Page 72 of Cover Up

Felix’s eyes widened. Everything in his head was foggy, but he had a very vague recollection of a guy in a wheelchair who wasn’t from Colorado. Someone else—someone new. “Well, hopefully, I haven’t met him. Those conversations are awkward as hell.”

“I don’t think he’d judge you,” Jamie said, his voice softening. “He’s really cool.”

Felix stared, and then his eyes widened. “You’re into him.”

Jamie flushed harder. “Uh. Not…I mean. I was. But we’re just friends. We had a little thing a few months back. No strings,” he said very quickly, which told Felix that maybe he wasn’t being entirely truthful. “His ex came back into town, though, and they wanted to work things out.”

“Kids?” Felix asked. He wasn’t sure what the hell he’d do if Dei had kids. Not that it mattered now.

God, that made his chest hurt.

“Nah. That was one of the reasons they split. We haven’t talked about if they’re actually trying to work things out. But all that shit’s a little too complicated for me, you know? Like, it’s hard enough being gay and having these cis dudes freak the fuck out when they realize my dick doesn’t look like theirs.” Jamie stopped abruptly and slapped his hand over his mouth. “Sorry. TMI, and my Adderall wore off three hours ago.”

Felix chuckled very softly. “You’re good, man. This actually means a lot. I was kind of terrified about going home and being alone with my thoughts. You’re definitely doing me a favor, so please keep talking.”

Jamie winced, but he kept rambling on about the sanctuary for the next ten minutes as they made their way over the bridge toward the seaside building. Most of the guys hung out there with Jamie a lot, but he’d only been twice. Felix wasn’t big into social situations where he’d be expected to remember people.

His clients and the shop were bad enough.

He felt a little less nervous, though, seeing as the place was closed to the public and the parking lot was almost entirely empty. “Am I allowed to be here right now?”

“I mean, I can’t let you swim with the dolphins or anything, but yeah,” Jamie said with a smile. “Callisto brings Ben and Paris here all the time after the gates close.”

Felix was only familiar with Callisto since he’d moved onto Ben and Paris’s property. The guy had an adorable kid and was so painfully shy he’d only spoken about six words to Felix in the year they’d been in each other’s social circle.

But Felix liked him. He liked almost everyone they hung around with. The last time he’d been uncomfortable was back home, and even then, he’d been with Dei—safe, protected, wanted. His throat got hot again, and he cleared it. “So, uh…should we go in?”

“In a minute.” Jamie frowned at him for several seconds. “Look, I know you know Max opened his fat mouth and told everyone you had your heart stomped on, but are you okay? Seriously?”

Felix let out a watery laugh and sniffed. “No. Isn’t that what we’re doing here?”

“A pity trip to see dolphins?” Jamie asked with wide eyes.

Felix shrugged. “Well. Yeah.”

“Dude. I just wanted to spend time with you. Our schedules suck, so we never hang out, then you came back in a relationship thing, so I knew if this worked out with Dei, I’d definitely never see you.”

Felix sat back, stunned. Jamie wanted to hang out with him?

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Jamie asked, folding his arms around his middle.

Felix bit his lip, then said, “I didn’t know you wanted to.”

“Oh my god. Dude. I’ve had a friend crush on you since the shop opened, but you’re always so quiet, and you get even more quiet when I come around.”

Felix covered his face with both hands, feeling the need to laugh and cry at the same time. “I don’t know what to say.” He looked up when he felt a light touch on his elbow, and he glanced at Jamie’s contrite face. “I’m such an awkward nerd, but you’re the best, Jamie. I fucking love spending time with you. I just kind of assumed I was too much for most people.”

“Never,” Jamie said, his voice low and fierce. “Jesus, dude. You’re never too much.”

Felix let out a weak, watery laugh. “So we’re best friends now?”

“Yep. As long as we can pretend like neither one of us are socially inept, awkward nerds.”

Felix did laugh this time, and somehow, he felt just a little bit better. “You got yourself a fucking deal.”

“Hell yeah,” Jamie said, his light eyes crinkling in the corners. He reached up and scratched at his short curls before slapping both hands down on his thighs. “Come on. Let’s get inside so we can forget all about real-life problems and play with dolphins.”

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