“Yep.”
“And you like him a lot, and you think he liked you too?”
Henry took a pull of his beer and thought back over everything they’d done together. “I kinda got that feeling, yeah.”
“But neither of you mentioned meeting up again when you parted ways?”
“No.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “See, that’s the part I just don’t get. If you both liked each other, why the fuck wouldn’t you ask to see him again?”
“Hey,” Henry protested. “It wasn’t just me.”
“Yes, I know, but you’re the only one here, so...” She waved a hand at him.
He set his beer down more forcefully than he intended. “I don’t know what to do, El.”
“What does your gut tell you?” She reached for his hand and held it tight. “Even if we sometimes don’t want to listen, I always think deep down we know.”
Henry mulled over her words. “I know we were only together for a week, but it was kind of intense, and I got the feeling it was more than just sex at the end.”
“Okay then.” She nudged his phone towards him. “Wait for the right moment and ask him if he’s interested in meeting up. At least then you’ll know where you stand and can either move on or start to get to know him better.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“That’s because it is.” She squeezed his hand again, then stood. “Stop making it more complicated than it needs to be.”
* * *
Henry thoughtabout texting Dom all the way home.
I could call him.
That would be better than trying to guess the tone of his texts, but Henry shied away from that idea. With a text he could get the words right before hitting Send. If he called, he’d have no do overs, and he knew he got flustered sometimes and things came out wrong.
And Dom hadn’t called him either.
Ugh.
Henry yawned as he parked outside his house, no nearer to deciding the best course of action.
His phone chimed as he unlocked his front door, Dom’s name on his screen waking the butterflies in his belly.
Dom: Hey, sorry I didn’t reply. Everyone and his dog wanted a Xmas tree today.
Henry kicked his shoes off, hung up his coat and glanced around their bare hallway. They had no lights, no tree, not even a fucking wreath on the door.
It was already December ninth, but you’d never guess looking at Henry’s house.
Jason lay sprawled on the sofa. When Henry walked into the living room, he glanced up. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Henry gestured to the empty space in the bay window. “Do you think we should get a tree?”
Jason paused the TV show he was watching and grinned. “Yeah. This place needs fucking cheering up. It’s depressing after being surrounded by Christmassy shit all day at work.”
“It is.” As much as Henry moaned about the decorations at work, it certainly felt Christmassy inside. And coming back home to nothing was depressing. “Next weekend,” Henry said, nodding his head decisively. “We’ll go get a fucking tree.”
Jason grinned up at him. “I like this new you. Very assertive.” His expression turned sly. “Must’ve been all that sex you had last week.” His gaze dropped to Henry’s phone, still clutched in his hand. “Talking of which...?”
