Unlucky in Love

It had been three days since we had talked to each other.

We were still in Paris. Dominic had subjected himself to sleeping on the couch and going into work everyday—all day. And, to make things so much better, he had to work with Gage.

I couldn’t believe how hypocritical Dominic was. I mean, I kissed Gage once.

He fucked Leah how many times?

It was so boring to sit in bed, staring at the room. It was too quiet in here, and I heard the door open. A few moments later, Dominic came into the bedroom.

Of course, he didn’t say anything to me. He just grabbed his laptop and went back to the door, not even making eye contact.

“Dominic?” I said, just before he left the room. He turned around. “Can we just talk for a minute?” I asked him.

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked coldly.

I sighed to myself. “About us. I—we need to figure this out. We can’t be good parents to Emma if you hate me for something so stupid.”

“Ember, it’s not that you kissed him. It’s that I don’t believe that’s all that happened.”

I got out of bed and went up to him. “Nothing else happened.” I swore. “Just believe me—I’m not lying about this.” I grabbed his arm when he started to walk out. “It’s not like you’ve done any better!” I hissed, not planning to.

He shrugged me off. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked sharply.

I just shook my head and started back towards the bed. “And people say I’m naïve,” I muttered. “See you later,” I told him, and then got into bed, facing away from him.

…Dominic’s POV…

All day I kept asking myself what the hell was wrong with me.

And yet, I couldn’t find an answer.

I was such a hypocrite, and I knew that Ember didn’t deserve how I’ve been treating her. So why was I doing it?

Maybe I just expected her to be the better person.

Ever since I’ve known her, I thought she was perfect—a bitch, but perfect. She looked different from every other girl. She never needed make-up, she had never dyed her hair or got colored contacts…and she always seemed to know the answer to everything.

But I hadn’t really known her all that well, after all.

I never saw her flaws until we were together. And even then, they weren’t that bad. Maybe it was just the fact that she wasn’t the person everyone thought she was that threw me off.

I would never admit this to anyone, but when we got engaged, I was actually looking forward to being with her. Yeah, I had had Leah, but she was a bitch who always wanted her way.

Ember let me have my way when it was called for. She was understanding and was probably the most caring and devoted person I’ve ever met.

And I was being a total asshole to her because of a drunken mistake.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

I checked the time on my phone, and it was about eight o’clock—which meant I could finally get the hell out of here.

I grabbed my stuff and went to the elevator. Once I was downstairs, and outside, I went to the rental car I’d been using for the last two weeks. I really hated my job—and I hated my dad for convincing me to go back to work for him.

As I got to the car, I saw Gage leaning against it and texting, as if waiting for me.

“Who’re you texting?” I asked, unlocking my door.

“Your wife.” He said, and I wanted to punch him. “She told you we didn’t hook up, right?”

“Something like that.” I said. “Why?”

Gage straightened up away from the car and smirked. “Just making sure I’m not in trouble with my boss.”

“No, but I could really care less if you get hit by a bus right now.”

“Oh, come on, I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just giving her attention, which she clearly needed from you seeing as how she was all too willing to come on to me. I didn’t make her drink, I didn’t make her kiss me, and I certainly didn’t make her show me her tits—”

“What?” I snapped.

Gage smiled arrogantly. “Yeah, and if I were her husband, I would show her attention. She’s worth the time, Dominic.”

“Go fuck yourself.” I said, getting into the car and starting it with more force than necessary.

* * *

Ember wasn’t in the main part of the suite, but I heard her music from the bathroom. I walked in, and she was taking a bath and had her eyes closed, completely oblivious to the fact that I was there.

I turned off her music, and she opened her eyes and glanced over at her iHome, and then jumped when she saw me standing there.

“Oh, my God, don’t scare me like that!” she hissed.

I didn’t reply.

“Can you go? I’m almost done.”

I still didn’t say anything. She sighed and stood up. She wrapped a towel around herself and got out, and then pulled the stopper out of the bathtub to drain the water.

She started to walk out, but I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.

“I’m not going to get mad, but what exactly did you do with Gage?”

Ember sighed. “We made out for a bit.”

“With your shirt off?”

“Only for a second.”

I met her eyes, and I believed her. “Why’d you drink?”

“Because it sounded good at the time. I haven’t drank any alcohol since the last time we were here.” She told me. “And we started talking about how I didn’t feel like I was getting much attention from you, and it just kind of spiraled like that. It wasn’t intentional.”

I sighed. “But you promise you didn’t have sex?”

She nodded. “I promise we didn’t have sex. You’re still the only guy I’ve ever been—and I only want you to be. That’s why I’m trying so hard to make this work—I want to be with you, Dominic. And I want you to be with me.”

“And I want to be with you…it’s just…”

“We can’t trust each other?” she finished for me, and I nodded solemnly. It was true—we didn’t trust each other.

“But I want to trust you,”

“And I want to trust you, too.” She replied. “So what do we do? Act like nothing happened?”

I shook my head. “I think that we need to go home, or at least leave Paris. We need to really just be alone—you and me.”

“I fully agree,”

“So, it’s up to you.”

“I want to leave Paris?”

“And go where?”

…Ember’s POV…

“Are you ready?” Dominic asked me.

I nodded and grabbed my bags and started wheeling them out to the hallway. It would be a really long trip, but I would do my best to make sure it was really fun—and God knows we needed that now.

We got everything loaded into the car, and then started on the fourteen-hour drive to our destination.

Neither of us picked it—we seriously just took out a map of Europe and jabbed at a random location—without looking—with a pen.

And we landed on Rome.

And it will be good—it will be fine.

I just had to pray nothing would go wrong.