I'm glad you guys enjoyed the little fantasy! I DEFINITELY know what you mean about the near misses. Hell, I'm getting impatient waiting for them to hook up and it's my story! Hahaha.
Here's the next part! Thanks again for the kind words and thoughts. I love hearing your guys' take on the characters!!
* * * * CHAPTER TWENTY * * * *
“What’s wrong?” Derek asked again.
“Nothin.” Dominick forced a smile.
“Hmm. Let me think. Your mood was great until you overheard me invite Gina to my soccer game tonight. Could this possibly be related?”
“You know, you could probably work as a detective if your current job doesn’t work out for you!” Dominick glared, not pretending anymore.
“So you still have a problem with me and girls, then?” Derek asked.
“It’s not you and girls, Derek. It’s you and meaning what you say. You put up this macho front like ‘Oh I told her not to expect to hear from me because my best friend’s coming and I haven’t seen him, blah blah blah’ and then two days later I’m meeting her? I mean, it’s fine. But I guess a heads up would have been nice at least.” Dominick ranted.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal!” Derek reasoned.
“You’re making it into a big deal, Derek! You asked me what was wrong fifty times. Just let me stew over it for five minutes and move on, would you? If it was that big of a deal, I would have brought it up directly!”
“I don’t understand why you’re all pissed off.” Derek finally said.
“I wasn’t pissed off! Jesus! Did you expect me to do cartwheels down the street in rapid succession after hearing she was invited tonight? Forgive me if I’m not enthused, but there’s a difference between ‘not enthused’ and pissed off. It wasn’t until you wouldn’t drop the subject that I started getting annoyed!” Dominick’s anger was rising as he spoke. He knew this day was coming, but he wasn’t expecting it so soon.
“I’ll just uninvited her.” Derek said firmly.
“Good.” Dominick said.
“Are you serious? You really want me to do that?” Derek asked in shock.
“No, I don’t. But that’s exactly what I mean. I don’t ask you to do overly nice things; you just offer them, but with zero intention of following through. THAT’S why I’m upset right now.”
“Oh, so you ARE upset, then?” Derek laughed, shaking his head.
“Okay, I’m officially done with this conversation.” Dominick sighed and stared out the window the rest of the ride home.
He had overheard Derek on the phone with Gina earlier. When he invited her to the game, he mentioned that she should “not take it personally if his friend was rude to her because he had issues with girls that Derek likes”. That was the part that pissed him off. First off, Dominick was not the type to be rude to anyone without good cause. Secondly, the way Derek made it sound like Dominick’s insecurities were unfounded when they were actually the direct result of Derek’s douchebaggery bothered him, too. And more so, what kind of first impression would that make with this girl?
By the time they were leaving for the soccer game, they had already gotten over their little fight and were back to normal. After entering the arena, Dominick eyed the place for signs of Gina. He had seen her picture on Facebook, but wasn’t sure if he could identify her at a glance.
“She’s not here.” Derek faked a smile.
“What? Who?” Dominick attempted to play dumb, but he was sure the shock showed on his face. He wondered at times if Derek was psychic. He could tell when Dominick was upset about something a fraction of a second after it happened and always seemed to know what was on his mind.
Now Dominick really did feel like a jerk. He wondered if Gina cancelled or if Derek had truly uninvited her. Either way, it was bittersweet.
Dominick sat on the bleachers while Derek played soccer. He was much better than a majority of the players and enjoyed the opportunity to show off. He also didn’t mind showing off his body after the game. He exited the locker room with his soccer bag over his shoulder, wearing only basketball shorts and shoes. Dominick couldn’t help but stare as the stadium lights reflected off the sweat on his shoulders and chest.
“You know what sounds good right now?” Derek asked as he got closer to Dominick.
“I could think of a couple things…” Dominick said under his breath.
“Huh?”
“I said ‘No, what sounds good right now?’ but my voice cracked!” Dominick lied.
“Ice cream!” Derek exclaimed.
“Ooh I haven’t had ice cream in a long time. That does sound good!” Dominick agreed.
They sat down at McDonald’s, each with a soft-serve vanilla cone. Derek seemed to be worry free, but Dominick was dwelling on his guilt from the day’s events.
“What’s wrong now??” Derek asked.
“I hate that you can do that!” Dominick laughed.
“Well…?” Derek pushed.
“Nothing’s wrong, for real this time. But I feel bad for being so bitchy earlier.” Dominick admitted.
“It’s okay. I just figured it was that time of the month!” Derek laughed as he nudged him from across the table.
“Dick!” Dominick laughed and returned the nudge.
"Well that wasn't very nice!" Derek pretended to be insulted.
"Psh. I'm always nice!" Dominick winked.
"No, no. You're always mean. I'M the nice one, remember?" Derek joked.
"Whatever! You can practically see my halo glowing above my head as we speak!" Dominick smiled and blinked his eyes innocently. Derek laughed dramatically for several seconds before replying.
"Actually, I think that's the laser sight on God's whore-destroying bazooka lighting up the top of your head. But we'll go with 'halo' if it makes you feel better." Derek winked.
"I rest my case. You're mean!" Dominick laughed as he gently pinched the area behind Derek's elbow.
When they returned home, Derek hit the shower while Dominick climbed into bed. The sound of the shower door slamming woke him from the light sleep he had drifted into. Derek walked into Dominick’s room instinctively after his shower.
“Close your eyes if you don’t want to see me naked!” Derek said as he dropped his towel and kicked one foot into his boxers.
“Merciful heavens! Anything but that!” Dominick joked, pretending to cover his eyes with his hand.
“Yeah, I’m sure that would just be unbearable for you.” Derek teased.
“Exactly. It’d be torture. And my pure, innocent eyes would burn with the intensity of a thousand suns!!” Dominick continued to joke.
“Innocent? Ha!” Derek laughed. Dominick always wondered why people got such a kick out of him using the word “innocent”.
“Oh! My parents left. I guess you don’t have to share your bed anymore!” Derek realized aloud. Dominick was tempted to offer his bed anyway, but wasn’t sure if that would be awkward. Before he could juggle the idea, Derek was heading across the hallway.
“Goodnight!” he said from the doorway before disappearing.
Dominick stared at the ceiling, trying to force himself to go to sleep. His bed felt so much bigger and colder without Derek’s abnormally warm body next to him.
To be continued...
Great stuff as usual, SayWhat. 
