The Story of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book One

Chapter Four

As we stood outside of the restaurant, a laughing girl wearing monarch butterfly wings ran by us screaming, "I'm a fairy! I'm a fairy!"

Her parents hurried in her wake. They jostled a man holding a grande-sized coffee who was going in the opposite direction, making him spill it. Drops of the scalding liquid narrowly missed me, but I was pulled out of danger by Dominic who picked me up and spun me away. The unfortunate man who the parents bumped cursed and wiped his scalded hand on his blue jogging suit as he passed by. I glanced at him and winced. My emotions felt just as scalded.

Dominic had a stricken look as he held me off the ground by my waist.  "Are you okay? Oh, my god!"

I nodded as I stared at him face to face. I'd never seen Dom at this angle and didn't realize how pretty his eyes were beneath those chunky black glasses of his. His eyes were the soft gray of a storm cloud before it turned dark with rain. 

When I nodded, he released me and scrubbed his hands through his short auburn hair. "What just happened in there? Did you do that, Matt?" 

While biting my bottom lip, I stared at the sidewalk.  "I should check on Franco," I said instead of answering Dom's questions. I turned from him and stared at the red door.  

Luis growled as he sat on his haunches in front of it. There was no question of whether he'd let me go inside.  It must have looked insane to Dom when I started to argue with Luis. "I was one of the last people to see Franco. So if he's dead, someone will blame me."

Dominic clutched my arm, and I glanced at him. He must have thought I was talking to him. "Why would anyone blame you, Matt? You didn't make my dad accuse you of those crazy things or pull a gun on you. None of this was your fault."

"Dom, do you really trust me?" My gaze was direct and searching. He'd just seen a hint of my power.

 I wanted to trust Dom; he'd defended me against his father. But, If Mike could betray me after years of being a father to me, could Dominic do the same? Yet Dominic had just chosen me over his father. I don't think anyone had ever done that before, and I wanted that to count. I kept finding out that when those I trusted had their safety in the balance, they chose themselves. Not me. Never me. 

At that moment, I couldn't say that. Someone chose me. Dom chose me.

While I struggled with my wariness, Dom's large, soft gray eyes blinked with hurt behind his chunky black glasses. "Why do you even ask? Matt, you're the one that doesn't trust me. When were you going to tell me you were leaving?"

"Um..." As I worked to come up with a good explanation, three women wearing bright spring dresses of pink, green, and lavender strolled past us. They were laughing and holding shopping bags. They reminded me that It was almost spring, and the first day of spring was the day of my birthday. Why had this happened? I had made my plans with care, but they'd shattered.

Finally, I said, "Meet me at Bertha's Diner, Dom. It's too busy to talk here. I'd go with you now, but I need to grab my things from Aisa's before I see you." My deadline for staying in San Francisco had expired.

Dom pulled on the hairs of his neatly trimmed beard before he nodded. After knowing him for so long, I figured out that it was a habit he did when he was feeling insecure. So, when he pulled me into a hug, it wasn't a surprise. Dom tended to do that when he was upset about his dad, or bad news.   "Promise me you'll show up, Matt. If you disappear on me, I'll spend all my money finding you."

I felt awkward standing there with my arms hanging down, but the hug felt good. Needed. I inhaled him like he was my air. Dominic smelled like baking bread and felt like an anchor.  His sweetness spread over my soul like honey. My arms reached up to hug the large man back.