Freedom (The F-Word #5) - E. Davies Page 0,10

dwarfed by its surroundings.

Poor Henry yelped as Jaden crushed his hand, choking on thin air. Jaden cursed and tried to loosen his grip, but he was pretty sure he was going to break the rail by his seat if he held it any harder.

“You okay?” Henry tried to hide his wince like a champ, even if Jaden saw through it.

Jaden just laughed and shrugged, letting his wild, wide eyes tell the whole story. Not really. This is too big. The helicopter isn’t boxed in. They were crunched into the backseat with a solid back behind them, but still, the sides were way too open to the air.

He checked out again, focusing on the grounding press of his body to the seat as his heart hammered. Time seemed to fly by without Jaden having much say in it. One moment they were up in the air, and the next he was listening to Henry and the pilot talk about the lives of coyotes as they landed, and then Henry was opening the car door for him.

Things had almost definitely happened in the meantime, like the helicopter landing, and maybe even the pair of them thanking the pilot. He had some vague idea he might have done that, but it was like the memory had just escaped as soon as the moment had passed.

That was the other reason he liked having Spence around—to tell him what he’d missed if he freaked out and it took him a while to calm down, and to handle other people while he did so.

Henry must have done that for him. Once more, Jaden’s fear was interrupted by gratitude, because despite clearly having had to take charge of the situation, Henry wasn’t looking annoyed or dismissive. He just cast Jaden little concerned glances as he helped him climb into the car, then came around the other side to join him.

Jaden’s anxiety finally started to loosen its grip once they were inside the car, and he took a few deep breaths, leaning against the door.

This was good. He could handle this.

“Okay, wow.”

“Back with me?” Henry smiled kindly and unlaced their fingers to click the buckle of his seatbelt before taking his hand again. “Buckle up and we’ll get moving, hm? You’re doing great. You’re a star. I can’t believe how much you’ve done today already.”

God, Jaden hated himself. He wasn’t the poster boy for Heart2Heart at all. If they wanted a cutesy story later, he’d have to tell them that Henry had needed to spend the whole date looking after him.

That was asking too much of anyone. That wasn’t a date, it was a… lesson. In how to adult. God, he couldn’t even do that, could he?

Jaden caught himself a few moments later. No, he always did this—beat himself up after a panic attack. He didn’t deserve that.

I’m doing the best I can, he told himself firmly and straightened up. Henry’s choosing to support me when he doesn’t have to. It’s not like I’m forcing him. It’s his choice—which makes it sweeter.

“Where to?” Jaden managed, his fingers clumsy. Henry helped guide the metal buckle into place.

“Biking, just the two of us,” Henry assured him. His deep voice rasped beautifully, and those bright blue eyes caught Jaden’s gaze again. “With a picnic.”

Jaden let out a deep breath. “Okay,” he murmured. The thought of just the two of them, alone in the woods, was reassuring.

“And whatever you need to manage, we’ll figure it out,” Henry said with a smile.

Jaden’s jaw dropped for a few seconds. He’d figured already that Henry was a considerate kind of guy, but this was more sensitivity and kindness than he’d ever expected. “I…” He teared up a little.

“Oh, hon.” Henry unbuckled, ignoring the beep from the front seat of the limo, and slid the window to the front seats shut to block out the tutting sound from their driver—and give them privacy.

He buckled himself into the middle seat instead, suddenly so much closer.

It felt better, Jaden had to admit, to have Henry’s arm around his shoulder instead of having to reach over the gulf of the middle seat between them.

Even if it dialed up the sparks between them to eleven. Henry was already distractingly hot. Being right next to him made Jaden’s body ping with all kinds of good feelings.

Jaden swallowed a few more times, blinking back tears, and then smiled. “I’m being silly.”

“No,” Henry said softly. “I’m glad you’re comfortable enough with me to express your feelings. I’ve got plenty of my own that