Page 84 of Pretty Thing

Felix shrugs.

“You’re being all mysterious.”

“And? A guy has to keep the woman in his life on her toes. You know to keep things interesting and exciting,” he says.

It comes out as a joke, but my stomach clenches, and butterflies take flight at the words, woman in his life.

He glances at me and smiles, then his are back on the road.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. How can I resist that face? I figured if it was me…” His voice softens as he gives a little shrug. “…I’d want my people.”

“What?”

“You’ll see.”

Not even ten minutes go by before we pull into Kris and Kyle’s apartment building. We park, and I just stare at him, trying to find the right words and tell him what this means to me. He saves me and grabs my hand instead.

“I will do anything for you, Eden. I hope you know that,” he says, lifting my fingers to his mouth. A tiny jolt of excitement races down my spine at the gesture. “Let’s go see your friends.”

I blink at him.

“You’re coming too?”

He nods once.

“I know how important Kris and Kyle are to you, and I want to make an effort to get to know them. If that’s what you want, of course?”

Emotion hits me like a tidal wave, stealing the air from my lungs. After everything they’ve done and said about Felix, he still brings me here because he knows I need to see my friends.

I smile before I can stop myself. This is what they don’t understand. Felix gets me. He notices things before I say them. He knows I don’t need fixing. I just need to be with the people I care about most.

I lean across the console and kiss his cheek, and his eyes close briefly.

“Thank you,” I whisper, loving how his eyes shine back at me. He really gets me.

I go to get out, but stop with my hand on the door when a thought occurs to me.

“Felix? How do you know where they live?”

He grabs his phone and holds out the social media post of Kris standing in front of her new place. The building and the address on the front are in the background.

“I wanted to surprise you, so I had to go snooping.”

He smiles wide like it’s a conspiracy.

“So, you’re not a stalker?” I tease, and he laughs.

“There’s only one girl I want to stalk,” he says, biting his lip ring. “And I’m looking at her.”

And just like that, my mind veers off course as he scrambles my brain. Are we sure it’s not illegal to be this sexy?

Clearing my throat, I nod, and he gives me a wicked grin before getting out.

Holy-Freaking-Hotness.

I try to get my heart under control as he rounds the front of the car. This guy is going to kill me.

twenty-three