Hadwe thought about it, we would have remembered he was there, andhadwe thought about it, we would’ve gone somewhere else to have this talk. “Thanks for the reminder, Trevor.”
“Any time,cuz.”
I fought to hold back a grimace. Wewerecousins, but it was so far removed, we never considered ourselves such. Turning to Nick, I raised my eyebrow. “Since dinner didn’t turn out like either of us hoped, can we try again? There are some good restaurants around here.”
“Can we get takeout and eat at your place? As my best friend reminded us, we don’t need an audience to talk out what happened.”
The way he maneuvered the conversation to get an invite to my place was almost innocent. Almost. “We can, but tomorrow’s a workday. Maybe you should bring a change of clothes?”
The slight blush in his cheek was all the proof I needed of Nick’s true intent. “That obvious?”
“Oh, please.” Trevor leaned against the wall. “People on the moon saw what you did.”
Nick’s face reddened more, but Trevor’s interjections help cut the awkward tension. I had no illusions this was for my benefit. Once I told him Nick and I wereHKarlin, his attitudehad changed. This was for Nick. He wanted his friend to be happy.
Nick
Seated together in the back of the small ride share, the most we did was let our hands touch. Of all the days for Henry to take an Uber. We both had a lot to say, but neither of us wanted to talk with the driver sitting inches away. By the time we reached his condo building, I was ready to burst.
“Order Door Dash, or should I cook?” Henry asked as we walked toward the entrance.
I checked the time on my phone, and shrugged. “It’s a bit early for take-out, but I don’t want you to go to the effort of cooking.”
“Pasta with pesto from a jar, one of those take-and-bake loaves of bread, and salad from a bag is hardly a lot of effort.” He shrugged. “I never said I was anywhere close to as good a cook as my cousin.”
Henry didn’t seem to mind cooking, and I could help. Eating in meant he wouldn’t pay for dinner. “I’m good with that, but I can help. Trevor trained me well in the art of being a chef’s assistant.”
“I’ll never turn down help.” Henry punched in his code and held the door for me.
I did a stutter step when I took in the swanky lobby. The gray marble floor was polished to a high shine. The modern sofas easily cost more than all our furniture combined. To the left was a staircase with glass sides. It led up to a space that looked like a coffee bar. The man behind the desk nodded at Henry as he led me to the elevator to the right.
Henry swiped his card again, and tapped the “10” on the display. We didn’t wait long for the doors to open and once we started to move, Henry angled his body so he was facing me. “Nick, I really am sorry about last night. I wanted us both to smile when we remembered our first time, but I said it wrong.”
The sincerity of his apology made it hard to be mad at him. I might be upset about other things, but not because he waited until I was sober. The number of times I’d been dumped conditioned me to flee at the first sign of rejection.
We reached his unit, but before he opened the door, I grabbed his hand. “Henry, I’m sorry how last night ended too. I’ve been on the wrong end of so many breakup speeches, I rushed to conclusions and assumed I was about to hear another.
“It wasn’t fair to you, especially with how sweet you were… are. If you’re willing to forget what happened, I’d like to get a redo.”
Henry’s expression went from ready to argue to big goofy grin. “Redo works for me.”
He leaned and kissed me softly on the lips. It was brief and practically chaste, but it set off fireworks in my brain. “Great,” I said in a breathy voice.
I walked into his condo and gawked like a fool. Admittedly, my experience with swanky interior design was limited, but Henry’s place was amazing. It was like he pointed to the high-end furniture in the lobby and said, give me the high end of that.
The floor to ceiling windows had a view of downtown. Silver Spring wasn’t New York or even D.C., but it wasn’t run downor shabby. The dark hardwood floors sparkled, broken up with area rugs in front of the furniture. A breakfast bar fronted a granite and stainless-steel kitchen that would make Trevor drool. Around the corner, I saw the edge of the elegant formal dining room.
“They’re just things, Nick,” Henry said. He’d come up behind me and put his hands around my waist. “If you’re not comfortable here, I’ll replace them with furnishing you can live with.”
The offer came from a good place, but it was borderline insulting. He didn’t know what it was like to struggle to pay bills or buy things.
“You’re over thinking this,” Henry whispered in my ear, His warm breath sending chills down my spine. “You sit on couches, you eat at tables, and you walk on floors. It doesn’t matter what they cost. Use them and don’t worry.”
It was scary at how well he read me. “I’m not sure I can stop worrying, but I promise I’ll use them.”
Henry kissed my cheek and walked around me. “Let me put your stuff in my room.”
I handed him my bag, and it almost felt like we were back to where we’d been before we hit a speed bump. Watching him walk away, I still couldn’t figure out why he wanted to be with me. I was no one. He was insanely hot, and I was the guy no one wanted to date. My apartment wasn’t bad, but every dollar I earned in a year wasn’t enough to pay for Henry’s place.
