21. Felix

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

felix

I can’t stop thinking about Evan. I know I should probably back off, but it’s driving me insane. So when I see Andrew come into the gym and head for the meeting, I have to run over to talk to him. “Has Evan called you?”

Andrew stops walking immediately, giving me a kind smile but also a sigh. “No. I’m sorry.”

“Damn. I thought he would.”

“What’s going on with this kid?” he asks me, gesturing for me to follow him into the meeting room, which I do.

“He’s clearly being abused. He’s been in and out of foster care for a while. I met him when he came into the shelter with his mom and younger brother. She had a nasty bruise on her face but wouldn’t talk to me.” I think about that day a few months ago, and anger soars through me again. How can anyone do that? To their wife. Their kids. It doesn’t make sense. “Evan talked to me. He was scared, but he kind of opened up.”

“Did he admit that his father was the abuser?” Andrew asks as he takes a seat in one of the chairs. I follow, taking the seat next to him.

“No. He shut down when I asked. But when they came back the next week, he talked to me again when I asked about school. Told me he’d been in foster care a few times. That he didn’t want to go back.”

Andrew’s lips form a straight line. “You gave him your number?”

I nod. “And yours. I saw him yesterday, but he’s scared, Andrew. I can feel something bad coming.”

Andrew doesn’t argue with me. We’ve both seen plenty over the years. “All we can do is hope. You’ve laid the groundwork. He trusts you. Hopefully, he’ll reach out.”

I feel defeated but stand up quietly, knowing the meeting is starting soon. “Thanks.”

“How are Henry and Hazel doing?” My cheeks hurt from smiling so big at just the mention of their names, and Andrew grins at me, shaking his head. “You have it bad, huh?”

I can’t deny that. “He’s a good man.”

“Yeah. I could see that the moment he came in here.”

“His scars run deep,” I say, not really meaning to, but the words fall out of my mouth just the same. Andrew doesn’t look surprised.

“Any luck getting him to come to a meeting?”

I shake my head, my hand going through my hair. “Nah. He doesn’t think he has any trauma.”

Andrew just nods his head at that, breathing out a deep sigh. “Yeah. I know a lot of people like that.”

I know exactly what he’s talking about. I thank him before going back out to the gym, watching as people arrive for the meeting. People who need help and have finally reached out for it.

I worry about Henry a lot. I have since the day I met him, seeing the pain in his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t abused—although he definitely had some lousy parents—but he still holds a lot of trauma in his heart.

“Hey.” He’s smiling as he approaches me, kissing my lips quickly in a greeting.

I notice there’s no baby in his arms and quirk my eyebrow in question. “Where’s my girl?”

“Oh, right here.” Colby walks up, and I see Hazel is dressed in a cute outfit with cherries all over it and a matching headband. She waves her little hands, and I take one and kiss the back of it.

“Hey, girlie.” I look at Colby. “New outfit?”

He shrugs slyly. “Oh, you know, it was on sale.”

Henry just shakes his head, but I don’t miss the wide smile on his face. God, he looks happy. “Right. Sale.”

“Look, it’s not my fault the store had a bunch of baby girl clothes in her size on sale,” Colby says, winking at me, and I laugh.

“Well, I think this particular baby needs a diaper change,” Henry says as he lifts Hazel into his arms, and Colby gives her temple a kiss. Henry looks at me. “Can you cover me for a minute? I don’t want to get her new outfit dirty.”

“Not a problem,” I assure him, and he surprises me again by placing a kiss on my lips before going up to the apartment, leaving a very smug-looking Colby staring at me.

“What?” I go behind the desk, fiddling with the computer and not looking at him, but he moves quickly behind the desk too, taking a seat.

“This is new.”

“It is,” I huff, still not looking at him when truly, I’m about to burst out of my skin from the excitement of him showing me affection at work.

“I’m happy for you, Felix.”

I sigh and finally turn to look at Colby. “It’s really new.” I try not to let my fear come out in my words, but he notices.

He places a hand on my shoulder, his eyes kind. “He doesn’t look at you like it’s new. He looks at you like you two have been together for years.”

I want to believe that. That it’s not just that new relationship glow. That he’s feeling it as deeply as I do. “He’s a little skittish.”

“Aren’t we all?”

I shake my head, my heart full of worry. “Not me. I’ve always just jumped right into everything. But I’m afraid he’ll run away if I do that.”

Although truthfully, we’re pretty much in it now, whether he realizes it or not. “I don’t think he will. People who have a rough past, they just need to know you’re there. And Felix, you are the most there human I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I say, and he only smiles at me, patting my shoulder again and hopping up from the chair.

“I’m right. Trust me. I have a class to teach,” he says with a big smile before bouncing off, but my gaze is already on Henry, who’s coming back down the stairs with a happy Hazel in his arms.

I will definitely, 100 percent be there for both of them, no matter what.