Page 7 of Shades of Henry
So who knew who was naked in the other room?
Which was sort of what Lance needed to talk to Henry about.
Henry’s blue eyes—the same shade as his brother’s but not as guileless or as innocent—had opened wide. “Are there, uh… is anybody, uh—”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Lance said bluntly. “Now give me your duffel, say goodbye to your brother, and you and me need to have a little talk.”
Lance grabbed the duffel and threw it directly onto the couch, checked the pocket of his sweats to make sure his keys were in there, and shut the door behind them. Together, the three of them clattered down the stairs, Dex apologizing the whole time.
“Lance, I’m so sorry. This shouldn’t last long, man. I really appreciate—”
“Stop!” Lance laughed as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “It’s all good, brother. You’d do the same for any one of us—and youhave.”
Dex shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s no Bobby.”
Ah, gods. Bobby, the big young country boy with the solid heart. That pity fuck Lance had given him had left a lasting impression, actually. When Bobby and Reg had gotten their shit sorted, Lance had needed to stomp hard on his own regret. Sort of like with Dex, he’d been so focused on his future, he hadn’t moved in on a possible here and now.
“Well, Bobby still stops by to check on the guys,” Lance said. “Gives them piecework with his construction firm if they need it.” He looked briefly at Henry. “You could probably take some of those jobs to tide you over.”
Henry looked interested. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Oh, this question was a little personal. “I, uh, take it you won’t be filming scenes?”
The horror on Henry’s square-jawed face spoke volumes, and Lance tried hard not to be hurt. Well, Dex was buckets full of awesome—he was allowed to have a redneck family member who wore his ass for a hat.
Dex let out an amused sound. “No scenes for Henry.” Unexpectedly, he put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed. “And probably no relationships until he gets himself sorted out.” Henry shifted uncomfortably, and then broke Lance’s heart a little by biting his lip, the expression making him look about fifteen years younger and vulnerable as hell.
“No,” Henry said gruffly. “Probably not.”
Lance nodded, hopefullylookingconfident, but inside he was a little confused. He’d assumed Henry was straight. His posture, his judgy sneer, his horror when he’d realized what was going on inside the apartment—all of it had pointed to a straight guy thrown into his worst nightmare.
But this? This sadness, this discomfort—this wasn’t the judgment of someone who didn’t want to join the party. This was the judgment of someone who’d assumed the party wasn’t for them.
Looking at Henry’s extreme unhappiness and the self-loathing that seemed to radiate off him like sound waves, Lance thought he might be only a little right. Maybethisparty wasn’t for Henry, but there might be some guy out there who’d throw him a hell of a happily ever after.
“I’ll take over from here,” Lance said softly. They stood at the bottom of the stairwell now, and Lance could see Dex’s SUV parked in the visitor’s spot near them, Kane in the front seat, fiddling with his phone.
Dex looked over at his husband and waved gamely, and Kane smiled. Then he shot Henry a glare that should have thrown a bolt of lightning through his chest.
Lance swallowed. He’d never seen Kane really pissed off, but given Kane’s size—the width of his shoulders, the thickly muscled thighs, the pure no-bullshit way he carried himself when he wasn’t goofing off—he’d never really wanted to.
Poor Henry. Whatever this guy had done to earn that glare, it must have been truly heinous. But not, apparently, unforgivable.
“You should go,” Lance said because Henry wasn’t backing down from that glare. He was matching Kane scowl for scowl, probably out of sheer cussedness.
Dex pulled his brother into a hug. “Text me tonight and let me know how you’re settling in.”
“That’s not really nece—” Henry argued.
“It is. It’s completely necessary,” Dex told him. “You don’t just spend two nights on my couch and get to disappear out of my life again.” Dex’s angel’s mouth made a funny little wobble. “I… you could be the only family I get to hold on to, Henry. I’m not going to let you go.”
Dex hugged his brother again, tighter, his windbreaker rustling against his brother’s denim jacket, then pulled away and turned toward the SUV before Lance got a look at his face.
He didn’t need to.
“C’mon,” he said to Henry, pulling him in the direction of the super’s office on general principle. Behind them, the SUV started up and backed out, but neither Henry nor Lance looked at Henry’s retreating brother.
“Where we going?”
