticed the way her lips tugged upward.

The waiter came by and Dominik let her order for herself (thank god) and then placed his own order of chicken tenders and fries surprising literally no one.

"You eat like such a child," Rhea chuckled with a small shake of her head. "You're gonna be so fucked when we go out with Tiffany and Ludwig."

"I know," Dominik groaned. "That's why I wanted to take you out myself first so I could actually enjoy my food without pretending I know what the fuck pâté is." He frowned.

"It's liver." Rhea snorted. "Usually like duck or chicken, but like in a paste."

"That's fucking disgusting."

"Dom you literally love chicken." She deadpanned.

"Yeah, in tender form. Crunchy, breaded, delicious. Why the fuck would I want to eat liver paste?"

Rhea just rolled her eyes but she was smiling. God he was such a doof sometimes, she could feel her nerves starting to dissipate already.

"So," He asked casually. "You go on dates often?"

Lifting the straw in her glass of water to her lips, she took a small sip before shrugging. "Nah, not really. Last one I went on I walked out in the middle of it because the guy talked about his mom more than himself."

Dominik grimaced with a snort. "That sounds awful. What, did you do the whole fake going to the bathroom thing?"

"No." Rhea frowned. "I called him a jerkoff with an Oedipus complex and ordered a fucking uber."

This made Dominik laugh so loudly it startled the couple in the booth across from them.

"What about you?" She countered, propping her elbow on the table and resting her head on her fist.

"Did you and Arianna go out often?"

"Stop saying her name like that." He chuckled. "But uh yeah, we did for a while. She was real big on having a date night at least once a month, but then I was working a lot, she was always studying. It was like we missed one month and that was it–we didn't really keep up with it anymore."

Rhea nodded, twirling her straw in her drink, irritated with herself for even asking. The nerves she was feeling were finally going away and then she asked about his dumb ex and made everything all awkward. Ugh what was she doing?

"I have to admit though," Dominik began, his fingers lacing through hers again. "This is already the best date I've ever been on for sure." He smirked at her.

The waiter arrived with their food before Rhea could respond, once again breaking the tension before she could start spiraling.

As they ate, Rhea going to town on her burger and Dominik scarfing down his tenders with three cups of ranch on his plate, they talked, they laughed, they teased each other relentlessly like it was second nature to them as they stole fries off of each other's plates and kicked each other back and forth underneath the table.

"Grab another one of my fries Dom and I will stab you right in the knuckles with this fork."

Dominik scoffed, unbothered by her threats. "You literally started it when you put your grubby Aussie fingers on my plate first."

"That one fry looked particularly crunchy, you dunk everything in ranch, you didn't deserve it." She defended with an eyeroll. "And did you just call me a dirty Australian? Wow prejudice on the first date, real charming Dom."

A laugh ripped from his throat, catching Rhea off guard but making her smile.

She stared at him for a moment, taking in how large his smile was, chubby cheeks practically swallowing his face as he his shoulders shook with laughter. Rhea liked seeing him like this–light, stress free. He had been so calm and relaxed all night while she was going through mental hoops.

Also remembering she liked seeing Dominik absolutely flustered, she got that look in her eyes as she decided she was officially done with her food and sneakily reached down under the table to unzip one of boots.

Dominik, completely oblivious, went back to eating the remainder of his fries when a sudden pressure on his crotch had his head snapping up at her.

"Rhea–"

He was cut off by her letting out her own flirtatious chuckle. Her fishnet covered foot pressing deeper into his lap, gliding against the material of his jeans.

Dominik damn near dropped his fry as he glanced around the restaurant. No one paid them any mind and the booth offered decent cover. Rhea's face was all innocence, chin propped in her hand again like she wasn't committing sins in the back corner of a packed place.

"What's the matter Dom Dom? I thought we wanted a booth for more leg room." She continued as she felt him harden and traveled her foot to rub against his inner thigh. Dominik naturally opened his legs more to widen the space like the good little slut he was.

"You're ridiculous you know that?" He said through a strained voice. His hand slid under the table to rub against her calf as she continued her pursuit of wrecking him in a fucking diner.

She chuckled darkly, pressing her foot more firmly into him, the arch of it grinding slow, hypnotic circles that had him clenching his jaw. "Oh, you know I love it when you call me that." Rhea cooed, teasingly.

Her smirk was absolutely feral, the tip of her tongue peeking between her teeth as she watched him squirm. His knee bounced under her touch, his hand gripping her calf like it was a lifeline.

Feeling his fingers practically clawing into her skin, she bit down on her lip noticing the way his eyes narrowed, desire and restraint flooding his face.

"You really wanna play these games with me right now Mami?" He asked lowly, fighting off the urge to rip a hole into her tights so he could feel her up properly. Roughly wrapping a hand around her ankle he yanked her forward, making the table shake and Rhea gasp before chuckling, mischief and glee evident in her smile.

"Behave," She teased, flexing her foot and shimmying out of his hold, much to his dismay and lowering her leg back down to the ground. She slipped back into her boot just as the waiter came to clear the dishes from the table and offer them dessert.

Rhea decided she wanted a milkshake so he ordered her one and was discreetly rubbing himself under the table to get himself to soften up which was now becoming even more difficult watching her sip her dessert, occasionally licking whipped cream off her fingers ever so often.

He continued to observe her as he sunk deeper into his seat, letting his arms drape against the back of the booth. He stared at her, absolutely entranced, as she daintily licked whipped cream off her thumb with the same mouth she moaned into his two nights ago.

Rhea's gaze flicked up, catching the heat in his eyes, and she cocked a brow. "What?"

"Come here." He demanded.

"What?" She repeated with a frown.

He jerked his head to the side. "Come here, Mami. I know you want to." Dominik offered, knowing Rhea wanted to be tucked into his side like always.

She didn't need to be told twice as she pushed her milkshake across the table and then stood to slip into Dominik's side of the booth. He instantly wrapped his arm around her shoulders as their thighs brushed against each other.

Rhea went back to sipping on her milkshake, trying to ignore how giddy she was feeling with how perfectly everything was going tonight. Dominik was making her soft, and honestly? She didn't hate it...that much.

"Do you wanna try some?" Rhea offered, grabbing the extra straw on the table and handing it to him.

Dominik accepted the straw with a smirk and opened it and slid it into the drink.

They both leaned in and sipped the shake together, just like in the movies. It was making Rhea feel unbelievably giddy.

Eventually, he pulled away, deciding he had enough and tugged her a little closer under the arm he had slung around her, his fingertips idly tracing her shoulder, drawing little patterns like he was sketching out constellations on her skin.

"Having fun yet?" He asked, voice low enough to make her ear tingle.

She sucked on the straw just a beat longer than necessary before pulling away with a little pop, side-eyeing him. "Meh," She said, feigning boredom. "I've had better."

Dominik grinned. "Liar. What, did I not talk about my mom enough tonight?"

Rhea huffed, crossing her legs and leaning her weight into him. "Oh shut up." She mumbled into her straw, sipping again.

He was warm, too warm. Not temperature wise—though, to be fair, he was a human space heater, but warm in the way that made her feel safe and comfortable, like she could unclench her jaw and let her guard down for once.

But that was also what made it dangerous.

Rhea had never been soft with anyone like this before. The idea that someone saw her, not just as the barbed wire shield she wore like armor, but the person under all that was terrifying.

Still she nestled into his side anyway, curling just slightly like a cat pretending not to enjoy being petted. "So this what it's like? Being someone's girlfriend?" She asked under her breath.

Dominik laughed softly, hand still tracing her arm. "Only if you're dating me, I think. If you're someone else's girlfriend, it's probably more...liver-paste focused."

She snorted. "I'm still thinking about how you said pâté was disgusting. You know they eat that in, like, five-star restaurants, right?"

"Then five-star restaurants are gross," He replied with a shrug. "If it's not fried and dunkable, I don't want it."

"And yet you're dating me." She arched a brow.

"You're an exception," He murmured. "You're not fried, but you do leave me breathless like a chicken tender platter."

Rhea turned to look up at him, half-annoyed at how easily he flustered her. "You've been way too smooth today."

Dominik noticed the smear of whipped cream at the corner of her mouth and wiped it with his thumb.

"Yeah, well." He began, licking the cream off of his finger like it was nothing and shrugged. "I figured I had to bring my A-game. First official date with my girlfriend and all."

A little spark lit in her chest again; faint, giddy, annoying as hell.

"You're so cheesy," She muttered, but she didn't move away. In fact, she leaned in closer, resting her head on his shoulder and letting out a soft sigh.

When the check came, Rhea reached for her purse only to get her hand popped by Dominik.

"Hey!" She fussed.

"I got it." He interrupted.

"Dom, I can–"

"I said I got it." He reiterated, pulling out his wallet and fishing a few bills out. "We have a whole lifetime of dates you can pay for, but I got the first one covered."

Rhea was practically chewing through the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning.

__________________________

After dinner, Rhea was expecting them to go back to one of their places but was pleasantly surprised when Dominik pulled into the parking lot by the beach.

"What are we doing here?" She asked.

He gave her a nonchalant shrug. "Figured we can maybe go for a little walk." Pulling the joint he had tucked behind his ear, he presented it to her. "You down?"

Rhea's ears perked up at that. Walking the beach, just like in the movies.

"Okay." She agreed, which is how they were slowly walking along the shore, shoes in hand and shoulders brushing, passing the joint back and forth aimlessly for a while.

Dominik had slipped into a hoodie that he was now shrugging off to lay out on the sand so Rhea could have something to sit on when they found an isolated little corner right by the edge of the water.

Rhea tossed her boots to the ground with a thud and made herself comfortable on his hoodie, stretching her legs out in front of her. Dominik plopped down next to her, letting her shimmy her way into his space as she rested the back of her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her midsection like a seatbelt.

"This was...nice." Rhea admitted which got a good snort out of Dominik.

"Nice?" He repeated. "Wow, we got a real Shakespeare over here. You me now?"

"Oh shut up!" She fussed through a laugh. "You're being all romantic and sweet and shit, it's making me forget my adjectives okay?"

The sound of the waves hitting the shore mixed with the low laughter bellowing from Dominik's throat had Rhea feeling unbelievably soft. Like she was wrapped in a blanket fresh out of the dryer. The effects of the joint had her practically melting into his arms.

"Well I'm glad you liked it." Dominik said softly, carding a hand through her hair.

"I loved it." Rhea admitted.

"Yeah?" He grinned.

Dominik could feel her nodding against his chest. "Yeah. I mean getting the knife is still my favorite but this is a very, very close second."

He snorted at that. "You and this knife."

"It was an extremely thoughtful gesture!" She defended. "And I got such a steal on it. I looked up similar ones from that time period and the cheapest I saw was $500. I ripped that man all the way off and got to verbally eviscerate your nemesis right after. I will literally never stop talking about it."

Dominik shook his head fondly, tightening his grip around her. "She's not my nemesis. She's just my past." He gazed out into the ocean as he bit down on his cheek. "...a past I'm completely over and done with." He reminded her.

Rhea took the subtle hint that Dominik probably didn't want to keep talking about her anymore which was fair so she just let out a hum.

"What about you?" He asked.

"What about me?" She responded, glancing up at him with a confused pout.

"You and your 'nemesis." Dominik prodded. "You and Liv, is all that shit over with?"

Rhea had to scoff at that. "I'm over it. I've been over it for months now, it's her."

"What's the deal with you two anyway? Like I get you can't stand her, but like why?"

Letting out a deep sigh, her jaw tightened. Where to even begin?

"We were friends at first. She was like the first friend I made moving here actually." She started as she kept her eyes locked on one particular wave crashing into the shore.

"I could tell she was a little kooky, but so am I and I like people that are kinda...off." Rhea smirked because it was what she liked about Dominik too. "We hung out a few times, parties, bunch, things like that and everything was fine but then she just got all...weird." She frowned.

"...she started acting like she was my girlfriend; always wanting to know where I was or what I was doing and blowing my phone up if I wasn't responding to her messages fast enough. And then she started acting like me and dressing like me, it was like the more time I spent around her she was trying to morph into me. It was suffocating, it didn't even matter if I didn't post where I was going she would always find out and pop up."

Dominik listened intently as he felt Rhea's body tense up. He could feel it in the way her spine straightened just slightly against him, how her tone lost that usual laid back slouch it always carried.

"And then Tiff came along and everything just went to shit after that. We got close and I was hanging out with her all the time and Liv couldn't stand it. She would spread these absolutely insane rumors about Tiff and people ate that shit up, and everyone is so fucking stupid they can't even comprehend the reason they claim to not like Tiff is from a bunch of made up bullshit from Liv and her million and one burner accounts spreading lies."

Rhea could feel herself getting worked up all over again. "And then," She began with a bitter chuckle. "It's Tiffany's birthday and Ludwig throws her this huge party out in Miami and I didn't post anything. No stories, no tags, no updates. And guess who rolls up with manic eyes and a smile like she was fucking invited?"

"Get the fuck out," Dominik said, eyebrows shooting up.

Rhea nodded, laughing. "Swear. And when I called her out, she started crying and telling everyone I abandoned her, like we were in a relationship or something. So naturally, I'm pissed and I just go off on her completely–calling her desperate, obsessed, a fucking leech the whole works and she didn't take that well at all. Which brings us to today where she is still trying any and everything to still be in my orbit. I've had to change wax ladies, my gym schedule, everything she's just...she's relentless."

"Damn," Dominik muttered, wrapping his arms a little tighter around her. "She ever pull anything physical?"

"Nah," Rhea said, shaking her head slowly. "She's not bold like that. Passive-aggressive, yes. Petty, absolutely. But she won't throw hands, which is lucky for her that I have some moral compass and don't go after people that don't want to fight.....well except for when I headbutted her for posting you."

Dominik snorted in confusion. "Wait, what!?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Yeah after I blew up on you Tiff took me to some lame ass yoga class she was 'teaching' and I headbutted her, it was so vindicating I almost came on the spot." She said with a dreamy sigh.

"What's with you and headbutting, Mami?"

Rhea shrugged. "I dunno. It just feels good. Like knowing I'm hurting someone while simultaneously hurting myself, because trust me, that shit hurts. But it's like a good searing pain, I can't describe it. Plus it's so satisfying when I do it just right and I can feel the bone in their nose crack on my forehead. God, I'm getting myself worked up. I'm going to need to punch something soon." She declared with a groan.

Dominik lifted his arm in front of her face, encouraging her to bite down on it, which Rhea happily did. He hissed through the pain with a chuckle watching as she pulled back with a content grin.

"Thank you, I needed that."

"Anytime."

Rhea tilted her head back just enough to glance up at him, one brow raised. "You got a violence kink or something, Papi?"

Dominik let out a long, exaggerated groan and dropped his forehead against her temple. "Rhea."

She snorted. "Just saying, you always look at me with stars in your eyes when I talk about punching someone and I can feel your boner poking my back right now you sick fuck."

"I got stars in my eyes all the time when I look at you." He said quietly, ignoring her need to tease for once.

The air suddenly changed, the crash of the waves mirroring the way his words had caused her heart to slam against her chest.

She should tell him to shut up or call him a walnut or something, but she didn't. Instead she turned, curling herself more into his chest and muttered–

"You're making me soft. You make me care about holding hands, and sharing milkshakes, and walking on the beach...and I don't hate it, which is scary but also kinda...nice."

Dominik just grinned. "Yeah, it is nice." He agreed, deciding to let her have her moment of softness but didn't let her sit in it too long and tackled her onto her back on his hoodie and hovered himself over her to kiss her in the sand under the stars as the waves continued to crash against the shore.

Rhea smiled into the kiss. It was just like the movies.

Chapter Text

“Who is this guy anyway?” Austin asked with a frown as he watched Dominik attempt for the fourth time to get his black tie on.

He had stopped by Austin and Grayson’s apartment quickly on his way to pick Rhea up for their double date to borrow a tie from Austin because she had insisted that he needed one and of course Dominik didn’t already own one.

“His name is Ludwig.” Dominik explained to his own reflection in the mirror. “He’s Tiffany’s boyfriend.”

Austin’s frown deepened. “Well I don’t like him or whatever this is. Why are you dressing up for him?” He complained.

Letting out a soft sigh to himself, Dominik’s fingers continued to fumble with the tie. “I’m not dressing up for him, it’s for Rhea.”

“Oh wow thanks for reminding me.” Austin grumbled. “I already have to share you with her now there’s this Ludwig guy popping up outta nowhere and making you wear ties and dress socks.”

His hands stilled briefly as his eyes widened. “...I was supposed to wear dress socks? Will people be able to tell?” Dominik worried. 

He was dressed in a black button up courtesy of Rhea and his black work pants that were the closest thing to dress slacks he owned. Truth be told, he looked like a fucking waiter on his first day on the job as he went back to fiddling with trying to knot the tie.

Ignoring Dominik’s usual incompetence, Austin continued his whining. “I just don’t understand why I can’t come too.”

“Becauseeee,” Dominik stressed. “It’s a double date, and you don’t have a date.”

Quickly pulling out his phone, Austin jumped up from his spot on his bed. “That’s all you had to say! Give me ten minutes on tinder and I’ll have a date in no time.”

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m not going to let you bring some fucking rando, or yourself for that matter, my first time meeting this dude.”

Austin gasped dramatically. “So you are trying to impress him! I knew it! You’re replacing me!”

Dominik had to snort at that with a smirk as he looked at himself in the mirror. “Austin, I couldn’t replace you even if I tried.”

Because he most certainly had tried unsuccessfully in the past. But then Austin grew on him…kinda like a fungus now that he thought about it.

“Damn right you can’t.” Austin agreed. “I still don’t like this though. You should tell Rhea you’re sick and you can stay here and we can run some Call of Duty.” He offered, eyes almost pleading.

“Not this time dude.” Dominik dismissed with a sigh, still fiddling with the tie. “Rhea and Tiffany have been talking about this shit all week. Rhea would probably chop my fucking head off before she would let me flake.”

Finally having had enough of watching him struggle, Austin let out a grumpy scoff and grabbed Dominik by his shoulders to turn his body to face him and started fixing the tie himself.

“Well just don’t enjoy yourself too much.” Austin threatened as he lifted Dominik’s collar before tying the tie with practiced ease.

He tugged the fabric into a perfect knot with the kind of efficiency that made Dominik suspicious.

“Where the hell did you learn how to do that?” Dominik narrowed his eyes.

“Bro, I went to prom like four times,” Austin said matter-of-factly, giving the tie a firm pat.

He gave him a once over, leaning back with a shake of his head. “You look like a waiter at one of those places that serves water with lemon slices for free.”

Dominik smirked. “Better than looking like someone who peaked in high school.”

“Wow. Hurtful.” Austin placed a hand over his heart but didn’t look too offended. “Don’t forget when this Ludwig dude tries to steal you away from me with his…whatever he’s got going on; remember who’s been here since day one. Who’s shared Hot Cheetos and split Taco Bell orders with you and let you crash on his futon when Ari dropped your ass.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know.” Dominik muttered, adjusting the tie like it was choking him, which it kind of was. He grabbed his phone off of the dresser, slipping it into his pocket and headed out of Austin’s bedroom.

“I’m serious!” Austin called out, right on Dominik’s heels like a clingy little brother. “I was here first! Don’t let him woo you with his European charm!” He yelled from the doorway.

Dominik had almost made it to the front door when Grayson passed him in the hallway.

“Oooooo,” He said, letting out a whistle. “Don’t you look dapper. Taking out the Mrs.?” Grayson asked which Dominik answered with a nod.

“Nice! Need to borrow my—“

“No Grayson.” He interrupted, raising a hand to silence him and left the apartment.

___________________________

Rhea was sat in Dominik’s passenger seat, heels already kicked off to give her feet a break with her legs tucked under her in her seat as they made their way to the restaurant. She was dressed in a black slip dress that rested just above her calves with triangular cut outs on the sides that had her tattooed mid drift and back on display.

She nearly lost it when she saw Dominik all dressed up to the point that he had to, very begrudgingly, talk her out of having a quickie in the backseat so they wouldn’t be late.

“So what’s Ludwig’s deal anyway?” He found himself asking as he drove down the highway. “Is he nice?”

She let out a snort, not even bothering to look up from her scrolling. “As nice as someone with the personality of a collar stay in a dress shirt could be I suppose.”

Oh great.

Rhea glanced over at him briefly and caught him adjusting his tie like he couldn’t breath and sighed at his very obvious nervousness.

“Look, if you want him to like you, all you have to do is grip his hand like you’re trying to break it when he shakes your hand. I mean like squeeze the absolute shit out of it. He judges people by their handshake.”

Dominik nodded slowly. Okay, he could do that.

“Oh!” She continued. “And when the check comes, he’ll reach for it first but you offer to pay. He’ll decline, you insist, he’ll say ‘no I insist’ and then just let him pay. It’ll stroke his ego enough and he’ll respect that you like offered or whatever, everybody wins.” She shrugged.

Easy enough Dominik figured.

They arrived at the rooftop restaurant Capa not too long after. Tiffany picked the place apparently and it was a Michelin star restaurant with Spanish influenced cuisine.

It was the kind of place Dominik avoided his entire adult life because it gave the kind of vibe that even breathing the pretentious air of the place would cost him $20.

Rhea couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched him hesitantly pass his car keys off to the valet after insisting he could just park his car himself which was against the restaurant's policy.

“Dom come on,” She urged. “Your car will be fine.”

He was still standing on the curb with his hands on his hips as the valet got into his car. “She’s temperamental.” Dominik grumbled as he tried to explain. “She just doesn’t let anybody drive her.”

Rhea rolled her eyes so hard, she swore she saw her own brain briefly and grabbed his arm to tug him towards the door. “If anything happens to her,” She scoffed. “I’ll set the entire parking garage on fire, now come on.” She repeated.

They were immediately greeted by the hostess when they stepped off the elevator and Rhea gave Ludwig’s name as she stood beside Dominik, arm linked through his as she leaned into him.

They followed the hostess through the restaurant on the rooftop lit up by warm string lights hanging from the columns that surrounded the glass panes that served as a barrier to enclose the area.

The tables were spaced out, enlarging the space adorned with white tablecloths and pops of red accents with the linen napkins and center pieces.

Rhea spotted the pair almost immediately, tucked in the back corner of the restaurant. Tiffany was wearing a sparkling silver, strapless minidress. She gave Dominik’s arm a squeeze and leaned into him to speak quietly in his ear.

“Remember, handshake from hell.”

He gave a subtle nod as they approached the table. His eyes landed on Ludwig—stoic, hair perfectly parted and combed over, his posture so pristine it immediately made Dominik straighten up himself. He faced rested in what could only be described as judgment. Ludwig took resting bitch face to a whole new level.

His ash grey suit complimented Tiffany’s dress well, crisp, perfectly tailored with cuff links that sparkled under the string lights. They looked like a Vogue spread come to life.

“There they are,” Tiffany beamed, standing to her feet to pull Rhea in for a quick hug who rejected it almost immediately with a light, playful shove.

“Ew, we don’t hug. Stop being weird.”

Ignoring her, Tiffany hugged her anyway. “We double date now and we hug like sophisticated ladies. We’re evolving.” She argued.

Rhea rolled her eyes as Dominik pulled out her chair for her to grab a seat.

Ludwig rose to his feet next, adjusting the lapel of his suit jacket before extending a hand out to him.

“Dominik.” He greeted. “It’s a pleasure.”

Taking Ludwig’s hand into his, Dominik gripped onto it for dear life, trying to keep his face neutral at the damn near finger snapping death grip Ludwig had on his hand. Dominik was squeezing his hand so tightly his knuckles were white.

“Likewise.” He said through strained teeth when Ludwig finally released his hand with a subtle nod of approval before they both took their seats.

Ludwig glanced between the pair as Rhea immediately scooted her chair closer to Dominik who slipped his hand down to rest on her thigh. He was a little…scruffy looking to him with his long mullet and unkept stubble that graced his cheeks and chin in light patches, but he didn’t seem too bad.

He had asked Rhea if he should shave or not which she adamantly declined, almost offended that he would take away her personal scratching post for her to rub her face against.

Dominik could feel Ludwig sizing him up from across the table as he looked through the menu.

“I’ve already ordered the octopus small plate and the jámon de bellota for the table. It should be out shortly.” Ludwig announced with perfect pronunciation. Dominik frowned to himself as he tried to figure out what the fuck ‘acorn ham’ was.

He quickly learned from the menu that it was some kind of cured ham made from pigs that exclusively were only fed acorns for whatever fucking reason.

Rhea’s hand wrapped around his that was still resting on her thigh under the table. She and Tiffany had already fallen into easy conversation, Tiffany recapping an awful experience she had with a barista earlier in the day.

Dominik’s eyes continued to scan the menu as he tried to keep his face from reacting from the insane dish descriptions and the even insaner prices.

“$225 for a fucking steak?” He muttered under his breath. Okay so he definitely wasn’t ordering that. His eyes landed on the one chicken dish on the menu—it was $44 dollars and had ‘Medjool dates’….whatever the fuck that was, but he would just eat around those he decided.

Rhea was snickering at something Tiffany had said when Dominik leaned over to speak in her ear.

“Mami, what’s foiey…grass?” He asked quietly, completely butchering the pronunciation.

She looked over at him with a smirk. “Foie gras.” She corrected. “You should get it, you would like it…..It’s duck liver.” She grinned.

Dominik rolled his eyes and nudged her knee with his under the table, making her chuckle. What the fuck was with rich people and liver?

“So, Dominik—“ Ludwig began as a waiter appeared, pouring water from a glass bottle to fill Rhea and Dominik’s glasses.

“Dom is fine.”

“Dominik.” Ludwig repeated. 

Okay then.

“What do you do for work?”

“I’m in…sales.” He explained vaguely and cleared his throat. “And you?” Dominik pressed, leaning in slightly and trying not to sound accusatory. He just knew this guy had to work for the mafia or something.

Ludwig’s eyes flicked over to the waiter before he gave Dominik a once over like he was sizing him up again.

“….Trade management.” Ludwig offered just as vague.

Dominik resisted his urge to squint his eyes. Trading what? Guns, drugs, people? God he hoped it wasn’t people.

“Cool.” Dominik replied, officially convinced Ludwig just had to be a mob boss.

Before Ludwig could offer a retort another waiter appeared with their appetizers. He placed small individual plates of the octopus in front of each of them and a rectangular white platter of the cured meat in the middle of the table.

Dominik tried to keep his face neutral as he glanced down at the plate. Brown seared tentacles that looked like they were seconds away from crawling across the table covered in a bright green sauce that looked like it belonged in an abstract painting and not on food.

He looked up at Tiffany and Ludwig who were already cutting into their octopus and eating it without a care.

Gripping his thigh, Rhea leaned into him.

“Try it,” She whispered, spearing a piece on his plate and holding the fork out toward his mouth.

He leaned back slightly. “Mami, I don’t know—“

Her grin widened. “Do it for me.” She requested in that voice that always had him folding, but even that wasn’t enough at the moment.

Noticing how his frown deepened unconvinced, Rhea hovered her lips right by his ear. “Try it Papi and I’ll do that thing with my tongue ring that you like later.” She murmured lustfully, jutting her tongue out and letting her piercing trail along his earlobe.

Dominik shuddered and immediately opened his mouth to lean forward and bite the octopus off the fork, much to Rhea’s delight as she chuckled lowly to herself with a proud grin.

Ludwig watched the exchange with his brow slightly raised.

“I told you they were hornballs.” Tiffany muttered to her boyfriend. “They’re literally like this all the time.”

Dominik chewed slowly, fighting every instinct to grimace. The texture was rubbery to say the least, and the taste was salty with a faint fishiness that lingered on the back of his tongue like an uninvited guest.

He swallowed hard, chasing it with a gulp of water. Rhea’s sly smile made it almost worth it. Almost.

“See?” She purred under her breath, squeezing his thigh again. “Not so bad.”

“Eso sabía a zapato del fondo del puto océano.” Dominik thought he grumbled quietly until he heard Ludwig let out an amused puff of air from his nose.

“My bad,” He apologized, glancing up at him. “You speak Spanish?”

“Por supuesto.” Ludwig answered. “I frequent Madrid and Buenos Aires for business.”

Dominik gave an impressed nod.

“And no worries, pulpo con mojo verde is an acquired taste.”

Rhea and Tiffany’s eyes flicked to each other with faint grins on their faces in excitement that their boyfriends were getting along.

Feeling himself getting too chummy, Ludwig cleared his throat. “So, Dominik,” He began again, his tone as smooth and precise as his suit seams. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Rhea groaned loudly. “Oh my god, Ludwig, are you interviewing him for the position of my boyfriend? He already got the job and he’s experienced and overqualified. Thank you very much.”

“I’m merely making conversation,” Ludwig replied with a dismissive wave of his fork, though his eyes didn’t leave the first guy Rhea had ever brought around.

Dominik swallowed, reaching for his water again, and said casually, “Five years? Honestly?” He paused for a moment to mull it over.

“If I've still got her next to me, that’s probably enough.” He shrugged.

Rhea froze for half a second, caught off guard, and then smirked like she was trying very hard not to melt into a puddle under the table. Tiffany’s eyebrows shot up in amused surprise.

Ludwig, for his part, didn’t react, he just let out a hum and took another bite of his octopus but Dominik swore he saw the faintest nod of approval.

Under the table, Rhea squeezed his thigh hard enough to make him almost drop his fork before scratching her nails up his thigh and tickling them along his crotch, causing him to shove a piece of the cured pork into his mouth abruptly to keep from reacting.

Eventually their entrees had came, Rhea, of course ended up ordering the $225 steak and eagerly fed Dominik the first bite and okay yeah, he quickly realized it was worth every fucking dollar.

His chicken dish was as delicious as he expected it to be even with the dates adorning his plate that he was pushing off to the side. Rhea kept a very persuasive hand on his thigh to coax him into eating the carrots on his plate.

Conversation flowed between the two couples effortlessly. Rhea and Tiffany were on their third glass of wine, loose lipped and giggly as they excused themselves to go to the bathroom, leaving Dominik and Ludwig at the table.

“So, how long have you and Tiffany been together?”

Ludwig, slightly relaxed but posture still pristine like a drill sergeant, dabbed the corners of his mouth with his linen napkin with a faint upward curl of his lips.

“Our anniversary is coming up soon. This will be year three.” He revealed.

Dominik gave an impressed nod. “That’s cool. How did you meet?”

Ludwig had to let out a small chuckle at that. “It was at a charity gala that her father was hosting. Tiffany was the most radiant, intelligent, well-spoken woman in the room. She gave a speech about the impact of oil spills on the marine ecosystem and it was one of the most passionate and eloquent deliveries I had ever heard that I knew I had to have her right on the spot.”

This made Dominik’s eyebrows raise slightly, that sure as hell didn’t sound like Tiffany.

“Oh yeah?”

“That is correct.” Ludwig nodded. “And then I took her out for the first time and met a completely different person.” He smirked. “She consumed half of a bottle of Château Margaux by herself and got into an argument with a woman on the sidewalk for standing too close to her.”

Now that sounded like Tiffany.

“Unfortunately for me, I quickly discovered I much preferred that version of her, even if she’s…a lot at times.” Ludwig said, fondness evident in his eyes.

Dominik chuckled, swirling the last bit of water in his glass. “Yeah, I get that. Rhea’s a lot all the time, no matter the setting. I like that about her though.”

Ludwig nodded in agreement. “I have to say, this is the least cynical I have ever seen Rhea since I’ve known her–no scoffing or growling at the waiter and she’s been smiling all night. It appears you are making her happy, that is commendable.”

Already knowing that was probably the highest honor of praise he could get, Dominik offered him a small smile and raised his glass to tap it against Ludwig’s.

“They’re gonna be best friends, this is great!” Tiffany gushed as Rhea washed her hands. “Italy here we come!”

Rhea let out a snort. “Yeah they seem to be hitting it off. Ludwig hasn’t called him an imbecile or an incompetent American yet so that’s good because I really didn’t want to have to choke out your boyfriend tonight.”

“Oh please,” Tiffany brushed off. ‘Ludwig likes him, I can tell. Ugh finally! He needs normal guy friends, maybe that will help him be less…Ludwig-y.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘imperious’.” She mumbled as she dried her hands off, making Tiffany shove her.

“Whatever, bitch. Ooooo we should go to a bar or something after this, I think there’s one on the second floor.”

Rhea quirked a brow as she leaned against the marble sink. “You just want to go to a bar so you can keep Ludwig talking to Dominik and make them plan ‘guy trips.’”

“Obviously,” Tiffany said without shame, digging a tube of lipstick from her clutch. She reapplied it and then puckered at her reflection. “But also so we can have a night where we can both turn our brains off for once.”

Rhea gave her a flat look. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Umm hello!?” Tiffany exclaimed. “It’s literally the best part about being a girlfriend! Well besides, you know, the gifts and the matching Christmas pajamas and what not. But anyway.” She rambled.

“Getting to turn your brain off sometimes. Like…let him handle keeping an eye out for weirdos, the plans, the reservations, the random oil changes—whatever. You don’t have to be in control of every single thing all the time.”

Rhea scoffed with a frown. “You know me well enough to know I hate turning my brain off. I’ve got a whole list of people in my life I wouldn’t trust to order my coffee right, let alone run my life.”

“Right, but you don’t have to run it when you’re with someone you trust,” Tiffany said, tapping her temple like she was bestowing sacred knowledge. “It’s not about being helpless—it’s about letting them take the wheel so you can just… breathe. That’s the luxury. That’s the point.”

Rhea stared at her for a beat, chewing on that like she wasn’t ready to admit it made sense and how much she did enjoy when Dominik handled the small things for her.

“Besides,” Tiffany smirked, “It’s really hot when they do it without you asking. Just saying.”

She couldn’t argue that one. Sure, Dominik was the princess around here, but maybe, sometimes, she could allow herself to be too. Within reason of course.

The girls returned to the table, Tiffany sliding into her seat with a sigh.

“Babe, we’re having expresso martinis for dessert. This is nonnegotiable.” She declared.

Ludwig leaned over and kissed her temple. “Of course mein Schatz.” He agreed, making Tiffany beam and shot a look at Rhea that said ‘See?’

Rhea rolled her eyes with a smirk and leaned her head onto Dominik’s shoulder. His hand found hers under the table and gave it a squeeze.

“You good, Mami?” He asked.

“Just peachy.” She hummed, squeezing his hand back.

After Rhea and Tiffany had their last round of drinks, the check came and Dominik straightened up, adjusting his tie, ready to complete the last phase of getting Ludwig to at least tolerate him.

Just like Rhea said, Ludwig immediately reached for the black check holder, causing Dominik to clear his throat.

“I got it.” He declared, also reaching for the check. 

Ludwig put up a hand to stop him. “Oh, that’s quite alright Dominik. I’ll take care of it.”

“Please, I insist.” He urged liked Rhea instructed him to, more than ready to relent because he didn’t even want to know the damage they did.

Ludwig eyed him for a moment before sitting back slightly. “Well…if you insist.” He said before sliding the check across the table towards him.

Dominik tensed his jaw so tightly like he was chewing on concrete to keep his eyes from shooting open in surprise.

Tiffany fought off her giggle watching Dominik clearly trying not to freak the fuck out as Ludwig’s lips curled into the faintest smirk.

Before Dominik could fumble for an excuse he felt Rhea lightly tap his thigh, discretely sliding her credit card into his palm.

Thank god.

He stealthily tucked the card in his hand as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and quickly slipped the card inside to make a show of pulling it out again and placing it into the black billfold and gave it to the waiter.

The waiter whisked away the check, leaving Dominik with the faintest sheen of sweat at his hairline. He took a slow sip of water like it might wash away the sting of watching a single dinner cost more than three of his utility bills combined.

“Very generous of you,” Ludwig said, that faint smirk still clinging to his mouth.

Dominik gave a stiff little nod. “Of course, not a problem.”

Rhea was lounging back in her seat like a cat in a sunbeam, wine glass in hand and face smug as hell. “My man takes care of people,” She said smoothly. “Me especially. Aint that right Dom Dom?” She pressed, running her fingers through the ends of his hair.

Tiffany rolled her eyes so hard but she was grinning because she knew Dominik had definitely passed the test at getting on Ludwig’s good side. She could almost taste the crisp Italian air and fresh mozzarella from here.

After dinner they went to the bar on the lower level where Rhea had taken Tiffany’s advice and allowed herself to relax and let her guard down for once as she and Tiffany danced the night away while Domink and Ludwig lounged by the bar trading stories about their chaotic girlfriends.

“I’m serious,” Dominik urged. “She kicked the entire display rack over with one kick. I would have been way more aroused about the whole thing if I wasn’t also in fear for my life.”

Ludwig let out a short laugh, the kind that sounded more like it escaped against his will than something he offered freely.

“I believe you,” He said, shaking his head slowly. “Tiffany once told a man in Monaco that she would drown him in the harbor if he didn’t stop ‘existing so loudly’ around her. The man was a government official and she was wearing a gown worth more than his annual salary.”

They clinked their glasses together at that, united in the bizarre pride of dating women that crushed man ego’s for sport.

Dominik glanced toward the dance floor just in time to catch Rhea spinning Tiffany under her arm before they both broke into loud, unrestrained laughter. Rhea’s cheeks were flushed, her hair messy from the movement, her smile wide in a way that made his chest ache in the best possible way. She was glowing and for once, she didn’t look like she was bracing herself for something to go wrong.

“You know,” Ludwig said suddenly, sipping his whiskey, “I underestimated her.”

Dominik tilted his head. “Rhea?”

“Yes. She has always been formidable, but tonight I see she is…lighter. You’ve managed something quite rare, Dominik. Rhea without the perpetual blade in her hand.” Ludwig glanced at him sideways, as if trying to decide whether to approve of that or issue a warning.

Dominik smirked faintly. “She still keeps the blade. I just make sure she doesn’t have to use it all the time.”

A flicker of genuine amusement crossed Ludwig’s face. “Hmph. Smart man.”

By the time the night wound down, Rhea and Tiffany were more than a little buzzed, laughter spilling into the elevator as they left the bar. Tiffany clung to Ludwig’s arm, swearing they needed fries immediately, while Rhea tucked herself under Dominik’s arm, still humming along to whatever song was stuck in her head.

She leaned into him and murmured. “You did good tonight Dom Dom. Did you have fun?”

“I did.” Dominik grinned before kissing her temple. “Did you?”

“Mhmm.” She agreed with a sigh. “My fucking feet are killing me though.” She muttered absentmindedly to herself as the elevator doors opened.

Ludwig ushered Tiffany out first as Dominik began to lean down to start undoing the straps of Rhea’s heels.

“What are you doing?” She frowned.

“You’re done walking for tonight.” He announced, slipping her feet out of her shoes and clutching them into his hand before turning and crouching down in front of her.

“Climb on Mami,” Dominik urged. “I’ll carry you.”

Rhea stared at him for a moment with her lips parted but quickly snapped out of it and hopped onto his back, wrapping her legs around his torso as he carried her out into the cool night air.

Tiffany glanced back with a gasp.

“Piggy back rides? Oh my gosh, I want one!” She exclaimed. “Babe, let me get on your back.”

Ludwig looked at his girlfriend unamused. “Mein Schatz–”

“Come onnnnn,” Tiffany urged with a pout.

He glanced over his shoulder briefly at Dominik, who just gave him a small shrug with a smirk on his face. Ludwig rolled his eyes with a shake of the head before assuming the position and letting a very ecstatic Tiffany jump onto his back.

The two men walked the sidewalk with their girlfriends hoisted on their backs, giggling with each other without a care in the world.

Dominik adjusted his grip on Rhea’s thighs, her heels dangling loosely from his fingers. She smelled faintly of wine and her expensive perfume.

“You know,” She murmured in his ear, her voice lazy from the buzz, “You carrying me like this is doing unspeakable things to my brain and my vagina.”

Dominik huffed a laugh. “Pretty sure that’s the martinis talking.”

“Nope.” She nuzzled the back of his neck, lips brushing his skin just enough to make him stumble a little. “This is 100% sober Rhea talking. I might just demand this becomes a regular thing.”

“I’ll add it to my job description,” He teased, though there was a warmth in his chest.

Ahead of them, Tiffany was gleefully trying to steer Ludwig like a horse, tugging gently at his shoulders and lighting kicked her heels into his ribs while he muttered something in German that sounded an awful lot like a prayer for patience.

Rhea chuckled, resting her chin on Dominik’s shoulder to watch them. “Do you think he hates this?”

“Oh, definitely,” Dominik said. “But he’ll do it because she wants him to. Same as me.”

She was quiet for a beat, her cheek pressed against his. “You’re really good at this, you know?”

“Good at what?”

“.....making me happy.” Rhea muttered softly.

This brought a smile to his face as he adjusted her position on his back.

Eating octopus against his will, valets, and withstanding judgmental death stares from uneasily impressed Germans was more than worth it to Dominik if it meant making Rhea happy. 

Chapter Text

Rhea was pleased that Dominik had made a good first impression on Ludwig but that wasn’t really the seal of approval she was looking for.

Which is why she was sitting in the passenger seat after their night out that she wasn’t ready to let end with her feet pulled up in her seat and a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Wanna do something fun?” She asked.

Dominik glanced at her with an eyebrow raised knowing Rhea’s definition of “fun” could range anywhere from getting late night milkshakes to challenging a random couple on the sidewalk to a street fight.

“Sure.” He said anyway as if he would ever deny her in the first place. “What did you have in mind?”

Her smirk deepened as she leaned over the center console, running her nail along his jaw.

“Do you trust me?” She purred, making his grip on the steering wheel tighten with a gulp.

“Of course.”

“Good!” She beamed, clasping her hands together as she reclined back into her seat. “Let’s get tattoos!”

He turned his head to her, amusement all over his face. “Right now? Like right, right now?”

“Obviously right now,” Rhea pressed. “My tattoo guy’s shop is close by. Come onnnnnn, it’ll be fun.”

Dominik gave a small shrug. He was never one to turn down new ink and he had been itching to feel the sting of the needle gracing his skin, it had been awhile.

“Your tattoo guy huh?” He smirked, flicking his eyes in her direction.

“Yeah, he’s the best you’ll like him. He’s done all of my tattoos.” She explained which made Dominik’s eyebrow shoot up.

“He’s the reason why I’m in Florida actually, I followed him here.”

“You followed him?” Dominik repeated.

“Mhmm.” Rhea said like it was nothing. “The guy he worked for was a dick and was trying to stop him from opening his own shop in New York so he saved up so he could move to Florida and bought a space out here.”

Dominik was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. This guy’s tattoos couldn’t be that good.

“So you just…packed up your whole life and moved to Florida…so you wouldn’t have to get a new tattoo artist?”

Rhea’s brows furrowed in contemplation. “Well it sounds insane when you put it that way, but yeah I guess I did.” She shrugged. “I had already graduated and New York was cold and cramped and the people sucked, wasn’t like I was attached to the place or anything.”

It made sense to her so that was enough for Dominik too he decided as Rhea instructed him to take the next left.

She hadn’t been attached to any place really, from the constant traveling and boarding schools, it kept her from ever connecting and caring about finding a place to call “home.”

Now that she really thought about it…the weird comfort she found in Dominik's apartment was the closest she had ever come to feeling the actual warmth and value of caring about where she laid her head.

They pulled up the curb of the shop and parked. Dominik reached behind Rhea’s seat after turning the car off and retrieved the pair of slides he always kept handy and tossed them onto the car mat in front of her so she could slide her feet into them because he already knew there was no way she was putting her heels back on.

Holding the door open for her, the two slipped into the shop; black walls with abstract art decorated the space along with a large mural of a Puerto Rican flag behind the deserted receptionist's desk. The very loud heavy metal that was playing turned down briefly as a large built man sat on the stool in his workspace with his back to them, currently tattooing the back of a girl with long locs.

“We’re closed.” The guy called out without even bothering to turn around. “Come back tomorrow.”

Rhea let out a hum, completely unbothered. “You should probably lock your fucking door then, don’t you think?”

The buzz from the tattoo gun suddenly stopped, the guy’s motions halting completely before Dominik heard him chuckle.

“Ripley,” He began, standing to his feet and finally turning to face them. “Long time no–”

There was a smirk on his face that turned into a confused frown at the display before him–Rhea in a dress and oversized slides on her feet and some lanky kid with a mullet and a halfway unbuttoned dress shirt, Austin’s tie long abandoned for the night, with his sleeves rolled up showcasing the various tattoos on his forearms.

“¿Quién es este mamabicho?”

Dominik jerked his head back in offense. “Chinga tu madre pendejo.” He barked back.

“Damian!” Rhea fussed. “Be nice! This is Dom. He’s my boyfriend.”

This made Damian’s eyebrow raise even higher. “Boyfriend?” His eyes scanned Dominik up and down even more judgemental than before, Dominik’s mouth curving into a frown. “¿Tu novio sabe que tiene un Sánchez Sucio sobre su labio?”

Dominik’s frown deepened into a scowl. Who the hell was this guy?

He took a step forward just as Rhea put a hand on his chest to stop him.

“Yes, my boyfriend.” She declared. “And we want tattoos.”

“Tattoos of what?” Damian asked, eyes still locked in on Dominik, clearly sizing him up.

She did a little twirl to grab the black portfolio of his work off of the desk and started flipping through it with a shrug. “Dunno yet, we’ll figure that out. But just something small, but not too small and then we’ll be out of your hair.”

Rhea said it more like a demand than a request and Dominik could tell Damian knew that very well by the way he rolled his eyes with his hands on hips and let out a sigh.

“Fine, fine,” He resigned. “Just let me finish up shading one section of Kayden’s back piece, we’ve been at it for four hours now, and you’re lucky I’m tired of looking at the damn thing for the night. Give me 10 minutes.”

He retreated back into his workspace signaling for Kayden, his receptionist, to turn the music back up.

Dominik still had a slight scowl on his face and he watched Damian go back to tattooing.

“You said he did all your tattoos?” He asked a still tipsy and very oblivious Rhea.

“Mhmm.”

This made his eyes narrow as he glanced at her briefly. “He do your piercings too?”

Damian looked like he was 6”5 and well over 250 pounds, large muscles popping out from his band tank and strong legs graced in leather, but Dominik was sure he could take him.

Rhea looked up at Dominik in confusion who was standing with his chest puffed out and his shoulders squared.

“What?” She asked before the realization hit her, causing her to burst out in laughter. “Dom chill, Damian has never seen my tits. That would be like, so weird actually. He’s like my brother.” She tried to explain to an unamused Dominik.

“Yeah, well, your ‘brother’ called me a cocksucker the second I walked in the door.” He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Rhea rolled her eyes. “That’s just how Damian is. It’s his love language, he’s just like me–we say whatever, whenever.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Dominik deadpanned, though his eyes flicked back toward the workspace where Damian sat like he was making a mental note of exactly how many steps it would take to reach him if he needed to.

Rhea smirked, clearly entertained by the little storm brewing under Dominik’s calm facade. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Dominik replied instantly, which only made her smirk deepen.

“Right,” She drawled, flipping another page in Damian’s portfolio. “Now what should we get? Something matching don’t you think?”

This broke Dominik from his staring contest with the back of Damian’s head as his eyes landed on her with a faint smirk.

“Yeah? You wanna match with me Mami?”

Rhea just gave a small little shrug to downplay the whole thing. “I just think it would be cool. Like we could get something to commemorate tonight but I still want it to be badass.”

Dominik was the one to come up with the design—a black and grey octopus with one tentacle wrapped around a human skull and another holding a martini glass.

Rhea went first and was currently laid out on the table on her stomach, shoes kicked off and a lollipop she stole from Damian’s workstation in her mouth as he tattooed a free spot on the back of her calf.

Dominik was still out in the lobby area thumbing through the other artists’ portfolios while she got her tattoo because, brother or not, the thought of someone else even touching Rhea’s–no his calves that he traced absentminded patterns into when they were lounging around or that he massaged after her intense leg day workouts had Dominik about to plot a murder.

“So,” Damian began, stretching out her skin as he dragged the needle along the pattern he laid. “Where did you find the clown?”

The loud music in the shop muffled their conversation as Rhea’s lips curved into a grin around the lollipop stick. “Fate found us.” She declared with a soft sigh.

Damian huffed out an amused breath. “What the hell are you on about? You don’t even believe in putting ketchup on your fries, since when do you believe in fate?”

“Since the universe deposited the perfect man into my lap and let me keep him.” She stated matter-of-factly. “And ketchup is an evil American abomination, you need to free yourself from its vile clutches."

“Please,” He brushed off with a scoff, laser focused on his line work. “Nothing beats a dog with a perfect ketchup drizzle from the Yankees stadium.”

Rhea had to roll her eyes with a grimace and opened her mouth before Damian could start another rant about the Yankees or how everything in New York was much better than the swampland he currently found himself in.

“I know, I know, go Yankees, Aaron Judge is a god, blah blah blah.”

Damian chuckled low in his chest, shaking his head as he wiped the fresh ink with a paper towel.

“I’m just saying,” He grinned, “...you get one of those dogs in the Bronx, it changes you. Makes you rethink your whole life.”

“I already rethought my whole life,” Rhea shot back. “That’s how I ended up here instead of overcrowded sidewalks with rats on every corner eating sad hot dogs with you in Edge’s old dump of a shop.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Damian muttered, dipping the needle back into the ink. “You traded pigeons and rats for alligators and rattlesnakes and somehow think you won.”

“I know I won.” She said through a smirk, rolling the lollipop against her tongue. “My apartment is bigger, my neighbors don’t scream fight at two in the fucking morning, and the guy I’m sleeping with has better tattoos than half the pretentious fucks asking for fine line city skylines and portraits of the Statue of Liberty or whatever the fuck else.” She rambled with a scoff, clearly letting Damian know she had been drinking.

“Yup, you’re winning at life–you and your boyfriend of two seconds, drunk getting matching tattoos that will be very permanent.” He said in that voice that she knew meant he was being all protective and judgey.

“He’s not drunk.” She replied, ignoring everything else he said. “Just me.”

Damian’s hand stilled for a second. “That does not make me feel better.”

“He’s sooooo hot, right?” Rhea asked, ignoring that remark as well.

“He has a fucking mullet and a porn stache.” He muttered.

“Excuse you!” She shot back, playfully glaring over her shoulder, “Dominik is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of fine. He’s hot, admit it.”

Damian let out a sharp exhale through his nose, “Yeah, sure,” He drawled. “Your boyfriend’s real dreamy, Ripley. Dreamy like the guy in a horror movie who walks into the basement when everyone’s screaming at him not to.”

Rhea grinned around her lollipop, absolutely delighted at the jab.

“That’s because he’s brave.” She countered. “And noble, and heroic, and he does this thing with his fingers that makes me—”

“Stop. Stop. Stop.” Damian’s voice was loud and sharp, hands instantly stilling as he shook his head. “Don’t you dare finish that fucking sentence.”

“Ugh!” Rhea scoffed. “No fair, you tell me about your sex-scapades all the time!”

“Because I’m a grown ass man.” He grumbled, returning his attention to finishing the tattoo and getting Rhea and her little finger freak the fuck out of his shop. “You forget I’ve known you since you were nineteen. I don’t need the visual.”

“Fucking prude.” She mumbled under her breath and rolled onto her side slightly so she could peek toward the lobby. Dominik was still pretending to look at portfolios but she knew damn well he was keeping one eye on her like a hawk, jaw tight, thumb brushing along his knuckles like he was deciding if he should break Damian’s nose just on principle.

It made her grin.

“You would actually really like him once you get to know him, you know?” She said, voice a little softer.

Damian just let out a grunt.

“I’m serious. He’s quiet, but he’s got a sharp little bite to him. Kind of like you.”

“That kid is nothing like me.” He scoffed.

Rhea rolled her eyes. “You’re right, Dom doesn’t think he’s god's gift to women and his idea of romance isn’t splitting a bodega sandwich with a girl after last call.”

This got a good laugh out of Damian as they fell into a comfortable silence while he began the shading on her tattoo.

A few minutes later, he did one final wipe along the new ink gracing her calf.

“Alright, you’re done. Don’t mess with it, and for the love of god, stop picking fights in public until it heals.”

Rhea hopped down from the table with a grin. “I don’t pick fights, I finish them. And no promises.” She stood in front of the wall mirror admiring her tattoo and Damian could see the flicker of fondness in her eyes, making him raise a curious brow.

“¡Oye, Sucio, vamos!” He called out to Dominik as he began sanitizing the area and pulling out a new needle. “It’s your turn.”

Dominik appeared seconds later, sauntering into the workspace with a lazy stride, eyes locked on Rhea who was still admiring herself in the mirror.

He approached her as his gaze trailed down to the tattoo. She turned to look at him with a smirk that matched his.

“Like it?” She asked.

“Mhmm.” He muttered. “Looks good Mami.”

Rhea was beaming as she turned to face him fully.

“Where are you getting yours?”

Dominik lifted his arm and bent it, tapping a spot on his tricep. “Here.”

“You’re not gonna get it on your leg like me?” She pondered with a small frown on her face.

“Nah.” He said breezily, undoing the last few buttons on his shirt. “My legs are for my fun, dumb tattoos for me, I get the important ones on my arms.” He explained and that instantly shut her up and made Damian’s brow lift even higher.

Now it was Dominik laying on his stomach on the table, shirt discarded in just his beater, one arm stretched out beside him so Damian could tattoo the back of his tricep and the other bent at the elbow as he rested his chin on his wrist.

Rhea had stolen another lollipop that she had popped into her mouth before grabbing the other rolling stool in Damian’s workstation and pulled it across the wooden floor and parked it right next to Dominik.

She leaned forward and watched him laying completely still and calm as the needle buzzed against his skin.

“You’re not even reacting.” She chuckled, muffled from the candy in her mouth.

Dominik gave a small shrug with the shoulder that wasn’t being worked on and turned his head lazily to look at her. “I could literally fall asleep right now. It’s soothing, I like the sting.” He smirked.

“Same.” Rhea agreed as she scooted closer and leaned forward to rest her chin in the crook of his elbow, inches away from his face.

Damian glanced up at them briefly with a shake of the head watching the woman known for snarling at people who breathed in her direction now making googly eyes and invading the personal space of the guy she dragged into his shop and declared was her boyfriend.

“Rhea,” He began, attention already back on Dominik’s tattoo. “Get out of his face, he’s not going anywhere.”

Her head shot up, suddenly remembering he was even in the room and narrowed her eyes. “Mind your business.” She muttered, making Dominik smirk as she returned back to resting on his arm.

“And stop stealing all the fucking lollipops. One per client. Why do I have to keep telling you that? You eat up all the cherry ones.”

Rhea rolled her eyes, leaning back with a scoff, not having missed any of Damian’s constant lecturing.

“Oh my goshhhh, shut up—"

Dominik reached over and yanked the sucker from her mouth and popped it into his.

“Problem solved.” He declared, voice muffled around the candy.

Rhea grinned.

Damian frowned.

“Espero que te ahogues.” He muttered under his breath and resisted the urge to purposefully pierce the needle too deep into Dominik’s skin. “Sick fucks.”

Dominik sucked the candy once, slow and deliberate, eyes locked on Rhea with the faintest curve of a smirk that had her squeezing her thighs together.

Her tongue jutted out as she began to lean in to lick a stripe along his jaw when Damian called out—

“This is a public establishment, keep the freaky shit to a minimum.”

Rhea let out an offended scoff. “That’s rich coming from you. I’m sure ‘tattooing’ wasn’t all you and Kayden have been on this table doing for the last four hours.”

Damian’s lip curled faintly into a grin. “Mind your fucking business.”

“Hey,” Dominik called out, turning his head to look at Damian over his shoulder. “Don’t talk to her like that.”