Before our lips even touched, Felix grabbed a fistful of my shirt and dragged me over. He didn’t stop tugging until I was on top of him, his other hand curled around the back of my neck, wriggling under me.
I hummed into his mouth, letting him do whatever he wanted. He had a bossy streak I got the feeling he hadn’t gotten to express all that often, and I loved it when it came out. I was a big guy, and peopledidn’torder me around like Felix did, normally. He must’ve felt safe with me.
That was a good feeling. I wanted to be safe for him.
Felix tugged on me again, rolling his hips under me.
“Mood feels fine to me,” I murmured into his mouth, shifting my weight as he pulled me closer.
“Youfeel f—ah—” he gasped, pushing me off with both hands. “Dammit.”
I backed off, but stayed close this time. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was upset.
He growled as he dug the heel of his palm into his thigh, rubbing it hard through the thin sweatpants he was wearing and muttering under his breath.
“Let me,” I offered.
Felix looked away from his leg and up at me, eyes hard.
“Let me,” I repeated, quieter. Pleading. “Let me help.”
Felix’s glare pinned me in place for another few heartbeats. Then his eyes softened, and he nodded, moving his hand out of the way.
I shuffled closer, carefully lifting his leg into my lap. His breath hitched at first, but when I pushed my palm against the spot he’d been rubbing, a moan escaped him and his head dropped back against the floral throw pillow tucked into the arm of the couch.
“You’re good at that,” he said, breathless.
I smiled at him, glancing away from my hands to look at his face. Now that I knew it a little better, I could see the pain there in the lines around his eyes and the set of his jaw.
“It’s helping?”
“So much.” Felix sighed.
“Good.”
Silence fell between us as I worked the knots out of Felix’s leg. Even covered by his sweatpants, the line of the scar there was obvious and easy to trace. He’d tried to stop me looking at it, but I’d seen the jagged edges, the twisted angles. It wasn’t a neat surgical scar. No doubt the muscles under it were in bad shape.
Much as I didn’t like the idea of Felix in pain, the tension in his body easing under my hands felt good.
“You don’t have to keep doing that,” he spoke up eventually.
“I don’t mind,” I said. By now, it was more an excuse to touch him than anything. “As long as I’m not hurting you?”
Felix shook his head but drew his leg subtly away from me. I let him go.
“This isn’t what you were planning to do with your evening,” he said, not looking at me.
“It’s notnotwhat I planned to do.”
My plan had beensee Felix. That was all I’d wanted, after almost a week of worrying that he didn’t want to see me. I’d gotten that, and I’d loved every minute of it so far.
“We need you for tomorrow,” I added, ducking to catch his gaze. “Kids can’t do it without you.”
“They could,” Felix said.
“Well, they wouldn’twantto.”
Felix’s lips twitched like they had before—not a smile, but something moving in the direction of one.
