Breathe for Me by Rhonda Helms Page A

me, and I don’t want to push him away, not when we’re getting close.
    And even if he did believe me for some reason, I don’t want him to have to be around Sitri, who would make the rest of his life miserable if he even suspected Dominic knew my secret.
    â€œWhat are you up to this evening?” he asks me. His eyes are bright, endless blue, and I am pulled to him.
    I shrug, trying not to miss the intimacy of his touch from last night. “Not much—homework. Why?”
    â€œWell, I’m just…” He drawls off and turns his gaze toward the table. His chest rises and falls quicker, causing his numbers to erratically drop. “I’m going to visit my grandpa at the nursing home, and… Well, you wanna come with me?”
    It endears me to him even more to see him so nervous. He’s always so confident, so I can tell this visit is important to him. “I’m—I’d like to,” I reply. “But I’m afraid of—”
    â€œHe won’t touch you, I promise,” Dominic says, answering my concerns before I can even get them out. “I already told him on the phone about you being sick, so he knows.”
    I swallow. It’s tempting fate to get tangled in Dominic’s life, even though I want to. I want to spend more time with him. But if my plan doesn’t work…
    No, it has to work. “I’d love to,” I find myself saying.
    He smiles at me and in that moment, I’m overwhelmed by a sense of humility and awe. He wants to be with me. He wants to know me better, to open his life to me and share his vulnerabilities. I’m not alone in my attraction.
    I dare to allow myself the smallest of hopes—maybe we can make it. Somehow. I want to have the dream, to believe in it.
    â€œThat’s great. I’ll meet you in your courtyard at six,” he says.
    Impulse compels me to add, “But after the visit, I’m taking you out to meet a friend of mine.”
    He raises one eyebrow. “Really? Where?”
    I give him what I hope is a mysterious smile and recite his words from a few days ago back at him. “Wouldn’t you rather be surprised?”
    The bell rings.
    Dominic rolls his eyes, and I can see disappointment on his face. The feeling is shared—I would rather spend all day talking with him in here. “Saved by the bell,” he says sarcastically. He gathers his stuff. “Okay, it’s a date. I’ll see you in English class.” He turns, then stops and spins around, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
    With that, he leaves the library.
    I bite my lower lip and swallow, unable to stop the feeling of utter glee that surges through me. I have a date with Dominic.

    That evening, we press the glass double doors open and make our way into the nursing home. The strong antiseptic scent overwhelms me at first, and I force myself to relax. There are likely a lot of sick and elderly people here, ones with very low numbers, but I can’t give away my sadness about it in front of Dominic.
    He walks to the front desk. The large black nurse behind the counter gives him a broad smile, moving around to envelop him in a massive hug. “Well, I’ll be. Where you been, boy? Your grandpa’s been asking ‘bout you—better hustle up there!” She looks over his shoulder at me. “You brought a lady friend with you, huh?”
    I bite my lower lip to keep from giggling. “I’m Isabel. Dominic’s friend.”
    She looks me up and down with piercing brown eyes, and I find myself actually flushing under her scrutiny. Finally, she nods. “Humph. A bit on the skinny side. Make my boy here take you out to dinner more.”
    A smile creeps across my face. “Oh, I plan to.”
    His cheeks flame red, and he pulls away from her. “We’re gonna head back now, Margo.”
    Throwing us a wink, she goes back behind the desk.
    We swing down the hallway on the left,