Page 49 of Heat Transfer

I needed to make him mine—for real.

Chapter seventeen

Cormac

Dad texted me and Ollie to meet at the trailer, which I found highly suspicious.

First, we rarely did meetings because we saw each other almost every day.

Second, Dad hadn’t been organized enough to set up a meeting in at least five years.

A few days had passed since Felix had fucked me in the bathroom during the game, which was one of the hottest experiences of my life. His constant creativity thrilled me, whether it was sexcapades or whatever adventures he dragged me into, and I was far too fast getting attached to having him with me all the time.

I pulled into the lot with our trailer, not loving the fact Dad and Ollie’s cars were already there. Weird. My skin buzzed with nerves. Truth be told though, this tension had been brimminginside me for over a week now. I needed to tell Felix how I felt but hadn’t found the right time.

The hockey game had been too loud, too public, but I kept making excuses.

Because if Felix didn’t want more, that would break me.

However, we couldn’t keep floating in this nebulous space we were in either. That would be just as deadly. And I didn’t want to lose him through indecision.

Tipping my head back, I sucked in a long, slow breath. My hands remained on the steering wheel, even as I sat in park. Maybe I’d been sitting on the sidelines too much in my life. Letting family members take center stage and stepping out of view instead of stepping up. Letting boyfriends sweep in and take advantage, not cutting them out when I needed to. Letting work ambitions go by the wayside because I didn’t speak up.

Except the other day, I’d told Luke to fuck off. And it had feltgood.

Felix’s words, his presence, infused me with a courage I hadn’t known I possessed. More than that, he saw past my deflections, the way I tended to don a cloak of invisibility around so many others. And that inspired me to break free from my self-imposed prison.

He made me want to take risks, and that was a goddamn gift.

I opened the car door. Time to face whatever this meeting was about. Once I crossed the short space to the trailer door, I could hear Ollie’s bark of a laugh coming from inside, which soothed some of my nerves. It couldn’t be too serious if he was laughing—though, my brother had cracked up in the middle of Aunt Ruth’s funeral because he thought the pastor was telling a joke. He hadn’t been.

When I stepped inside, Ollie and Dad’s gazes turned to me. Goose bumps popped up on my arms. Their intense scrutiny wasn’t something I was used to.

“So, what’s this meeting about?” I shoved a hand into my pocket. “Was Mr. Lorrie dissatisfied with the job we did earlier?”

Dad shook his head. “Nah, he called. He was thrilled with you and Ollie. Detailed work, as always.”

“Okay…” I perched on the desk. Dad had claimed the seat behind the desk, and Ollie had nabbed the only other chair. I didn’t like the tension buzzing in the air here, as if we were all waiting. I sure as fuck wouldn’t start. As the middle kid, I’d gotten ganged up on enough by my siblings to know when a bomb was about to drop.

Dad coughed, his attempt at subtlety as bullshit as the rest of us. “Ollie told me, Cor.” The seriousness in his tone spiked my adrenaline. “I don’t understand why you thought you needed to hide it from me though.”

Oh, shit.

Felix.

I shot an accusatory look to Ollie, who sat there frowning, which was a weird expression on my always-smiling brother. Sure, it was shitty of us to lie to them about dating, but I should’ve been the one telling Mom and Dad, not him. Irritation prickled through me, along with a messload of adrenaline. Truth be told, a part of me had hoped I wouldn’t have to tell them we were a lie at all.

That Felix could just…be mine.

I sucked in a sharp breath and stared at the ceiling, pockmarked and stained. “Look, we didn’t want to deceive anyone. Felix asked me to be his fake date to some gala, and then it kind of spiraled from there.”

Dad’s brows drew together. “You and Felix aren’t actually together?”

“Oh, shit, I had the feeling.” Ollie crossed his arms. “I was hoping your relationship was the real deal, though, not going to lie. I like him, and even more, I like the two of you together.”

I looked between Dad and Ollie, my mind whirling. “Wait, if this is news to you, what is this meeting about?”

Dad leaned back in his chair. “We’re not done with the conversation about Felix, but I needed to talk about the fact that both you and Ollie want me to retire. Neither of you mentioned anything, and it’s been for some time now. Did you think I’d be mad?”

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