Ella took a moment to ruminate over his words. “Not to disparage your gut instinct or anything, but is that the only reason you think he doesn’t want to see you again?”
Henry toed the ground, gaze fixed on his boots. “Well, that and the fact that I asked him if he wanted to meet up and he didn’t answer.”
“Oh.”
That one word made his heart sink like a stone. “Yeah.”
“When did you ask him?”
“Thursday. I sent him a message on my break.”
Since it was now Saturday, the odds weren’t good that Henry was getting an answer that he wanted.
She offered him a sympathetic smile. “Maybe he’s been busy?”
Henry shrugged. “It’s possible. But he’s always replied to my other messages, even if it was later in the evening.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Henry rocked back on his heels before voicing something he really didn’t want to. “I think it’s more likely that he’s not interested in seeing me again and either can’t think of a nice way to tell me, or thisishim telling me.”
The snow had got heavier, much like Henry’s heart, and he tilted his face to the sky, letting the flakes land on his cold cheeks. “It was just sex between two people who didn’t really know each other at all. No strings, no feelings, no repeat.”
A sharp intake of breath alerted him they weren’t alone, and Henry threw his hands in the air. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered. “Can’t I catch a fucking break?” He whirled round to apologise to yet another offended individual, but the words died on his tongue.
“Dom?”
“Henry.”
Henry stood there, unable to articulate anything other than that. His initial delight at seeing Dom soon morphed into hurt, then anger. “What are you doing here?” It came out way more accusatory than he’d intended, but Dom said he lived in Somerset. Had he lied?
“Working.” Far from looking guilty about ignoring Henry’s message, Dom seemed hurt, and if Henry wasn’t mistaken, a little pissed off.
What the hell does he have to be pissed off about?Henry thought indignantly.
And then Dom’s words sank in.Work? Here? What the hell was going on?
Narrowing his eyes, Henry said, “How come you’re working here if you live in Somerset?”
A little voice suggested that maybe Dom had told him to get his tree here so that Henry would come see him. Maybe he’d planned to surprise him?
The sour expression on Dom’s face made that seem highly unlikely, so Henry quashed that line of thinking immediately. Dom hadn’t known what day Henry was planning on visiting, and he couldn’t be at work all the time.
Anger raised its ugly head again, and before Dom had a chance to answer, Henry blurted out the one question he really wanted an answer to. “Why did you ignore my text? If you didn’t want to see me again, you could’ve just said so, instead of leaving me waiting for two days wondering if I’d ever hear from you again.”
Dom’s eyes widened for a moment, then he stared at Henry for a good few moments before speaking. “Why did you want to see me again if it was just sex between two people who didn’t really know each other at all? No strings, no feelings, no repeat.” He raised an eyebrow and Henry squirmed in place.
Fuck.
“You heard that.”
“I did.”
Henry sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, anger draining away as fast as it had appeared. Embarrassment and a little confusion replaced it. Was that why Dom was angry? Because he thought Henry didn’t give a shit?
Dom shoved his hands in his pockets but didn’t take his eyes off Henry. “Is that why you asked to see me again? For sex?”
Henry quickly glanced around them, but naturally no one was there when it wasn’t him speaking. “No, of course not. And I know how that sounded, but if you only heard that last bit, then you’ve got it totally out of context.”
Dom crossed his arms and Henry’s gaze flicked to the tattoos peeking out from his coat sleeves. “Explain it to me then.”
“I was telling Ella that’s how I thought you felt.” Until that moment, Henry had forgotten all about his sister. Both his and Dom’s gaze swung round to land on Ella where she stood watching them, eyes like saucers.
