Felix rises and boards the back of my bike. “Let’s get out of here,” he says.
I didn’t bring a second helmet, so I hand him mine.
“You don’t have to do that,” he says with a wave of his hand.
“You’re not riding this thing without a helmet,” I say like a school teacher. “I have shit for brains, but you don’t. There’s actually something worth protecting in there,” I explain while motioning to his head.
Felix huffs a laugh. “I’m not so sure about that…”
There’s a sadness in his voice that I don’t like. Not one bit.
“Would it be okay if we stopped at a pharmacy on our way to your place?” He asks. “I got sick at the event and need to brush my teeth.”
My eyes widen.He got sick?“Are you okay? Do you need medicine?”
He shakes his head. “No, nothing like that.”
His eyes look empty, the way they did when he was taking those pills, and it makes me wonder if that’s why he got sick.
I want to ask a million questions, but he doesn’t look up for it. He needs to lie down, or something. “Let’s buy a toothbrush, get back to my place, and you can lie down.”
Then I slide the helmet on his head and tap the top of it like he’s a dog, hoping it’ll help to pull him out of his sadness.
I can hear him laughing inside the helmet, and then I start laughing as well.
I shake my head. “Sorry. I’m so stupid sometimes.”
Felix shakes his head and says, “No, you’re not. You’re trying to cheer me up, and it means a lot to me.”
His arms wrap around my waist, giving me a good squeeze, and then he rests his head on my back.
That warm glow spreads in my chest again.
I rev the engine and get us the hell out of high society and back into…well…low society, I guess. A place I feel a lot more comfortable in, and I’m starting to get the feeling Felix feels the same way.
Felix
My body lies across Torren’s bed, my head resting on his lap, while he sits with his back against some pillows. A hot water bottle rests on my belly. When Mother died, I kind of thought that my days of being taken care of were over.
“How are you feeling?” Torren asks.
I sigh, grateful that I’ve got someone who actually cares. “Better. Thanks for taking care of me.”
Torren runs his fingers through my hair. “What happened?” he asks.
I haven’t worked up the courage to tell him all of the details. It’s so embarrassing. “I’m honestly not sure,” I explain, because it’s the truth.What on Earth happened to me?“I had to give a speech, and it just…I don’t know. I just started choking. Someone handed me water, and then I…” I make a motion with my arm, conveying the act of…
You get the picture.
“He made you give a speech? Saying what?”
I laugh, scrubbing my hands over my face. “I had to say that he’s my hero, and that I love him so much.”
Torren doesn’t respond. All I can hear is the sound of his breathing for a few seconds.
“Jesus, no wonder you hurled,” he blurts out.
I fucking lose it.
