Undercover (Boyxboy)

Chapter Eight

Ethan

We had stayed at the opening for another half an hour before bidding farewell to everyone – Harry could barely concentrate on breathing, his mind so muddled from the night’s activities. I was also having a tough time pretending to enjoy myself. I was still reeling from my actions – I’d kissed Harry.

Jennifer’s taunting had sounded like my inner voice every time Harry looked at me for a second longer than normal, or whenever his arm brushed up against mine and slightly lingered. ‘Kiss him! Go on, kiss him now, you idiot!’

I guessed I’d had a moment of weakness – a severe one. I didn’t understand what was happening with us. He’d kissed me back and then freaked out. He could barely look me in the eye. His chocolate brown eyes had looked so utterly lost after it happened and I could tell he regretted it. He’d seemed so disgusted by it.

I knew then that I had to stop pushing the topic of whether or not thought of me in that way. Harry was a unique individual – he didn’t like sharing his toys. And to him, I was one of his most prized possessions. Whenever anyone got too close to me, he would be there to either drag me away or involve himself in the relationship.

I was an introverted person at best – I barely tolerated George and I’d spoken to him more on this mission than any other time. That was primarily due to Harry’s safety being at risk and George having the answer to this. Therefore, it was extremely rare that I let anyone else into my life apart from Harry.

Harry’s behaviour had nothing to do with him liking me the way I liked (loved) him – he would just do everything in his power to ensure we stayed best friends; just me and him, nobody else. Any friend I rarely made in the agency became Harry’s friend too – there was no way Harry was going to give me the chance to become better friends with someone else. And honestly, I didn’t mind. I quite liked it, actually. It showed he cared, in his own strange way.

Hugh was a threat to him, so automatically he disliked him. He was obviously having a tough time distinguishing real life from undercover assignments – he needed to get it through his thick skull that Hugh was an assignment to me.

I understood why he was doing this – his family had all left him, whether they could help it or not. He needed a stable person in his life, and that was me.

Therefore, I couldn’t take advantage of his vulnerability anymore. No matter how much I’d thought and suspected, if Harry truly loved me, I would have known about it years ago – he always got what he wanted.

Sure, things would be awkward for a while once we got past the fact that I was so obviously in love with him. But Harry wasn’t one to hold things against you. We would be back to normal in no time and he would probably mock me about this in a week or two.

Driving back now, his head was bobbing against the headrest of the seat as he snored softly. He’d fallen asleep half an hour into our journey in the middle of our conversation on Grant Jefferson. We wondered if his wife, Audrey, had any clue. What about his kids?

I’d been in the middle of discussing how we were going to approach Grant and Hugh in the future when I’d heard the first snore. Typical – any business talk and he was out for the count.

I stole a glance at him out of the corner of my eye, smiling at how his mouth was slightly opened and his jaw slack. He found a way of making the ugliest sleeping face yet still look mesmerising. Or maybe that was just my interpretation.

I diverted my look between him and the road, feeling like I needed to take advantage of these stolen moments where I could let my guard down. I could look at him all I wanted and not feel anxious that he would catch me.