“Come here,” I said. “Lie down with me for a minute.” I scooted back on the mattress, put my head on a pillow, and held my arm out in open invitation.
Felix smiled. He came to the bed, slid up beside me, and rested his head in the crook of my arm. “What’s wrong?”
I reached down and threaded my fingers with his. “Promise beforehand not to get upset.”
“Jesus,” Felix muttered.
“That’s not a promise.”
He sighed hard against me. “Are you an escaped convict?”
“No.”
“Dying?”
“No.”
“Country music fan?”
I smiled. “Sometimes.”
“All right,” Felix finally said. “I promise.”
“I’m probably going to lose my job.”
Felix jerked up, staring down at me with wet, messy hair in his eyes. “What?”
“You promised,” I reminded.
“And this is me not getting upset,” he said in a firm,slightlyunbelieving tone. “What the hell, Bo?”
“It’s a long story,” I said. “But it boils down to: someone’s been—more than likely—pretending to be some of my students, spreading false accusations, and trying to get me booted for gross misconduct.”
“What does that mean in plain English?”
“Someone said I’ve been having sex with you on school property in front of students.”
Felix’s eyes grew huge. “Are you kidding me? That’s not true!” If it were regarding any other topic, I’d have found it cute to see him so amped up.
“A few people sort of suspect Joshua Cass wasn’t given the complaints but may have made them himself.”
“That son of a….” Felix’s jaw tightened. He’d been in town long enough to know what Cass obviously thought of gay men and of the sort of ignorant jerks he kept company with.
“It may be connected to the fire,” I continued. “I can’t be sure, there’s no evidence, but it’s a coincidence that I don’t like.” I gave his arm a tug. “Come back down here.”
Felix laid his head on me once again, body much more rigid than before. “Cass wouldn’t have come after me. He may notlikeme, but he’s a coward and afraid of me. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Would Bill Bucker?”
Felix rolled onto his side and put his chin on my chest. He stared at me. “Who are these ‘few people’ you’ve been talking to?”
“Stephen Kelly. Uh, Gideon something—he’s a cook at Eatery. And a guy named Silas—”
“Bright?”
“Yeah. He said you two were friends.”
“We are,” he confirmed. “I dated him briefly. A lifetime ago.”
