Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Oh.” Kenny looked down at his lap, and I knew I’d disappointed him along with myself. “You make him happy. Beau’s a hero. He should be happy.”
I pulled into the parking lot of the gymnasium and turned off the car. My throat was still tight, my chest heavy, but that fear was still there, a powerful weight that wouldn’t release me. “Beau is a hero. He’s the best man I know, and he does deserve to be happy. He’s…very important to me.” He was maybe everything to me. My probably boyfriend that I was likely in love with. But I didn’t know how to publicly be in love with Beau.
“People think I don’t understand, but I do. I wouldn’t be afraid if I loved someone. I love Lori.”
Then, without another word, Kenny got out of the car. Me? I sat there and heard what he said…wished it was that easy. Was it? Was loving Beau really that easy?
The game was a fucking disaster. I coached for shit. We lost…fucking lost, and it was the night I coached. I couldn’t concentrate on the game—just Beau, me, the fucking fire, what Kenny said.
After the game the gym became a madhouse. Visitors from the other team bombarded me—Ashton, can you sign…any chance you’ll come out of retirement…would you like to go out after… I was dizzy by the end of it, my head spinning. I’d let Kenny and the team down, fans, myself.
And fuck, where was Beau? I still hadn’t heard from him, and neither had his mom.
I hid out until everyone had left, went home, took a shower, and drank a fucking beer. I didn’t know why tonight shook me up so much. It was maybe a hundred people at the game. I’d been in stadiums with thousands.
Would it go public now? Would I wake up to articles talking about how I coached Kenny’s team? Would reporters come out?
“Is Beau your boyfriend?”
Aaaaand, time for another beer. Which I drank. Then looked at my phone. Then drank another. Then told myself to chill the fuck out.
Before I knew it, Beau was there, and I was glad I didn’t lock up. My room was dark, and his fingers were brushing against my face. I didn’t know what time it was, when or how in the hell I fell asleep. I just knew he was fucking there, and I needed him.
“Sorry to wake you. Should I not have come over? I just…”
“Come here.” I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him on top of me. His weight was a welcome relief, a comfort I needed.
Yes…yes, he is my boyfriend.
My tongue dipped into his mouth, my nails dug into his hips, his cock hard against mine.
Yes…yes, he is my boyfriend.
“We lost the game. Fuck, I can’t believe we lost the game,” I said between kisses. I was angry at myself, felt like I let him down, in more ways than one. “My head was all fucked up. I was worried about you and…” Kenny asked if we were boyfriends.
“Hey.” Beau pushed up onto his hands, his arms boxing me in. “Who cares about the game? It happens.”
“My ego cares about the game just a little bit.” I was an ex-professional-player. I should have been able to keep my head in it better.
“I’m fine, Ash,” he said as though he had a direct link to my insides. “I’m fine.”
“We both know you’re hot, so stop rubbing it in.”
“Stop avoiding.”
“I want you,” I admitted. “Can I have you, Campbell?” I cupped his ass through his jeans, my need on my tongue.
Yes, yes, he is my boyfriend.
Though that didn’t really feel like a strong enough word, did it?
“You want inside me?” Beau asked, burying his face in my neck, licking my collarbone. “I’ve been dying to have you in my ass.”
“What a coincidence. I’ve been dying to be there. Maybe we should get naked?”
“You think?” Beau went to pull away, but I grabbed ahold of him.
“You fought a fire today.”
“You’ve said that to me before. I fight a lot of them. It’s what I do.”
“It…scares me…the thought of losing you.” I’d lost too much—my biological parents had walked away, my adoptive parents died…football…
“I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I mean, you’re Ashton fucking Carmichael.” He winked at me.
“You gonna shut up so I can fuck you, or what? This is sort of a big deal, Campbell. I’m about to make love to a man for the first time.” It didn’t escape my attention that I said make love. I’d never made love in my life. I’d never done anything that resembled something real, except with Beau. Luckily, he either didn’t catch it or knew not to call me on it.
“I’m not the one always talking; that’s you.”
I pulled him down, and we kissed and laughed. We rolled over, still kissing and laughing, and fuck, there was no one in the world I liked laughing with more than Beau Campbell.