Page 59

His eyes flicker, and I take that as a yes.

The door chimes out front, and I know Felicity can handle it, but I’m sick of sulking back here, so I stand and follow the sound. Frederick jumps at me like he’s trying to convince me to stay, but I set him back in his bed and walk to the front desk.

“I mean, what are the chances?” A husky laugh, a man’s laugh, comes through the curtains to the back, and when I peek through, I see Felicity smiling—no, beaming—at this guy in front of her. Dark brown hair, no scruff around his jaw, perfectly straight teeth, and somewhere around my age. And this…this guy is beaming right back at her.

Something takes over my body and I burst through the curtains to the open lobby without really thinking.

“Oh, Knox.” Felicity smiles at me, brows raised, and I feel my whole body go lax. “Did Fredrick go down okay?”

“Yeah, he’s out.” I cough. “I, uh—” Why am I even up here?

“I should introduce you—Knox, this is…Cal, right?”

The guy across the counter lifts his shoulders. “Callum. My friends just call me Cal, though.”

“Cal.” Felicity clicks her pen over and over again. “Cal, this is my best friend, Knox.”

“Funny, I ran into a blond girl yesterday who said you were her best friend.”

She huffs a laugh. “Lottie, yeah. I should say I have two best friends. Lottie is my closest friend and Knox is…well, my Knox, I guess.”

Is this what they mean when they say an out-of-body experience? I feel like I’m watching her float off into the clouds, and I’m a weight stuck on the ground that can’t reach her.

At that, Cal’s eyes finally leave Felicity’s, and he glances up at me. I expect some kind of ferocity, something like the glare I feel like giving him, but unfortunately, it’s nothing like that. He’s smiling genuinely with no ill intent, no sizing me up. Just a guy acknowledging another guy.

Now I feel like an asshole.

“Nice to meet you, man.” He turns back to her. “And nice to officially meet you…Flick.”

“That’s what they call me.”

What everyone else calls her; she’s always been Felicity to me.

“Did you need anything specific, Cal?” I cut in, and they both turn to me.

I am being an asshole, and it’s like a train with no brakes just running right along.

“Oh, right. My dad actually sent me here. I’m supposed to pick up records for Stinky; he’s getting his shots today.”

Who is this guy? And more importantly, who is Stinky?

“Do you or your dad work with the vet in town?”

Felicity has been obsessed with the one and only vet here in Oak Ridge ever since she was ten years old and we carried in a kitten with a broken paw. He gave it a splint for free and found it a home the same day—Felicity’s love language.

“My dad’s the vet. Sorry, I should’ve specified that. He just hired me as a vet tech, so I’m doing all of his rounds this morning.”

“Your dad is Elijah Brooks?” Felicity all but squeals. “Oh my gosh, I love your dad!”

“Then you must be the curly-headed girl he’s been going on and on about the last few years.”

“That’s me, I guess.” She tucks a curl behind her ear. “How have I not met you before? I knew he had a son, but I thought you were off in college or something?”

“Long story, he and my mom divorced and she took me with her, and I wasn’t able to come down here until I turned eighteen, so here I am.”

“Here you are.”

I am literally a fly on the wall right now waiting for someone to hit me with a tennis racket or a newspaper.