Page 17 of After Felix
I raise my eyebrow. “Oh, dear. Should I be with someone so I can befulfilled?”
He grins. “Emotionally, you have a bottomless hole,” he says in a dramatic voice.
I laugh but then fidget with my T-shirt, smoothing the fabric down. “I don’t want a relationship with someone,” I say slowly. “It makes you weak.” He jerks and I look at him curiously. “You don’t agree?”
He smiles, and there’s something very sad about it. “On the contrary, I couldn’t agree more.”
As if by mutual agreement, we turn back to the television. For a while, we watch Crufts in silence, making our way down a couple of bottles of wine and lost in our own thoughts. Finally, I stir.
“Jesus,” I slur. “These dogs have got very strange names. I swear their owners were pissed when they christened them.”
He gives a drunken chuckle. “It’s a combination of things. The first bit is usually their kennel name which has got to be one word and no longer than twelve characters. The Kennel Club is very strict about that. They reject about twenty percent of applications.”
“And they let this one through?” I say in disbelief as a dog flounces across the screen with a name that sounds like someone has squashed a load of shampoo bottles together.
He shrugs. “The rest of the name can be anything, but often litters are given themed names, or they’re named after the owner’s interests.”
“Let’s pick our own pedigree names,” I say impulsively, turning tohim. I think hard while swigging my wine. “I know. I shall be Mrs Flimflam Sloppy Blowjob, and you can be Euripides Nice Hair Rimming the Third.”
He promptly snorts wine out of his nose. “What the hell?”
We cling to each other as we laugh, and then we select more names. They get wilder and ruder as the bottle gets emptier.
Finally, he turns to me, examining my face intently. “You do make me laugh,” he says in a low voice.
I stare at him. “Well, that’s good, isn’t it? And entirely undeserving of the tragic tone of voice you just used.”
He shrugs, peeling the label on the wine bottle almost nervously. “I’m not sure whether it’s good or not, to be honest.”
I watch him, and when he looks up, I sigh. “Neither am I,” I admit.
CHAPTER FIVE
FELIX
I see him as I make my way through the pub garden. The weather improved last week, and it’s a warm day. The scent of flowers drifts from huge hanging baskets as I walk towards him. The sun shines brightly on his head, gleaming on red strands and catching the odd grey. He’s dressed in cargo shorts and a washed-out baby-blue T-shirt and has his phone to his ear talking in a very intense fashion.
I hesitate, not wanting to intrude, but he looks up as if sensing me. His eyes are far away and hazy with some emotion, but then they clear and he grins at me. He slides his phone into his back pocket and stands up to greet me with a hug.
I go willingly into his arms. I’ve never been much of a one for hugging before. Seems like something couples do when they don’t shag anymore. However, I like Max’s hugs. His arms have just the right amount of pressure, and I get a secret thrill when he buries his nose in my hair and pulls me closer.
“Alright?” I say, stepping back. “Has something happened?”
“Such as?” He settles into his chair again and grins at me.
“Fuck knows. Brad and Angelina got back together. Theroyal family started liking each other.” I take the seat across from him and shake my head. “Nope. I can’t think of anything else strange today.”
His dark eyes flick over my face. “You’re very refreshing,” he says suddenly, and I don’t think he meant to say it, because a look of embarrassment crosses his face.
I bite my lip in enjoyment and lean closer. “Refreshing? That’s almost poetic, Max. Whatever is next? Will you compare me to a summer’s day?”
“More like a bucket of fucking water in the face.”
His phone chimes with a text notification. It’s loud even though it’s buried in his back pocket. He makes an irritated noise and ignores it, but the next second it starts to ring.
“Your bum is buzzing,” I observe and shoot him a salacious wink. “Not that there’s anything remotely wrong with a buzzing backside.”
He grimaces. “It’s just an old mate.”
