Page 83 of Shades of Henry
LANCE DROPPEDRandy off at the apartment and then took off for work—a twelve-hour shift—getting back around two a.m. Henry was asleep on the couch, still in his cargo shorts, arms wrapped around his knees, his head leaning on the couch back. He looked like a child who’d just nodded off. Lance woke him up with a kiss on the temple.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m going to shower. There’s no one on the inflatable—I’ll join you.”
“Mm. D’you eat?”
Lance smiled. “Not yet. Want to make me something?”
Henry’s return smile, sleepy and gratified, was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.
He reallyhadbeen reading up. Veggies and tofu this time, with a hint of coconut milk and some spice. “I was going to do curry,” he said a while later, propping up his chin on his hand, “but that gives me gas sometimes.”
Lance paused midmouthful. “And that would be bad?” he baited.
“Well,awkward, maybe. But, you know. You’re dealing with a guy who has bent over in a Port-A-Jon—my definition ofbadis really pretty loose.”
“No!” Lance protested. “No! We are not going to talk about that, not right now.”
“No?” And there was something in Henry’s voice, something almost desperate.
“No,” Lance said, tracing his firm, grouchy lower lip. “I hereby make that a rule. If you have waited up to feed me and talk to me and maybe sex me up after my shift, we’re not going to talk about your ex. Because you need a place in your life where nothing’s going to hurt you. His memories are going to be cropping up for a good long time, Henry. You may never be clear of them. But here, late at night, when I want nothing more than to touch your bare skin, nothing’s gonna hurt you. Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Henry whispered. “Very gallant, Galahad.” He looked at Lance’s plate, which wasn’t cleaned—but it wasn’t full, either. “And nice job on the food. All done?”
“All done,” Lance said softly. “But not with the food.”
“With what?”
Lance shook his head. “You never ask me. Do you realize that? What a gift that is?”
Henry looked confused. “Never ask you what?”
“If I’m quitting porn.”
Henry looked away. “It’s not my place. I mean, I know that. I’ve been working really hard to not… not drag morality into all of this. And that means what you do professionally.”
Oh, that hurt to say. Lance could tell it did. But he’d said it. And even though his face was red, and he was really uncomfortable, he’d been trying to give Lance his space about his job since he’d arrived in March.
“Well, I am,” Lance told him, and the words were like a weight off his chest.
“Because of me?” Henry swallowed. “This was… this was your act of defiance, Galahad. It wasn’t mine to regulate or to try to control.”
“Not for you—for me.” Lance took a bite of tofu and closed his eyes, savoring the taste. “Because I don’t need the money, and because I don’t need the fuck-yous, and because I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done. But doing this thing to a point where it could hurt us, could keep hurtingme, that would be something to be ashamed of.” He looked at Henry carefully, trying to gauge his expression.
“I can’t lie,” Henry said, looking embarrassed. “I’m fuckingthrilled.I just… I don’t want you to regret quitting—”
“No,” Lance said. God, look at him. Tough and grumbly and… sweet. Strong and protective and… empathetic. He was a throwback to a homophobic age who was trying gamely to throw his old identity away and embrace the one that fit him best. “I can’t say I can always go back, but I can be perfectly comfortable leaving it in my rearview right now.”
Henry was still searching for what he probably thought would be the appropriate response, so Lance gave him a moment by putting his plate in the sink and rinsing it off. He was entirely unready to find Henry’s arms around his waist and his mouth on Lance’s neck as he pulled him close.
“Can I be a caveman now?” he rasped. “Say dumb shit like, ‘Mine! Lance mine!’”
Lance chuckled and thrust back against him. “Yeah. I’m good with that.”
Henry licked the whorl of Lance’s ear. “Mine,” he said, but it came out as seduction. “All mine.”
“Yes.”
And then he shucked Lance’s sleep-shorts to his knees, along with his briefs, and turned him by the hips until he was leaning, bare-assed naked, against the counter.
