20
Kieran
As I workedmy way through book five, I started feeling uneasy about where it was heading. Felix had said I was going to kill him for this one if I was invested in Alex and Eliot getting together, and Iwasinvested.
I was a lot more invested than I’d expected to be.
Which was probably why I didn’t notice anyone approaching my table until they sat down opposite me.
“Colin?” I frowned, glancing at him over my reading glasses before remembering to take them off. Felix had called them adorable, but they made me feel…vulnerable.
Back home, I wouldn’t have worn them in public at all.
I didn’t want to feel vulnerable around Colin.
“Catching up?” he asked, nodding to the book in my hand before I could say anything.
Was he handsome? I wasn’t sure I could tell. Not really my taste, but that didn’t mean he wasn’tFelix’staste. Blond haired and strong-jawed and blue-eyed.
“Uh, yeah,” I scratched the back of my neck. I was meant to be Felix’s boyfriend, shouldn’t I have read all his books by now? “I, uh, got a little behind. Work got in the way, you know how it is.”
“Sure do.” Colin smiled what I thought would probably have been a charming smile at me if I wasn’t extremely disinclined to like him. “What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Uh.”
I teach yoga classes and fix sinks and I used to model for some small local stores.
That… was not something I was going to say to Felix’s publishing-professional ex-boyfriend.
“This and that,” I said instead. “Like to keep myself on my toes. I’d get bored if I knew what I was going to be working on six months from now.”
That was true, which was good enough. Iwouldhave gotten bored in a career.
“Sounds exciting,” Colin said. “Can I get you a refill on that coffee? Felix is gonna be a while longer yet, kind of wanted to meet the man who stole his heart. If I’m not bothering you?”
I didn’t really feel like I could say hewasbothering me, not least of all because he had some control over Felix’s career now, and I was supposed to be part of the marketing package Felix was pitching so he could write Alex and Eliot getting together.
“Not at all,” I said, smiling as sincerely as I could fake. “That’d be very kind of you.”
Colin nodded, stood, and headed for the counter.
Probably shouldn’t have agreed to hang out in the coffee shop right next door to where Felix was having his meeting.
I took the time to pack my book away and braced myself for a conversation I didn’t want to have.
“So, how do you like New York?” Colin asked as he sat down, passing me a coffee identical to the one I’d just had—the barista must’ve remembered.
I wrinkled my nose before I could stop myself.
“That bad, huh?” Colin raised an eyebrow.
Well, this part couldn’t do any harm, could it? I was allowed to have an opinion, and he knew I was from a small town.
“Just not used to big cities, I guess. It’s loud and it smells terrible and I don’t know anyone here. I’m surprised the barista even remembered my order, she must go through like a thousand customers a day.”
“Atleastthat many,” Colin said, and I got the feeling he was mocking me. Fine, whatever, I didn’t need to like him to get along with him. That was rule one of small town life. “So you’re… not moving to New York? To stay with Felix?”
I opened my mouth to sayno, and then realized what the question was really getting at.
