Page 17 of Cover Up

“Sorry,” he muttered after a beat.

“Dunno what you’re sorry for,” Dei said, resuming his grip on Felix’s ankle. “Seems like you’re having a hard day.”

It wasn’t the worst day, Felix thought with a wry smile that he buried into his pillow. He’d woken up in a lot worse places than the arms of his crush. Or arm, in this case. Felix turned his head to get a better look at Dei, and it was then he noticed the man looked exhausted.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were chapped like he’d been dehydrated for hours. Felix pushed up on his elbow and took a few breaths to collect himself.

“Something happened.”

“Well, I think you had a seizure,” Dei said.

Felix snorted and shook his head. “No, to you. You look upset.”

“Well, you scared the piss outta me, I have to admit.”

Felix took a few seconds to finish composing his thoughts, rubbing at his eyes, which felt gummy from the tears that had dried while he was coming out of his seizure. After a beat, he pushed himself up a little more and took his pulse. His heart rate was a little fast, but it was steady.

“Are paramedics on the way?” he remembered to ask.

“You have a bracelet on,” Dei said.

Felix’s brow furrowed, confused by the answer. “Um.”

Dei reached over and took his wrist gently, lifting it up. The metal medical alert bracelet glinted in a ray of sun coming through the blinds. “It says not to call 9-1-1, so I didn’t.”

Felix swallowed against a dry throat. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. I remember.”

Dei smiled softly and shook his head. “Glad you had it. I wasn’t sure what to do except put you on the couch and wait it out.”

Felix felt a strange and unfamiliar warmth pooling in his belly. “Thanks. Um.” He cleared his throat. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here?” He had a vague memory of opening the door to Dei, but the rest was a mess of static.

Dei shook his head and stared down at his fingers, which were resting on his thigh. “I came by to ask if you’d seen Sofia.”

Felix frowned, his brain not quite processing who she was. Sofia. It sounded incredibly familiar, and while he hated the feeling of not being able to remember, he appreciated Dei let him take the time to get there.

Sofia. Dei’s sister. Dei’s sister who’d been in trouble. “She’s missing?” he finally asked. “Do you think that guy—?”

Dei’s groan stopped his words, and he passed his hand down his face, then let his head fall back against the couch cushions. “I wish I could say it was, but I doubt it. I had to work late last night. Jer and I were in the kitchen until about two. I got home, and my place was trashed. She got into my safe and stole a bunch of cash, and two of my emergency credit cards were missin’. I’m pretty sure it was her. She’d done this before.”

Felix sat up further in spite of the sudden and intense fatigue settling in his bones. “Jesus.” The word was slightly slurred as he held back a yawn.

Dei shrugged. “I’ve called just about everyone we both know, but she’s in the damn wind. I don’t know why I thought she might’ve stopped over here. I feel bad about draggin’ this further into your life.”

Felix waved him off, yawning again. His arms felt like lead. “I don’t care about that. Are you going to be okay?”

Dei frowned at him. “She didn’t hurt me.”

“No, I mean…do you need cash? I could—”

“Oh, sugar,” Dei interrupted very softly. His fingers twitched like maybe he wanted to reach for Felix, but he didn’t. “You’re so sweet, but I’m not hard up for cash. I mean, it sucks losing my savings and all, but I ain’t broke.”

Felix wanted to press the issue—to tell Dei that in spite of his medical bills, he had more money now than he ever had in his life and it would make him feel euphoric to be able to actually help someone. But he could see the stubborn look of pride on Dei’s face, and he knew there was no point.

“If anything changes…”

His words were cut off when Dei reached over and cupped his cheek. “It won’t. But you could do something for me.”

Felix fought every single instinct in his body telling him to lean into Dei’s palm. He licked his lips, then took a breath. “Anything.”

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