Time to go.
“Want to go again?” Henry asked, wiping water out of his eyes and smiling like the Cheshire cat.
Dom took his time climbing the ladder, heart racing as he stood and looked Henry in the eye. “No. I think we should go.”
“What?” Henry frowned. “I thought—” A slow, dirty smile appeared as Dom dropped his gaze to Henry’s crotch, then back up, eyebrows raised. “Yeah, I’m done.”
“Thought so.” Dom walked past him, biting his lip as their bare shoulders brushed. “Come on.”
They walked as quickly as they dared on the wet stones around the pool, neither of them speaking until they reached the entrance to the showers. Normally Dom would’ve grabbed his shampoo and washed the chlorine out of his hair, save him doing it later, but not tonight.
Tonight he wanted to get back to the villa as fast as humanly possible.
“Just rinse off,” he whispered in Henry’s ear. “We can shower at mine.”
Henry shook his head, eyes dark as he backed under the nearest shower head. “Mine’s closer.”
Dom nodded. “Perfect.”
They got dressed in record time. Dom was barely dry as he pulled his clothes on and said a silent prayer of thanks that he’d chosen to wear trackie bottoms and not jeans. Slinging his rucksack over his shoulder, he hurried out of the changing area to find Henry already waiting by the doors, a lazy grin in place.
“Did you bother drying off at all?” Dom asked, reaching up to flick the ends of Henry’s wet hair as it dripped into his face.
Henry shrugged. “Enough to get my clothes on.” He pushed off the wall and marched ahead through the double doors, Dom chuckling as he hurried to catch up.
“We don’t need to run back,” Dom said as he reached him.
“It’s nine thirty.” Henry muttered. “That means you still have two and a half hours to choose what activities we do.” He glanced at Dom. “I don’t want to waste one second of it.” The heat in his eyes stole Dom’s breath and he tripped over his feet. “Steady.” Henry caught his arm, keeping him upright, soft laughter tickling Dom’s ear as he fell against him. “Don’t want you injuring yourself before the main event.”
“Stop with all the pressure,” Dom grumbled, “I’ll get stage fright.”
Henry laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you with that.” He leant in close to whisper in his ear. “You can tell me exactly what to do.”
“Stop talking. These trackies hide nothing.” Dom tugged at the bottom of his coat, hoping he wasn’t about to get kicked out for indecent behaviour. “And walk quicker.”
“You just told me to slow down.”
“I take it back.”
Henry shook his head but dutifully matched Dom’s pace as they hurried up the path and eventually out into the cool night air. “Thank fuck for that,” he said as they headed for the steps. “I was melting in this bloody coat.”
“Same.” Dom pulled his beanie on, covering his wet hair, even though he was sweating. He reached for Henry’s hand without thinking, only realising what he’d done as their fingers slid together. “Oh, sorry,” he said, dropping his hand. “Force of habit.”
Henry grabbed his hand back, linking their fingers again and holding tight. “I like it.” His smile was shy, hesitant, when he glanced at Dom. “If you do?”
“Yeah,” Dom gave a small, shy smile of his own. “I do.” It felt right, like he’d known Henry forever instead of the two days it actually had been. They might have spent nearly all of those two days together, but they were making the most of their shitty situations, not embarking on a lasting relationship. Holding hands like this had no right to feel as easy as it did, though.
They walked back in comfortable silence. Dom’s thoughts swirled as he tried to make sense of something he should probably just accept for what it was and enjoy.
Seven days.
That’s all they were sharing.
He and Henry were both still hurting from failed relationships of their own. Neither of them was looking for more.
This was a bit of fun.
Nothing else.
