I didn't answer his calls the next day and deleted his text messages without looking. I wasn't angry with him any longer, I just wasn't in the mood to deal with all of his bullshit right now.
Okay, I might be still a little bit angry with him, but that wasn't the case.
Sierra called today, saying she was leaving Spain this evening and was going to be at the airport tomorrow morning of local time. I told her she would have to get a cab since my car was still long until done. She wasn't happy.
For some reason, she had some aversion to driving with people she didn't know. It had to do with some guy who didn't want to let her out until she agreed to go out with him once. Since that time, she hated cabs. And men.
However, it was either that or walking on foot, because there was no way my Giulietta was going to be ready until tomorrow.
I was just explaining it to her for the hundredth time when someone knocked on my door.
"Hold on." I told her and looked through the peephole to check who it was.
When I saw who was standing on the other side, I nearly dropped my phone.
"I'll call you back." I said and ended the call.
I knew I was going to hear about it later, but whatever. I had bigger problems to deal with right now.
Or one big problem, to be exact.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, throwing the door open.
Dominic tsk-ed.
"Is that how you treat your guests?" he clicked his tongue. "Terrible."
I didn't let him get under my skin.
"Who let you in?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"A very charming elderly lady, who apparently lives in the same building as you." He leaned in as if he was about to share some secret. "I have to tell you, Sweetie, you live with some old people."
I sighed.
Of course that of all the people who lived here, he had to run into Mrs. Richardson. She was probably the only inhabitant who would let in a complete stranger.
"Let me guess. You have her thinking you are her long-forgotten grandson who happened to walk by and noticed his long-forgotten grandmother." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Actually, I just told her my girlfriend lived here and she didn't want to let me up because I made her very, very angry." he said with a charming smile that I supposed was the very same that convinced poor miss Richardson to listen to him.
"You're going to be the reason she comes knocking at my door and congratulating me on getting married." Mrs. Richardson was so old she didn't know the term girlfriend. To her, you were either single or married. I eyed my boyfriend. "What is the real reason behind I'm seeing you invading my personal space?"
"It's day two of our meet and greet. And since you haven't been nice enough to pick up this," he dangled his phone in front of my face. "I figured I had to go and pay you a visit in person."
"You know, there was a reason for which I haven't answered your calls." I said and propped my hip against the door frame.
"Bullshit." He responded.
Before I could react, he brushed past me and stepped into my apartment.
"Get your traps, Sweetie. We're going out." he said, looking around.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, chasing him.
"I'm helping you get your things. Where is your jacket? We're already late."
I stared at him. Late? What the hell was he talking about?
"I'm not going anywhere." I stated, approaching the couch.
The springs groaned under my weight when I dropped onto the cushions heavily, kicking my sock-clad feet onto the coffee table.
"Yes, you are. We're supposed to be somewhere in fifteen minutes, so if you don't hurry, we're going to be late, and you know how much I... Oh, God, are those muffins?"
"Leave them alone!" I sprung of off the couch and made a beeline to him.
"Don't touch them, don't look at them, don't breathe in their direction -"
I watched, horrified, as he unwrapped the paper and -
Oh no, he wasn't going to -
"And don't lick them." I finished in a groan.
He grinned as he did just that.
"Sorry, Sweetie, you were too late." Dominic winked. "But now that I've already licked it, you can't take it back, can you?"
If looks could kill, he would have been a dead man by now.
"You can take it and choke on it now, for all I care." I drawled out.
"Thank you." he replied with his mouth full, spitting crumbs all over the place. "Now, we better get going. Unless you liked your little ride yesterday?"
I showed him the finger and went back to the couch. He could eat all of the muffins now, I wasn't going anywhere. He on the other hand...
"Get out." I extended my arm towards the door, not looking at him.
"Oh, I am. Just not without you."
I rolled my eyes.
"I thought we were done with all the getting-to-know-each-other thing, Dominic Malcolm Jeremiah Sambler?"
"Oh, you don't know anything yet."
This time, I did turn to him, raising a brow.
"Why, do you have a fourth name?"
"No." he shot me a bland look. "But I have somewhere to be. And you, too. So if you could just -"
I spun around, back to facing the wall.
"Nope."
His sigh could be heard from the kitchen to here. He didn't complain, though. In fact, I was quite sure he finally relented and left.
I was just turning around to check if he was gone when a shadow fell upon me.
My head snapped back just in time to see Dominic lean over me. God, how could he move so quietly?
The sound that escaped me when he lifted me off the couch and threw my body over his shoulder wasn't human.
"What is it with you and picking people up?" I screeched, pounding his back.
"I can't help it. I just sweep women off their feet." he replied in a careless tone.
"When I sweep you off your -"
He bounced, making my head bump into his back and my middle hit his shoulder.
And let me tell you, there were some hard back and shoulder.
"If you leave the apartment open, I'm going to be very, very angry." I warned.
"I won't leave it open but you'll still be angry, though."
True.
I couldn't quite see what was happening, but I heard the clinking of keys. I didn't even bother asking him where he'd gotten them. Knowing me, I'd probably left them on the kitchen counter, right where everyone could see them.
But I wasn't expecting company, for fuck's sake.
"Can I at least know where we're going?" I asked.
"I can tell you, but you still wouldn't know where it is."
He was most probably right. The only places I knew in this town were my apartment, the campus, and the nearest grocery. And I doubted we were heading to any of that.
Once outside, Dominic placed me back on my feet. I didn't miss the occasion to punch him in the stomach. He grunted but didn't budge, which only made me want to hit him harder. I got inside his car, though, because truth be told, I wanted to know where he was taking me.
Curiosity killed the cat and so on but I was beyond caring at this point.
But then again, cats have nine lives, right?
I didn't know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn't an apartment complex. When he stopped in front of a huge block of flats, I thought he's just forgotten something and made no attempt to get out.
"I didn't get you all the way here so you could stay in the car, Sweetie." he said, opening my door.
I blinked.
"I thought you weren't taking me to your apartment. You know, because of my virtuous demeanor."
I looked at him pointedly.
"Then it's a good thing it's not my apartment." he winked. "Now come on. We are late."
I cocked a brow but jumped out.
"Is whoever lives here such a control freak as you?" I asked, closing the door.
"I am not a control freak." he protested. "And no, Ezra and Debbie don't give a damn about time. I, on the other hand, do."
"Control freeeaaak." I sang as he turned and started walking.
"What are you mumbling?" he called over his shoulder.
"Nothing."
I grinned and followed. This was going to be a looong night.
~*~
As it turned out, we had to get to the top floor.
And as it turned out, the elevator was out of order.
Which meant we had to suffer through a shitload of stairs to get to the eight floor.
Mmm, who would have guessed?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd done it on purpose, just to piss me off.
He didn't seem to be bothered by it, though.
By the time we made it, I was panting like mad and was pretty sure my face was the color of a ripe tomato. Dominic on the other hand, looked like he could do it at least a three more times up and down, and still look like a newborn.
God. I hated him sometimes.
I was leaning against the wall, trying to catch my breath, when the door opened.
I forced myself to stand on my own to feet and came to Dominic's side.
When I turned my head to see who was standing in the doorway, I saw Jesus.
Or, at least, his perfect doppelganger, just without a beard and dressed in jeans and a checkered button-up shirt.
And, I had to admit, he was some hot version of Jesus.
His warm brown eyes rested on me and his lips curled in a slight smile.
"Glad you finally made it." he said.
"Yeah, would've been here faster if someone agreed to go willingly instead of making me throw her over my shoulder." He glared at me.
I glared back.
Confusion marred the guy's face when he looked back at me.
"He's thrown you over his shoulder?" he asked.
"What, he doesn't normally do that?" I raised a brow.
"With me, never." he grinned, then stepped back, inviting us inside. "Come on. Debbie can't wait."
Oh, the Debbie again. I tried to remember what Dominic had said earlier in the car. Something about some Debbie and Ezra?
Even if I've read all the books, I wasn't exactly Sherlock, but putting two and two together, I suspected the Jesus guy's name was Ezra. But where was -
"Are they here?" a high-pitched voice rang from somewhere in the apartment.
Ezra frowned.
"Maybe for once, you could come and see instead of trying to make me deaf?" He yelled back.
A second later, a girl appeared in the hallway. When she came closer, I noticed that her hair and eyes were the same shade as Ezra's. Her face features were more delicate than his but still, I suspected that if they weren't siblings, they must have been related somehow.
"Oh, so you are here!" she exclaimed, smiling.
I watched as she approached Dominic and pressed herself to his chest. His arms clenched around her as he chuckled, burying his nose in her hair.
"Hi, Daby-Baby." he said.
The girl stepped back and punched him in the stomach. Dominic laughed and she rolled her eyes.
I was already starting to like her.
"Does he treat you this way, too?" she asked, turning to me.
"You have no idea." I replied, shaking my head.
Her smile showed understanding when she stepped closer and extended her hand.
"I'm Debbie. But because those two asshats call me that," she paused, throwing a pointed look over her shoulder. "I'm scarred for life. So I'd rather you called me something else."
Oookaaay..
"Um... What do you suggest?"
She shrugged.
"My full name is Deborah, but I hate it. You may call me Borah, if you want."
I smiled knowingly. Good to know I wasn't the only one with the name issues.
"I'm Abi." I said, squeezing her hand.
She released me and stepped back, but a devilish grin appeared on her face.
"Oh, I know. You don't even know how long I've been dying to meet the girl who actually had enough balls to destroy our Dommie's favorite toy."
Daby-Baby? Dommie? I wasn't sure what their relation was, but I could tell they were quite close.
I laughed quietly at her comment.
"Well, I didn't do it on purpose then. But thinking about it now," I glanced at him over her shoulder, smirking smugly. "I would gladly do it again."
He snorted.
"Oookay, children, time to move the party somewhere appropriate." Ezra said. "Come on, come on, to the living room, people."
"I'm just two years younger than you, idiot." Borah rolled her eyes. "Stop calling me a child."
He stuck his tongue out at her. She did the same.
"Uh... Is he your brother or something?" I asked Borah quietly.
She burst out laughing.
"What? No! Wait." she stopped suddenly, as if realizing something. "You don't know who we are?"
She gestured between her and the guy. I shook my head.
"Of course you don't." she sighed. "Because why to tell your new girlfriend about your best friends in the world, huh?"
She elbowed Dominic in the side.
I didn't like the way she said girlfriend, but I didn't push it. I made a mental note to myself to ask her about it later.
"So you already know that I'm Borah, Dom's friend. And this," she pointed to Jesus's doppelganger. "is my cousin Ezra."
He flashed me a grin.
"And no, he's not Jesus, although he likes to think of himself as one." Borah went on. "The fact that he doesn't know how to introduce himself properly only confirms it."
I bit back a laugh as Ezra protested:
"Hey! I was just about to introduce myself properly when someone came out of nowhere yelling, as if it was too hard to go check herself."
Borah flipped him the finger. He did the same.
God, they were like peas and carrots or something.
"Soo, will we move to the living room, please, or are we going to spend the night here, arguing?" Dominic sounded irritated.
"We are going to end up arguing anyway." Borah stated. "But fine, if you don't like our hall so much, then come."
She took my hand and tugged me with her. I threw Dominic a surprised look over my shoulder but went along. There was something about this girl that made me like her immediately.
She just had this easy-going demeanor about her. It was something I envied.
Or maybe it was just the fact that she liked pissing off Dominic as much as I did.
Whatever it was, I decided I wanted to be friends with her. And Sierra would like to, too.
"I'm really sorry for my cousin." she said, leading me through the hallway. "He can be a jackass without manners sometimes, but he's not that bad. But if you tell him I said this, I am going to murder you in your sleep, Dom's girlfriend or not. Got it?"
I laughed.
"I'll try not to."
"Good." she nodded with a smile.
Borah released me just when we came into the living room. It was nice and spacious, just like the whole apartment. I didn't know much about Ezra or Borah yet, but looking at how they lived, I guessed they were quite wealthy. Their TV was huge, the furniture modern, the windows big -
And there was another guy sitting on the couch.
He was talking on the phone, completely oblivious to us. I paused in the doorway, not quite sure what to do. The boys disappeared somewhere, and now there was only me, Borah and the guy, whoever he was.
Borah turned to me, raising a brow.
"Do you know Max?" she asked.
"Nope."
"Okay. So this is Max." she gestured to the guy. "Dom's roommate."
I nodded, taking him in. Seriously, I don't know if Dominic had any rule saying he befriended only hot people, and if he did, spending time with me was a huge understatement, but damn, this guy was hot. He had this wild look of a typical bad boy, dressed all in black, with black messy hair, brushed back with the I-don't-give-a-damn way I new girls loved. The only colourful thing about him were the eyes - vibrant blue, like the sky in the middle of winter.
Now, if he was the guy Dominic lived with, I was't suprised that he was worried about my virtuous demeanor.
There was some dark edge to him, and if I was attracted to trouble, there would have been a huge possibility I would find myself trapped.
Unfortunately, it was trouble that was attracted to me, so I didn't see dating him in the nearest future. Damn me.
"Hello!" Borah waved her arms furiously. "It's me!"
Max frowned and flipped her off. He didn't hang up, though. He turned himself slightly away from her and kept murmuring into the phone.
"Oh, hell to the no." she muttered.
Before I could guess what she had in mind, she stormed through the room and attacked Max. The boys came into the room just in time to see her snatch the phone out of his fingers and said to the speaker:
"Lover boy will call back later. Don't interrupt us, please."
Then she ended the call and handed the phone back to Max, smiling sweetly.
"No thanks needed."
He scowled at her.
"You do realize that now I'm going to get my ass kicked for having some other girl answer my phone?" he asked, raising a brow.
Borah rolled her eyes.
"Puh-lease." She said. "The girl knows you're a man whore. If she wants to deal with someone like you, she has to accept it."
I turned when I heard a whistle.
"Good God." Ezra mused, eying his cousin. "Remind me to never talk on a phone with you in the room."
"Yeah." Dominic added, smirking. "Me, too."
Borah shook her head.
"You guys are all disgusting." she declared. Then, to me, "You have no idea how happy I am to finally have a girl in the house. I was beginning to worry that soon I'd start burping and grow some balls if I spend any more time alone with them."
"Hey!" Dominic exclaimed, coming to stand beside me. "I don't burp."
Borah snorted. "Yeah, right."
I stiffened when he dropped a heavy arm over my shoulders, drawing me closer to his warm body.
"I honestly don't burp." he whispered into my hair.
I had no idea if the cousins and Max knew about us being fake, so I decided to play along. Relaxing as much as I could, I raised my head to look at him.
"I thought you weren't an honest person." I teased.
"Because I'm not. But this time, I'm serious. Oh," he raised a finger. "and I don't snore, too."
He grinned.
"I don't find this kind of information useful."
"Oh, but you will."
I giggled silently as he bent down and pressed a light kiss to the top of my head.
It was still a part of play. Obviously.
"Ohh, you guys are sooo sweeet." Borah sighed, smiling. "I think I'm going to vomit."
"Try not burping while you do it!" Max called from the couch.
He was on his phone again, supposedly sending a message. The phone flew from his grasp, though, when Borah's pillow hit its target.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, raising his hands." It's twice now!"
He stood up and pointed his finger at her.
"If I have it damaged, you're going to get me a new one."
Borah raised a hand and scratched her cheek with her middle finger. Max swung at her with the pillow, but never managed to throw it.
Dominic approached him and plucked the pillow out of his hands and raised it above his head.
"Okay, guys! This," he waved his hand. "is the pillow of speech."
I raised a brow.
"The pillow of speech."
"Yes." he looked very serious saying it. "Whoever holds it has the power to speak. And because now I am the one having it, I'm going to talk."
"But -"
"No, Sweetie, you're not following the rules again." he said, emphasizing the word 'again', which gained me a strange look from Borah." I'm beholding the pillow right now, which means only I get to speak.
"Fine. But hurry."
Dominic sent me a bemused look.
"Are you finished now?"
I nodded.
"Good." he stated. "Now, everybody listen. We've congregated here today to do something particular. And discussing our levels of morality is not a part of it."
He punctuated his words with a hard glare in Borah's direction.
"However," he went on, sounding as if he was having a speech in the middle of Senate's meeting room, not Borah's and Ezra's living room. "we came here to discuss something else. Namely, our experiences."
He glanced at me then, a wicked smile playing at the edges of his lips.
"We," he said, lowering his voice to a husky murmur. "came here to play."
______________________________________
A/N: Well, helloooo, Borah. And Ezra. And Max.
Sooo, how do you like them? Let me know in the comments below!