AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The kid—Connor, apparently—hopped up and situated himself between Max and Felix. “’Kay.”
Max offered his hand, so Felix did the same, and they quickly led him through the doors and into the back room, where he saw the sprawling art table covered in paper and pencils. They kept a small stock of the cheap-ass Crayola fingerpaints for moments like this—or moments when kids were having a meltdown. It wasn’t his favorite thing in the world, but he was grateful they had it in that moment.
“Here you go,” Max said, shoving a bunch of paper toward Connor and then opening up the jars of paint. “Go nuts.”
Connor’s eyes lit up as he dug his hands into each jar and began to smear everything around. Felix couldn’t help a small grin as he shuffled closer to his friend and tipped his head down low toward Max’s ear.
“Uh. What the fuck, dude?”
“I don’t know,” Max murmured back. “I think she was drunk. She stumbled in like ten minutes ago, demanding that Eve pierce her, but she was with a client. Then, when Linc stepped up, she had a fuckin’ toddler tantrum about his hands. Then she said she’d only do it if he used a gun, which…obviously, he doesn’t have that shit.”
Felix rubbed a hand down his face. He’d been hoping for a quiet week back since he hadn’t heard from Dei in a while, and he was doing everything in his power not to act like a clingy, worried asshole. But he’d had two fainters that week, one woman who’d tried to change her mind an hour into the tattoo, and a man who’d started screaming at him because he was told tattoos didn’t hurt, and his did, so it was obviously Felix’s problem.
And while this had nothing to do with him, it felt a bit like the cherry on a shit sundae.
“You okay?” Max asked after a second.
Felix laughed, shaking his head. “Not really, no.”
“Head stuff or other stuff?”
“Other stuff. My head’s the only thing that decided to be nice to me since I got back.” He tried to smile, but it felt plastered on and completely fake.
Max reached for him, tangling their fingers together in a comforting hold. “Talk to me.”
Felix glanced over at the kid, who was definitely lost in his own world. “I think I’m in love with Dei.”
Max laughed softly. “Water’s wet. The sky’s blue…”
Felix smacked him on the arm. “It might have been easy for you to figure shit out with Jeremiah, but—”
Max’s smile fell, and his brows shot up. “Seriously? You think any of that was easy?”
Felix shrugged. “I mean, at least you could remember his face in the mornings. And at least you knew he wanted to kiss you.”
“Have you two not—”
“We, uh,” Felix said, then flushed and glanced away. “We did. A lot. And it was maybe the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt.”
Max leaned against the wall and reached for Felix’s hand again, squeezing him tight. “How did you leave things?”
“With a kiss and a promise that it wasn’t over, but he asked me for space,” Felix told him. “I’m trying my best to respect what he needs, but I feel like I’m losing my goddamn mind. It feels like there’s no chance in hell he doesn’t realize that I’m way too much work. Especially with his mom and sister already taking up so much of his time.”
“Dude, you really think he’s that kind of guy?”
“It wouldn’t make him a bad person,” Felix insisted, his stomach hurting at the thought of it being over before it started. “That would make him human.”
“You have your own struggles,” Max pointed out. “Do you feel like he’s too much, even with all his complications? I mean, you almost got your ass kicked by his sister’s boyfriend.”
Felix couldn’t imagine not loving Dei, no matter what was going on, but he was also clingy and needy and lonely. He was the kind of guy people fucked, not loved, and he always had been. So why would that change with Dei?
“I don’t—” he started, but his phone buzzed, and he went quiet as he pulled it out of his pocket. He saw Dei’s name on the screen, and his heart did a funny pitter-patter in his chest.
Dei: Gonna start prepping for dinner rush, but can I pick you up after? We need to talk.
And then his heart shattered into a million pieces.
We need to talk.
