Page 90 of Shades of Henry
All four of them.
When Lance and Henry had told everybody they were moving, Zeppelin and Fisher had their own news.
“Yeah, dude,” Zeppelin said, like this would surprise everybody, “I think we have to move too. And quit porn.”
“Only if you want to,” Fisher said, his voice clearly indicating that he wanted to.
“Dude, the only reason you started was for me. I can’t even believe you did that. Most romantic fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” Zep turned a besotted glance to his boyfriend—and his one and only, now that they had declared themselves apparently—and Fisher seemed to melt.
“My dad has property,” Fisher said to everyone else, while still staring into Zeppelin’s eyes. “He’s got a little cottage out in the back, and we can live there rent-free while I go to school and Zep teaches yoga. It’ll be good.” He smiled at all of them with so much happiness, Lance couldn’t even warn the two of them that they were too innocent to go out in the rain.
So that left Billy and Curtis, now unabashedly taking the queen-sized bed, and Cotton and Randy taking the two twin-sized beds in what had been Lance and Randy’s room.
Lance had quietly asked Billy, Curtis, and Randy if he needed to pitch in Cotton’s portion of the rent, and had gotten a resounding no. Cotton was never going to be homeless again—that was a pact they all made, and since Henry still planned to cook them all dinner once a week, they’d never go hungry again either.
And Henry had been right. Once Randy had started going, and Lance had told everybody he was going to therapy to treat his eating disorder, Billy started going again, and so did Cotton.
Zep and Fisher were quitting porn—Lance suspected porn had been their only impetus behind the bulimia, so he was going to cross his fingers.
So the move, which consisted of getting furniture delivered and buying their own household items over the span of two weeks, was pretty seamless. So was Henry’s new job. Since Jackson had gone through surgery with flying colors, he was issuing all the commands from mandatory bedrest at home. Henry said he slept a lot, but he also sounded better. He’d even had some conversations during which Jackson had been eating, which was encouraging. Ellery said they were going away in a week, sort of a vacation before Jackson came back to the office, and Henry was all for that.
And Lance was so looking forward to going to Henry’s brother’s house for a family meal.
He’d stayed with Johnnies for the family, and this was like proof that it didn’t go away.
Dex and Kane’s house was—like so many houses in midtown—small. It had a tiny front yard but a decent backyard with a big shady tree and a terrarium pit with running water for the four big turtles that Kane had accrued both before and after coming to live there.
The most interesting thing about the two-bedroom, one-bath home, was the giant glass wall that showed off the king snake and the iguana that lived in Frances’s room. It caught shade from the backyard tree all day so the reptiles didn’t cook, and people could look out and watch the critters while they were eating at the picnic table in the backyard.
This was a special occasion. They grilled turkeyburgers and hot dogs, and Henry and Lance brought a green salad in a brand-new container, as well as some sliced fruit.
“Bunny!” Henry cried, picking Frances up and swinging her around. “Look at you, all brown from the sun! You are beautiful!”
Frances giggled. “I’ve worn my swimsuit every day for a month! Uncle Kane says I have to get a new one!”
“Uncle Dex already got her a new one,” Dex said, coming out from the house. “But it wasn’t pink, and Uncle Dex is apparently a loser who doesn’t know pink is the thing.”
Frances giggled again. “I like rainbows too.”
Dex squeezed his eyes shut. “Of course you do!”
“Put me down, Henry. I want to play in the sprinklers.”
“Wait a second, bunny. Have you met my friend Lance?”
Frances’s eyes narrowed. “Your friend or your boyfriend?”
Henry winked at him. “My boyfriend.”
Frances smirked. “Your boyfriend or yourhusband?”
Henry’s eyes got big. “Wow, bunny, that’s moving pretty fast. We just moved in together.”
She rolled her eyes. “But all good boyfriends end up husbands. Right, Uncle Dex?”
Lance saw the long-suffering look between brothers, and his heart did a big squishy roll in his chest.
“The best ones do, bunny,” Dex said. “Henry and Lance will give it their best.”
