Chapter 6
Felix groaned and prised a gummy eye open.
What frickin’ time was it? His blackout curtains were drawn, and the room thick with shadow.
He huffed out a breath that could’ve dropped a mule.
Ugh, that was horrific, and a better question might be who was spooned up against him.
Damn it, he hadn’t thought he’d gotten that drunk last night, but the evidence suggested otherwise.
He didn’t remember getting home, and he definitely didn’t remember drunk dialing anyone for a hook-up.
His blurry eyes focused on the bedside clock. Ten thirty-seven? No way. How the hell could it be that late? Myx would’ve been in here hours ago. Felix fumbled for his phone, and the mystery man’s arm tightened around him, his breath hot on Felix’s neck as he nuzzled against him.
Okay, so that was really nice. Felix wriggled back, enjoying it while he could. It’d been a hot minute since he’d had anyone to snuggle with and even hungover as hell, Felix was a cuddler.
His eyelids drooped, lulled toward sleep by the man’s heady cologne…they snapped back open. Wait, what had he been doing? His phone. He’d been checking his—
Shit. It was that late. His alarm had been silenced, and he’d missed a handful of texts from Jena, three calls from the office, and double that many from his parents. He groaned, his head throbbing harder at what that could be about.
He scrolled through Jena’s texts first. The coven had agreed to meet, but not until later that evening.
Something about Greg Plinkin warning that the portents were wrong, and that they needed to wait until after sunset.
Felix wasn’t thrilled with having to hoof it out there after dark in the freezing cold, but the burly warlock would know.
Portents were his family’s magical bent.
Felix wasn’t going to complain about the reprieve.
Though he would complain about the hike out there and the cold. Loudly.
His voicemail transcriptions were a different story.
Lorraine was losing her shit over having to feed Chambers, and it sounded like she’d discovered a photocopy of someone’s ass on the copier again.
Guess the butt cheek bandit was still at large.
Felix scrubbed a hand over his face. Heaven help them if someone wasn’t around to stop her from pouring bleach over the scan glass.
Everything was already cloudy after the disinfectant spray and steel wool she’d used on it the last time.
A sick day. He was totally taking a sick day, and his hangover notwithstanding, it sounded like he’d need it. His mother had called seven times, but she’d only left one message.
Call home.
Damn it. He could hear the tremble in her voice without even listening to the message, but he wasn’t about to ring her back with his “guest” still there.
Felix closed his eyes, enjoying the man’s arms around him for several breaths before he wriggled free, his head pounding.
Ugh, he was still in his clothes. Guess he hadn’t had as much fun as he’d thought, but that begged the question: why was the mystery man still there?
The dark shadow beside him riffled its hair, pushing up against the pillows as Felix slipped away. Whoever he was, he was big. Beside him, a pair of malevolent green eyes cracked open, catching the scant light before they shut again.
Felix stared at the dark lump in disbelief. “Are you sleeping with my cat?” He had to be hallucinating.
“Yeah,” Liam’s groggy voice rumbled from the darkness. “I think he likes me.”
“You!” Felix sprang away from him and fell off the bed in a tangle of sheets. “What are you doing here?!” he squeaked from the floor, then slapped a hand onto the bedside table, fumbling for the light.
It clicked on, and pain shot through Felix’s temples. Goddamn it…
“Careful. You okay?” Liam peered over the side of the bed, and still fully dressed, thank God. If Felix was going to make that mistake, he damned well wanted to remember it.
In vivid, hi-definition detail.
Ugh! No! What was he thinking?! This was Liam! Felix sputtered. “Okay? No, I’m not okay. Why are you in my bed?”
“Ah…You were pretty drunk.” Liam ducked his head, scratching under Myx’s jaw, and the furry traitor started purring. “Chase asked me to bring you home. He said something about not wanting to listen to you bitch about your neck, and since this was on my way—”
“Bitch about my neck?” Felix stood, dashing the tangle of sheets to the floor and smoothing a hand over his rumpled dress shirt.
“I’ll have you know, I strained a tendon.
I think I have every right to ‘bitch about my neck.’” He finger quoted, the room on tilt.
He put a hand out to steady himself, bile rising in his throat.
Shit, he might still be a little drunk. “And that doesn’t answer why you’re here now.
” Or what he’d done to Myx. The cat looked more content than Felix had thought possible.
Maybe soothing savage beasts was a were thing.
Liam shrugged, scritching the wretched animal behind the ears. “You asked me to stay, so I did.”
Felix stared at him, his mouth opening and closing, his brain refusing to process that statement. He shook his head and immediately regretted the motion. “I need to take a shower,” he grumbled, stumbling toward the door. “Careful, he bites.”
“Nah.” Liam grinned down at Myx. “He’s a good boy, aren’t you?”
A weird surge of jealousy flared through Felix’s churning guts as he turned on his heel and stumbled over the tangle of sheets at his feet.
Nice, Felix, way to be smooth. He pushed through his bedroom door into the hallway.
And Myx? A good boy? The feline was psychotic, and it was just a matter of time before he snapped.
Whatever. If Liam wanted to cuddle a furry hand grenade on his lap, Godspeed to them both.
Felix managed not to vomit until the bathroom door was closed, then he was on his knees heaving and totally losing his shit.
What the hell had he done? Had he seriously asked Liam Montgomery to stay?
! What in the holy hot sauce of Jesus’s blessed barbecue had he been thinking?
Felix grabbed his toothbrush and jammed it into his mouth, gagging as he scrubbed.
It had to be his current lack of companionship.
Desperation had driven him to it, obviously.
Keep telling yourself that.
Damn it, he wasn’t—couldn’t—fall for Liam again. Felix tore off his clothes, the smell of the were’s cologne clinging to them. He put the shirt to his nose before he thought better of it. Good Lord. If they bottled that up and sold it, he’d be buying it by the gallon to sprinkle his sheets with—
Out of the corner of his eye, Felix caught a glimpse of himself in the vanity mirror, buck naked with a semi, huffing his dress shirt. Nope. That wasn’t weird at all.
“I am so screwed,” he muttered, chucking it to the side of the overflowing hamper and getting under the water. He didn’t have the bandwidth to unravel the squirrel’s nest of emotion he had going on.
Felix scrubbed his face and blew out a breath.
Priorities. He needed to call in to the office, then deal with whatever was going on at his parents’.
His head throbbed, and his stomach roiled again.
This fricking hangover—the urge to zap it with karma was fierce, but if he used up what he had now, he’d be spent for tonight.
He’d have to suffer through it. No matter how drunk he’d been, he deserved it for letting himself cozy up to Liam, and Chase was getting a serious talking to for putting him in this position.
Felix bit back a sob and let the hot water sluice over him. Feeling even remotely human was going to require several over-the-counter medications and more than one pot of coffee, but first, he needed to throw on some clothes—
Oh God, he’d forgotten to grab clothes.
He shut off the water and stood dripping, cursing himself for not kicking Liam out.
Why hadn’t he kicked him out? Jesus, it wasn’t even noon, and he was already over today.
Felix ripped the towel from its bar and dried off.
He’d ask what the hell else could go wrong, but that was just inviting trouble.
If Liam hadn’t taken the hint and was still out there, Felix would just send him on his merry way.
That decided, he wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hitting him square.
His knees went weak. Okay. He’d send Liam on his way after coffee.
No need to be rude, right? Felix lurched into his room and caught himself again at the made-up bed, blinking.
Was Liam intentionally trying to confuse the hell out of him?
Felix was fairly certain he hadn’t stumbled into some strange alternate reality where he had a sexy house boy catering to him.
He pinched himself, not entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming.
When he didn’t spontaneously appear back in bed, Felix shook his head and pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.
He blew out his cheeks, attempting to mentally prepare himself.
Thank you for everything, but I’ve got a bunch of work to do, and it’s really time for you to leave…
Yeah. Sure. That sounded good. Felix buzzed his lips and poked his head out the door.
His apartment was silent. He tiptoed to the kitchen like he was the one that shouldn’t be there.
A freshly brewed pot of coffee was on the warmer, and Myx was chomping down kibble.
Liam was gone.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Felix muttered, annoyed by the absence, though he shouldn’t be, which just annoyed him more.
“Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised…
You on the other hand.” He eyed the cat’s backside as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Exactly what do you think you’re doing cozying up to Liam Montgomery? ”
Myx flicked his ears back and kept them there, still chowing down.