“Deal,” I pushed him over and climbed into his lap. “Right now, however, I want to find out if our bond really does make it better.” Henry looked so confused. Torn between what was happening and a desire to fuck me into tomorrow. “Hey, I’m twenty-five, never had a real boyfriend, and never had make up sex. Now I have you, and reason to see if it really is better.”
“Well, I’m one hundred and seventy-four and never been in love before, and also never had make up sex. I think it’s time I found out.”
Hearing his age I froze. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Uriel said he’d stopped his sister for thousands of years, but I never applied that to Henry. “A hundred and seventy-five?”
“Seventy-four.” Henry rolled us until I was on my back and he was on top. “What’s wrong? Don’t like older men?”
Amusing as I found our banter, it was delaying what I wanted most. “I’m fine with them as long as it’s you. Just don’t expect me to call you Daddy.” I cupped his cheeks, pulled him down and kissed the shocked look off his face.
Trevor sat in the kitchen scrolling through his phone. There was an empty plate and half full cup of coffee in front of him.
“Hey.” I said, crossing the floor to reach the coffee pot. “Anything good?”
“I caused an uproar at work.” He clicked the phone off and set it on the table. “Quitting on the spot will do that I guess.”
That was unexpected. I hadn’t really thought about work this morning, but clearly I wasn’t going back either. Filling a cup, I carried the pot to the table and freshened his mug. “They don’t want to lose you. Neither do I.”
I held his gaze for a second, and then returned the pot to the machine. That wasn’t how I intended to start the conversation, but it was as good as any.
“That’s good, because I really don’t want to lose you either.” He held up his cup and we clinked them. “I’m sorry for… everything.”
After talking to Henry, I was prepared to deal with Trevor’s guilt. “Sorry for being my best friend?”
“Well….”
“Sorry for helping me after I was disowned?”
“They couldn’t really disown you it turns out.” Trevor raised an eyebrow.
Trevor hated the Fentons more than me. “Okay, bad example. Sorry for helping when I needed it most? I said it before, and I’ll say it forever, I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for you. I owe you more than I can repay. You gave up six years of your life to help me.”
“Nick, I appreciate this more than you know, but I don’t deserve your forgiveness.” He stared in his mug and he wiped the tears from his eyes. “All those guys who never called back? Me and the others—mostly me—fucked with their brains so they never agreed to a second date, or called you back, or made up all those other excuses for not dating you.”
I sat back so hard, the chair nearly tipped over. “You… you what?”
“They said we had to make sure you didn’t date a human.” Trevor kept his gaze down. “You being a secret angel and all, if your powers showed up… you know. It’d be hard to fix.”
I’d planned to tell Trev we needed to forget the past, but I had no…. All those years of me thinking something was wrong with me. “You…. I trusted you. Told you everything.”
“I know.” He swallowed loudly. “I felt like shit, but if I didn’t, Michael would’ve replaced me. I figured better you hate me when you found out than I abandon you too.”
Trevor leaving would’ve destroyed me. It also wouldn’t have changed anything. Whoever replaced him would’ve done what they asked. Trying to navigate that without him would’ve been worse. I really couldn’t be mad at him, but I was still angry.
“This is some messed up shit, Trev.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry.” He breathed in deeply. “It was a shitty thing we did. I tried to tell myself it would get better once you knew the truth, but those were just words.”
Through the lens of my current situation, everything worked out for the best. I had Henry and there weren’t any difficult questions to answer. In the moment, however, those were some hard days for me. “Did it bother you?”
“Did it…?” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Yes. It tore me apart. You were my best friend and I constantly hurt you. You should hate me.”
My personal life wore away at my self-esteem, but that wasn’t what I remembered most about those days. “But I don’t. You were… are the best friend I ever had. You made me laugh, feel wanted, and made sure I wasn’t alone. We weren’t rich, but we had fun. This is gonna fuck with my head for a long time, but I’m not blaming you.”
“Really?” Relief softened his expression. “We’re still good?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” I held out my fist and he tapped his to mine. “Just promise me no more secrets. I'm tired of everyone deciding what I can and can't handle.”
“Promise.” Trevor laughed, and I knew I’d made the right decision. “Not that Icoulddo it again.”
