In Love With Him

Chapter 69

Dominic’s POV

The house was chaos.

Luggage spilled across the living room, Paul was shouting something about passport holders, and Mom was running around in a half-zip hoodie with a curling iron still in her hand. Kennedy was in the hallway arguing with Max about whose suitcase was whose, and the twins — Marty and Finn — were crashing for the night before heading to the Bahamas with us in the morning.

Somehow, Christmas had come and gone like a blink. And now everything had kicked into high gear for the wedding.

Their wedding.

My mom and Paul’s.

I stood in the middle of it all, leaning against the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, watching as the pieces of my life rearranged themselves into something new. Something permanent.

In a few fays, Paul would be my mom’s husband. My Stepdad, and Kennedy…

Kennedy would be my step-sister.

The title tasted like ash in my mouth. A cruel joke the universe had written into the script of my life.

I hadn’t even packed yet. Everyone else was tossing swimsuits and resort wear into carry-ons while I just stood there with my arms crossed, trying not to drown in the thoughts I kept buried behind my eyes.

I tried to focus on the bright side — we were going to the Bahamas. Two full weeks of sun, sand, and ocean.

And the best part?

Amber got her period on Christmas Eve.

I’d never been so relieved to hear about someone's menstrual cycle in my life. She texted me that morning with a string of annoyed emojis and a simple:

“Guess you’re off the hook this week 😒💔”

No Friday night visit.

No guilt-soaked s*x with someone I didn’t want.

No deal with the devil.

At least for now.

With the trip coming up and Amber grounded until the new year, it meant I had two weeks of freedom from her. Two weeks of breathing room. Two weeks to pretend that I wasn’t trapped in a deal that made my stomach turn every time I saw Kennedy smile.

I could feel my body loosen just thinking about it.

And then — as if summoned by my guilt — I heard her laugh.

I turned my head and caught her out of the corner of my eye in the hallway, wearing a baggy hoodie and shorts, hair pulled up in a messy bun. She was holding a tube of sunscreen and tossing it into her carry-on, Marty and Finn arguing in the background about who looked better in sunglasses.

She looked happy. Unbothered.

Like she wasn’t carrying this forbidden thing inside her chest the way I was.

But I knew better.

I’d felt it.

The night she saved me. The way she touched me. The way she looked at me with her whole heart barely hidden behind her lashes. It wasn’t one-sided. It never had been.

And that made everything harder.

Because tomorrow, is the start of our lives becoming even more complicated.

And Kennedy Smith would become my stepsister.

Forever.

I ran a hand through my hair, my thoughts a tangled mess.

I should’ve been happy for Mom. For Paul. They were good together. Solid. The kind of love most people never find — steady and mature and filled with mutual respect.

But this wedding… it was going to cement something I hadn’t prepared for.

It was going to make my love for Kennedy a sin. A taboo.

And I didn’t know how much longer I could pretend that it didn’t kill me to want her.

“Yo, Dom,” Marty said, walking into the kitchen with a Capri Sun sticking out of her mouth. “You packing or just planning on going naked?”

I forced a smirk. “Thinking of just bringing board shorts and vibes.”

Finn laughed from the hallway. “That’s the energy I need.”

I played along, giving them a sarcastic salute before walking past them toward the stairs. But as I climbed, I glanced over my shoulder — just for a second — and saw her looking back at me.

Kennedy.

Our eyes locked.

It was one of those brief, lingering glances that said everything words couldn’t. The kind that made time slow down for just a breath.

She didn’t smile.

She just looked at me. Really looked.

And in her silence, I saw it:

She felt it too.

Even if she couldn’t say it.

Even if we weren’t allowed to.

---

Kennedy POV

The night before the trip, I lay sprawled across my bed while Marty painted her nails a deep emerald green and Finn flipped through his playlist, searching for the perfect vibe for "vacation-eve."

None of us could sleep. Our drive to Fort Lauderdale was in the morning, and after that, we were boarding a cruise ship to the Bahamas. A freaking cruise ship. I mean, how could anyone sleep with that kind of excitement?

Marty glanced up from her toes and grinned at me. "So, Kennedy. Real talk. When we hit the Bahamas, we're finding you a boy."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh god, not this again."

"Yes! This again," Finn chimed in, tossing a pillow at me. "You need your first vacation romance. Hot sun, salty air, and a random boy you'll never see again."

"And," Marty added dramatically, "if it sucks or it's awkward, boom! You're back home in a week and you'll never have to deal with him again."

I laughed nervously, pulling a blanket up to my chin. "You guys are insane. I'm not just going to throw myself at some stranger. I want it to be... I don’t know. Real."

"Real is overrated," Finn muttered under his breath, earning a snort from Marty.

But I couldn't stop thinking about it.

It's not that I hadn't thought about s*x before. I had. Plenty. But the idea of just doing it with someone random on an island felt... wrong. Not for everyone, maybe, but definitely for me.

I'd always imagined my first time being with someone I trusted. Someone who knew me. Someone I could look at afterward and not want to disappear from embarrassment if things got weird. Someone who'd make me feel safe.

And as much as I hated to admit it—even to myself—one face kept coming to mind.

Dominic.

It was stupid. It was more than stupid. It was dangerous.

But my mind betrayed me anyway.

I thought about what it would be like to be that close to him. To feel his hands, rough and calloused from training, moving gently over my skin. The way his voice dropped when he got serious, how it would sound whispering in my ear. The way he looked at me sometimes, like he was holding back something... deeper.

I wondered if he'd be gentle. If he’d take his time. If he’d kiss me like I was the only person in the world.

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I quickly rolled over on my side, pretending I was suddenly fascinated by the texture of my pillow.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. These weren’t the kind of thoughts I should be having about him. Especially not now.

Especially not with the wedding making everything between us official.

"You okay over there?" Marty asked, tossing her nail polish aside.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah. Just tired."

She didn’t press. Neither did Finn.

They kept talking and planning and laughing, but I just laid there, trying to silence the war in my head.

Because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Not when I was awake. And definitely not when I closed my eyes.