Page 27 of Fatal Attraction

“How the fuck did you‘accidentally’make out with Felix? When did this happen?” I finished wiping my face and blinked, finding Spike sitting up now, his face beet red as he scrutinized me.

Tell me, tell me, tell me!

“It was about eight months ago, before I’d convinced you to start coming with me. There was some special LGBTQ thing going on where the men were supposed to dress like women and the women were to dress like men.”

I pinched my lips tighter, my face swelling.

“I didn’t get the memo, so I showed up as myself. Let’s just say after about three beers and ten shots of tequila, between the masks, I couldn’t tell the difference between man or woman. We made out for a while, and it wasn’t until I was getting sucked off when I grabbed a bundle of blonde hair, and his wig came off. We were both shocked. I stood there absolutely horrified for about ten seconds before I recognized the duck mask and realized it was Felix.”

Now it made sense, why Spike was so leery around Felix all the damn time. I honestly believed Spike was a homophobe given how he’d react any time Felix or any male made googily eyes at him in the club. But this…

This was GOLD.

Absolutely, one hundred percent, authentic GOLD.

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I chortled so fucking hard I snorted.

“If you repeat this toanyone,” he growled, the threat laced in his tone. “I. Will. Butcher. You.”

I sucked my lips in and marked a fake X across my chest, struggling not to grin as another hot tear slid down my cheek. Spike rolled his eyes and with an annoyed huff, departed the car and slammed his door shut. Once I got myself together and retrieved the folder I’d shoved inside my glove compartment, getting the last of the chuckles out before I got out of the car, Spike met my watery eyes and just to further make his point, brought his thumb up and dragged it across his throat.

Felix came storming out of the entrance then, offering us his famous, uncheerful smirk, hands pressed tensely against his hips. He had on his favorite rainbow crocs, a pair of dark skinny jeans, and a rainbow T-shirt to match the crocs.

It was all I could do to hold in my laughter.

“Come on, Detectives,” he groused, lazily throwing up a hand before he turned toward the door. “We can talk while I stock.”

It wasn’t until Felix disappeared inside the building that Spike moved, ambling behind me. As I walked in, holding the door for Spike, Felix was nowhere in sight. As we stepped through the threshold leading to the lounge, we found him behind the bar, removing unopened liquor bottles from a large cardboard box. He took one look at Spike and then stopped working long enough to fetch a glass and a random bottle.

“Here,” he tiffed, pouring the drink and swiftly sliding it across the counter.

I blinked, impressed not a single drop had spilled over.

“You look like you could use it.”

Spike, to my utmost surprise, wasted no time snatching the glass up and chugging it back. He sank down on a barstool, refusing to say thanks or much less meet Felix’s longing gaze. Felix snapped out of it once he caught me staring, brows raised with a knowing grin, and grabbed another glass. He filled it halfway and then handed it to me.

“Just take the damn thing,” he sneered at my protest.

Geez.

Someone obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

I reluctantly drank the booze, just to sigh my disapproval when Felix poured more in Spike’s glass and discarded the rest of it in mine. “Something bothering you, Felix?”

“You could say so,” he muttered, his lip curling as he looked away to grab a bottle and put it away where it belonged.

“What’s going on?”

“Business has been shitty thanks to Amber’s husband, Daniel. He showed up here about a week ago, got drunk, and told anyone who cared enough to listen about how he and Amber were drugged here and well—you know the rest.”

I winced slightly, as did Spike, who then shrugged it off and finished the last of his drink. “That bad, huh?”

“Customers are canceling their memberships and there are others who’ve begun to accuse my staff of spiking their drinks. You two should know me well enough by now to know I don’t condone drugs in my establishment. Especially not after what happened to my twin sister. So, yeah, it’s pretty fucking bad.”

“I didn’t know you had a twin,” I replied, and Felix nodded, looking away in a failed attempt to hide the tears dotting over his eyes.

“Her name was Fiona. Fiona McMann. She died almost a year ago from a drug overdose.” Felix grabbed a random bottle and took a giant swig from it, cringing as he swallowed. “Enough with that though. I assume there’s a reason you’re here, so let’s just get on with it.”

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