Page 61 of Hollow Heart

I set the guitar down, my shoulders tightening as I prepare to defend my stance, myself.

Isaaxhadbrought it up once, but at the time, Marci was going through chemo.

She begged me to accept his offer, but there was no way I was leaving her and Bobby, not then.

They were my world for so long, I forgot about the world of glitz and glamor.

Felix shifts in his spot, fidgeting, almost as if he is nervous.

But what the hell would Felix have to be nervous about?

“But the more I’m around you, it’s... refreshing. I keep discovering things about you, and I want to know more. I want to know fuckingeverything.”

His voice is barely a whisper, and it is a balm to my soul.

I lean closer, capturing his gaze.

“There’s not much to know, I’m afraid,” I utter softly, shrugging my shoulders. “I’m not as complex as you. My life... it’s simple, really. Boring.”

Felix leans closer, his knee slipping into the space between my legs. Some golden hair falls in his bright eyes and he bites his lip, jiggling his lip ring again.

I’m convinced it’s a nervous tick, and I have to say it’s kind of endearing. It reminds me of how Marci used to bite her lip when she was being flirty.

Even spoiled, pain in the ass Felix has quirks.

“You left the business and built your own paradise, Duncan. That’s not boring. It’s fucking brave as hell.”

My throat tightens, my heartbeat thudding so loudly in my chest I think he can hear it.

“Even paradise can belost, Felix.” The words are faint, almost dying in the air as I speak them.

I did have it all, but then cancer took it all away from me. From Bobby and I.

And until this moment, I hadn’t reallyfeltthat loss.

Make no mistake, I did feel grief. Anger, pain.

But under Felix’s deep blue gaze, I realize that what I miss the most is something much deeper than all of that.

Connection.

I miss that undeniable understanding, the inside jokes.

The love.

Felix leans in closer, until his face is mere inches away from mine, and somewhere in my brain I know alarm bells should be going off.

But there are none.

Not with Felix Hart.

For the first time in a long time, I feelconnected.

I close my eyes, trying to focus on my breathing, of the magnitude of feeling running through me from this damn awful day.

Felix whispers, his breath shaky and tinged with realness that begs for acceptance. “My mama always said if something’s lost, that means it can be found again.”

Then I feel it.

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