Kade shrugs. When he turns, his mother wraps her arms around him. He stoops to return the hug, breathing in the reassuring lilac scent of her hair. The silvery strands glint in the sunlight, tucked between cinnamon-brown.
“Do tell him that he’s welcome here anytime,” she says. “I just hope he’s doing well.”
“I will.” The thought of Felix stepping through this house, looking with awe at the paintings on the walls, cheers Kade up. He kisses his mother on the cheek, turning to leave. The bike needs a fill-up; he’ll take a detour there. The thought shouldn’t make his stomach flip, should it?
He finds Felix alone at the register, his lavender scent still oddly muted. Felix’s eyes brighten when Kade steps in, his mouth pulling into a tiny smile. “Hello.”
“You doing okay?” Kade asks, glancing over his uniform. No bruises on his arms, no markings. What little he can smell of the lavender is untarnished, and it sends a spark of triumph roaring through his chest.
“Not too bad,” Felix says. He lowers his gaze, tidying a stack of rubber bands so they fall into a neat circle.
Kade looks around. “No one else on this shift?”
“It’s just me right now.” Felix straightens the stationery around the register. “I guess they trust me enough to run this place for a few hours.”
“You’ll do fine,” Kade says. Felix’s ears turn pink, and he smiles, looking away. Kade’s pulse quickens. “I told my mom about your paintings.” He wanders over to a shelf, picking up a bag of chips. It crinkles in his hand, lightweight and overpriced, but it’s a reason to stop by instead of going to the office. “She likes them.”
“She used to,” Felix says. After a pause, he asks, “How is she?”
“Not bad. We moved. Got a new house and all that.” And it’s not like Felix wants to know, but Kade says, “Better than before.”
Felix sighs deeply, his shoulders relaxing. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Kade shrugs. It’s not as though Felix knows anything about their difficulties, anyway. He’d left before most of it happened. “What about you? How was Highton?”
“Not bad, I guess.” Felix rubs his arm, his loose shirt wrinkling. “The paintings sold well for a while. I had a loft apartment. It was the prettiest place—large windows, sheer curtains. I—I think you’d have liked to see it.”
Felix doesn’t say It’s just like what we talked about in the past, for our own home, but Kade hears it, hears the regret echoing between them.
And he shouldn’t be asking, when they’re no longer lovers, but he wants to hear about those years Felix spent in Highton. He wants to know if Felix missed him. “What else did you like about it?”
“The kitchen. It was wide and open. It had an island counter, one of those nice ones you see in catalogs, you know? With the row of hanging lamps in the middle, a silver fridge, and racks on the walls for the spatulas... And the ceilings were so high. It felt like I was living in a cathedral, almost. When the breeze blew in, the curtains fluttered in the living room, and I... It was lovely.”
Felix looks away. Kade stares at the chips in his hands. Classic ruffle cut. Reduced sodium.
Chips are one thing, but a loft like that? He’s got a decent job, but he’s never truly had enough to pay for the sort of houses they discussed. At least, not yet. Did you find someone who can buy you that? Kade swallows. The ring sits warm against his chest, and he reaches up, touching it through his shirt. “So why’d you come back?”
Felix purses his lips. His eyes dart up to Kade’s, then away. “I wasn’t doing that well. Like I said, the paintings stopped selling.”
Kade sighs. Felix has all the talent to be successful. “Was that all you did? Selling paintings?”
Felix’s green eyes sweep over the store, and he turns his hands, palms facing up. “For a while, yes. I should be better at selling my things. It just... didn’t work out, somehow. Maybe I didn’t have enough connections.”
“But your dad knows people, doesn’t he?”
Felix winces. “I’d rather not talk to them, if I can.”
Kade remembers Felix’s dad. Tall, imposing, never smiling. Felix rarely brought Kade to his family home, and the times he did, they were careful to avoid the grand rooms in the mansion, full of sprawling tables and arched hallways. Lots of voices had come from their closed doors, polite, quiet laughter that spoke of formal business meetings.
“Have you listed them on the internet?” Kade asks. “Auction sites, craft sites, that sort of thing?”
Felix looks at the register. “I’m not so great with those.”
“I can help,” Kade says before he thinks about it. “Shouldn’t be difficult for me.”
Felix bites his lip, uncertain. Kade thinks about his shabby new house, the falling-apart porch, and Felix in this gas station job. He can’t afford a better place like that. And as his bondmate, Kade wants to help somehow. Even if they aren’t building a home together. Felix sneaks a glance at him. “If it isn’t inconvenient, I’d... appreciate it.”
Kade keeps his expression calm, even though his pulse shoots all the way to sixty miles an hour. “When are you off?”
“This Saturday. Anytime is fine, I guess.”
“9 AM?”
“Sure. I, uh, kind of don’t have a computer. I sold mine.” Felix blushes.
Kade shrugs. “It’s fine. I’ve got a couple from my job.”
Felix smiles shyly, stretching a rubber band between his fingers. “Still programming?”
“Yeah. I might be getting a promotion soon.” He’s been taking on new projects since he finished debugging that damn app, and it’s nice, having a pile of jobs at work so he isn’t daydreaming about Felix.
“Really?” Felix’s grin widens. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah, well.” I’d be happier if we were back together. But he won’t say no to seeing Felix smile. He’s gone without it for too long, and it sends a slow, joyful warmth curling
