Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 121 An Innocent Friendship

“Lili, don’t use your phone when we're eating,” my dad said sharply.

I acknowledged his words and stopped typing, stuffing my phone back into my purse.

My dad must have been exhausted after his talk. After dinner, instead of chatting with Dominic like yesterday, he

announced that he would go back to rest.

Before they left, we made plans to bring them around town the next day.

Dominic and | left for my place after that. On the drive home, Dominic got a call from Camille. | stewed silently in

the passenger seat, acting like | was not there.

No matter how uncomfortable | felt about the situation, | made sure none of it showed in my expression.

Dominic was nothing if not a smooth-talker, appeasing Camille with barely a few words.

Once we got home, | took a shower and burrowed into my bed with my tablet.

| needed to get swork done on my comics. | had not drawn for two days, and my manuscript was due in a

couple more days.

Before | got down to work, | suddenly remembered something. | set my tablet aside and sped for the living room,

locating and swallowing a birth control pill.

I've got to remember to eat these from now on.

| returned to my bedroom and began drawing in earnest.

Dominic cin as | was absorbed in my work.

| stared at him for a few seconds before moving aside, leaving him sspace to sit on the bed.

Instead of getting on the bed, Dominic snatched the tablet out of my hands. He pinneddown on the bed in

the next instant.

Even as my body began responding to his touch, | stuttered in protest, “H-hey, let's talk this through. Everything

in moderation and all that, right? Don’t overexert yourself.”

His gaze darkened. “Is this your way of tellingthat something's wrong with my virility?”

| almost bit my tongue at his crass remark. Oh God, | did not think things through.

“No, that’s not what | meant. You're great, you know, and everything's fine. I'm always satisfied.” | was this close

to barfing at my cloying attempt to butter him up.

Dominic was chuffed to bits at my praise. His features relaxed immediately.

Catching on to what little headway | had made, | added, “I'm just concerned because we had a late night. You

didn’t get a good rest this morning, either. | don’t want you to exhaust yourself. Let's sleep earlier tonight since

we've got a full day ahead of us tomorrow.”

He scrutinizedwith interest in his eyes.

| went in for the kill. “We've got a long tahead of us. There'll be plenty of chances in the future.”

His lips curved into a smirk as he said, “Fine. You're off the hook tonight for being exceptionally sweet.”

| heaved a sigh of relief. We'll see about it next time.

“Get off, then. You're heavy.”

Dominic remained atop me.

My heart began pounding as fast as a runaway horse. Is he seriously breaking his promise right now?

“Dominic.”

“I suddenly remembered that | had something to tell you. If you ever get involved with Nicholas again, I'll make

you pay.”

Stunned, | explained, “Nicholas and | are just friends.”

He pinchedviciously in response. Sucking in my breath at the pain, | yelped. “It hurts.”

A cruel smile greeted me, followed by a sharp bite on my shoulder.

I heard him continue, “You're claiming to be just friends when you've slept together? | don’t care about your

relationship with him in the past, but now that I'm in the picture, don’t you dare seek him out again.”

| frowned and muttered, “We were always friends from the beginning. I've never slept with him-"

Dominic tilted my chin toward him and stared intently at him. “What did you say?”

Initially, | planned to ignore his question. After sthought, however, | decided that it was in my best interests

to be honest with him. He might be gentler towardif he knows the truth.

Dominic was not a prude, and | had lost my virginity to him. Though he would not be surprised if | had slept with

other men, | knew that he was a possessive man.

Somehow, | was confident that if he knew about the true nature of my relationship with Nicholas, he would be

over the moon.

Won't | have an easier tof it if he’s happy?

Hence, | confessed, “Nothing romantic has ever happened between Nicholas and me. I've never dated him, nor

have I slept with him.”

As expected, Dominic was overjoyed. A wide smile appeared on his face.

Bingo.

His joy also revealed his selfish hypocrisy.

When Dominic toldto go to bed, I told him | wanted to draw one more panel for my comic. He must have

been in a great mood since he agreed immediately.

It was a wonderful and uneventful night.

We got up early the next day, and | felt thoroughly recharged after a good night's rest.

Since we had tto spare, | whipped up two bowls of instant ramen for breakfast. Dominic had always suffered

from gastric problems, and | did not want him to go starving.

After breakfast, we headed to the hotel to pick up my parents. We toured several places of attractions in

Lightspring and treated them to slocal delicacies.

| could tell that my parents enjoyed themselves that day.

Rather pettily, | called Louis and gloated about how much fun we had had.

Louis flung accusations of abandonment at us through the phone.

Just then, Dominic stepped forward and grabbed my phone. He told Louis to visit Lightspring on his next holiday,

promising to cover all his expenses.

That little brat was so happy he began calling Dominic his brother-in-law.

How | wished I could knock ssense into Louis’ head. How can he sellout after a little bit of bribery from

Dominic?

My parents stayed in Lightspring for five days. Dominic and | ferried them around town whenever my dad was

not giving a talk.

Truthfully, | was bewildered. | wondered what sort of tale Dominic had spun to Camille, which allowed him to

spend five days away without her calling him every five minutes to check in on him.

If it were me, | would have expired from separation anxiety. Though | was hardly a clingy partner, if my boyfriend

spent five days away fromwithout a peep, | would go mad.

Dominic continued bunking withfor days after my parents had already left. | thought he would be gone by

now, but he acted like a plant that had taken root and refused to leave.

One day, | was drawing while he was in the shower when reality cknocking in the form of a WhatsApp

message.