Unfortunately, he’d momentarily forgotten about the plastic curtain that blocked his way. His arm hit it first, bringing Henry to an abrupt halt, Dom’s laughter sounding behind him.
“I did wonder what you were doing.” He swam up next to Henry and pulled some of the plastic aside for Henry to swim through.
Cheeks no doubt flaming, Henry ducked under Dom’s arm with a muttered “thank you” and swam into the middle of the pool. Although the sun had come out, it was still the end of November and it was chilly.
But definitely worth coming outside.
Henry trod water and surveyed the surroundings. Fairy lights clung to both real and artificial trees. Illuminated animals hid amongst the branches and Henry found himself smiling.
Again.
“It’s nice, right?”
He turned to see Dom staring at the decorations with a wistful look.
“Yeah, it is, but you’ve seen it all before, haven’t you?” Henry was almost positive Dom said he’d been at this time of year before.
“I have.” Dom faced him, swimming close enough to Henry that their legs brushed under the water. Henry shivered and wasn’t wholly convinced it was from the cold. “But I still love it. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year.”
Henry snorted. Of course it was.
“You’re not a fan?” He looked slightly disappointed, and Henry didn’t like that at all.
“It’s not that I don’t like it. I—” He’d been about to saylive with three blokes, but for some reason didn’t want to admit that to Dom.“—didn’t tend to go overboard while at uni. I’ve got used to half-arsing it.” The disappointed look turned into something a lot like pity, and Henry wasn’t a fan of that either. “Anyway...” He rubbed his arms and made a show of being cold. “It’s freezing out here. How about we go back in, and you show me some more of those sauna rooms?”
* * *
“So...”Henry rocked back on his heels, hands shoved deep into his pockets. Three o’clock had come around far quicker than he’d expected, and they’d eventually left the spa and took the long walk back to the car park to collect their cars.
Henry knew what to do next as far as his holiday was concerned: drive to his villa, unload, then take his car back to the car park where it would remain for the next week.
What he wasn’t so sure of was what happened with Dom. Was this it? They’d had a nice afternoon, but was he now on his own? This was unchartered territory and Henry had no idea how to handle it.
Dom didn’t appear to have that problem though. He readjusted his rucksack on his shoulder and fixed Henry with a look that pinned him in place. “What are your plans for tonight?”
“Um...” Henry glanced away, not sure why he was suddenly reluctant to share that ordering takeaway had been his sole plan for the evening. But Dom looked at him expectantly and Henry forced out the words. “Not much. Thought I’d order some food and relax in the villa.” Wow, when he said it out loud like that, he sounded like the most boring arse ever. He was on holiday, for fuck’s sake.
To his surprise, Dom smiled at him. “Same. Although I’ve brought a chilli with me for tonight. Just need to pick up some crusty bread.”
Henry laughed, couldn’t help it. “Well, aren’t we a pair of exciting fuckers.”
“I was going to ask if you wanted to join me.” Dom took a step closer, his boot nudging Henry’s. “Pretty sure we could find something to do.”
Each other?
Dom was flirting, right? He wasn’t imagining that, was he? Wishful thinking had got him in trouble before now. “Such as?” he heard himself ask and wanted to kick himself in the shin when Dom chuckled.
“Well...” He reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair back under Henry’s beanie, fingers lingering a moment and Henry inhaled sharply. Even with gloves on, Dom’s touch did things to him. “I was hoping I could impress you with my cooking, maybe coax you into a walk after and then...” He shrugged, and Henry was desperate to know what thoughts were running through Dom’s mind.
And then have wild and raunchy sex?
Orand then you fuck off back to your own villa?
Henry sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. A habit he’d developed lately when he was thinking hard about something. He’d known Dom for a grand total of six hours. Did he really want to get naked with him?
When Dom pulled off his glove and slowly ran his thumb over Henry’s lip, rescuing it from his teeth, a shiver ran through him and the decision was easy. If Dom was offering sex, then Henry was one hundred per cent on board with that.
Ifthat’s what he was offering. And there was only one way to find out. “Yeah. I’d love to join you for some chilli.”
