Dom sipped his tea, watching Henry thoughtfully. “Are you close?”
“Yeah, she’s only a year older than me. Our parents moved back up north a few years ago, so it’s just us down here now.”
Dom smiled and took a bite of his toast.
They’d not really talked about anything in the outside world. Henry had wondered if that was a conscious thing on both their parts. Keep this simple, a holiday fling. They didn’t need to know much about each other for that. But Henry was curious. He wondered if Dom was too.
“Are you close with your brothers?”
Dom huffed. “Far too close, sometimes. Working with family has its pros and cons, but at least we don’t all live together anymore.” He gave Henry a wry smile. “We’ve had a few hairy moments.”
“Are they big like you?”
“Yeah. We take after my dad.”
Henry tried to imagine Dom and his brothers getting into fights and winced. “Where do you live now then?” he asked without thinking.
Dom gave him a curious look, and Henry was suddenly aware they’d ventured into very personal territory. “I bought a house in a village about ten minutes’ drive from the garden centre.”
He hadn’t expected Dom to give him his address or anything, but not even the name of the village? He tried not to let it bother him.
You hardly know each other, remember?
Sat in his bed eating toast wearing nothing but their underwear, Henry was having trouble doing just that.
Maybe Dom caught onto how Henry was feeling because he set his mug down and leant back against the pillows. “The village is Little Choreton, and I actually bought the house with my ex-fiancé.”
Henry stared at him, unsure of what to say to that. Kyle was his first serious relationship, and look how that turned out. “What happened? You don’t have to answer, sorry. It’s none of my business,” he added quickly, not wanting to piss Dom off. He was way too curious for his own good.
“No, it’s fine. It was a few years ago now.” He smiled. “I was your age, actually.”
Christ, Henry couldn’t imagine buying a house let alone getting married.
Dom sighed. “We bought the house and I think it all caught up to him. He wasn’t ready, for any of it.” He shrugged. “He left and I stayed.”
Henry was a little lost for words. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, really. Probably the best thing for both of us in the end.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to get all heavy on you.”
“It was me who asked.”
“True.” Dom smiled, some of the tension dissipating. “So, now you know all about me. Where do you live?”
Henry felt the colour drain from his face. “Um... in Bristol.” No way was he about to admit he shared with three of his mates. Not when Dom had bought a house at his age, for fuck’s sake. Henry didn’t even live on his own. “It’s nothing as nice as your house in Little Choreton.” Quickly changing the subject, Henry pointed to the rain still battering the windows. “Weather’s a bit shite today. What did you fancy doing?”
If Dom thought it odd how quickly he’d switched topics, he didn’t say. Instead, he put both their cups back on the tray and then set it on the floor. “I have a few ideas.”
“Oh?” Henry liked this turn of events. Liked it a lot. He was more than happy to forget about their conversation as Dom crawled across the bed towards him. “I take it none of them involve leaving this bed?”
Dom’s laughter was infectious, and Henry found himself smiling. “We can go out later, but I get to decide what we do now, right? You said so yourself last night.”
“I did.” He lay back on the pillows and spread his arms wide. “I’m all yours.”
Dom’s grin turned feral, eyes heavy lidded as he took Henry in from head to toe. He licked his lips and Henry shivered. “Get comfortable. I’m gonna take my time.”
* * *
Three hourslater they ventured outside for food, a game of pool, then back to Henry’s villa again for the rest of the night.
