Page 71 of Cover Up

He knew what those four words meant. Not a damn soul on the planet didn’t, and he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to let this go, and even if he had promised not to let Dei push him away, Felix wasn’t sure he knew how to fight for them. He needed time. He couldn’t roll over and let this end, but if Dei decided it was over tonight, Felix would fold.

Felix: Busy. Maybe tomorrow. Text you later.

It was all he could say. He looked at Max and felt his eyes get hot. “I think he’s telling me it’s over,” he managed in a whisper.

Max took the phone from him, and the expression on his face said everything. “You should get out of here.”

“I have clients,” Felix said, then cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Just because one thing’s going to end doesn’t mean the rest of my life needs to fall apart.”

It was telling that Max didn’t stop him as he pushed his way out of the drawing room and headed for his stall.

* * *

“Do you like dolphins?”

Felix glanced up from where he was wiping down his station and saw Jamie smiling at him over the partition. “What kind of monster doesn’t like dolphins?”

Jamie laughed. “I mean, to be fair, they’re kind of dicks. But there’s this one guy over at the sanctuary who just got a new prosthetic tail, so I thought you might want to come with me and meet him after I drop off some paperwork.”

Felix knew what Jamie was doing. Max was quiet about it, but gossip spread like wildfire in the shop, and by that evening, even the guys who had the day off knew that Felix’s heart had been shredded into a million pieces.

A small part of him wanted to tell Jamie to fuck off—that he could handle his own pain—but the idea of not being alone had way more appeal. “I need to get something to eat, but…”

“Got you covered. Zeke just got back with sushi. He ordered inari for you.”

Felix wanted to cry just from that little kindness alone. “Sweet. Uh, give me ten minutes to put everything away and text a couple appointment reminders.”

Jamie shot him a thumbs-up before turning back around, and Felix quickly put his machine and ink bottles back in his toolbox before heading to the bathroom. His last client of the night had been a woman, which meant fewer breaks, so he stood there having a full-on Austin Powers piss, which might have even been funny if he wasn’t feeling so wrecked.

He’d checked his phone twice, but his message to Dei hadn’t been read, just delivered, and he didn’t know what that even meant. A small part of him had hoped Dei was going to walk his words back, but he supposed it was just his shitty luck.

Washing his hands, Felix splashed some water onto his face in hopes that it would make him look less like he was fighting back tears, and then he slipped out and headed into the back room to grab his things. He checked his phone one last time—and there was still nothing—so he headed back into the main shop and glanced around.

Jamie was one of the people he was still struggling to recognize on sight, so Felix went by process of elimination. He wasn’t the man sitting up front—that was Paris. And Rafe with his temple tattoo was sitting behind the computer. That only left the one man, who was staring at him with a grin, and Felix tried to smile back.

“All set?”

Felix nodded as Jamie hopped up, and he laughed just a little when Jamie grabbed his arm and all but pulled him through the shop and out the back door. “You know Eli?”

Felix’s brow furrowed. “Uh…is he a client?”

“Nah. He owns that big-ass resort up the street. The one with all the white columns,” Jamie said as he unlocked his car and waited for Felix to get in.

Felix offered him something between a grimace and a smile. “I don’t think I’ve met him, and if I did…” He trailed off, tapping his temple.

Jamie flushed in the low light of the car before slamming his door. “Fuck. Sorry. I don’t mean to be insensitive.”

Felix waved him off. “Please don’t apologize. I’d rather people forget than treat me like I’m a freak all day long.”

Jamie stared at him, then shook his head and smiled down at the steering wheel. “Well, anyway, he’s like rich as fuck, right? And I will die on the hill that there are no good billionaires in the world, but he literally just gave the sanctuary a year’s worth of funding.”

“That’s amazing.”

Jamie nodded as he pulled out onto the main road. “I also don’t think he has billions, but probably close enough to be able to just throw cash around like that. Anyway, he’s going to be there tonight.”

“How, uh…how should I know this guy?” Felix asked.

“Oh. He’s, like, really good friends with Paris. He’s the one who paid for the ramp Paris put up in his house.”

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