Confessions: Henri (Confessions Series Book 5)

by Ella Frank

  “Which one do you think?”

  Bailey knew he was there today for the three across the lawn about to pledge their love to one another, but suddenly he wasn’t so upset that he was running late. Never had he felt such an immediate and intense attraction to someone before, and with Xander’s talk about the last time he got laid on a loop in his head, Bailey stared into the most arresting face he’d seen in years and decided to just…go for it.

  “Hmm, who do I think is your ex?” Bailey made a show of looking the man over. Not because he needed to but because he wanted to, and as he took in the rebellious vibe and wicked smile, he thought of his straitlaced friend Priest and crossed him off the list first. The sweet disposition of Robbie didn’t seem to match up either, and as he shook his head, Bailey knew he had his answer.

  There was only one man out of those three that he could see this guy with, and that would be the sexy French chef—the Prick. “I think Julien.”

  Chapter Two

  CONFESSION

  Julien and I would rather date a woman

  than date each other.

  True fact.

  HENRI STARED AT the sexy guy with the light blue eyes and flushed cheeks, and wondered how he’d come to his decision that Julien Thornton had once been the man for him. It was ironic, considering his and Julien’s less-than-smooth relationship over the years, and though he thought about asking for more insight, Henri realized he didn’t really want to talk about it.

  Not Julien. Not Priest. And certainly not the happy trio who were now all accounted for under the arbor, midway through their I-dos. Henri suddenly had a different focus, and it had everything to do with the hot-as-hell distraction standing directly to his right.

  Not quite as tall as himself, he had a perfect Roman nose and a military buzzcut that showcased piercing eyes that were assessing as they looked him over—and they liked what they saw. That was obvious with the way they crawled back up to Henri’s face, and his dick stiffened at that interested stare.

  In a white shirt and tailored three-piece suit to match the color of his eyes, it was easy to see the outline of the man’s wide shoulders and large biceps, giving Henri a glimpse at the power that lay dormant beneath that fine material.

  He had no idea who this man was, and knew he should probably get out of there before he did something stupid. But the attraction swirling between them was too damn powerful to resist, and his mind was in desperate need of some redirection.

  “Julien, huh?”

  Blue—yeah, that suits him—shrugged, and then a shy grin tipped up the corners of his mouth, making it really difficult for Henri to leave.

  “I don’t know. He seems the most likely, in my opinion.”

  Henri couldn’t help the laugh that rumbled out of him, because out of those three, Julien was the most unlikely choice.

  “Oh, shit,” Blue said. “I’m wrong, aren’t I?”

  So fucking wrong that Henri almost wished Julien and Priest were there to hear this conversation. But instead of telling him just how far off he was, Henri reached inside his leather jacket for his cigarettes and put one between his lips. “I didn’t say that.”

  “But you’re laughing, so I think I must be wrong.”

  As he lit up and inhaled, Henri held out the packet to his new…friend.

  “No thanks. I quit a few months ago.”

  Henri took the cigarette from between his lips and looked at it. “Do you mind if I do?”

  “Hell no. As long as you don’t mind having someone stand very close to you for the next few minutes.”

  Henri eyed the guy for a beat, and then took a deep inhale before taking a sidestep so they were close enough that their arms brushed one another. “Get as close as you like. I don’t mind at all.”

  Blue lowered his gaze to Henri’s lips, and when he cleared his throat, Henri’s cock began to throb. The lust now licking through his veins was stronger than anything he’d felt in years, and as Blue ran his tongue along his lower lip, Henri knew he wasn’t the only one feeling the spark between them.

  “So, um, are you going to be sticking around for the reception?” Blue’s words were innocent enough, but the invitation in his eyes told Henri that one word would have this guy back at his hotel and in Henri’s bed before the three grooms across the lawn had even cut their cake.

  But just as that thought hit him, the loud sound of applause and cheers rang out through the air, breaking the moment, and the two of them looked back to the three men who were center stage.

  Henri took another drag of his cigarette and suddenly wished he was anywhere but there. It was obvious that Blue wanted to see where this chemistry would go after a few too many drinks. But not even the promise of a seriously hot fuck could convince Henri to stick around and watch Priest and his two husbands fawn over one another.

  Henri’s stomach twisted as he watched each of them take a turn at kissing the other, and that was when he decided it was time to get the fuck out of there.

  As the guests began getting to their feet to cheer on the happy threesome, Blue took a step forward as Henri took a giant one back and said, “Let Joel know that Henri said congratulations, would you?”

  Then he ghosted.

  LET JOEL KNOW that Henri said congratulations…

  The full meaning of those words didn’t quite register with Bailey at first. But as he watched Priest reach for Robbie and press a fierce kiss to his new husband’s lips, it finally clicked that the man Bailey had just spent the last fifteen minutes with had given him an answer to the original question he’d asked: Which one is your ex?

  And that answer was Joel Priestley.

  Bailey turned around, ready to throw doubt all over that response, because he couldn’t think of a more unlikely scenario than the ever-serious Priest dating this guy. But where he thought he’d find the man dressed in all black, he found nothing.

  He was gone, had disappeared as though he’d never been there, and as Bailey scanned the wooded property and pristine landscape that stretched as far as the eye could see, he saw no trace of Henri walking away, either.

  What the hell? It was as though he’d vanished, as though Bailey had imagined the entire thing, and as he scrubbed a hand over his face, he started to wonder if maybe he had.

  Bailey squeezed his eyes shut for a second, and when he reopened them to go over and wish the happy trio congratulations, he spotted a cigarette butt sticking out from the dirt by his feet.

  At the visual reminder of his conversation with the stranger—Henri—Bailey’s entire body reacted as though he were right back in the middle of it. His heart thumped and his pulse raced, and as he stared at the cigarette, he willed his body to calm the hell down. The guy was gone, so it wasn’t as though Bailey was about to get any action any time soon, and if he didn’t get himself under some kind of control, it was going to be a really long afternoon.

  Jesus, what is the matter with me? This was so unlike him. He knew absolutely nothing about Henri except for his name, and yet here he was getting overly excited because he’d found proof that the guy actually existed.

  Henri… He liked that name, tried it out a few times in his head, and when he realized what he was doing, he immediately stopped. The last thing he needed was to start fantasizing about someone he was never going to see again. It was a moment, it had passed, and now he just needed to move on.

  This was all Xander’s fault, making Bailey hyperaware of the first person he talked to, and for that alone, he was going to kick Xander’s interfering ass.

  As he made his way across the lawn toward the other guests, Bailey tried to focus on why he was there and the men he was coming to see. But just before he reached the crowd, he stopped and looked over his shoulder one last time, and just as he suspected, there was no one out there. Not a soul.

  “Well, there he is,” Robbie Bianchi—no, Robbie Thornton-Priestley—said when he spotted Bailey standing on the periphery of his family and friends. Then he made his way thro
ugh the throng of gushing relatives and flashed a beaming smile Bailey’s way. “The one and only man who’s ever put handcuffs on me. Well, at least while I was fully clothed.”

  Bailey chuckled as he embraced the incorrigible man and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Congratulations, Mr. Thornton-Priestley.”

  “Thank you,” Robbie said, all but floating high at the sound of his new name as Bailey let him go.

  “The ceremony looked beautiful, and so do you.”

  Robbie preened at the compliment, but when his two new husbands came to a standstill on either side of him, he said, “Wait, it looked beautiful? Could you not hear from where you were sitting? Oh my God, I told Val we needed mics.”

  “No. No.” Bailey grimaced, realizing his slip-up, and knew he had no other choice but to confess. “I was late. I’m so sorry. I tried to get here on time, but I got stuck in traffic, and—”

  Priest clapped him on the arm, and a low chuckle rumbled out of him. “It’s okay. You’re here now, and we appreciate you making the trip.”

  “Really, we do,” Julien said, a charming smile lighting up his handsome face. “We’re sorry you missed the ceremony, since you helped get us here, but we’re happy you made it for the reception.”

  Bailey looked between the men all decked out in their finest and had no doubt that, with or without him, they would’ve worked out a way to get where they were today, no matter what stood in their way.

  Which brought to mind… “I actually got here in time to watch from over there.”

  Bailey gestured to the spot he’d waited, and debated with himself on whether he should pass along Henri’s message. I mean, if he was invited, then he must be on good terms with these guys, right? “I met one of your guests over there.”

  “You did?” Robbie glanced over Bailey’s shoulder, and then looked back to him. “Who?”

  “Said his name was Henri.” Bailey turned his attention to Priest. “He said to tell you congratulations.”

  The relaxed and happy expression that had been on Priest’s face disappeared in an instant, and when he turned to look at Robbie, Priest’s new husband offered up a guilty smile and put a hand on Priest’s chest.

  “Now, before you get all cranky—”

  “Did you invite him here today?”

  “Well…” Robbie smoothed his hand over Priest’s shirt and then glanced over his shoulder to Julien, who was clearly keeping out of whatever was happening. “I might’ve sent him an invitation. I thought he’d want to see this, since he, you know, helped us stay together.”

  Okay, Bailey hadn’t expected that, and it was obvious Priest hadn’t either, as he let out a sigh.

  “How did you even know where to find him?” Priest said.

  “Umm…”

  “Robert?”

  Shit, Bailey thought, as he looked between Priest and Robbie. That tone meant one thing and one thing only: I expect an answer, now.

  “I… He… Look,” Robbie said, and pointed a finger at Priest’s chest. “He texts me occasionally, okay?”

  “He what?”

  “He’s my friend. All of our friends, and I didn’t see any problem inviting him today, so stop growling at me. It’s our wedding day.”

  Priest had the good grace to look chagrined as he swallowed back whatever he was about to say next, and leaned in to kiss Robbie’s forehead. “You’re right. I apologize. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

  Julien cleared his throat and said, “Ah, is Henri still here, Bailey?”

  Bailey shook his head. “No, he’s gone.”

  “Of course he is,” Priest muttered, and when Robbie glared at him, Priest shrugged. “What? That’s what he’s good at.”

  That was an interesting comment, but not all that unusual coming from an ex. Maybe Henri had been the type of boyfriend who was really good at walking out the door. He didn’t exactly look like the kind of guy to settle down and make roots.

  Wow, way to stereotype there, Bay.

  “Well,” Julien said to the two beside him, interrupting Bailey’s thoughts. “I think it says a lot that he showed at all. It’s…nice.”

  Priest said nothing to that, but Robbie nodded. Whatever message was being passed between these three was being done so in silence. Then Julien stepped forward and hooked his arm through Bailey’s.

  “Why don’t you come inside and let us get you a drink?”

  “I’m driving, so I—”

  “Oh, please,” Robbie said, and hooked Bailey’s other arm. “That’s why there’s Uber. Let’s get you a drink or three. That is the theme of today’s celebration, after all.”

  As the two of them led him off toward the back deck area, Bailey spotted Priest staring out at the empty tree line, and couldn’t help but wonder if Priest was having as hard a time as he was forgetting the man who went by the name…Henri.

  Chapter Three

  CONFESSION

  I always thought I was pretty smart.

  Turns out, I’m really not.

  “WOULD YOU LIKE another?”

  Henri nodded to the bartender who’d just noticed his empty tumbler, as he looked out over the lake from the bar in his hotel. He’d been there for a couple of hours now, working his way through the bottle of bourbon the woman had opened when he first sat down. He was doing his best to erase the final image he’d had of Priest wrapped around Robbie, as he kissed his new husband and welcomed him into his and Julien’s life on a permanent basis.

  During that time, Henri had also come to the decision that he was either a fucking idiot or a glutton for punishment. He was still trying to work out which of those two things fit a person who’d made a three-hour drive out of town just to torture himself. It would’ve been laughable if it wasn’t so pathetically sad. But as Henri brought his freshly topped drink to his lips to take a sip, he realized that was exactly what he was—pathetic and…sad.

  It wasn’t like this day was all that shocking. It was clear to anyone who saw those three together that they loved one another. Henri just wished he hadn’t fucking seen them; it would’ve made disliking them so much easier. But after the hell they’d been through with Priest’s father—Big Jimmy—it was no surprise that Priest had wanted to lock that shit down. That was who he was. It was in his nature. If, of course, you were the one he loved.

  Henri shook his head and patted around his jacket for his cigarettes. He needed to stop thinking about this. He needed to go outside, have a smoke, then come back in here and get shit-faced drunk. That was how he’d dealt with it the first time around—fucking Julien—and while that had been one of the most difficult nights of his life, the fact that it was happening all over again seemed like a fuck-you no matter which way he looked at it.

  The problem was that he knew that it wasn’t. In fact, it might’ve actually been easier if it was. But that wasn’t how Priest worked, and as Henri sat there trying his hardest to forget the man he’d do anything for, his memories wouldn’t leave him be. They kept coming back to the day he’d made his own vow to Priest.

  The one that always had him a phone call away from heartache, a phone call away from running back to the only one he’d ever loved. And if he’d learned anything in all those years since, it was that the past didn’t lie, and while he’d vowed to stay, Priest had done no such thing…

  “JOEL…? JOEL! WAIT for me,” Henri called out, trying to project his five-year-old voice across the swampy marshlands, as his ankles sank into the mud underfoot.

  It was Saturday afternoon, and when his father, Victor, had dumped him at Big Jimmy’s and told him he’d be back for him in the morning, Henri hadn’t much cared. That just meant he got to spend the night with his best friend Joel, instead of being locked up in the empty shack they lived in out of town.

  “Nuh-uh,” Joel shouted back from somewhere up ahead. “It’s hide-n-seek. You gotta find me.”

  “But that’s not fair. I can’t see you,” Henri said as he pulled a foot free. The wire grass they’
d been running through was thick and much taller than he was, which made seeing anything more than a chubby arm’s-length away hard, and when the mud oozed through his toes again, Henri began to giggle, getting sidetracked by the cool, wet feel of it.

  “Henri?” Joel called out, refocusing his attention, and when Henri’s head whipped to the left where the tall cypress trees sprang out of the ground, he spotted his friend in an instant.

  A shock of red hair glinted in the sunlight up ahead. Henri grinned as he started off in that direction. He laughed, excited to reach his friend, even though his legs were now all but covered in the sludge that he was merrily stomping through.

  “I see you! I see you!” Henri yelled, pointing up at the tree where Joel was perched on one of the higher branches. His arms were wrapped around the trunk and his dirty legs were hanging down on either side of the branch he was straddling.

  Henri came to a stop at the base of the enormous tree, and as he craned his head back, he did a little jig of victory. “I found you.”

  “Yeah, but you cheated,” Joel said as he swung his leg over the branch.

  “Did not.”

  “Did too. You made me talk to you.”

  Henri was about to answer when a big, beautiful bird with white wings glided through the air and caught his attention. As it soared through the trees, Henri took off after it, and with his eyes sky-high, he wasn’t paying attention to what was beneath his feet, and his foot got caught on a gnarled root sticking out of the ground. He pitched forward and barely had enough time to put his hands out in front of himself, and before he knew it, he was tumbling face-first into the mud.

  “Henri!” Joel shouted from somewhere behind him, and Henri shoved up from the ground just in time to see two big boots stop directly in front of him.