Page 89 of After Felix
“And yet he seemed to discover it by excavating the tonsils of most of London’s men,” I say wryly.
“Only after he found out you were in a relationship.”
“What?” I jerk out.
“He went looking for you to get you back.”
Shock runs through me like I’ve seized an open wire. “When? Why didn’t I know that?”
“He found out you had a boyfriend from a friend of yours.”
I stare at him.
“Then apparently Max found you,” Ivo says.
I shudder at the thought of the awful conversation Max and I had outside my boat that night. I’d been so mad, and he’d hardly said anything. I’m reeling at the thought that Max had come to me to get back together.
“Why didn’t hesaysomething?” I squirm as I remember that I didn’t exactly give him a chance to say much. I wonder if things would have been different if I had. I’ll never know.
Ivo sighs. “He came to us that night and got as drunk as I’ve ever seen, and he’s a journalist so you can imagine how much booze he sank. Henry was really worried.” He shrugs. “Then Max threw up in the kitchen sink, and Henry felt less worried and more ragey, but that’s Max. Never met a good thought he couldn’t enrage.” He smiles sadly. “He told me that you were finally happy and that’s all he wanted, that he was a mess and didn’t deserve you.”
I swallow. I hated him at the time, but now I hate that he was sad. I remember the parade of men and alcohol-soaked nights Max had consoled himself with for years and steel my resolve. “Well, he got over it.”
“Did he? Because as soon as he found out you were single again, he stopped the men. Doesn’t say to me that he’s over you.” He drains his glass in one long swallow. “Something to think about anyway,” he says, glancing towards the other side of the terrace. “I see Max has finished his call, so I’ll say no more except I hope that we can be friends. Max is very important to me. That will never change. I just hope you can get over the fact that we used to fuck each other and have fun with other people on occasion.”
I shake my head. “My last boyfriend had a cat who used to try and shit in my shoes, and I put up with it. I suppose your and Max’s sex life is in the same category.”
He looks stunned for a second and then bursts into loud laughter. Ican totally see why people fall for him. Once the arrogant self-confidence fades, there’s a warm and funny man beneath.
“I like you,” he says.
I smile, because the ridiculous thing is I like him too.
Max arrives, out of breath. “Sorry. Connor wouldn’t stop talking.”
“It’s okay,” I say serenely.
Max looks unconvinced. “Everything okay?”
“You know, I think it is,” I say slowly.
Ivo helps himself to a chip from Max’s plate. “We laid a lot of ghosts to rest.”
“Really?” Max asks hesitantly. “As long as the talk didn’t centre too much around who we laid, I’m fine with that.”
“Really, Max,” I say blithely. “You’ve got to get over your wallflower propensities and get out and meet people.”
Ivo laughs, and even though he’s sitting here looking vivid and beautiful, I know that I’ve laid his ghost to rest too. It’s a relief, but also a worry. Ivo has always been the barrier preventing me from taking Max back.
What does a boy do when everything he wants falls into his lap? Does he take it, or does he run?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
FELIX
Max is very quiet on our way back to the hotel, sitting close to me in the water taxi and watching me intently. He seems hesitant and worried, and I say little, opting on the side of discretion.
When we walk into the hotel, Giulia is sitting behind the counter. She smiles at us. “A parcel came for you, Max,” she says. “It’s been taken to your room.”
