Page 58 of Cover Up

“It’s Casey,” the woman on the other end said. She was one of the part-time nurses, but he liked her the most out of his mom’s whole team. “I just wanted to let you know your mom spiked a fever last night, which wouldn’t be a big deal, but she’s also stopped eating completely.”

Dei let out a trembling breath. He knew what that meant. Her team had been warning him about the spiraling symptoms that would begin when it was time for hospice care, but it was in that moment he realized he wasn’t quite ready for it. Not yet. She was too young, and he still had no idea where his sister had run off to.

“Do I need to jet back?” he asked.

Casey sighed. “I’m going to say no for now. We’re working on getting the infection treated and seeing if we can get something solid into her. Right now, it’s definitely pneumonia. She’s tested negative for everything else so far, but I wanted to give you a heads-up in case something else comes back from her labs.”

“Yeah,” he said, trying to shove away the dark cloud threatening to settle over him. “Thanks.”

“I’ll be in touch, okay? And if anything happens, you’ll know with plenty of warning.”

That was a promise he didn’t think Casey should be making. Under normal circumstances—if there were any—there would be plenty of warning. She’d follow the textbook trajectory of her disease, and he’d have a couple more years with her.

But he also knew that even in the best medical facilities, sometimes shit just happened. Sometimes people got sick and were gone in a matter of hours. He had to trust the team, though. His mother wasn’t that fragile.

He hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket before making his way back to the table. He hoped his poker face was firmly in place, and he felt bad taking advantage of the way Felix struggled to read him, but he didn’t want to ruin this.

He might cut the trip short because he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t get back before things went south, but he wanted to be selfish. Just for a little while.

“You okay?” Felix asked.

Dei nodded. “My momma got a little bit of a fever, and they just wanted to keep me posted.”

Felix’s brows dipped. “Should we—”

“No,” Dei said quickly. He didn’t want Felix to give him the choice. Not yet. Not when he wasn’t sure he could deny the urge to go home and let everything burn down around him. “We should definitely eat this because it looks amazing, and then I believe someone promised me a long walk with holding hands and kissing. And then a little more.”

Felix flushed lightly, and his shoulders hunched up near his ears, and he offered a shy smile. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

* * *

“So,” Felix said as they walked up to the rental, “is this how you normally end your dates?”

Dei chuckled as he moved in closer, backing Felix against the wall beside the door. He felt a little off-kilter from the stress of the phone call and then from the long walk they’d taken on the beach, which put a strain on his stump, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He braced his hand against the wall beside Felix’s ear and leaned close, breathing in the scent of cologne and sea air.

“No,” he murmured, letting his lips brush against Felix’s earlobe. “Never.”

“So I’m special?”

Dei pulled back a little, then rubbed his nose over the cut of Felix’s jaw. “Very. More than I have words for.”

Felix shuddered beneath him, and Dei couldn’t resist his pouty lips any longer. He turned his head and captured him in a long, heated kiss. It went on and on until Dei was breathless and tingly all over.

“Need to get you inside, sweet thing,” Dei said. He dragged his palm down the front of Felix’s shirt until his fingers were curled in the waistband of his jeans. “But if we’re movin’ too fast…”

“We’re not,” Felix said in a rush. He clutched hard at Dei’s hips. “I promise, we’re not.”

Dei thanked all the gods listening to them in that moment because while he would have gladly stopped without even a whisper of resentment, he didn’t want to. He was slowly growing addicted to the taste of Felix, and he wanted more. Especially now that he had a small bag with supplies that would let Felix bury himself deep inside Dei.

He got the door code punched in on the first try, and the moment they were out of public view, Dei’s fingers buried hard in Felix’s hair, tilting his head back so he could devour his lips, so he could bite his quick-beating pulse and rub his hard nub over where Felix was starting to tent his jeans.

“Bedroom,” Felix gasped out, breathless and half whining.

Dei grinned at him and released his hold, though he didn’t step back far. “I think you should ask me nicely, sweet thing.”

Felix swallowed heavily. “Sorry, I…yes. Please, Dei. Can we please take this to the bedroom?”

Dei groaned and rubbed his thumb over Felix’s lush lips. “We sure can, my good boy.”

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