Page 126 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

“Squirrel?” Felix’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah. You’re… quick. Always busy with something. And you hoard things—your energy drinks, spare cables, backup hard drives.” I reached up to brush that stubborn bit of hair from his eyes. “Plus you get all twitchy when people sneak up on you.”

Felix considered this, tilting his head. “I think I prefer Magpie.”

I grinned at him. “Nah, you’re totally a squirrel. Dalamjwi.”

Felix rolled his eyes, shaking his head at my pronunciation.

“What’s magpie?” I asked.

“Kkachi.”

“Hmm… you know what, I think I like that one better.”

“Want to know my Korean name?”

I stared at him. “I didn’t know you had another name.”

“Min-jun. But only my Eomma calls me that. So I strongly suggest you don’t use it.”

I laughed, brushing his hair from his face. “Noted.” I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Kkachi has a much nicer ring to it anyway.”

Felix glanced away from me, biting deep into his lip. “So… I was wondering… is it okay if I stay here tonight? It’s quite late and—”

I pressed a finger to his mouth. “I thought you’d already decided to stay.”

“Oh. Well, only if that’s okay.”

“Felix.” I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him. “Of course it’s okay.” I lowered my voice to whisper in his ear. “You know, I’d happily have you sleep in this bed with me every night.”

He inhaled sharply. Quickly. Then he shuffled away from me, slipping out of my arms and climbing out of bed entirely.

Shit. Shit. You idiot. That was waaaay too intense. Why do you never learn your lessons?

My throat closed up as I watched him move towards the wall under the window where our clothes lay scattered.

What could I say? How could I fix this? I’d moved too fast, scared him off with talk of every night, of forever—

I blinked, and Felix was back on the bed, his clothes in his hands.

No, not all his clothes. Just today’s hoodie. The black one with the red Pac-Man ghost on it.

“I thought…” he began, not meeting my eyes. “Did you want this? To keep?” He thrust the hoodie towards me.

I stared at it, stunned. My emotions lurched from panic to confusion to something warm and overwhelming. I’d thought he was leaving, thought I’d ruined everything with my big mouth, but instead he was—

“I mean, it’s stupid,” Felix said rapidly, starting to pull it back towards him. “You probably don’t—”

I snatched it from his hands before he could finish the sentence, clutching the soft fabric against my chest. The faint vanilla scent hit me immediately.

“Felix.” I leaned forward and kissed him, soft and grateful. “Of course I want it.”

His cheeks flushed pink, and he ducked his head, suddenly fascinated by the duvet pattern. “See, you don’t need to steal things.”

I chuckled. “Sure. I should have just walked up to you months ago and politely requested your hoodie. That would have gone well.”

“To be honest,” Felix said, settling back against the pillows. “I would have just given it to you without questions.”