“Don’t mention it, hon,” Tilly smiled fondly. She continued while facing her husband, “Vern, didn’t you want Hank’s opinion on something with that truck of yours? You go ahead and look at the car while I send the boys on their way with some leftovers.”
Vernon looked puzzled for a second but there was no mistaking the look his wife was giving him.
“Yeah, of course. Hank, do you mind?” As the two of them went outside to the garage, Tilly gave both Colton and Henry a tight squeeze.
“Don’t be strangers now,” she smiled at them as she waved from the porch.
When they were out of sight of the house, Colton stopped and turned towards Henry. Again, he felt the urge to just pull the younger man against him and kiss him until they were both breathless.
“So…” Colton breathed out awkwardly holding on to the box of leftovers.
Henry searched his eyes, an unspoken question in his gaze. After a few seconds Henry nodded briefly, then blew out a deep breath before asking in a hesitant but flirtatious voice,
“So… Uhm… do you want to come back to my place then or are you going to stand out in the cold all night giving me those puppy dog eyes?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Henry
AFTER IGNORING THEsmall voice in the back of his head warning him that this was a bad idea, Henry had grabbed Colton’s hand and guided him back to his place. Yes, he knew it was a bad idea. Of course, it was. It was an epic mistake fooling around with a straight guy. But it wasn’t like there were tons of available gay men in town and Henry was just so fucking attracted to this particular guy who was acting anything but straight.
When Colton had looked at him with those fucking puppy dog eyes and asked him if he could kiss him again, the words had nearly devastated Henry. Jesus, what was he supposed to do? Say no? Sure, there was a possibility that Colton was just horny and living out some bi-curious dream, but somehow Henry got the feeling that there was something more to it than that. And anyway, he tried to convince himself, if Colton wanted to use him for sex for a while, it was fine with him. He was just as horny as the next single guy.
They reached the front door of Iris’ bungalow and Henry let them both in quietly. Colton followed him to the kitchen where they dropped off the containers with leftovers. He then turned around and looked at Colton while he put a finger to his lips.
“My room is upstairs,” he whispered. Colton nodded at him with a sexy half-smile.
“Okay.”
“Gran sleeps downstairs but we still need to be quiet. We’re lucky that she takes her hearing aid out at night,” he grinned at Colton.
“C’mon.” Henry almost felt like teenagers sneaking around in his gran’s house at night. A fluttering sensation flowed through his chest and further down to his core. He once again took Colton’s warm hand in his and guided him up the stairs. A few of the steps squeaked a bit in the old house, making Colton curse and Henry shushing at him even though he couldn’t help laughing himself.
He opened the door to his room and let Colton in before locking the door.
“So, this is me,” Henry said turning around in a semi-circle pointing at his room. “It isn’t much, but it’s okay for now.”
“It’s nice,” Colton looked around appreciatively, taking in the overflowing bookshelves on the wall. He stepped closer and coasted the tips of his fingers along the spines of some books, reading the titles silently to himself. Colton’s gaze finally settled on one book before he picked it off the shelf.
“This used to be my teenage room. Gran decorated it for me when I moved in at sixteen. When I left for college, she just left it as it was for when I came home to visit,” Henry shrugged before continuing. “Best home I ever had, here with Iris.”
“Hank says she took you in after your parents kicked you out,” Colton continued to stare at the dark-grey book in his hand.
“Yeah, apparently a gay son wasn’t part of the master plan that God had outlined for my parents,” the words tasted bitter on his tongue as he spoke. “I think, maybe they did me a favor.”
“How so?” Colton looked at him, dark brows knitted together.
Henry scratched at his chin, before replying.
“I never really knew what it was like to be cared for before I moved in with Gran. I mean, it wasn’t like my parents treated me badly or anything. It was more a combination of their expectations not matching my way of seeing things and a disregard for anything that wasn’t their way of life. And as I grew older it became a silent, unspoken disappointment in me which they failed to hide.”
“I’m sorry,” Colton said, and Henry heard the earnestness in his voice, but also something else. Something sad, almost. “I get that. I guess it was like that for me in some ways as well.”
Henry was surprised at Colton’s openness. He hadn’t expected that. He took a deep breath as Colton continued.
“I mean, my dad wasn’t a bad parent or anything. He was just indifferent, I guess. Nothing made sense to him after my mom died. Life had sort of lost its meaning, I think. And I was just a reminder of what he’d lost. What he’d loved more than anything, I suppose. I often wondered growing up if he wished that it had been me instead, you know. Who had died.”
Henry didn’t know what to say. What could he say? It was no longer Colton, the thirty-nine-year-old ex-soldier standing in front of him but instead Colton, the six-year-old motherless boy, standing helplessly in the middle of his room, looking lost. When the silence became almost overwhelming, Colton was the one who finally broke it. Looking back at the worn book in his hand, he cleared his throat.
