Page 167 of The Waiting Game

Why was Jonah so fucking determined to shut him out?

Felix scooped food into two bowls. He had no idea what it was but there was chicken and vegetables and some kind of sauce.

Good enough.

As the food heated in the microwave, Felix poured them glasses of water. When he slid one over, Jonah didn’t even respond.

He sat at the counter, staring down at his hands.

“Do you want to talk now?” Felix asked.

Jonah lifted his head. “No.”

“We should.”

“Not tonight.” Jonah looked away. “I—I can’t.”

Felix bit his tongue. Jonah had been through a lot tonight but God, Felix was about to lose his goddamn mind.

Of course Jonah was upset about Grandma Ji-min But didn’t Jonah know that Felix was hurting too?

He’d thought that they were a family. All three of them. But being pushed away like that? Shut out?

God, he’d had to hear that Grandma Ji-min was okay from Dustin.

He loved his captain but that was some major bullshit on Jonah’s part.

Felix had thought that their friendship was stronger than that. He’d thought—hoped—that they were beginning a romantic relationship that was stronger than that.

Maybe he’d been wrong.

It hurt more than he knew how to put into words. He’d loved Grandpa Cho and Grandma Ji-min and Jonah more fiercely than anyone. They’d been his family when his own had failed him.

What was it about him that made people so willing to walk away from him?

His parents. Whitney.

His relationship to Jonah and his family had always felt like the one thing he’d never have to doubt.

But now …

Felix glanced over at Jonah again.

He was staring sightlessly through the patio doors into the dark garden, the bruise on his cheek beginning to appear on his skin.

He really should ice that.

Felix opened the freezer door and came face-to-face with a bottle of white rum.

His mouth immediately pooled with saliva.

Felix didn’t even like rum normally but right now, God, it practically shimmered in the light.

Grandma Ji-min didn’t drink a lot, but in the summer, she always made mojitos with fresh mint from the garden.

Feeling like he was in a dream, Felix pulled the bottle out and stared at it. It was cold against his hands.

Vaguely, in the distance, he heard a beeping sound.

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