“Would you like me to,mi reina?” he asks in his normal low voice like he isn’t melting me with bedroom eyes.
“Uh, I mean, it, um, looks good as is,” I babble, my voice sounding strangely far away and barely audible over my heartbeat. “But it… hides your face?”
Smooth, Callie. Articulate much?
He merely nods, because why use words when mute gestures work just as well? I should try that more so I don’t have to dig up a permanent residence amongst the mole people.Before he goes back to eating, he squeezes my other leg, his long fingers sliding easily between my thighs. I’m finding that despite what appears to be an easygoing nature, when it comes to me, he’s obnoxiously competitive.
Mei, my blessing from the goddess, has taken it upon herself to keep Kaleb distracted with questions about chemistry homework while Connor and Donovan play who can melt Callie the fastest. She knows I want to tell Kaleb what’s going on in my own way and time, which is certainly not in the middle of the cafeteria. I pinch the back of both Connor’s and Donovan’s arms, but I might as well be trying to pinch rock for all the good it does.
Suddenly, a pair of hands cover my eyes, and an unfamiliar voice whispers in my ear, “Guess who?”
Surprised, a flush of adrenaline rushes through my body, and on instinct, I shoot my elbow back into a hard stomach. Quickly turning around, I find Felix bent over, wheezing.
“Shit, I’m so sorry!” I cry. Ignoring Connor’s and Donovan’s pleased expressions over my natural instinct to elbow first and ask questions later, I scramble off the bench to check on Felix.
He waves me off with a pained smile. “No, I’m fine. My fault. Shouldn’t have surprised you like that.” Slowly, he rises to a standing position. “By the way, nice move, pretty girl.”
“Yeah it was,” Donovan adds with a grin, like a proud parent at a karate tournament. “Good form, Angel.”
I roll my eyes at the lot of them and almost miss the concerned frown that Kaleb trades with Nolan as he sits down beside him.
Before I can comment on what the look was about, Felix asks sweetly, “You know what would make me feel better?”
“What?” I inquire, a bit distracted by seeing Felix’s familiar smile on James’s handsome face.
That familiar smile turns into an enchanting grin full of straight white teeth, while tentative excitement fills his now pale green eyes. “A hug?”
Unshed tears begin to fill my eyes while my heart melts to the consistency of taffy. “Of course,” I respond with a wobbly smile and immediately fling my arms around him, finally able to touch him outside of the dream world. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too,” he murmurs into my hair, squeezing me tightly against his warm, firm frame. “I’ve thought of this moment a least a thousand times, and it’s better than I imagined.”
“Me too,” I echo, squeezing him just as tightly and nuzzling my face into his chest. His forest green t-shirt is soft against my cheek, and he smells faintly of a musky cedarwood and lime.Not a cologne. Deodorant or body wash?Pulling away, I look up at him and tease, “Is this better than the hugs on the beach?”
“Hard to tell,” he whispers in my ear. “We’ll have to go to a beach and find out.”
His voice is a little deeper than Felix’s original voice, and there’s a hint of something more to his tone that makes my heart skip a beat. An awareness of how nothing stands in our way anymore tickles my overstimulated brain. I remember the feeling of his lips on mine during that infamous erotic dream and wonder if my imagination is anything like the real thing.
Kaleb attempts to pop this little bubble of intimacy Felix and I have created with a harsh tone. “James.”
Felix ignores him, still not used to his new name, and it takes a hard smack on the arm from Donovan to get his attention. “Dude, I think yourgirlfriendis wondering what you’re doing over here.”
“Shit,” Felix curses, leaping away from me like I zapped him.
Heat burns my cheeks, embarrassed that I completely forgot about every other person in the room.
Okay, there’s one thing still in our way. I glance back at the table where the four other guys I’m in love with sit. Okay, maybe two, if I count also being in love with all of his friends.
Felix’s gaze scans our table, noticing Rand and Mei sitting there. Rand’s eyes are wide as he looks at Connor, who is watching us intently, then at James. Mei looks at me with a sad understanding. Although my love life is entertaining for her at times, it’s also painful and complicated. My gaze follows Felix’s as it travels deeper into the cafeteria where a very displeased Bree and several confused baseball players sit.
For the benefit of the tables near us, Felix tries to cover for himself. “I, uh, just wanted to, um, say thank you, for, uh, saving me,” Felix stammers too loudly to be natural. “Memory is… not great, but, hey, it looks like I’m a hugger.”
In an attempt to enforce the sad lies, he rushes over to the other side of the table and gives Kaleb an over the shoulder hug. “You too. Thanks for, er, saving me.”
If Nolan’s pained expression is any indication, his attempts aren’t convincing anyone.
Untangling himself from Felix’s awkward hug, Kaleb rises from the bench and grabs his backpack. His deep voice is kind and patient as he asks, “How about I go over there with you and try to smooth things over?”
Felix looks relieved for support, then turns a little green as the longer James is over here at our table the more pinched Bree’s face becomes.
