Page 84 of Head Over Feels
Andin the morningIgot up ten minutes earlier to wipe the kitchen down completely and mop beforeIleft for work.
Icould do this.
* * *
TuesdayeveningImade it home on time to pickFelixup for our date.Fromhis texts he’d been in a great mood all day because someone had responded to his internet ad and made an appointment for their dog.
Iwas in a great mood because tonight was the first step in my plan to romanceFelix.
Insteadof parking under the carport,Ipulled up along the curb in front of the house.WhenIgot to the front door,Iheld the bouquet of roses in one hand and propped my cane against my leg soIcould knock with the other.
“Coming!”Felixshouted from somewhere inside the house.Iheard him saying, “Crap, crap, crap.Idon’t have time—”
Thefront door opened. “Oh!”Felixgasped, his mouth falling open.Hewas wearing black jeans and a half-buttoned long-sleeved shirt.Thegreen and blue stripes set off his eyes.Hehadn’t put his shoes or socks on yet, andIdopily thought his bare feet were adorable.
Icleared my throat and smiled at him. “Goodevening,Felix.I’mhere to pick you up for our date.Theseare for you.”
Ihanded him the roses.Felix’smouth dropped open, and he glanced from the roses to me and back again.
“Wow.Um, no one’s ever brought me flowers before.”Hisface scrunched up. “Unlessyou countTrent.”
Oh, shit.Thatwouldnotdo. “Wearen’t thinking aboutTrenttonight,”Itold him, trying to keep my tone soft and even.
Felixsighed but nodded. “You’reright.Oh, um,Iguess you’d like to come in?”Hegrinned and moved back.
Istepped through the doorway and pressed a kiss toFelix’scheek. “Imissed you today.Butcongratulations on your new client.”Iloved watching his face light up.
“Thanks.”Helooked toward the kitchen. “Um,IguessIshould put these in some water?And, uh....”Hegestured at himself. “Ineed another five minutes to get ready.”
Iheld out my hand for the roses. “Okay, let me take care of these while you do that.”
“Sure.”Felixstuck his face into the bouquet and inhaled. “Theseare wonderful.Thankyou.”Hehanded them over and gave me a quick kiss on the corner of my mouth before rushing back to the bedroom.
Ihurried to the kitchen.Fuck, what the hell wasIgoing to put the roses in?Whyhadn’tIgotten a vase whenIbought them?FuckingTrenthad broughtFelixflowers in a fucking vase.
Itore through the cabinets.There.Ihad a clear plastic storage canister wide enough for the roses.Sure, the lid was attached and would hang off the side, but it would do for now.Ineeded to go shopping for a vase.
Ipulled the kitchen shears out of their slot in the knife rack and cut off the ends of the stems.AtleastIknew to do that much.Ihalf-filled the storage container with some water and put the roses in, fluffing them a little to make them spread out.Iput the arrangement in the center of the kitchen table, making sure the container was turned so the lid was on the side away from the main part of the room.ThenIscrambled back to the kitchen to dispose of the stem pieces, wipe down the counter and wash the shears.
Itried drying the shears with a dish towel, butIcouldn’t get all of the water out of where the blades were joined, soIopened them up and propped them on the windowsill to air dry.HopefullyFelixwouldn’t notice.
Whenhe came out of the bedroom, his face broke into a big smile at the flowers on the table.
“Sorry,”Isaid. “Ican’t find my vase, butIthought this would be okay for now.”
Felixcame over and embraced me, giving me a hot, filthy kiss.Whenhe broke off, we were both panting. “It’sperfect.Thankyou.”
Ineeded a second to remember what he was talking about.Oh, the flowers.Right. “Good.Uh, we should get going.Imade reservations.”
Felix’seyebrows arched. “Oooh.Fancy.Whereare we going?”
“Anew steak place inDrippingSprings.Fostertold me about it.”
Thenight was pleasant enough to leave the top down.Iwasn’t looking forward to driving in the deep summer.Theheater in theBuickhadn’t worked all that well during the winter, soIdidn’t imagine the air conditioning would be any better.
IheldFelix’shand as much as possible on the way to the restaurant.TheBuickseemed to be getting more than its usual share of attention.ColeWashburn’sfucking social media post, no doubt.Ishould’ve told him not to take a picture of the car.
ButIlooked atFelixand sighed.Coleand his partners had been more than generous, taking us in, feeding us, and letting us use their hot tub.AllowingColeto post a picture of theBuick, even if it garnered an annoying amount of attention later, was a small price to pay.
