Chapter 11
Felix pulled into his parents’ driveway far later than he’d planned.
After finally getting Ms. Pao to her car, he’d run home to pack a bag, and now it was close to eleven.
He cut the engine and hurried into the house, still frozen from that trek down the tor.
For Yule, he was commandeering Chambers’s stupid golf cart.
That heated steering wheel abruptly sounded more like a must-have than an extravagance, and no way was he hoofing it again.
Felix quietly closed the kitchen door behind him, the house silent except for the low murmur of the TV in the next room. The flickering light of the screen played in the doorway, and the lights from the Christmas tree gave everything a ruddy cast. Nope, that wasn’t ominous at all.
Felix could only attribute the quiet to Liam getting fed up and selling the urchins to the circus…unless they’d eaten him and were lying in wait somewhere for Felix.
Also a very real possibility.
He tiptoed to the doorway and slowly peered around the jamb, holding his breath.
Liam lay back against the couch with his stocking feet up on the coffee table, snoring softly.
Some cartoon was turned down low, thankfully not the psychedelic vomit that was The Pretty, Pretty Princess Show, and Sway was passed out, drooling on his thigh.
Axle was curled up at Liam’s other side, his face buried against the were’s arm.
Felix stared, an ache in his chest, loathe to wake any of them, but he couldn’t expect Liam to stay all night. Maybe if he woke him quietly enough, they could slip the two little ones into bed without any fuss. Not that Felix actually believed that, but it was worth a try.
“Liam,” he whispered. “Hey, Liam, I’m back.” Felix crept closer. “Liam.”
Damn it. He was out. Felix leaned in and put a hand on the were’s cheek, stubble prickling his palm. Felix’s breath caught. He hated it on his own face, but there was something about the feel of it rasping against his skin—
Liam’s breath hitched, and he nuzzled against Felix’s hand, murmuring.
Felix swallowed hard. “L-Liam,” he whispered again, then wet his lips. “It’s time to go.”
“Huh?” Liam’s eyes fluttered open, and he blinked up at him. “Felix?”
“Yeah. Sorry I’m so late,” he said, taking a step back. “Do you mind helping me get them into bed? Axle sleeps on the couch in the den, just through there,” he said, nodding to a doorway beside the stocking-strewn brick fireplace at the far end of the room.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. I got them to put on their jammies, but they wanted to wait up for you.” Liam ran a hand over his face.
Felix cocked a brow as he lifted Sway into his arms. More like they wanted to eat cookies and watch TV past their—
“Uncle Felix,” Sway murmured sleepily, her little arm tightening around his neck. She buried her face against him, her voice thick. “You really came back. Axle said you wouldn’t, but he’s dumb.”
“Your brother’s not dumb, and of course I came back.
” Felix started upstairs. “Do you know how cold it was out there?” He brought her down the hall and pushed open the door to his old bedroom.
A portable crib was on one side of it, and a narrow twin bed on the other.
That had to be a delightful living arrangement.
“Come on, in bed. You have school tomorrow, and I have to go to work.”
“Can I have cereal for breakfast?” Sway asked, crawling under the covers.
“Sure.” As far as he was concerned, she could have it every meal. He tucked her in. “Now go to sleep.”
She snuggled down into the covers, the top of her head barely visible. “Goodnight, Uncle Felix.”
“Goodnight, Sway.” He pulled the door just shy of closed behind him and glanced at the next door down. The light was off, and it was quiet. Maybe too quiet. He should probably do a wellness check on Cruze while he was up here.
Felix buzzed his lips, about as eager to do that as he’d been to climb the tor earlier. Whatever. Big boy pants, Felix. Time to adult. He slowly turned the doorknob and peeked in.
“You came back?” Cruze croaked out. She was hunched into a ball in the corner where her bed was pushed against the wall, her phone clutched in her hand. By all the tissues scattered around her, she’d been crying.
“Of course I’m back. Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
He ducked as Cruze launched her phone at his head, and it smashed against the wall.
“What the hell?!”
“Because we know our mom isn’t! I called her, and when she answered—why didn’t you tell us!” Cruze’s face screwed up, and she burst into tears.
Fuck.
Felix scrubbed a hand over his face as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself. He sat at the edge of the bed. “Gran made me promise not to. She wanted to wait until they got back, but I told her if you asked, I wouldn’t lie to you about it.”
She glared at him, her eyes red and glassy. “Then tell me why. What did we do? What kind of mom gives up her kids?!”
“A shitty one,” Felix said, point-blank. “You guys didn’t do anything wrong. My sister isn’t very good at being a decent human being, and I’m beyond pissed at her for putting everyone in this position. You guys deserve better.”
Cruze’s shoulders fell like she’d just been defused. “Thanks for that,” she muttered, plucking a wadded tissue from her covers to wipe her nose. “I’m so tired of everyone always making excuses for her, then lying about how she loves us.”
Felix bit back the urge to refute that. Who the hell knew how Felicia felt? He’d like to think she was doing this in the urchins’ best interests, but his sister was the least altruistic person he knew. Somehow, he was sure she was working an angle.
Cruze looked down at the wadded tissue in her hands, and chewed her lip. “Did Gran and Gramps take Poe to get adopted?”
Felix started. “What? No. Of course not. I told you, they went to take care of Aunt Helen. I talked to them earlier, and they made it to Maybach fine. As soon as they get her sorted, the screamer’s coming back, and so are they.”
“What’s gonna happen to us when they do?” Cruze asked, her big hazel eyes brimming.
Jesus. Felix riffled his curls. “I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure you’re staying here. We’ll probably have a big family meeting and work it all out, okay?”
Cruze shrugged, then sniffled and wiped her nose again. “I’m sorry I threw my phone at you.”
“I appreciate that,” Felix said, standing.
He swept it up off the floor and handed it to her, a crack crazing across the screen and pixelating half of it.
“But prepared to be even sorrier, because this isn’t getting fixed right way.
Maybe take a second to think the next time you feel compelled to wing it at someone’s head? ”
She took it and huffed, falling back against her pillows. “Whatever.”
“Well, then I’m glad we had this chat,” he said, his hand on the doorknob.
“Uncle Felix?”
He sighed and turned back to her. “Yes?”
“When we do get it repaired, can I get a new number?”
His stomach dropped, but he got it. Blocking wasn’t enough when someone broke your heart. Been there, done that, and there was always that temptation to look and see if they’d cared enough to call. Changing her number was cutting the cord completely. “Sure.”
“Thanks.” She rolled over, putting her back to him, and Felix let himself out, angry tears burning his eyes.
Liam was waiting for him in the kitchen. His brow furrowed when he saw him. “Hey—”
“I don’t want you to say anything, I just want you to hold me for a minute,” Felix blurted out. Liam opened his arms, and Felix fell into them.
Why did everything have to be so damned hard lately? He wrapped his arms around Liam’s waist, breathing him in. The were’s musk soothed his nerves, the slow pass of his palm across Felix’s back steadying him, undoing him, putting him back together—God, he was a mess.
“They know she’s giving them up,” he murmured after a long moment.
“I figured something was going on.” Liam sighed. “I went to the bathroom, and when I got back, Cruze was upstairs, and the other two were way too quiet. They wouldn’t let me out of their sight and kept asking when you’d be home.”
Felix nodded as he pushed back to look at him.
“Thank you for staying—for doing this. My life is a mess right now.” Jesus.
Why did everything have to hit at once? Trying to wrap his head around how he felt about Liam was enough without the rest of it.
The big were reached out and tucked a curl behind Felix’s ear.
“I can relate.” Liam smiled softly, and Felix’s heart flip-flopped in his chest. Needing…
something. More. The leather of Liam’s belt warmed beneath Felix’s palms, the edge of it pressing into the meat at the base of his thumbs.
He slid his grip to Liam’s hips, the bumps of his belt loops a weird torture against Felix’s skin.
“I am sorry about what happened earlier with Sarah,” he murmured, searching Liam’s face. Close, it was so close.
“Yeah. Me, too.” Liam’s eyes dropped to Felix’s lips, and the were wet his own, his head tilting and lowering a fraction of an inch.
Felix’s pulse thudded in his ears, a cold sweat slicking his back. His breath sped in anticipation. Was Liam going to kiss him? A mishmash of emotions rose up, desperately wanting him to, yet terrified he would. His fingers tightened on Liam’s slim hips—
“I’m here for whatever you need, Felix.” Liam took a big breath as he stepped back. “But right now I’m pretty sure that’s sleep. I’ll pick you guys up tomorrow? There’s no way your car’s making it out to the compound. Those backroads are brutal this time of year.”
Felix looked away and rubbed the nape of his neck, abruptly exhausted and hollow. “Ah, yeah. Cruze has rehearsal, and then trivia starts at seven, so, say six?”
“Perfect. I’m really looking forward to it.”