Page 31 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
That tore it. Ian took out his phone and hitRecordon the camera. “Do keep going. I’m happy to send a video of you harassing Felix to Benedict later. I’m sure it will get you in his good graces.”
Kristy snapped back, staring at his phone with horror. “You wouldn’t!”
“Already recording.” Ian arched an eyebrow at her. “What will it be, Kristy? Advance or retreat?”
She snarled something Ian, personally, wouldn’t have said in front of a camera, then whirled around. Snagging both her friends’ arms, she stomped off, heels clacking against the pavement. Drama over, Ian stopped the recording and put his phone away.
Felix sagged next to him for a second, blowing out a loud breath, hand sweeping blond hair from his forehead. “Ian, you’re a lifesaver. Short of a catfight, I wasn’t sure how to handle her. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, but I couldn’t use Mesmerize on her simply because she annoyed me.”
Ian’s brain screeched to a halt.
“Wait. You’re a vampire?”
Felix blinked doe eyes at him. “Yea?”
“Oh, uh, sorry for intruding then. I thought you needed help, but I guess you could’ve handled yourself, or made them go away. Um, my bad.”
Felix shot him a playful smile, dimples and all. “Like I said, rules against it. Although, why did you intervene?”
Seemed Felix wasn’t mad with the assist, so Ian blew out a breath. “It looked like a catfight that hadn’t started yet. Three against one were not good odds—though now I know you could’ve zipped away if you wanted to.” He eyed Felix in amusement. “By the way, I’m André’s boyfriend and your friend, eh?”
“Friend by association,” Felix returned with a shrug. “If you’re dating André, you’re friends with me by default.”
“André and I aren’t dating, though.”
Felix stared up at him like a man waiting for a punch line. “André has been chasing you for over a month.”
“Yes, I know.”
“And hestillhasn’t caught you? Damn.” Felix opened his mouth, closed it, then repeated, “Damn. I can’t even tease him about you now. It’s too sad. No, wait, you two have been spending a lot of time together, though. You’re really not dating?”
Ian sighed, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “We’re not. I don’t…honestly, I don’t know how to respond to André most of the time. He confuses the hell out of me.”
Felix clapped his hands together. “You know what? I think this calls for a sit-down discussion. Do you have time to get coffee with me?”
The offer was rather out of the blue, but Ian didn’t see the harm in it. “Sure, I’m done with classes for today.”
“Good. Let’s hit the coffee shop across the street. I want out of the cold quickly.”
Ian followed, having to shorten his stride, as Felix was very much on the short side. His force of personality made up for the lack of inches, no question, but something about him still made him seem vulnerable. Like he needed to be taken care of. Why did Ian have that impression?
“Do you get hassled often by girls like them?”
“Eh, not too often. Benedict made a video of him confessing to me for a reason. He wanted to make it explicitly clear I was taken. Most people respect that. Kristy is just one of the two pains in my ass. Both of them want Benedict, and they’re not shy about using dirty methods to get him.” Felix rolled his eyes. “Why they think it will work is beyond me. Benedict is a straight shooter. He has no tolerance for that kind of shit. They don’t understand him at all if they think underhanded tactics will work.”
“I would think upsetting you alone would sink their chances.”
Felix wriggled his fingers on one hand in a playful manner. “And that. Both Benedict and André are highly protective of the people they care about. As you know.”
Yeah, Ian couldn’t refute him.
The conversation paused as they entered the coffee shop on campus, placed their orders at the counter, and then found a table near the window to sit. Ian slung his messenger bag down to the floor, getting comfortable, as this conversation would not be quick.
“I’m going to be direct. What’s the holdup?” Felix folded both arms on the table, leaning forward a little. “Do you not like him?”
“I…” What a loaded question. Ian normally wouldn’t open up about something like this with a person he barely knew, but somehow Felix disarmed him. He wanted to talk this through with someone who would understand. “It’s not that. I mean, anyone would be charmed by him. But you saw the reaction from the girls back there. They had a hard time believing André would choose me. I’m just as confused. I am not his type.”
Felix put up a staying hand. “Whoa, hold on. First of all, André doesn’t have a type.”
