“Sorry,” I said, trying to make light of the situation. “I didn’t think I drank that much.”
He shook his head and opened the door without a word.
We entered our room and I shut the door behind us. A few awkward moments of silence passed before I gathered the courage to lean in to kiss him. Henry gently pushed me away.
“You’re drunk. We should wait,” he said, placing his hands on my shoulders, steadying me.
I stepped back, trying to blink away the sting of being rejected so easily. Why did we need to wait just because I’d had a buzz? Henry was there when I told him I wanted to get naked and do more than just fall asleep with him.
Had that whole, ‘I have a secret I can’t tell you,’ been his version of the, ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech? That thought made my insides churn and roll.
Henry watched me carefully, his eyes focused on something other than me. The silence was thick in the room as the tension between us grew.
Finally, Henry cleared his throat and spoke softly, “It’s not that I don’t want you Nick, because believe me, I do...” He ran a hand through his hair and looked away from me for a moment before continuing, “I care about you too much to rush something like this when you’re intoxicated. It’s important that we take our time.”
The sincerity in his voice washed around me, repelled by the walls I slammed up to protect my heart. I’d been dumped before and heard many versions of this speech.
“Right… sorry,” I sat on the bed, trying to shake away some of the alcohol induced fog.
Henry walked over to the small table at the corner of the room. He poured two glasses of water and handed one to me and sat next to me.
I took a long gulp of water, feeling the cool liquid soothe my parched throat. Henry watched me with wariness etched on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
I wanted to nod, but I couldn’t move, my throat was tight with emotion. Henry’s arm stretched out to hold me, but I quickly drew away, not wanting him to feel pity for me. “I’m fine. Just had too much to drink.”
He let out a sigh and put his hand over mine. “Let’s get ready for bed. We can talk in the morning.”
My heart ached as the words sunk in. Get ready for bed? Talk in the morning?I’d definitely just been dumped. You’d think after having it happen so often it’d stop hurting so much.
If Trevor were here, he’d tell me to brush it off. It’d just been one date. Better to find out now than after I got invested.
The problem was, I’d gotten invested already. My brain was right, I was desperate to be loved.
Keeping my back straight, I crossed to the small bathroom. No way I’d let him see me defeated.
Henry
Iwatched Nick’s back as the door shut and wanted to curse Uriel for giving me such an impossible task. Nick’s reaction made it clear I hadn’t done a good job of skating the line. He’d shut down after saying he’d give us a chance. I could sense his inner turmoil as he struggled with what I’d told him.
He also drank a lot more after our talk.
By the time we got to the B & B, he was full on drunk. He’d staggered a couple of times, tripped up the stairs, and then tried to kiss me. I wanted that kiss so bad. To put my arms around him, and tell him we could go back to how it was a few hours ago. But I hadn’t. Everything was too complicated and fragile right now. We had to find a new way of talking with each other, a way that allowed us both to be honest and express our feelings.
Drunk sex wasn’t the answer. Worse, he might expect me to tell him the truth now that we’d had sex. To avoid that disaster, I stopped him.
Nick had been pensive before I’d said no, but now he turned distant and cold. My attempt to qualify it, to let him know I wanted more than a drunken romp only made his mood darker. He’d clamped down, refusing to show any emotions.
Uriel’s warnings paralyzed me. I couldn’t tell Nick the truth, but that inability threatened to push him away; something I also couldn’t let happen. I wasn’t equipped to handle this situation. My dating history had always been tertiary. I’d never entertained getting serious, because I was still a child by angel standards. Two centuries is a blink of an eye for a being who measured their lifespan in millennia.
I was still seated when Nick emerged from the bathroom, not even glancing my way. He’d changed into shorts and a tee shirt and walked past me like I hadn’t been there. Without a word, he pulled the sheets back on the far side of the bed, crawled under them and presented me his back.
Talk about icing me out.
Never go to bed angry was something my mother taught me. Doubtful she meant it in this context, but it was sound advice. Nick’s actions and body language signaled there’d be no more discussion tonight.
I shuffled my way to the bathroom, anxious about what to do next. I wanted so badly for him to turn around and face me, but he didn’t. My mind was teeming with thoughts as I faced myself. I looked weary because I was. This was the moment Uriel had warned me about. The easy fix would be to walk out and show him my powers. Then I could explain we, he and I, were angels.
