Chapter Fifteen
Alex
Inviting Henry to the pub to meet my friends was the most terrifying thing I’d ever done.
I was more nervous than I’d been on the opening day of Novel Tea, and that’d been a pretty fucking significant moment in my life.
The problem was I didn’t know how any of my friends were going to react. They’d met other people’s boyfriends over the past year, and none of those times gave me much hope.
When Lane had introduced Oliver, Spencer had started talking about creepy murder basements, and when Will had introduced Jamie, Theo had managed to turn the whole conversation into an awkward-as-fuck interrogation about why none of us had used the free subscriptions he’d given us for his MyFans.
Thank God, Noah and Spencer had fallen for each other rather than bringing anyone else new in.
I’d kind of enjoyed watching Lane and Will deal with our friends’ no-holds-barred nosiness about their new men, but now I was on the other side I was silently apologising for thinking it was funny.
In all the years we’d been hanging out together, I’d never even mentioned a partner to the group, let alone introduced them to anyone, so I knew I’d be in the spotlight as much as Henry.
Fucking trust me to make the first man I introduced to them a fucking Hollywood superstar.
They were never going to let me hear the end of it.
I wanted them to meet Henry, though, and not only because this was the last chance for me to announce our relationship on my terms. According to the ridiculously detailed document I’d been forwarded by Henry, the initial information about our relationship was being sent to the press this weekend along with photos and statements from sources “close to the couple,” which was just more carefully crafted PR bullshit.
I was trying to pretend it wasn’t happening, even if I knew my face would soon end up all over the internet.
All I could do was focus on myself and getting out of this mess in one piece.
But despite all my reservations, deep down I was glad I was doing this with Henry, because he was turning out to be a pretty lovely guy.
Sure, he was overdramatic, needy, egotistical, and far too charming and flirtatious for his own good, but underneath that there was a warm, funny man who was kind, patient, and seemed to find the joy and beauty in everything.
On paper, he was the sort of person who should’ve driven me up the wall but the more time I spent with him, the more I liked him.
It was like the drama, ego, and charm were a perfectly constructed facade built from heightened parts of Henry’s personality. I supposed you had to have something like that if you were as famous as he was, but sometimes I wished he’d let it go because I preferred the person he was underneath.
The one who’d bounced along the front one night when I took him to get fish and chips because he’d wistfully mentioned he missed it, and who’d sat on a bench with me as we ate, watching the tide come in and talking about music—from our favourite guitar riffs to the best film and game soundtracks.
The one who messaged me every morning as soon as he woke up and sent me a running commentary of his thoughts throughout the day with sneaky photos from on set.
Who was always ridiculously happy when I took him lunch and who introduced me to everyone we met because he’d learnt the names of everyone on set from the directors all the way down to the most junior production assistant there on work experience.
The one who brought two-player board games to my flat and taught me how to play Jaipur and Azul and Splendor, grumbling comically when I beat him and doing over-the-top dances in his seat when he won.
Who told me that Percy Pig sweets were the best thing ever invented and bought every different flavour available in the tiny M&S Food in the middle of Heather Bay, spreading the bags out around the games we played and trying to convince me I was wrong when I told him they tasted like rubber.
And now I was going to introduce him to the men who meant the most to me.
Fuck, I wanted them to like him.
I glanced up and down the street outside The Sleeping Goose before checking my phone again to see if Henry had messaged me, a swarm of nerves buzzing in my chest. I’d told him to meet me at seven, and it was already twenty past. I was starting to wonder if he wasn’t coming.
“Sorry I’m late,” Henry said as he suddenly appeared around the corner, his breath coming in pants like he’d been running and spots of pink blossoming on his cheeks. “We had to do the last take a million times because Nick wasn’t happy with how it was coming out. I should’ve messaged you.”
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to shake off my nerves. “There’s no set time to be here.”
“Yes, but I’m twenty minutes late. That’s not great when I’m meeting your friends.”
“You’re fine. They, er… they know I’m bringing someone, but they don’t know who. I didn’t want to explain it over text. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“They’ll believe you now,” Henry said, giving me a warm smile that made the feelings in my chest buzz louder than a swarm of killer bees.
I’d prefer killer bees at this rate. It had suddenly hit me what I was about to do, and I was two seconds away from suggesting Henry and I ditch them and just go back to mine and get a takeaway.
It didn’t help that Henry looked fucking gorgeous in ripped jeans and a loose white T-shirt that was almost too thin to be decent, with a denim jacket slung over his shoulders.
There was a thin chain peeking out from the collar of his T-shirt and a chunky silver chain bracelet around one wrist. He’d styled his hair too and I was pretty sure someone had done him a fresh fade on the sides.
Just looking at him made my stomach clench and heat flood my body. I hadn’t felt like this in so long and it should have scared me. But it didn’t.
Because this was Henry—adorable, ridiculous, charming Henry.
My Henry.
Fuck.
“Shall we go in?” Henry asked, completely unaware he’d just upended my world with a see-through white T-shirt and a fresh fade.
“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head to dislodge my thoughts, which were getting stuck on the idea of seeing Henry’s butt in his jeans. “Come on.”
Turning, I walked towards the door and headed inside, assuming Henry was following me.
My friends were all seated in our usual corner since it wasn’t quite warm enough to sit outside in the evening yet.
As soon as they saw me, they all stopped talking and stared.
It was like three-headed aliens had suddenly landed.
I stopped in front of them and scowled because I was not ready to deal with this shit.
“All right, listen up, assholes. This is Henry Lu. You might recognise him from a few things. He’ll be… joining us this evening.” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word boyfriend. It just got stuck on my tongue.
Henry had no such problem. “Aww, you don’t need to be so grumpy about it,” Henry said, and I suddenly knew he’d slotted into professional mode. He reached down and slipped his fingers into mine. “Hey, everyone. I’m Henry, Alex’s boyfriend. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.”
There was a beat of silence, and the hum of chatter from the rest of the pub faded away. Then, as if someone had flicked a switch, the whole table erupted in a cacophony of noise.
So much for keeping it quiet until tomorrow. Although given the racket we often made, I hoped the pub’s other patrons had just tuned us out. Everyone was usually pretty good at keeping to themselves.
“I knew it,” said Jamie, who was sat next to Will with a sly smile on his face. “I told you it was a secret boyfriend.”
“Seriously,” Spencer said. “You have a boyfriend and you didn’t tell me?” He looked hurt but I didn’t care. I was too overwhelmed by everything.
“I can’t believe we didn’t guess,” Noah said. “You said he’s been taking food out a lot this week, and you don’t normally do deliveries.”
“Yeah, but still…” Spencer said, trailing off before he could say anything else.
“I can’t believe you kept Henry Lu from us,” Theo said, looking both betrayed and like he was two seconds away from swooning. Laurie had a hand on his arm like he was trying to keep Theo in his seat.
“Can you blame him?” Lane asked with a chuckle. He turned to Henry and me and patted the bench next to him. “I’m Lane. Ignore this lot and grab a seat. We’ll get you some drinks.”
“We’ll go,” said Laurie, standing up and dragging Theo with him.
Theo looked horrified at the idea of leaving, even for a second. “But, but…”
“No,” Laurie said, putting his hand in Theo’s. Even from here I could see he was holding it tightly. “We’re going.” He flicked his head towards Henry and me. “What can we get you?”
“Er… I’ll have a pint of whatever’s on tap,” I said.
“Gin and tonic for me, please,” Henry said as he reached for his pocket to pull out his wallet.
“Don’t worry about that,” Lane said with a wave of his hand. “You can get the next one. We all pitch in and spread it out over the month. Saves everyone having to pass money around.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Henry said, seating himself on the bench next to Lane and leaving me to grab the chair at the end. At least we weren’t in the middle like Will and Jamie had been when Will had first brought him along. Everyone was still looking at us, though, and my scowl deepened.
“You know,” Lane said, smirking at me. “If the wind changes, your face’ll stay like that.”
“Good, then people will stop staring at me,” I said, folding my arms and sitting back in my chair.
I knew I looked like a petulant child but I hated being the centre of attention.
It was why I’d had to give up on my dream of fronting the world’s greatest rock band—I couldn’t cope with the idea of so many people looking at me.