Page 30 of Cover Up

Dei blinked, then laughed and squeezed down on Felix’s neck. “Okay, yeah. I can see how that’s not so great.”

Felix groaned, and he sat up, falling back against the couch cushion. “I never thought I’d end up so—”

“Don’t,” Dei told him very softly. “Sugar, don’t you dare say whatever it is you were gonna say.”

Alone, he was going to say. And pathetic. But at Dei’s warning, he didn’t.

Felix bit the inside of his cheek and didn’t meet Dei’s gaze. “It is what it is. It hurts to lose her, and it hurts to know I can’t go back there to say goodbye without admitting they’re all right and I’m just a giant, lonely loser.”

Dei got up and walked off, and Felix couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that was the last straw for him. After all, Felix knew everyone was going to have a line with him, and eventually, he’d cross it. He was needy, and no matter how independent he was, he’d always be just a little bit dependent on others for some things. Who the hell wanted to stick around forever for that?

“Legs down, darlin’.”

Felix opened his eyes, startled to see Dei hovering over him with a hot pad and a bowl balanced on his palm. He quickly dropped his feet to the floor, and Dei’s face did something complicated as he bent over and set the bowl in Felix’s hands.

“It’s real hot, so eat that slowly.”

Felix stared down into an opaque reddish broth, but he didn’t recognize anything else in it. “What is it?”

Dei laughed as he settled back down a bit closer than he was before. “It’s called fakes,” he said, pronouncing it with a Greek flourish, fah-kes. “It’s lentils. Good for the stomach.”

Felix took a tentative sip of the broth, then a bigger bite, and warmth immediately flooded through him. “Oh. It’s amazing.”

Dei laughed. “Not to toot my own horn, but have I ever made you something that wasn’t?”

Felix shook his head as his hunger took over, and he polished off most of the bowl before he looked up again. He still felt a little like he was on the verge of losing it, but at least he wasn’t hangry anymore. When Dei took the bowl from him, he let his hands fall into his lap, and he appreciated the other man didn’t go further than leaning forward to set it on the coffee table.

“So, I think there’s a solution to your problem,” Dei said.

Felix leaned back, then rolled his head over to look at his friend. “No. There’s seriously not.”

Dei’s brows flew up. “You won’t even hear me out?”

Refusing to give a shit, Felix reached out, and Dei didn’t hesitate to offer his hand. Their palms fit together too perfectly, and it made every atom of his body ache for more. “My sister was right, okay? With my condition, I’m not independent enough. Traveling alone is dangerous for me right now. And I’m not about to ask anyone I know to take time off work to go with me.”

“You do know any one of them would, right?” Dei pointed out.

Felix sighed. “Yeah. I do. But that doesn’t change anything.”

Dei rubbed his thumb over the side of Felix’s hand. “What if you didn’t have to ask?”

Felix groaned and slapped his hand over his face. “I’m sure they’re probably making plans and starting some boyfriend crowdfunding or something, but…it’s too much. I’m too much.”

“You’re not. Sugar,” he started, and then he went quiet for so long Felix finally dropped his hand to look at him. Dei was watching him with an unreadable expression, his eyes sort of heated and dark, and when their gazes connected, Dei licked his lips. “I feel like your family might shit a few solid gold bricks if you brought home a big-ass Marine veteran with no arm, a robot leg, missin’ eye, and a mouth like a sailor, but…you know I’d drop everything for you in a heartbeat, don’t you?”

Felix blinked, then almost choked. “Dei…”

“And I know I would draw more attention than you were wantin’ from them, so please tell me no if it’s too much.”

Felix’s heart started pounding against his chest. “You can’t take that kind of time.”

“I can do whatever I damn well please with my vacation time, and Jeremiah’s been up my ass about usin’ my days so he doesn’t have to pay me out at the end of the year.” Dei smiled, sweet and kind of playful, and he nudged Felix with his knee. “You also got friends who’d do the same thing if you wanted to take someone a little prettier.”

“You’re the prettiest man I’ve ever seen,” Felix blurted, and he couldn’t bring himself to take it back because that would be a lie. “My family’s terrible, though. Trust me, you don’t want to be around them.”

“Neither do you. I can see it in you, darlin’, and I’d die before letting you face them alone. You deserve to say goodbye to your granny, and you deserve to feel safe while you do.”

“Grammy,” Felix corrected absently, then huffed a laugh. “I always used to confuse my Ms and Ns, and she thought it was cute.”

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