“Oh, don’t do that.” She swats at his arm, wrinkling her nose when he grins. “Customer impressions and all that.”
“There’s no one in the store right now. But even if there were, Rick firing me is the kick I need,” Felix says, wriggling in front of her. “So I’ll finally start making the right decisions.”
Susan rolls her eyes. “And how old are you again? Twenty?”
“Thirty. Shut up.” But he grins anyway, checking the spare receipt rolls around the register, the sponge, and the barcode scanner. “Kade stayed up late with me last night.”
“Ah.” Susan shakes her head. She grins, glancing at his belly. “Things are okay now?”
“Mostly,” Felix says. Kade had followed him into the house last night and bent him over the bed, as if once on the bike wasn’t enough. And Felix had moaned himself hoarse. He clears his throat hoping his voice sounds normal now. “At least, you would hope.”
“Mostly?” Susan raises an eyebrow. “Wait... He still doesn’t know it’s his.”
Heat sweeps up his cheeks. “I’m leaving Meadowfall, okay?” Felix says. “He won’t ever find out.”
Susan sighs. “You’re an idiot, honey. That guy’s in love with you.”
He flinches. That’s what Taylor said, too, but neither of them has seen the way Kade narrows his eyes at Felix’s belly, as though he doesn’t want the child. Why would he?
“I’m not thinking about it,” he says, covering his ears. Susan rolls up a wad of tissue and tosses it at him.
The morning passes slowly. Felix chats with Susan as they tidy the shelves. Then they clean the floors, the bathroom, and it’s only after she steps out that Felix realizes he needs to pee.
He sighs, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He’s not supposed to be taking breaks, or locking customers out for a few stolen minutes. It’ll be hours until the teenage boy on the next shift appears, if he even shows at all.
Felix mutters, squirming at the pleasant ache in his ass. He’ll lock the door, put on the ‘Back in five minutes’ sign, pee, and run back.
Except a lady steps in, her brows drawn low. She smells like wheat. “Pump four,” she snaps.
Felix sets the sign down behind the counter, breathing out. “Yes, ma’am.”
She pays with her debit card, and the transaction takes forever to process. By the time Felix hands over her card and receipt, another two customers are waiting in line.
One of those days, huh? He rings their purchases up, tucks crumpled bills into the register, and the customers flow in and out of the store like a stream: a man with three cans of dog food, a boy with tubes of mints, an older lady with a tub of ice cream. Damn it!
He’s still at the register forty minutes later when Kade steps in. Felix hops between his feet, bladder full to bursting, his legs pressed together as though that’ll help. Kade raises his eyebrows.
“I have to piss,” Felix whines. “Hold the people back for me?”
“Sure,” Kade says. Felix dashes for the bathroom in the back, sighing with relief when he locks the door behind him.
When he emerges three minutes later, there’s a line at the cashier. Kade sets a stuffed elephant down on the counter. “Reserve this for me,” he says, lips pulling up in a smirk. “Be back later.”
Felix wants to laugh. The lady right behind Kade stares incredulously after him as he steps out of the store, but Felix smiles, the tension in his body washing away.
So maybe they’re back to being friends. Felix can accept that, if it means Kade will stay with him longer.
Two days later, Kade strolls in, jacket slung over his shoulder. His shirt follows the muscled contours of his chest, down to his abs. When Felix drags his gaze to Kade’s face, he finds Kade with a tiny grin.
“Found something you like?” Kade asks.
“Maybe,” Felix says, grinning back. “You might be wearing too much.”
Kade’s eyebrows crawl up his forehead. “How much should I be wearing?”
Just about nothing, Felix wants to say. Kade’s due for another visit in his bedroom, and maybe Felix will move out of Meadowfall next week instead. After he’s had enough of Kade’s hands sliding down his body.
“Oh my god, you guys.” Susan strides out of the backroom. She pretends to frown at Kade, shaking a broom at him. “If you’re not buying anything, get out.”
“How much for the omega?” Kade asks, nodding at Felix.
Felix snorts, clapping a hand over his mouth.
Susan stops next to Kade, looking Felix over. “Five hundred bucks? I think that’ll be enough.”
“Susan,” Felix whines. “Five hundred? Do you think I’m cheap?”
Kade raises an eyebrow, his gaze dragging down Felix’s body, from his throat to his chest to his hips, and back up. Felix’s skin tingles. “How much is it gonna take for you to come home with me?”
Nothing at all, Felix thinks, and Susan sighs, shaking her head.
“Nothing,” Susan says. “So five hundred was already too much. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Felix groans. “I hate both of you.”
Kade glances across the counter. “You hate me, but you still reserved the elephant?”
“Because you asked so nicely,” Felix says. He can’t help smiling, though. Kade’s eyes rove over him, and Felix steps closer, reaching for his wallet. “I still have to pay you back, though.”
Kade’s smile flattens, and Susan turns away, humming to herself. “Pay for what?” Kade asks.
Felix grimaces. He’s been counting his funds, trying to make everything work, but the only way he can pay Kade off is to dip into the money he’d saved for moving. “The doctor’s fees from the other day. Remember?”
“Oh. You don’t need to,” Kade says, rolling his shoulders. “It was a gift.”
Felix glowers. “Stop doing that. I still owe you so much.”
Kade’s shoulders tense. “You need the money more. Keep it.”
“But—”
Rick waddles into the store, his beady eyes anchoring on Kade. Felix clamps his mouth
