Meet Cute(63)

And of course no one wants to be rude, so they nod politely, voicing their agreement while he rambles on about how brilliant I was in law school. How I’m the only reason he pushed as hard as he did and ended up where he is. It’s equal parts entertaining and humbling.

I realize, as he drives the conversation, that despite how difficult his life has been these past months, he’s paid attention to me, to the things I want, what my goals are. And in a way, he’s acknowledging the sacrifice he believes I’m making in taking on the role of conservator for Emme.

So often these events are about posturing, everyone talking about how awesome they are and how many hours they work, how they’ve made partner and their amazing beach house in who the hell cares where. I’ve always been personally proud of my choices, aware I’d make better money if I didn’t take on pro bono cases. I could drive a better car, maybe have a nicer house, but Dax’s praise is the affirmation I didn’t realize I needed. And I fall a little bit more for him because of it.

Dax excuses himself twenty minutes before his panel, and I take the opportunity to freshen up in the ladies’ room. It appears every single woman at the conference had the same idea and by the time I get to the panel every seat in the front half of the room is taken, again, mostly by women. I’m forced to take a seat close to the back of the room. With only a few minutes to go the space fills quickly. I smile at the man to my right, trying to place him.

It takes a moment, but I realize he’s one of Dax’s friends from law school, and from the pictures I’ve seen in Dax’s house, I’m pretty sure he’s Felix.

I give him a courtesy nod.

“Kailyn Fangirl.” He cringes. “I mean Flowers. Hey. Hi. It’s been a long time.”

“Not long enough, apparently,” I mutter.

“Felix McQueen.” He holds out a hand, giving me no choice but to take it. “I thought I would’ve seen Dax downstairs at the bar last night, but it looks like you’re keeping my boy busy.”

I hate that I have to tip my head up to glare at him, but I do.

“He’s a lot more relaxed this morning than I’ve seen him in a long time.” He waggles his brows.

My face heats with embarrassment.

“It’s a good thing, Kailyn.”

A woman in the row behind us taps him on the shoulder and whispers something in his ear. He laughs and murmurs his own response before the moderator announces the panel is about to begin.

I don’t have a great view from where I am thanks to the basketball player seated in front of me, but if I lean to the right I can sort of see Daxton. He’s eloquent and compelling, commanding the attention of the entire room, apart from the man sitting beside me.

Felix leans in close, the kind of close I would find uncomfortable if he wasn’t Daxton’s best friend. And maybe still do anyway. “I kinda owe you an apology.”

“You’re good. Dax already apologized on your behalf,” I whisper, eyes still on Dax.

“Yeah, but he’s pissed at me over it, so I figure it’s better coming from me, yeah?”

He’s not whispering, and a couple of people look over their shoulders at him, so I elbow him in the side. He lets out a loud oomph, drawing even more attention. Daxton catches the movement and cocks a brow, not at me, but Felix.

“McQueen, save it for the bar tonight,” Dax says with a knowing smile.

That gets a round of chuckles from the group.

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” Felix salutes him, but he remains silent for the rest of the panel, mostly playing a game on his phone or texting. He pauses once to ask a completely irrelevant question.

When the panel ends, a horde of women rushes the front of the room.

“Come on, let’s go get something to drink while he gets mobbed.” Felix tips his head to the door.

I don’t really want to leave Dax here with all the fangirls, but I’m also not interested in watching them fawn. “Okay.”

Felix smirks. “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”

“He’ll be okay, right?”

“Yeah, he’s used to this. You’ll just have to deflate his ego later.”

I chuckle and I gather my things, following him down the aisle. Felix is tall, taller than Dax even, so he waves, points at me, who I’m sure Dax can’t see, and makes a drink motion. It’s just shy of eleven, but the bar is already full of people taking early lunch and drinking pints like it’s college all over again.

Felix and I find a seat at the bar. I order a latte and he orders scotch on the rocks. As soon as the bartender is gone he turns to me. “Sorry I was a dick in law school.”

“Everyone was a dick, especially in law school.”

He swirls the scotch in his glass. “Yeah, but I sort of screwed you over hard, so I feel bad about that.”

“Why?”

“Why do I feel bad, or why did I screw you over?”

“Either? Both?”

“You and Dax were such rivals. It was…I don’t know. He was so obsessed with beating you, and kinda obsessed with you in general, really. I figured, what was the big deal if your assignment was handed in late and his wasn’t, you know? I didn’t think it would mess with your GPA so much that it would skew anything. Except it did. So, yeah, sorry for being a dick.”