A No-Strings Noel by Annabelle Jacobs

Author:Annabelle Jacobs [Jacobs, Annabelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Dom took Henry for pancakes Thursday night. They’d spent the morning in the sauna and the afternoon playing pool, and despite eating a big lunch, Dom fancied something a little different for tea.

“Pancakes?” Henry scrunched up his nose as they approached the restaurant. “For dinner?” He looked so unconvinced, it was comical.

Dom laughed. He found he did that a lot with Henry. “Christ, I’m not trying to poison you, I promise. And they don’t just do sweet ones.”

He tugged Henry over to the menu displayed out front.

“Oh.” Henry peered at the various options, then shot Dom a sheepish look. “Sorry for doubting you.”

“They sound good, right?”

“They do.”

Dom felt more than a little smug, pleased that Henry had changed his mind. This particular restaurant was one of his favourites.

“I can’t decide to go for savoury or sweet, though. They all look pretty good.”

It was on the tip of Dom’s tongue to suggest they come back another time, but then he remembered they were almost out of that. The thought was a sobering one and something he didn’t want to dwell on.

At the start of the week, six days of no-strings fun had seemed like a great idea, but he hadn’t bargained for how well they got on together.

Of course being on holiday, away from their real lives, obviously had an impact too. He’d never have seen this much of Henry if they’d met anywhere other than here.

But they had met, and Dom wasn’t sure how he felt about leaving here and never seeing him again.

That’s bollocks, and you know it.

Yeah he did know it. The idea of never seeing Henry again wasn’t a pleasant one. But they had each other’s numbers. It wasn’t like they had no way to contact one another.

But would they want to when they were back at home?

Dom couldn’t answer that one, so he pushed it away to consider later. For the next twenty-four hours, he had Henry to himself. He refused to waste that time worrying about something that might end up being a non-issue.

“Are we going in?” Henry gestured to the door where a family of four had just disappeared inside. “After looking at the menu, I’m starving.”

“Yes, sorry, come on.”

They ate way too much, as Dom knew they would. He never managed to resist getting both a savoury and sweet pancake, even though every time he felt comatose afterwards.

They decided to take a walk to work some of it off. Bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves against the elements, Dom steered them towards the wooden walkway down to the lake. “Come on, the firework display should be starting—”

A loud bang tore through the air, and they looked up to see a shower of fireworks above the treetops.

“Now?” Henry finished for him, grinning.

“Apparently so.”

They walked quickly, catching the last twenty minutes of the display. Dom bought them both a mulled cider, and they found the perfect spot to drink and watch.

As bright colours lit up the sky, Henry leant into him, his weight solid and right.

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