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“Mom and Dad are as okay as they’ll ever be with it,” I say as I wiggle into the soft cushions with a contented sigh “Dax is still giving me the stink eye”

“Your brother is a button pusher,” Dominik replies with a chuckle “He’s unco to make you uncomfortable about it”

I grin “Which is why I greatly appreciate you lettingme to California”

Do’ you stay with me You wouldn’t even be here—nor would you have stayed with me in Phoenix—had I not ordered you to do so You’d have never coly”

I stare at hi open in surprise “That’s not true”

“It’s so true,” Dolare “You have stubborn independence down to a tee But whatever… I don’tyou obey Turns me on, actually”

I swing hs but then sobers, eyes pinned on me hard “You’re lucky to have a family that loves you so much”

His words punch into me deeply, but they’re not a revelation “I know that I realize how incredibly lucky I am”

Doaze drift over the ocean He takes a sip of wine, seely content in the silence

“What about your family?” I ask “Are they crazy protective of you like mine are of me? Or are they more hands-off?”

Dominik never loses his smile, but sadness fills his eyes “I don’t have a family”

“What?” I exclaihter How did I not know this? I’ve been deeply intimate with this man… known him for a few months… yet I hadn’t known that about him “How can you not have a family?”

Twisting his neck to bring his attention back to“Lots of people don’t have fauess My parents died in a car accident when I was nine I went to live with randpa—my mom’s father—but he died when I was eleven There weren’t any other faed uncle ona kid So I went into the foster system Bounced around froood and bad side of the syste an older kid into their home on a permanent basis”