Felix stepped inside, tugged his scarf down, and failed to immediately respond when he gave me a quick once-over. “Oh.” He swallowed. “Yeah, you might be cold going out like that.”
His voice… God…such a pretty color.
“Bo?”
I snapped to attention and shut the door quickly. “Yes, I’m going to put a shirt on!” I went back upstairs. I knocked down a few garments in the closet as I grabbed a white button-down and an emerald green sweater.
“This is a wonderful little home,” Felix called from below. I could hear the old floors creaking under his footsteps.
“It will be,” I answered, poking my head out of the doorway and looking down the stairs as I went through the automatic motions of putting on a bow tie. “Once I get the time to finish unpacking.” I stepped back into the room to check myself in the mirror.
Clothes? Ace.
Hair? It would do.
Wooing Felix into a second date? So long as I didn’t drink too much, I figured I had a good shot at it.
“Sorry I’m not more presentable,” I said, going downstairs. “At the last minute, I was thrown into the world’s longest and most pointless meeting with the principal.”
“He does that,” Felix said. “Cass is a… tiring man.” He turned around and stopped talking.
“What?” I asked, picking up my jacket from the floor where I’d thrown it in my race to get ready.
“You look… really nice.” Felix motioned at the sweater. “Green, huh?”
“You caught me,” I said, laughing.
“Your bow tie has apples on it.”
I grinned widely.
“You did that for me?”
“Yeah.”
Felix looked sort of at a loss as to what to do or say.
“Hey. I’m starving.” I took his gloved hand and tugged Felix close enough for me to kiss his cheek. “Let’s get this date started.”
We left the house and trudged back out into the freezing, already pitch-dark evening. I was coughing by the time we got to Felix’s car, and he turned the heat up high after starting the engine.
“Okay?” he asked, looking at me.
“Y-yeah.” I took a few shallow breaths. “It’s just so cold, my asthma kicks in almost immediately.”
“Do you have an inhaler?” He stared at me, brows furrowed.
“It’s still packed. Probably in the miscellaneous box, stuffed under old tax returns, a Kiss the Cook apron, and that decade-old lava lamp I keep carting around.”
Felix smiled slightly.
“I’ll dig it out.”
“Please do. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” With that said, Felix checked his mirrors, backed out of the driveway, and pulled onto the road.
“So, about Alan,” I began after a few moments of nothing between us but snowy static playing from the radio.
Felix didn’t respond.
