Freedom (The F-Word #5) - E. Davies Page 0,67

sparkles. And then you leave and my four walls close in around me, and they’re gray.” Jaden’s frustration poured out as his eyes heated up with unshed tears. “I—I want you around, all the time. I don’t want to move to yet another little place on my own and wait for you to come back from trips and get whatever nights I can with you…”

Henry tensed up under Jaden—suddenly, the soft curve of his shoulder went hard as a board.

“Ah. Um…” Henry mumbled.

Jaden’s stomach dropped. Shit. He doesn’t feel the same way? He thinks I’m moving too fast! He curled his hands by his chest, scraping his chin along the back of one hand as he stared intently at his feet and wondered if he could disappear into the earth. “Was that too fast?”

“Wh-What? No,” Henry said, sounding so surprised that Jaden blinked and stared up at him. He looked earnestly confused. “No, I just need to tell you something right now, before we go any further. A lot of shit went down.”

Jaden’s relief quickly vanished, replaced by an even more sickening feeling. Henry’s voice had just wobbled on that last word. For once, it was Henry shrinking back—in voice, in personality, even physically—like he was afraid.

Afraid of what? What Jaden would think?

“What’s wrong?” Jaden breathed out.

“My boss overheard me coming out to Trip. He scratched me from the schedule, and I confronted him.” Henry’s voice was strained, like it hurt to talk. “He said some transphobic shit, and basically I’m out of a job.”

Jaden’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck?”

“I know,” Henry moaned, and he closed his eyes. “So I’m going to start my own outfit with Trip. But I want to be out from the start this time.”

Jaden nodded wordlessly, still trying to process anything other than his overwhelming urge to drop Damien into a trash can.

“But I don’t know what this means,” Henry breathed out. “I’ve come out to like, three people I know well. You, Trip, and Damien. I’ve got a point-three average for strike-outs, and I—I just—I don’t know if you want that in your life.”

Now, that was a bombshell. “What?” Jaden gasped. Henry sounded like he was trying to push him away now.

Could they get a do-over on today?

Henry was still talking, ticking off points on his fingers. “—and I don’t want to go back into stealth mode, and I don’t want to bring more trouble to you when that’s already the thing that you’re most afraid of—”

“No, you can’t—he can’t—no,” Jaden snapped, sitting bolt upright.

Henry blinked at him. For some reason, he looked… even more confused now. “What?”

“What?” Jaden echoed. He sat up straight, every inch an indignant squirrel towering under the huge, lanky puppy beside him. “Look, I want to be with you. For the long haul. I basically just told you that. And I know you’re hurting right now, but if this is going to work for the long haul, you gotta trust me to know my own mind, rather than put me in a bubble and assume things will hurt me. My mind, and my heart, and my soul, and my body, and every little bit of me agrees that you’re the one. So I don’t give a shit how many people have a problem with you, because I love you, and if I have to learn karate or some shit to deal with dickheads like your ex-boss, so help me God, I’ll do it.”

Then Jaden stopped, his own jaw dropping as he realized he’d just made… a speech. And confessed his love. And maybe threatened to knock out Henry’s boss.

Silence rang between them for a few seconds.

At least Henry didn’t respond with another, “What?” He just stared, his mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies.

Jaden’s cheeks flushed as he watched Henry’s expression shift from frantic panic—a feeling he knew all too well—to disbelief, and finally something else completely.

Something that almost terrified Jaden to name, but made his heart sing in the crystal-clear tones he could no longer ignore.

Love.

Henry sagged against Jaden, a long breath rushing out of his lungs as he threw his arms around Jaden and squeezed him tightly. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

Jaden squeaked quietly, burying his face in Henry’s neck again. “I kinda hoped so. But I didn’t plan to say any of that, either. I didn’t want to seem too eager or anything, and…”

It was Henry’s turn to chuckle gently. He pulled back and pressed a kiss against Jaden’s lips, cutting off the worries that