Page 74 of Cover Up

“Go,” Max barked at him. “Jer and I will handle it.”

“Thanks,” Jeremiah said dryly, then grinned. “Seriously, Dei. Fucking go.”

As Dei turned on his heel and rushed out of the office, he heard Max’s quiet voice say, “Were we this bad?”

And Jeremiah answered, “Baby, we were worse.”

* * *

Dei did his best not to commit felony speeding as he followed his GPS to the Sea Sanctuary. He’d seen the entrance a few times as he drove by it, but he’d never bothered to give it a second thought. Now, it was a place that stood between him and the love of his life, and he felt like he was going to lose his mind if he had to spend all night staring at the brick walls.

Luckily, the parking lot gate was open, and while he felt like he was committing some crime driving past the entrance booth, he rolled around to the employee section. The lights were dim, and there was a vaguely familiar car parked at the curb near a heavy metal door marked Staff Only.

Dei pulled up alongside the curb and let his engine idle, staring at the door, then pulling out his phone. He brought up Felix’s text thread, and his heart leapt a little when he saw a single word under the last message he’d sent: Read.

Dei’s fingers started to shake as he opened up the keyboard and stared at the letters. What the fuck did he say now? He’d already sent a barrage of “I’m sorry, I realize how that sounds and it’s not what I meant, please call me baby, I’m a complete moron and I don’t deserve you.”

He supposed an “I love you” could work, because god, he did. With his whole heart. But that was better left coming from his own lips where Felix could hear just how much he meant it. He sighed and dropped his forehead to the steering wheel, preparing to literally wait all night if that’s what it took.

Everything in his life was upside down, and he wasn’t going to let go without a fight. Not over one of the few good things he still had to hold on to. He hadn’t ever thought he’d fall in love. At least, not like this. He’d known one day he’d get over the fear of showing his body to other people. He’d known one day he’d let someone touch him again.

But he hadn’t expected Felix.

A tapping sound damn near shook him out of his skin, and Dei sat up, ready to throw fists, when he blinked through the window and saw the only person he wanted to see standing there. Felix was a few feet away from the door, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his brow furrowed.

Dei wondered for a second if Felix recognized him, but then he caught the look in his eyes, and he knew. Felix was scared.

And he was pissed.

“Oh, sweetness, I’m so sorry. I’m such a moron, I didn’t—” He stopped abruptly when he realized Felix couldn’t hear him, and he twisted his body, missed the door handle twice, then finally flung it open and almost fell on his face. “Baby,” he gasped.

Felix, in spite of his obvious complicated feelings, darted forward to steady Dei so he didn’t eat shit on the asphalt. “Max called,” Felix said in an even tone.

Dei braced himself on the truck, bowing his head as he collected himself. “I was hopin’ he would. I was fixin’ to stay out here all night if I had to, but I really wanted to talk to you before the sun came up.”

Felix rolled his eyes as he stepped back, giving Dei a bit more space. “I read your texts. I was going to call you in the morning.”

Dei nodded, meeting Felix’s gaze and holding it. “I’m not ending things. I mean, you’re free to since apparently I’m no good at this, and I know you were hurtin’ all damn day.”

Felix took in a tight breath, then shrugged. “Yeah, I figured that out from all the ‘I’m sorries.’ And Max told me what happened at the restaurant. I get why you didn’t see my message until later.”

“That’s no excuse,” Dei told him. “I’m madly in love with you, Felix. I have been for a while now, and the last thing I want is to cause you any more pain.”

It almost felt like someone had muted the world. Dei would have heard a pin drop a mile away if there was a sewing circle nearby. He couldn’t take his eyes off Felix’s face, but his expression was completely unreadable.

“I’m not askin’ you to love me back,” Dei said into the tense silence. “I don’t want anything more than you’re willing to give. But I asked you to come with me to talk cuz I was fixin’ to tell you over dinner.”

“You’re…I don’t,” Felix stammered, then rubbed both hands down his face. “You don’t preface the first I love you with ‘we need to talk,’ you asshole!”

Dei’s face went white-hot with shame. “I know. I should’a known when I sent the damn text, but I wasn’t thinking. I am so sorry, darlin’. So goddamn…”

He didn’t get the chance to finish the rest of his sentence. Felix was suddenly in his space, cradling his cheeks between two warm hands. He smelled a little like old fish and seawater, and it was the strangest, grossest, most amazing thing in the world because his lips came after that—and his warm tongue.

Felix kissed him for so much more than he was worth, knocking Dei against the side of his truck as their bodies pressed together like they were drawn by magnets. Dei felt like he was going to lose his mind with how much he loved this man. He felt like the force of it would literally break him.

And he never wanted it to stop.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured against Felix’s mouth.

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