Vows Box Set

Chapter 3: Puddles-1

Chapter 3: Puddles

Day One

“Thanks, but no.”

That had been the polite but decisive and unquestionably short answer Sam had given Henry. They’d been eating dinner and Henry had worked up the nerve to invite Sam back to his room for a drink. Sam had blushed. Obviously he’d known that Henry was hoping for more than a drink. That’s what Sam had declined.

Goddammit.

Henry couldn’t work up any regret for having tried. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all. He’d been mooning after the man all year, although he was reasonably sure he’d hidden it well behind a professional demeanor.

He admired everything about Sam. His intelligence, his passion for his work, even his shy and reserved manners that were so different from his own. The fact that he found the man fascinatingly eye-catching was just icing on the cake. He wasn’t conventionally handsome—his nose was a little too large, and his ears stuck out adorably—but the man had the most beautiful blue eyes that reminded Henry of well-worn denim, and a killer grin. The best thing about that grin was that its wearer obviously had no idea the effect it had on people—or at least on Henry.

Henry made his way down the breakfast buffet line and filled his plate. He didn’t see Sam in the room yet and hoped his colleague wasn’t going to avoid him now. Henry didn’t want things to be awkward between them. They still had a few more days to spend together in Honiara, then weeks in close proximity on some of the smaller islands. Then they’d be back to rubbing elbows in the biology department at the university.

He decided it would be best to just prattle on as if nothing had been said next time he saw Sam. Simply ignore the incident and hopefully Sam would forget all about it, and things would get back to the way they were. Except for Henry; Henry would always know that the man who occupied his dreams didn’t want him.