After the initial awkwardness following the late-night blow job on Friday, they’d settled into a comfortable morning routine meeting up for breakfast before work. If Henry had to be completely honest with himself, it was the highlight of his entire day. Having breakfast with Colton. Shooting the shit and flirting shamelessly while looking into Colton’s hazel eyes which were now more often than not crinkling at the corners from smiling.
After a few minutes, Tilly showed up with their breakfast order. With a knowing smirk she placed their food on the table, refilling their coffees as well.
“How’s Hank doing? Are you bringing him on Friday, hon, or does he have a card game with Trent and what’s his name?”
“Paulie,” Colton replied quickly scarfing down his bacon. “His name’s Paulie, Til’, and you darn well know that,” he winked at her.
It was no secret that Tilly wasn’t a fan of Paulie’s. It all went back to him being an old drinking buddy of her late husband, Duane. Paulie was still on a fast track to joining him in the afterlife with the amount of alcohol he consumed, but Colton knew that he and Hank were old buddies going way back.
“I’m just asking…” she trailed off, an innocent blush coating her cheeks.
“I’ll ask him. I’m sure he would love to come,” Colton replied.
Henry smiled at the familiarity between the two of them. He felt a strange warmth settling in his chest whenever he noticed these small signs that Colton was settling in. Sure, there were still days when Colton wouldn’t talk much, looking as if he hadn’t slept all night, dark circles surrounding his beautiful, sad eyes. But Henry could still make him smile with some cheeky remark or ridiculous story from the practice.
He was noticing other changes in Colton too. In his posture and his laughter, which was now a common occurrence during their breakfast. Henry wondered if he had something to do with it. He hoped so but didn’t want to assume anything. As far as Henry knew, the blow job had been a one-time thing, just two horny guys getting each other off. They were friends, he needed to remind himself.
So why was it that they didn’t feel like just friends? And why was it that Colton had seemed anything but straight the other night at the creek? Colton had been the one who’d taken the initiative, not him. Henry hadn’t made the first move even though he’d wanted to. He’d decided to respect the boundaries which Colton had set around their relationship. But the lines had begun blurring and that confused Henry if he was being honest with himself. He didn’t like this feeling of uncertainty. It made him feel vulnerable. And it made him hopeful. And hope could be a dangerous thing.
With a drawn out, satisfied sigh, Colton leaned back in his chair after vacuuming up the entire content of his plate. As Colton stretched his tattooed arms behind his head, Henry couldn’t help ogling his broad chest and bulging arms. His navy-blue t-shirt with theHank’s Auto Repairlogo on itlooked like it could burst at the seams any minute.Lucky t-shirt,Henry thought, shifting in his chair. He recalled the sensation of Colton’s large hands pulling his hair on Friday night while he’d fucked into Henry’s mouth like his life depended upon it. He could almost taste him again. The saltiness and the faint smell of sweat and grease. Henry slowly licked his bottom lip as he failed to bite back a moan.
“That good, huh?” Colton grinned at him suggestively.
“Mind-blowing,” Henry smiled back. “Life-altering, in fact.” Oh yeah, he could give as good as he got. Henry once again licked his lower lip, biting it tauntingly. This time the moan didn’t come from his end of the table, and with a smirk he watched Colton too shift in his seat. Henry innocently raised his eyebrows at him.
“You alright there, buddy?”
Colton shook his head, making his chestnut brown hair brush his eyebrows. After swiping his hair back into place, he looked at Henry, a slight flush to his scruffy cheeks. A sudden earnestness in his eyes.
“When you look at me like that, I don’t know what to say.”
Henry was surprised at Colton’s forwardness and decided to meet his seriousness for a moment.
“What makes you think that you need to say anything,” he replied playing with the crumbled paper napkin next to his plate.
“I don’t know,” Colton frowned. “Most of my life I’ve never felt the urge to speak much. It’s just who I am, I guess. But you make me want to tell you about myself… Stuff I don’t know if I’m ready to tell you. To tell anyone.”
Henry took in the concerned look on Colton’s face. He looked almost lost. He wanted nothing more than to replace that look with another smile.
“I don’t care if you tell me stuff or not. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the sound of your husky voice, but what you decide to tell me and when, is your choice. You can talk to me, Colton. I need you to know that. I promise not to judge you and always be honest with you, but you can talk to me. Always.”
Colton swallowed, once again making Henry notice the hint of pink in his cheeks and the movement of his Adam’s apple behind the tense muscles of his broad neck. Henry was so fucking attracted to this guy. It was almost ridiculous how much he wanted him. The past few days in the clinic had been occupied by thoughts of Colton. What had his life been like before he came back home? What had he seen overseas? What had he lost? There were so many things he wanted to know about the other man, however, Colton seemed to have built an invisible wall around himself. He wondered what it would take to make a crack in that wall.
Lost in his thoughts, he felt Colton’s knee knock against his own under the table. Then he spoke, voice soft and breathy, barely audible through the murmur of voices surrounding them.
“Husky, huh?” Of course, that was the part of Henry’s speech that Colton decided to focus on.
“Well, raspy then…” Henry challenged as he returned the knock against his knee with a kick of his boot against Colton’s.
“Raspy, huh?” Colton sat up and placed his arms on the table as he began playing with the napkin next to Henry’s plate.
Henry cleared his throat, this time he was the one having to shift slightly in his seat. Oh, his dick definitely liked flirty Colton. He tried to backtrack the conversation.
“What I mean is, I like you the way you are, Colton. I like being with you and talking to you. You don’t need to change anything about yourself. Not to be my friend.” He wanted to make sure that Colton understood his intentions. No teasing. No flirting.
“So, we’re friends, you and me?” Colton’s fingers briefly brushed the side of Henry’s hand and he had to take a deep breath if he wasn’t going to grab Colton by his shirt, pull him across the table and kiss him senseless in front of the other diner guests.
In that moment, Henry knew that he wanted more. To be more than friends. And perhaps Colton did too. But Henry also knew that he had to let Colton set the pace. He’d had his entire life getting used to being attracted to men. This was entirely new to Colton, he reminded himself. And who was to say that this wasn’t just a means to an end for the other man. A way of passing time and getting off. And it wasn’t exactly like Colton didn’t have other stuff to deal with as well. The anxiety. The PTSD, which Henry suspected was the cause of the sleeplessness. What Colton needed from him first and foremost was friendship. And Henry could give him that and set his own needs aside for now. He had to try, at the very least.
