Felix teases me for another minute—something about the way I look like a blushing fan instead of a friend—before he grabs my hand and pulls me from our table. I protest half-heartedly, but his fingers are warm around mine, grounding.
"Come on," he says. "There's a world beyond fries and me serenading you."
"I'm in," I answer immediately.
He squeeze my hand and laugh. "That's my girl!"
Felix guides us to a larger table pushed into the back corner of the cafe garden. It's loud. Chaotic. Full of people leaning in to talk over each other, hands waving mid-conversation, laughter spiking like fireworks.
"Hey!" someone calls when Felix approaches. "The heartbreaker returns!"
"And he brought the muse!" another one laughs.
The whole group erupts in cheers and claps and exaggerated whistles. I want to vanish into the ground.
But they're smiling. Warm. Welcoming. There's no edge to it.
