Page 78 of Head Over Feels
MALCOLM
MAY
Felix’ssteady presence next to me in the car was the only thing keeping me focused on the road.SeeingElliethis morning had been a mindfuck.Ina good way, butI’dpretty much written my family off, and to have her back in my life was screwing with my head.Isighed.Evenmore fodder for my next chat withLisa.
Iexited the highway.Iwas stoked to haveFelixcome stay with me, andIwas low-key planning to keep him at my place as long as he’d let me.
Westopped at a light, andIreached forFelix’shand.Hesmiled at me. “I’mgoing to miss the guest cottage,” he said. “ButI’mlooking forward to being at your place.”
Igrunted, allowing a smile.ThenIrememberedIwas supposed to be romancingFelix, soIpulled his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles.Hegave me a goofy grin, andIcouldn’t help grinning back.
Whenwe were a few blocks from the house,Felixsaid, “Youknow howSteveandCalare supposed to be writing a business plan forColeto look at?”
Igrunted. “Yep.”
“Wouldyou be willing to help them with the financial part of it?”
Icocked my head to the side and shrugged. “Sure, why not.”SheltonSecurityalready had their finances organized and running smoothly.AllIhad to do was make sure they stayed that way.Thatpart of my job wasn’t really a challenge, so getting to use my financial background to help write a business plan might be fun.
“Thanks, boo boo.”
Ibarely stopped myself from slamming on the brakes. “No.Notever again.”
Felixchuckled. “Thesearch continues.”
Ishook my head, butIcouldn’t stop a little smile.
Whenwe got home,Mariposaran off to patrol the house and make sure nothing had been disturbed while she was gone.Icleared out a drawer and part of my closet forFelixto put his things in.
WhenFelixcaught me moving my stuff to the guest bedroom closet, he side-eyed me a little, but he didn’t say anything.Hemerely unpacked his bags and we both pretended we weren’t freaked out by how permanent it felt.
Felixleft the bedroom, saying something about charging his laptop.Ipulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the unicorn picture.Deepbreaths.Iwas gladFelixwas here.Noneed to stress.
ThecalmIalways experienced whenItook in the cheerful pink unicorn wasn’t long in coming.Andwith that calm came clarity.Becauseit wasn’t so much thatIwas freaked out, asIwashappy.OrIwas freaked out becauseIwas happy?Maybehappy was such a foreign emotion it felt like freaking out?
“Malcolm?”
Felix’svoice from the doorway startled me so muchImade a littleEeep! noise and reflexively threw my phone at him.Yep, fully trainedFBIagent here.AtleastIhadn’t thrown my cane.
Felixbatted the phone away, and it fell to the floor by his feet.
“Shit, sorry.”
Felixgave kind of a half-laugh. “Ididn’t mean to startle you.I’llremember to be more careful in the future.”Hebent to pick up my phone.
“Itwas my fault,Iwas lost in thought....”
Felixstared down at the phone, his eyebrows raised. “Thisis cute.Somebodygot their cast decorated?”
Well, shit.Icould brush it off, orIcould tell him the truth.
Bevulnerable,Malcolm.
Fuckyou,Lisa.Easyfor you to say.
ButFelixwas my home, my family,Ireminded myself.He’dbeen there for me whenI’dreadEllie’sletter.Icould trust him with my slightly embarrassing coping mechanism.
Felixwould not make fun of me.
