HIS TO LOSE의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 5

Arielle's POV The aroma of garlic and butter slapped me in the face the instant I walked into the Italian restaurant, and just like that, all over again, I was twenty-two years old, standing in his little kitchen on a Saturday night laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Three years. Three years, and my body still remembered everything my brain wanted to forget.It was 5 p.m. and I stood in his spacious, homey kitchen wearing his white body hug top that reached my thighs, but cut off well way above my knees. We were both exhausted from Dominic having had a day full of back-to-back jobs and me from attempting to balance classes with my part-time gig, So I chose to keep it really simple and just make garlic butter noodles. No frills, just something nice and warm for us to eat and get a bit of energy back. Dominic was still wearing his work clothes, black suit pants and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealing his strong forearms and veins while his belt is t

Dominic’s POVThe numbers on my screen blurred together.Quarterly projections. Revenue streams. Market analysis.None of it mattered.I couldn’t focus on anything except the clock on my wall. 8:47 AM.Thirteen minutes until the design team arrived. Thirteen minutes until I had to sit through some corporate presentation about color palettes and “spatial flow” or whatever the fuck my architect had been going on about.I didn’t care about the redesign. Didn’t care about making the office “feel more innovative.”What I cared about was the hollowness in my chest that hadn’t gone away in three years.My phone lit up. Lara.“Jerad wants to know if you’re picking him up after school or if I should. We need to talk about his birthday party. Call me.”I locked the screen without responding.Lara could wait. Lara could always wait. She’d left our son when he was six months old, disappeared for two years chasing whatever the fuck she thought she needed, and now she wanted to play involved mother

I dropped my bag by the door. Kicked off my heels. Poured a glass of wine even though it was barely noon.My laptop sat on the coffee table. The contract from his company already in my inbox.I opened it.Six months. Weekly check-ins. Direct collaboration with CEO on all major decisions.Direct collaboration with CEO.With Dominic.I’d have to see him. Every week. For six months.My phone buzzed.Unknown number.I stared at it, knowing—knowing—it was him before I even opened it.“I know you probably don’t want to hear from me. But I’d like to take you to dinner. To discuss the project. And to apologize for how things ended. You deserve that much. - D”My hands shook.I typed fast, before I could second-guess myself.“The kickoff meeting is scheduled for Monday. We can discuss the project then. Anything personal is unnecessary. - A. Moore”Sent.Professional. Distant. Exactly what I should be.But my finger hovered over his name in my contacts.I’d never deleted it.Never deleted the p