Savannah's POV
Dennis, or Dom, or whatever his name is, shakes Theo's hand with a welcoming smile. "Hi, man, nice to meet you."
Theo returns the gesture. "You too, man." He turns to me and places his hand on the lower part of my back. "My girl."
"Nice to meet you." Dennis extends his hand towards me for a handshake.
I force a smile as I shake his hand. "Sorry, what is your name again? I couldn't quite hear." I look over at Emilia.
Emilia smiles kindly. "Don't worry about it. His name is Dominic, but everyone calls him Dom for short."
"Ah, okay." My eyes meet his. "Nice to meet you too, Dom."
He nervously smiles, nods, and then withdraws his soft hand.
He begins to sit at the table, prompting the rest of us to do the same.
Theo sits opposite Emilia, leaving me to sit by his side opposite Dom. Ugh, I don't want to be here.
"So, he's your boyfriend?" Theo asks Emilia whilst giving a quick glance to Dom.
"Yeah, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you." Emilia replies sheepishly.
"You didn't tell him?" Dom questions with a puzzled look on his face.
"Nah, bro, she called you a friend." Theo cuts in before Emilia can reply.
"He's my older brother, and I just met him. I didn't know how to tell him." Emilia clarifies to Dom.
"Hmm." Dom replies, clearly bothered.
"Don't worry about it, man. At least I know about you now." Theo says to lift his mood.
"Yeah, true." He gives Theo a small smile and glances at me briefly. I can tell that the smile was fake.
"So, how long have you both been together?" Theo changes the subject.
"Around six months." Emilia replies.
"Six months? And you're already on holiday together, Dad let you?"
"Yeah, Dad is friends with his family, and we basically live with them, so he trusts him."
"Do you all share a house?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It's big, so it's not as bad as it sounds."
"Ah, okay, nice." Something is off with Theo. "How old are you, bro?" He asks Dom.
Dom looks up from his menu. "22."
"22? Bit old for an 18-year-old, aren't you?"
"Theo!" Emilia laughs, embarrassed by Theo's statement, whereas Dom remains unamused.
"I'm only playing. I get it. Me and her have a 3-year gap." Theo says, referring to me, making all of their eyes shift to me.
"How long have you been together?" Dom asks, clearly interested.
"Two years." Theo replies.
"Two? Sav told me three years last night." Emilia tilts her head to the side, confused.
I begin to feel myself turn red for getting it wrong. "Uh, sorry, I meant we've been officially dating for two years, but we were a thing for a year before that. That's why I got confused and said three years."
Emilia and Dom nod in understanding.
"A thing for a year? Took you a while to make her yours, didn't it?" Dom questions Theo.
"I was still his." I reply defensively, not appreciating Dom's tone.
Theo looks at me proudly. "I didn't like having labels at the time. That was my bad, but she stuck through it."
"Sounds like you're hard work to me." Dom states bluntly, what's wrong with him? His girlfriend is right there.
Theo directs his eyes to Dom and narrows them. "Yeah, to you."
I glance at Emilia, who is oblivious to the tension at the table. Looks like I need to try and save this.
"It wasn't hard at all. It was totally worth it." I say as I hold Theo's hand that's resting on top of the table.
Dom glances at our hands and utters. "Hmm." He then shifts his eyes back to me, studying me and making me feel uncomfortable.
"Anyways, Emilia, you said you've been living with Dom's family for a while. How long was that?" Theo investigates. I'm not surprised. It is his little sister.
"It was for a few years, like two, I think." Emilia replies whilst looking at Dom for confirmation.
"So you were 16 and he was 20?" Theo removes his hand from mine and brings it to his forehead, acting like he's in thought. After a moment, he lowers his hand. "Ah, I get it now. You need to say you've been dating for six months to stay out of jail, right?" Theo declares to Dom with a smirk, clearly implying something.
Everyone's eyes widen in disbelief at how Theo has just said that. I glance at Dom, who looks furious.
"Yo, relax! I'm just messing." Theo begins to laugh without anyone joining at first. I start to fake laugh with him to back my man. Emilia joins in, but Dom doesn't.
He gives Theo a death stare before turning his intense gaze towards me, locking eyes for what seems like an eternity until he finally breaks contact.
When the laughs stop, the table fills with an awkward silence.
"Oh, come on, man. Can't you take a joke?" Theo breaks the silence.
"If imagining your underage sister getting fucked is what makes you laugh, then you need to get your head checked." Dom spits out.
My mouth hangs open in shock.
I look at Theo, who's clenching his jaw with anger. Shall I hold his hand? I don't want to trigger him more. It's not like he's been the calmest person in the world lately.
A big smile masks up the anger on his face. "Nah, that's fucked man. Look, I'm sorry. Let's restart." He calmly suggests.
Woah. I'm genuinely surprised how he handled that.
Dom also looks surprised but then nods his head. "Alright, man."
Finally, all of the tension at the table has lifted.
As the night continues, I find myself barely speaking in the group as I allow the others to talk amongst themselves. Even though Dom seems to have a mood, he still engages in the conversations.
As I'm opposite Dom, I find myself looking at him in more detail. Wow, he really is beautiful. It feels so wrong, but I can't help but admire how hot he is. Emilia doesn't even suit being with him. He can do better. I keep thinking about when I was having sex with him. At that time, I didn't like that he was being so rough with me. But why am I itching to experience it again? When I think about what he did, I feel butterflies. It's pulling me in. I don't care that Theo is next to me. I want to feel Dom again.
Theo's hand on my thigh pulls me out of my thoughts. He gives me the kindest smile, and my heart instantly drops. What am I thinking? I have the most perfect man by my side, yet I'm looking at another who isn't even available. I smile back at Theo as I intertwine my hand with his.
I need to tell him about Dom. I have made this hard for myself by waiting. Now he definitely won't take it well, and Emilia and Dom will be involved, which will be humiliating. The consequences are greater this time, but it'll be worth it in the end. I won't need to live with this secret. I can't let this drag on for longer than it needs to.
Eventually, our food arrives, and we all begin to eat. I eat less than half of my food as my appetite slowly died this evening.
"Don't you like your food, Savannah?" I look up and see Dom's intrigued eyes as he lifts his drink and takes a sip.
Before I can reply, Theo cuts in. "How do you know she's called Savannah?"
Dom pauses drinking, lowers his glass, then clears his throat. "One of you said it."
Theo shakes his head. "Nah, nobody did."
I try to recall the entire evening to see if anyone has said my full name, and I can tell Dom's trying to do the same.
Emilia places her cutlery down. "I'm sure I said it when I said hi to her."
"You called her Sav then." Theo is adamant that nobody has said my full name.
"No, I didn't, I called her Savannah." Emilia sticks with her story.
"Yeah, she did." Dom interjects.
Theo pauses as he contemplates. "Hmm, I guess so." He continues to eat, indicating he's done with the conversation.
I begin to speak up. "To answer your question, Dom, I do like my food. I just feel full, so I'm taking it slow."
"Okay, just take it easy." He gives me a comforting smile.
I return the smile as I continue to eat. His unexpected kindness warms up my heart.
After we finish our meal, the others continue to engage in conversation. Meanwhile, I've been occupied in my thoughts, barely contributing to the discussions.
"Sorry, it's dad. I need to take this." Emilia announces as she picks up her phone from the table and excuses herself.
"She's going to be forever." Dom declares as he turns back to face us.
"Is she always on call with him?" Theo asks.
"Yep, no matter the time or place. She always answers." I can't help but sense annoyance in his tone.
"She must really love her dad." I add.
"Oh, a lot." He's definitely fed up.
"I don't get it. He was barely in her life." Theo states, clearly bothered.
"He's done a lot for her since... and I guess she's afraid of losing him again, doesn't want to let him down."
"Yeah, makes sense. So what do you do for work?" Theo changes the subject.
Dom hesitates to answer the question at first. "I -uh, I'm a model, but I also work on the business side of things from time to time."
Wow, I can't believe this guy! How many more lies are there? Is his accent even German? That's the only other thing I know about him.
"Do you manage social media when you work on the business side of things?" I ask. I'm so annoyed by his lies.
"Yeah, sometimes, not that much. What do you do for work, Theo?" He directs his attention away from me.
"Oh, I don't have a job."
Dom scoffs. "And you're what? 23?" He says in amusement. I can't believe this guy.
"Yeah, it's shit, but I'm looking around." Theo took that so well. I'm impressed.
"Good luck, man." The way Dom says it shows he doesn't mean well.
"So, what do you do as a model?"
I zone out of their conversation. I can't listen to Dom anymore. He loves himself too much. He thinks he's better than everyone. How is Emilia with a person like him?
I feel my phone buzz, so I take a look.
Theo:
Take my keys and wait in the car. Seen as though we have time, we might as well do something fun.
I look up at Theo, who is busy talking to Dom. Under the table, his car keys are in his palm, ready for me to take.
I get up from my seat and take Theo's keys. "I just need to step out for some air." The guys nod, and then I make my way to his car.
This is so exciting! This has lifted my mood!
I unlock the doors and sit in the passenger seat impatiently. How long is he going to be?
I don't know how I feel about Theo and Dom being alone. I hope they're not arguing. They have been clashing for most of the evening. I don't know if it's because Theo is being overprotective over his sister, but they don't get along well. Theo isn't even the problem. Dom has been instigating most of it, and surprisingly, Theo has been reacting calmly. You can tell they're only keeping peace for me and Emilia.