Dirty Playboy - Alex Wolf Page 0,104
with the church.”
The confidence in his voice nearly does me in. There’s a finality in his words, as if he’s thought the weight of this decision through. Part of me wants to run up the steps and strangle him and ask why he hasn’t thought about us like this? Why hasn’t he come after me the way he is with his faith? Why is he letting me suffer, night after night?
I try to push it down inside because it’s a beautiful thing what he’s about to do. It should be celebrated. But I can’t help what my heart feels. My face heats up and an anger I didn’t know I had courses through my veins. Why doesn’t he want me the way he wants this? It’s almost too much to take.
Suddenly, I just want out of the room. I want to be anywhere but here. I want away from it all, but I force myself to stay. Paisley must sense my reaction, because her hand tightens on mine even more, in a comforting way, urging me to stay seated.
“Of course it’s okay,” says Pastor Jeremiah.
Dominic disappears behind the wall, and immediately walks down into the water, not even bothering with the robe, still in his suit minus the jacket. I get a profile view of the side of his face as he does it, and my heart wants to crack into pieces. He doesn’t smile, doesn’t glare, he just looks…I don’t have the words for it. He looks one hundred percent serious, completely focused on what he’s about to do.
Pastor Jeremiah immerses him into the water. “Dominic Romano…”
My heart cracks again when he says his name. So he’s told Pastor Jeremiah everything already, been to see him? My fingers dig harder into Paisley’s shoulder. He’s been to see everyone but me. They all know his story, except for me. I only have the information from going through legal records, not because Dominic has told me who he is.
“I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of your sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
When Dominic emerges from the water, my chest heaves out a sigh. I can barely breathe right now.
“Never thought I’d see the fucking day,” says Dexter.
Abigail smacks him right in the chest, and all the air leaves him at once. I can’t even smile because I just sit there, a million emotions running through me all at once, trying to focus on the moment and what it means.
Dominic stands there, suit drenched and dripping down into the water, his hair matted against his face, his eyes circled with pink, locked on mine. Something inside me goes wild, staring at him, a brand-new man in the eyes of God.
Things are not the same between us, but I feel it deep, all the way down to my bones. Truth. God speaks to me, reveals exactly what’s playing out before my eyes, what just happened in front of me, what Dominic needed.
That’s how it works with God. The truth is always right in front of us, but we can’t see it until He reveals it, and then it’s clear as day. A rebirth of Dominic’s soul. He’s wiping the slate clean, leaving the past in the past.
I understand this, and at the same time, my brain wars against it. It tells me how bad he hurt me, how he just left me alone, shoved me away, that I can’t let that go unchecked. It’s the human side of me and it’s strong—so strong. It tells me not to forgive him, and if I do, to take it slow. Make him earn my trust again, despite everything he’s been through, not just hand him my heart again.
Yet, my heart pulls me toward him, a magnetism so strong I want to come out of my seat and rush to him. It’s all so overwhelming in the moment.
Dominic gets out of the tank, then disappears behind the wall, reappears, walks across the stage, down the steps, and over to where I’m still seated. His clothes drip to the carpet as all eyes in the church stay locked on him.
He doesn’t see anyone else. His eyes are on mine, a determined stare that heats me up inside, fills me with hope.
Can I trust this public display? Can I give in to whatever he’s about to say? I know what he’s about to do. I want to give in so bad, but if