Page 75 of The Waiting Game

He glanced back. “Yeah?”

“Whatever you decide, this won’t mess up our friendship, I promise.”

“I know that,” Jonah said thickly. Because that much he was sure of.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As Felix drained the last of his shitty coffee and waited for Ismael to finish speaking with someone after the AA meeting, he wondered if he’d messed up last night.

Maybe he hadn’t quite broached the idea of the fake engagement as smoothly as he could have. He hadn’t really gone into it with a plan or anything, just a bunch of weird thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head.

He’d just been thinking about the joke Jonah had made about Nico and August being in a fake relationship, about the jokes their friends kept making, about Grandma Ji-min and her worry about Jonah being alone after she was gone.

He’d thought of the strange feelings that had been bubbling up inside him for a while.

About the media insinuations that he and Jonah were already together.

And when Felix had remembered that childhood pact, it had all locked together in his head.

It had felt like the perfect answer to everything. The perfect solution.

But Jonah had seemed a little skittish about it.

And Felix was going to have to talk to Ismael about it. Because the last thing Felix wanted was for anything he did to jeopardize his recovery.

His sobriety was too important to him to risk.

“You ready to go?” Ismael appeared at his elbow, an expectant look on his face.

Felix nodded and tossed the cup in the trash. “Just waiting for you.”

Ismael smiled before he turned away and Felix followed him out the door and past a young woman smoking on the stoop.

“Good luck in the playoffs, if I don’t see you before then,” she called.

Felix raised a hand. “Thanks, Maggie. Good luck with your exams.”

She beamed and waved goodbye.

The AA meetings had been awkward at first.

Felix’s stature had made people act oddly around him and he could only imagine how tough it was for bigger-name players than him.

But Felix liked the group and although people flowed in and out of meetings as their schedules allowed, he liked the familiar faces. Liked having people he could celebrate his accomplishments with and vice versa.

“The usual?” Ismael asked, although he was already headed down the sidewalk toward their favorite coffee shop.

“Yeah,” Felix said, stuffing his hands in his trench coat pockets. “Sounds good.”

They walked in silence for a while.

It was evening and people were out enjoying the warm, damp weather. It had drizzled all day and appeared to be threatening rain again but for now the skies were clear.

Well, they probably would be if he were outside the city where it was actually dark.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Ismael observed. “Something on your mind? I thought you’d be feeling good about the postseason.”

Felix shrugged. “I do feel good about that. But yes, there’s something on my mind. I”—he dodged around a group of college students who were moving slowly—”I’ll tell you about it at the coffee shop, okay?”

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