Dom winced and inwardly cursed his tired fucking brain. That whole sentence had come out wrong. He sipped his coffee, giving himself time to work out exactly what he wanted to say.
He’d had a vague idea of what he was going to say to Henry when they finally met up, but hearing him describe them as nothing more thanstrangers who’d fuckedhad thrown him a bit.
“Look, I don’t have the best track record with partners. My last two relationships ended because we weren’t at the same place in our lives. They weren’t ready to settle down...” He shrugged, wondering if he was about to scare Henry off. “And I was. Still am.”
He watched Henry, trying to gauge his reaction, but for once his expression gave nothing away. He tapped the side of his mug, the only indication he was anything other than calm.
“So I was right. My crap job and the fact I still share a house put you off asking to see me again.” The edge to his tone made Dom feel guilty, and he rushed to explain himself better.
“No, I don’t give a shit about those things.”
Do I?
No, he really didn’t.
“It was more the fact that you’re younger than me—”
Henry scoffed, and Dom sighed.
“I know six years isn’t loads, but you’ve only recently finished uni. You’re just starting out, and I didn’t want to risk getting involved with someone only to find out yet again that we weren’t at the same place in life.”
Henry’s eyes narrowed, and now it was easy for Dom to tell he was pissed off. “So without bothering to talk to me at all, you decided all on your own that the fact I went to uni later than most people meant pursuing anything with me was a waste of time and effort.”
Dom opened his mouth, but Henry was far from done.
“If you didn’t want to see me again because it was only a holiday fling for you, I would’ve accepted that and moved on. I’d have been a little gutted because I thought we had something, but it is what it is.” He snatched his hand out of Dom’s. “This, though?” He gestured between them. “Is so much worse. I’ve been judged and found wanting, all because I took the time to live a little and earn some money so I wouldn’t be riddled with debt when I left uni.”
Dom stared at him. It had been a long time since someone had put him in his place so thoroughly. And, he had to admit, rightly so. Dom prided himself on not being a judgy fucker, on not making assumptions, and always looking at both sides of things. When had that changed?
“You’re absolutely right.” He sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh, annoyed with himself and wondering how the hell to sort this mess out.
Because one thing he did know was that he couldn’t let Henry walk out of there without trying to fix this mess between them.
“I’m sorry for doing that.” Taking a chance, he reached for Henry’s hand again, beyond relieved when Henry let him take it.
“But you were right with what you said outside earlier. We don’t really know each other.”
“You know I didn’t mean—”
Dom stopped him with a raised hand. “Yeah, I do, and the rest of it was bollocks.” He shot Henry a small smile to take the sting out of his words. “We know aversionof each other, a carefree holiday version that isn’t the same as how we are in everyday life.”
Henry sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” He had a defeated look about him, and Dom barrelled on desperate to change that.
He squeezed Henry’s fingers. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to get to know you better.”
“Really?”
Scepticism laced his voice, but the spark of hope in his eyes made Dom’s stomach flutter. Nerves and excitement warred inside him as he wondered for the hundredth time if he was doing the right thing.
I am.
Even if it scares me.
“Yeah,” he said, smile growing wider by the second. “Really.”
Henry’s small smile took a while to appear, but eventually it won out. “I’d like that too.”
They stared at each other, holding hands and smiling, until Dom remembered they weren’t actually alone but sat in a crowded café. He had to work with some of these people, and while he knew none of them would give him shit for being with a bloke, they wouldn’t hesitate to take the piss out of him for holding hands and getting sappy in the middle of a garden centre coffee shop.
