Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I wrapped an arm around him, pulled him close, and kissed his temple. “Don’t worry, Boyfriend. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
It wasn’t until Jude looked at me and said, “I know,” that I realized I hadn’t said it as part of the charade. Not that there was a gay ceremony, which honestly would be a hell of a good time, but still, if Jude needed me, I’d be there.
Dinner was loud, delicious, and perfect.
Rush had added extra tables in the dining room, and we filled them with laughter.
I couldn’t help but watch Jude through most of it. His cheeks were pink from laughing so hard as he joked and chatted with everyone. I knew how different this was for him. This had to be the only holiday like this he’d ever had, and I suddenly wanted him to have more of them. Sure, he’d been in Fever Falls for a while now, but this just felt…different.
And he watched me too.
All fucking day.
It was similar to Ash and Beau’s wedding a few weeks before. Christ, had it only been weeks? It felt longer. And I could see the wheels turning in his head, much as they had that day. I could see him working through something, and I could only hope I liked whatever he decided on as much as I liked it when he’d pulled me into that storage room and kissed me.
We stayed for a few hours after dinner. There was pie—my favorite was apple, but Jude loved pumpkin, which I didn’t understand.
“Pumpkin shit is gross,” I teased him.
“You’re gross,” he countered.
“Wow…are you twelve?”
We both laughed, and I kissed him again, hoping he was okay with it. We were fake boyfriends, after all; it wasn’t like I wouldn’t be touching him all day.
“You wanna come home with me, Boyfriend?” I asked when we were back in my truck. “I can take you to your condo if you want.”
“No, that’s okay. Let’s go to your house.”
We were quiet for the drive.
“I like it here. It’s calmer than being right downtown,” Jude said as we got out of the truck. The motion detector lights came on. My place was really close to town, but just a bit secluded, tucked away in a mass of trees that were now a variety of fall colors.
“Yeah, I like it too. I’ve only had it a few years. There was a time when I wanted to just be able to stumble home from Fever,” I joked as I let us into the house. It wasn’t a big place—three bedrooms, sort of rustic, filled with earth tones. “You thirsty or anything?”
“Nah, I’m good. I could use a shower, though.”
I nodded, really fucking wanting to ask him if he would like company, but I could tell he was still having one of those moments when he needed some time and space to figure shit out. But he’d still come home with me, which made me feel better.
“Come on.”
I took him to my room, grabbed a pair of basketball shorts from my dresser, and tossed them to him. “There are clean towels on the rack. I’ll head out to the living room and see if I can find us a new show to watch.”
Jude grabbed my arm as I went for the door. “You don’t want to shower with me?”
“Obviously, I want to shower with you. I love naked time.”
Jude chuckled. “You’re such an idiot.”
“An idiot who makes you smile.”
His smile grew, and fuck, did I like making him do that. He nodded toward the bathroom, and I went. Like I said, I loved naked time, especially with Jude, but as this one went, there wasn’t anything going on other than showering. We cleaned up together, taking turns with soap and shampoo, mumbling excuse me’s as we swapped places under the spray.
My time with him was so different than when I was with other lovers. It had only been a few weeks, yeah, but Jude and I spent a lot less time actually touching each other. As much as I loved pleasing him, I understood it. This was all so damn new to him, and he’d chosen me to be his first. Plus, it was just different with us. I liked being with him no matter what we did.
We ended up with Jude in my shorts and me in underwear. He lay on his belly with his head toward the foot of the bed, playing a video game, which as always, he absolutely sucked at. I was on my phone, lying on my back with my legs over his, that pert ass of his calling my damn name, which I was trying to ignore.
It was comfortable, relaxed. Felt like we’d been doing it forever, and we had for a long time, only without the touching and the naked time.