Restoring Felix by Kris T. Bethke

When it inevitably got too much and he left, I’d be crushed. Maybe even devastated. But I’d be vindicated too, and that was a powerful enough emotion to get me through.

One bad decision five years ago means Felix Decker lives with chronic pain. It’s a challenge he’s learned to deal with and he’s content with his life. And more importantly, resigned to being alone. But all that gets turned upside down when a favor to a friend leads to Kellan Huntley entering his inner circle. Kellan is tall, beautiful, and sassy…and someone Felix thought he’d never see again. It’s all he can do to keep Kellan at arms length. Felix doesn’t need, or want, the reminder of who he used to be. Someone he can never be again.
Kellan chose to teach in Fairville on a whim and never expected to come face to face with the weekend hookup he can’t forget. Felix isn’t who he remembers and the new, grumpy jerk is upsetting to say the least. But that doesn’t stop Kellan from wanting to help the man who so clearly needs it.
The attraction between them is still as strong as ever. Kellan is determined to show Felix that his disability doesn’t diminish him in any way. Felix, for all that he craves Kellan’s touch, is just as determined to push Kellan away. But Kellan’s gentle persistence breaks through Felix’s walls, and what started as animosity soon gives way to affection. It takes time and communication, and a few bumps along the way, until Kellan can help Felix restore his belief in happily ever after.

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