the best of me.
Felix closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then he did it again before slowly reopening them. Felix turned to look into the sapphire blue eyes of the only person he had allowed to break his heart. Damn, the man looked even better in person than he did on TV. Bastard.
His nemesis wore a charcoal gray suit with a pale green shirt and a paisley tie that would’ve looked dorky on anyone but him. Felix could tell by the way the fabric hugged Jude’s broad shoulders, trim waist, and thick thighs that he hadn’t bought it off the rack at a department store as Felix had with his suit. Fancy bastard.
“Jude.” Felix’s grim voice lent no doubt about his feelings toward the man.
The corner of Jude’s mouth twitched as if he were fighting off a grin. He must’ve won the battle because his lips stilled after a moment. “Hello.”
“Hello?” Felix asked, his voice rising on the second syllable. Why had the word pissed him off so much? How else was Jude supposed to greet him? Hiya? Howdy? It shouldn’t have rankled him, but it did.
Jude raised an immaculately groomed, raven eyebrow. “I would’ve added your name, but you forbade me from ever speaking it again.” When Felix didn’t have an immediate comeback, Jude grinned. “You do remember the scene you made on graduation day, right?”
“I remember the conversation,” Felix corrected.
It wasn’t like he had stormed the stage, shoved the dean out of the way, and blurted out his demand through the microphone. Jude had called out his name after the ceremony as Felix strode across the quad’s lush green grass for the final time. He’d been full of mixed emotions. Pride for his accomplishment. Anxiety over landing a job and putting his degree to good use. Sadness from knowing he would never see Jude again, though he’d never voice that truth out loud to anyone. He’d turned to face Jude, a spark of hope catching fire inside him. All Felix had needed to hear from the man were two words: I’m sorry.
Instead, Jude had said, “I want to make things right between us.”
Crossing his arms over his graduation robe, Felix had asked, “Why now?”
“Felix, you act as if I haven’t approached the conversation over the past four years. You’re the one who hasn’t wanted to talk about what happened.”
“Wrong again,” Felix had said. “I’d tired of hearing you deflect and deny what you did. I wanted you to apologize for deceiving me.”
Jude’s cheeks flushed red with anger. “I won’t apologize when I haven’t done anything wrong. You were looking for reasons to push me away and grabbed hold of the first opportunities that came along. Why is it you can be so objective in every situation except for ones involving me?”
Felix shook his head. “If you don’t know the answer to the question, then we have nothing to talk about. In fact, do us both a favor and never speak my name again. Pretend you never met me because I’m going to do everything in my power to forget you exist.”
Staring into Jude’s eyes now, it was impossible to forget the hurt he’d witnessed on graduation day. Felix had to forcibly remind himself of what a master liar and manipulator Jude had always been. His nemesis took two slow steps toward Felix, violating his personal space. He could’ve retreated a few steps, but fuck anyone who believed he would. Jude took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. Then he leaned his head closer, giving Felix two options: pull back or meet that delicious mouth halfway. He held his ground instead, waiting to see how far Jude would push.
“I have a newsflash for you, Ace. I’ve said your name many times over the years. Sometimes so powerfully there’s no way in hell you didn’t feel the rumble, regardless of the miles separating us. I’ll let you decide exactly what I was doing during those moments.” Jude straightened up but didn’t step back.
Felix swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His mouth felt like someone had shoved a wad of cotton balls inside it. Felix’s tongue felt too heavy to move. Luckily, he was saved from responding when the Rotary president, Neal Jade, stepped into the vestibule.
“Great,” Neal said, his booming voice echoing off the walls of the small space. “Both our guest speakers are here. They’re about to serve lunch, so come on in and get comfortable.”
Felix was as far removed from comfortable as he could get.