Read In the Silks for Free Online Page B

upside down and his head was swimming a bit. He lost his grip several times but recovered. He was low to the ground, so he wasn’t worried about falling. When he finished measuring out the length he released his hold. He felt a little funky though, and knew he was sliding down the silk more than he should be. He reacted, twisting his body in a panic that wasn’t typical of him. He twisted himself trying to catch the fabric with his leg, turning hard to the right. He could feel the stretch and burn in his knee immediately. The pain was intense and his leg felt loose. He growled through clenched teeth and began to fall to the floor. This was not good.
    ~~~~~
    It had been about six weeks since the show and Henry had thought of Ryan pretty much every day. He was at a loss. Ryan stirred up so many emotions and desires that Henry had tried very hard to bury. But they had a tendency to resurface when he didn’t keep himself in check. When he drank too much or was in a particularly happy place in life. When he forgot about the problems he’d brought on with his careless actions.
    Henry was sitting at the coffee shop down the street from his apartment waiting for Jackie, who was fifteen minutes late. The fact that he had to sit here alone when he would much rather have been at Dunkin Donuts was ticking him off. He was almost finished with his coffee when she arrived.
    “You didn’t order me a coffee?” Jackie pouted, no hello first.
    “No, I did not, and it’s a good thing I didn’t, considering you’re late.”
    “It’s not my fault Henry, I was getting my hair done, and your sister was running a little late. Are you still going to hold it against me?”
    “You couldn’t call me or text me?”
    “Relax, sheesh. I was talking to your mom, I was distracted. She was asking about us.”
    “Was she?” Henry had heard this before. Jackie thought because she was his sister-in-law’s cousin and friends with his younger sister Julie, that their relationship was something that it wasn’t. Something that it would never be.
    “Yes, go get me a venti caramel latte with skim milk, and then I’ll tell you what she said.” She waved her hand at him in a shooing motion.
    Henry went to fetch her drink, feeling like an errand boy. While standing in line, his mind started to wander to thoughts of Ryan, again. He found himself smiling until he got to the front of the line and had to order the latte. His smile fell.
    He hated feeling like this. Like Jackie sucked any semblance of happiness out of his day. He also hated feeling like he was using her, which he was to an extent. He felt like he owed her a real relationship but if she only knew about him and things he really wanted…
    Jackie was already talking to him about his mother’s supposed inquiry into their relationship before he even sat back down.
    “Henry, are you listening to me?” She asked, snapping her fingers in his face.
    “Huh? Sorry.” He hadn’t even realized that he zoned out on her, again, this time too preoccupied to absorb any of what she had just said.
    “I said, what do you think? Should we talk about moving in together? I mean it has been a year now. Everyone is waiting for us to move forward.”
    “Who is everyone?” Henry asked her with a grimace.
    “Just everyone. My family, yours. It would make your dad really happy you know.” Jackie lowered her head and put her hands in her lap. Like she immediately knew that she had crossed a line.
    “Seriously, Jackie, seriously?” Henry scoffed and shook his head, rubbing a hand down his face. “That was a low blow. Listen I need some time to think about…well everything, I guess. Don’t call me. I’ll call you, maybe.” That last word came out as barely a whisper.
    With that, Henry got up from the table and walked away. He didn’t look back. He was sure Jackie already had her phone out texting someone about what he had done.
    Henry put his phone on silent and spent the rest of the day running his