Where did you go, baby,Henry had breathed against his left ear, once again pulling him out of his gloomy thoughts.Come back to me.He’d suddenly understood all the tales of fishermen and sailors being led astray by the beautiful sirens and their alluring song. Henry had that kind of magic. He was able to pull Colton back from the darkness. Only, he had a feeling that Henry would never lead him out where he’d risk drowning.
There you are.Henry’s words had lingered on his wet lips like a promise that he’d never be lost again. If only that were true. Then his magic tongue had pried Colton’s lips open, and every thought and every shred of doubt had blurred into the background, blending into the pink tiles of the shower. Until there’d been nothing left but pure and unfiltered pleasure. Then there was only Henry and Henry’s skilled tongue showing him all the different ways it could be used all over Colton’s body to bring him pleasure. Every lick followed by a breathybaby.Each stinging bite soothed by a whisperedwant you.
They’d arrived back in town in the late afternoon and after a brief but heated goodbye kiss in the truck, Colton had dropped Henry off at Iris’ house. If he was being honest with himself, it felt wrong to drive away from Henry after the intimacy and the confessions of the past twenty-four hours. They’d had sex. And he’d opened up to Henry about a lot of painful stuff. Things he’d never shared with any one before. And Henry had listened. Comforted him instead of rejecting him or writing him off as damaged goods.
It had stunned him. He hadn’t meant something to anyone since his mom had died when he was six – and now this smart, beautiful and amazing young man apparently wanted him. Colton knew that he should have been freaked out by the whole thing. That he was falling in love with another man ? a much younger man. But he wasn’t freaked out. Maybe because he’d never been in love with anyone before. And the fact that Henry was another man didn’t seem to matter much. Sure, Colton didn’t exactly feel the need to advertise their relationship around town or in the bi-weekly paperSneak a Peak, but he wasn’t concerned about people finding out either.
Colton was more concerned about the fact that his nightmares were getting worse. They were starting to become very real and the fact that he’d hurt Henry still made him only one step away from emptying his stomach contents. He knew that he needed to get some help. And soon. If he was to ever hope for a normal life – and perhaps even a future with Henry – he needed to face up and deal with his past.
The problem was that it scared him shitless. The idea of spilling his guts to a stranger filled him with dread. In his entire life, or at least since the age of six, he’d never relied upon anyone.You’re on your own now, kiddo.The words echoed in the back of his head. Once you decided to depend on someone else, there was no turning back. It was like living in complete darkness for your entire life and then suddenly catching a brief glimpse of the sun. There was no going back into that dark cave after that.
He parked his truck in front of the shop and went inside to see what Hank was up to. His uncle was bent over a dark green Ford with a dented hood.
“Hey Hank, what’s up? Accident or something?” He went and stood next to his uncle, peering at the rather large indentation in the hood.
“Yeah, or something. Young city couple hit a deer on their way to the park. Lucky there was no need for emergency care since you’ve kept our only medical professional occupied with other things.” A smirk appeared at the corner of Hank’s mouth where he was chewing on a toothpick. “The couple’s put up for the night down at the hotel. Vernon’s cutting up the deer.” He raised an eyebrow at Colton before continuing. “You sure took your time getting back. Have a good time?”
“Sure. Dinner was good.” Colton scratched at the back of his neck.
“Long dinner, huh?” Hank grinned at him knowingly.
“Shut up.” Colton grinned back.
“Yeah, I know that look. I was young once too, remember. Pass me the wrench, will ya?”
“You’re still young.” Colton replied while passing Hank the wrench.
“Well, I sure don’t feel it most of the time.” As if stressing the words, he stretched his arms in the air, groaning at the effort.
Colton looked at his uncle, a worried frown settling between his dark brows.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Sure. Ain’t nothing wrong with me that a beer and a game of cards won’t fix,” Hank grinned, shaking his oil-stained hand at his nephew.
“Okay. But you’d let me know, right? If there was something.”
“Of course, I would kid. You ain’t getting rid of me anytime soon. I ain’t done with this life yet or with our long overdue reunion. I still have a truck load of words of wisdom to pass on to you before I go anywhere.” His uncle squeezed his shoulder briefly. “What about you? You good? Will I be expecting that young man of yours over for dinner anytime soon? Or are you keeping him locked up somewhere?”
“Jesus, Hank. It ain’t like that. We’re just hanging out.”
“Yeah, well, you can still hang out and eat dinner. Gotta keep up your energy level, son. Young guy like your Henry? A lot of stamina… And he can bring Iris as well. Meeting the in-laws or whatever you wanna call it.” Hank wiped off the greasy wrench in the cloth draped over the busted hood of the car, sporting an innocent look on his face.
“Jesus, Hank. Is there anything else? If not, I’m gonna go wash up and start looking at that SUV back there.” He couldn’t help smiling at his uncle’s teasing as he began walking towards the house. It was something completely different from the relationship he’d had with his father. He felt his chest tighten at the thought of Walter as Hank’s voice pulled him back to the present moment.
“Nope, nothing else. But I’ll be expecting both sometime next week,” his uncle yelled after him.
“Sure thing, Hank. Whatever you say.”
As Colton skipped up the porch steps, whistling some tune he couldn’t name, two words Hank had said, stood out.Your Henry.He’d never really had anything that was his before. He tasted the words on his tongue.Your Henry. Yeah, he liked that. Having someone. But it also scared the living daylights out of him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Henry
HENRY MUST HAVEchanged his outfit a zillion times already. He didn’t know why he was nervous. It was dinner at Hank’s for fuck’s sake. He knew Hank. Nothing to be nervous about. And Hank liked him. So why was he suddenly feeling insecure?
Since they’d had sex the other night, something had shifted inside him. Infatuation and physical attraction had been replaced by something else. Something far deeper. Something, which was very similar to being in love. Okay, who was he kidding. He was in fucking love with Colton. Obsessed, really.
