“Half-past twelve.”
“Damn.” Dom pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed a hand over his face. “I wanted to have my wicked way with you.”
Henry smiled and stood, holding out a hand to him. “You can have your wicked way with me in the morning. Let’s go to bed.”
Dom swayed when he got to his feet, and Henry was quick to steady him with a hand around his waist. “Thanks,” he murmured, a huge yawn cutting off the end of the word. Then his gaze locked with Henry’s and he seemed way more alert all of a sudden. “Is this okay? I can go back to my villa if you’d rather.”
Henry had just assumed that Dom was staying. Asking him to leave hadn’t crossed his mind once. “Do you want to go?”
“No.” Dom replied so quickly it made Henry smile.
“Bed then.”
They undressed to their undies, the room warm enough not to warrant anything else, and slipped under the covers.
Dom settled onto his side straight away, his breathing evening out, whereas Henry lay on his back, unsure of the etiquette now they were just going to sleep. Drifting off after sex was fine. Henry was generally too knackered to stress over whether cuddling was okay or not.
But this felt different. He didn’t know Dom well enough to just snuggle up behind him and put an arm around his waist like he wanted to.
Would it be welcome? Or would it make things awkward?
Not that Henry could feel anymore awkward than he already did.
“What’s wrong?” Dom’s gravelly voice startled him.
Not asleep then.
“Nothing.”
“Mm-hmm.” Dom rolled over onto his other side, facing Henry, and Henry felt his gaze even in the dark. “I can hear your mind working overtime and you’re lying flat on your back staring at the ceiling.”
“I have my eyes closed,” Henry lied.
“Of course you do.”
Strong fingers wrapped around Henry’s left hand, and Henry sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”
“About what?”
Christ, why didn’t I just turn over and go to sleep like a normal person.
He huffed out a breath. Might as well come out with it, Dom probably already thought he was a weirdo. “I want to cuddle you, but I’m not sure if that’s something you’d want so I’m lying here debating what to do about it.”
“I see.” He squeezed Henry’s fingers, then slowly stroked his thumb over the back of Henry’s hand. “You could just ask me.”
When he said it like that, Henry felt incredibly foolish, and every one of the six years separating them in age seemed to stand out and mock him.
He’s so much better at this than me.
“Hey.” Dom tugged on his hand until Henry gave in and rolled onto his side to face him. “I get that this whole thing between us is a bit strange. We barely know each other, yet we’ve spent so much time together I feel like I’ve known you for weeks, not days.”
Henry’s eyes had adjusted to the dark enough for him to make out Dom’s smile. “Same.”
“Then why is it so hard to ask me if I want a cuddle?”
Because I’m a weirdo, obviously.“I don’t know.”
“Try it. I won’t bite.”
