You ride. I ride.

21. No Role Modelz

<Letty's POV>

"You know much I shipped you and Dom, Letty, but I have to say. Owen makes a great addition to our family." 

"I agree, Dom might kill him though." 

She laughed at my joke with hesitation, knowing well that something like that could happen. 

"What is he doing here?" Dom pointed at Owen as he saw him sitting at the garden table. 

"I was invited," Owen stated calmly taking another sip from his beer. To be honest, I had my reservations about being Owen's girlfriend but I was very satisfied by how this had been going until now. 

"Well, now, you've been uninvited. This is my house. My rules."

Owen just scoffed, slowly standing up, walking towards Dom. 

"Let's have a chat, don't we? Then we'll see if I can stay." 

<10 minutes later>

I have no idea what Owen said to Dom but when they came back Dom had calmed down and didn't bitch around like usual. Everyone sat down at the table, enjoying the barbeque. 

"I am sorry, Letty. Not about Sam but about how I was acting about Owen. You deserve to be with someone like Owen and I am really happy for you," he hugged me before I could reply, kissing me on the top of my head caringly.

I nodded at him, unsure of what I should reply.

From that moment forward, Dom was a perfect gentleman. He stopped being jealous and possessive over me. He didn't make me feel bad for dating Owen, he treated me like a friend, politely. 

Yet, something in our chemistry had changed. We were never alone in a room, we stopped hanging out together, only in group activities he nodded at me. We avoided body contact like the plague and our playful banter came to a halt. 

"Letty, I need to ask you for a favor," Mia's soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts. 

"Sure, what do you need?" 

"I want to have a date night with Brian, so I need you to take the guys somewhere tomorrow." 

"Uh, yeah sure, they can come to Owen's place, he's out of town with his brother for the weekend." 

"Great, I am so excited. Brian will convince the guys to say yes."

<The next day>

"Yo, Letty, we brought beer and pizza!" Vince and Leon entered the room without knocking. 

"Wow, didn't know you guys could be so thoughtful," I chuckled. They knew I was being sarcastic, I loved both of them like they were my brothers. 

"Jesse and Dom are coming later, they were catching up with some girls I think," Vince avoided looking me in the eye when mentioning Dom's interactions with other girls. I didn't mind Dom hanging out with other girls. I was happy with Owen. Had I wished Dom and I would end up together? Sure, but you can't always have what you want. 

Noticing that I had been thinking for quite a while, I resumed our conversation:"As long as they don't bring rabies into this house, they can come as late as they want."

We started plating the dining table and started playing some music. 

"Not again, I can't hear this song anymore," I yelled as Leon started blasting No Role Modelz from the stereo.

"You can never get enough from J.Cole! First things first: rest in peace Uncle Phil. For real, you the only father that I ever knew!" Leon yells with the lyrics, swaying his bottle of vodka in the air as if he were at a concert.

We all started eating pizza and dancing to the now acceptable music, swaying to the beat. Vince was standing on the table raising his glass as if he were giving a toast: "One time for my L.A sisters, one time for my L.A hoes"

The knock on the door interrupted his speech earning a lot of boo's from Leon's side. 

"My man!" Vince yelled, shortly after revealing Jesse and Dom who had joined the party. 

"We brought some additional guests," Dom pointed to some blonde girls in very short skirts. I groaned internally, "was he seriously turning this family night into one of his skank parties? I really don't have the patience for a Brittany telling me how many calories are in a slice of pizza. 

"Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice, can't put the blame on you," Dom came dancing towards me, singing the lyrics full-heartedly, "fool me three times, fuck the peace sign," we hugged shortly, revealing the fact that he was drunk. Usually we refrained from any physical contact except for times when either one of us was drunk. 

------------

I was standing alone in the kitchen, trying to clear my head. On a dare I had drunk 6 beers within 30 seconds and my head was starting to spin accordingly. I splashed some water on my face and jumped onto the counter with significantly more effort than usual, and rested my head against the cool window. 

"You know that Dom and I are together, right?" A blonde girl who I had seen lurking around the race tracks suddenly said to me. Where the fuck did she come from?

"Huh," I almost laughed, she really thinks she could tie a guy like Dom down? "Good for you."

"I see the way you look at him." 

"What's that?" I ask, already regretting taking the bait. Usually I would ask in order to see her fumble around with accusations, making me laugh with all her bullshit. But today, I was fighting a massive headache. 

"You love him. It doesn't matter whether you're with Owen or not, we all know it. The girl from down the street obsessed with Dom, trying so hard to fit in." 

"You know what's the funny thing about that?" I ask rhetorically. "I don't pretend. The races, the cars? They are my world. Dom happens to be there too, just like Vince, Leon, and Owen. The one who is the actual outsider is you. And no matter how short your skirt is, it won't ever be short enough for you to fit in." 

"You're pathetic, Letty. You know that? I mean look at you, you look like a guy? What guy would want to fuck that? Let alone love you?" 

"I think we've heard enough out of you for today," a deep voice suddenly interrupted the conversation. 

"Dom, hey!" The blonde girl, whose name I still don't know, jumped up, pushing her chest out. I almost laughed. 

"I think you should leave," Dom continued, his demeanor showing nothing but seriousness. Sometimes he would get like that. He wasn't mad, or mean, he just had this unwavering expression of calmness and intentness.

"But, Dom!" The girl tried to convince Dom otherwise, but his stern facial expression shut her right up. 

"Where did you learn that trick?" I asked, referring to his shushing eye gaze. 

"It's from a book called 'How to bring dumb people to shut up'"

"You've upgraded from movies to books then?" 

"Never. Movies are so much more useful. I'm sure that Bruce Lee had a look that could shut people up too."

"Comparing yourself to Bruce Lee? Cocky today, I see." 

"I just saved you from -," he stopped, "uh," he frowned, trying to remember her name. 

"Don't even know her name, huh?" 

"Now, I don't need to know her name anyway," he chuckled at his own asshole ways. 

"I don't need your saving Dom, I could have handled barbie on my own."

"I know, but I didn't want to see fists flying tonight. Pretty sure that the cops are going to get involved someday."

"And you're going to get an angry boyfriend involved someday." 

"Nothing we haven't seen yet," he puts his arm around me, hugging me gently. 

"Am I interrupting?" I flinched at Owen's voice interrupting this intimate moment.