“You were whimpering.”
Dammit. “You’re mistaken.”
A flurry of expressions chase across his face—surprise, irritation, and… disgust, maybe?—and then he shrugs and turns his attention back to his food. “Whatever you say.”
It’s going to be a long night.
CHAPTER TEN
Ari
Something’s happened to Felix,and I don’t know what to do about it. Or even if I should do something. Or maybe I already did something, and that’s why he’s acting this way?
On Monday, he was friendly. I was the one being awkward and weird, even though I was trying not to. This game was his suggestion, but now that we’re here, it seems like he’d rather not be. Or at least, he’d ratherInot be here. He won’t look at me if he doesn’t have to, he keeps muttering to himself and taking deep breaths, and a little while ago, I caught him leaning as far away from me as he could without ending up in the lap of the woman on his other side.
Do I smell? Shifters have an extraordinary sense of smell—is it possible that I didn’t shower as thoroughly as I should have? Or that I picked up some kind of contaminant on the way here?
I try to give myself a discreet sniff, but it’s not easy to smell yourself without looking like that’s what you’re doing. His nose is way better than mine anyway, so it’s possible I can’t even smell whatever it is that’s making him want to get as far away from me as he can.
Meanwhile, players are doing stuff on the ice, and I’m learning absolutely nothing. The game hasn’t started yet—I’mnot that clueless about it—but there’s probably something I could learn from… practice? Pregame? Fuck, that’s not what they call it.
With a sigh, I brace myself for rejection and turn to Felix. “What are they doing right now?”
He shudders, which is surprising. It’s not the usual kind of reaction someone might have if they were startled. But before I can give it more thought, he clears his throat and answers me.
“Warm-ups. They’re warming up for the game.”
I think about that for a second, but it still doesn’t really make sense. “Why?”
Now he’s startled. “Uh… so they don’t injure themselves by performing highly physical feats with cold and unprepared muscles.”
Belatedly, I remember that the Earth species don’t have the same control of their own bodies as we do. Or at least, those who can haven’t learned how to do it. And these are humans, so they definitely haven’t learned.
“Oh.” It would be so useful for them if they could increase blood flow with minor meditation.
“So, uh, they’ll do this for probably another five or ten minutes, then they’ll go back to the dressing room and we’ll get a little pregame show.” He sounds uncomfortable, but at least he’s speaking to me.
“Is everything okay?” I ask. “Have I offended you?” This might turn out badly for me, but I have a job to do, and I’m a professional. If there’s something I need to fix, I will.
“No! No. Uh… no.”
That seems fairly clear. Except he’s still not looking at me, and his face is flushed red.
I try again. “We didn’t exactly start out in a positive way, and that’s my fault. If there’s something else I need to apologize for?—”
He groans. “There isn’t. I swear, this isn’t about… I mean, it’s not your fault.”
So there is something, then. I stare down at the players on the ice, not really paying attention to what they’re doing as I mentally assess the best course of action.
“I’d like us to be friends,” I say softly, and I’m surprised by how sincere it feels. That wasn’t part of the plan, but… maybe Felix and I can be friends. I don’t have that many among the Earth species, and it’s bothered me. Making friends is different from being friendly, and while I find the latter easy, the former is one of the hardest things I’ve done. Sticking with the friends I had from home is easier than going out of my way to make new ones here on Earth. But that’s not a good thing.
The last thing I want is to be like my parents.
“Friends,” Felix repeats squeakily, then coughs. “Sure. We can be f-friends. Seriously, though, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I appreciate that, but if we’re going to be friends, you should let me help with whatever the problem is. Especially if it relates to me. I won’t get offended, I promise.”
He sucks in a breath, then chuckles. It’s not an amused sound, though. “Yeah, that’s… great. But there’s nothing you can do. I’m fine. Really.”
