Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Jace and I scrubbed down an SUV together, him working on the back window while I worked on the front, and he gazed at me, casting that affectionate look on me, warm eyes glistening in the sunlight now sparkling across his impressive body.
“Oh, Daxy Boo!” I heard behind me, and the enjoyment we’d been sharing transformed into anxiety as I turned to see Serena standing amid the crowd, dressed in a blouse and skirt nice enough to convince me she somehow got wind of the press and made her way down.
“Oh, Jesus,” I groaned. “I’ll be right back.”
“It’s all good, Dax.” Jace was trying to console me, but I found myself growing increasingly agitated the closer I got to her. She was all smiles, the cameras turned on her as she made herself the main attraction.
“Mom.” I hooked an arm around her, and as I pulled away, I shook my head enough to cast some of the water on my bangs on her. She blinked, my assault effectively focusing her attention on me. “Glad you could make it,” I said, drawing her away from her audience.
“I’ll be right back, everyone!” she announced.
As we got out of earshot of the crowd, I asked, “How did you know this was even happening?”
“Nance mentioned it last night when you guys went out on the back deck. She said how glad she was that you guys were doing this, so I just figured—”
“That you would use the opportunity to get yourself a little spotlight action. Is this what you came down here for? To get some photo ops with us? Is this all just a publicity shoot to you?”
“Well, I did hope to maybe turn a few heads, but I didn’t come to Fever Falls for that. I genuinely wanted to see you and Jace.”
I eyed her suspiciously.
“Dax!” she said, her mouth gaping. “You are my son, and I care about your life. Do you expect me to just be invisible now that you’re getting publicity again? That’s not how family works.”
“I don’t think you get to be the one to tell me how family works.”
But…she had a point. I couldn’t ask her to be in my life and at the same time to totally avoid the spectacle it had become.
“Just let your mother enjoy a few selfies for the day,” she begged. “Please.”
Despite my irritation, I could see her genuine desire to have just that…and knowing her past, knowing how far she fell, I had to concede.
Regardless of all the times she hadn’t been there for me, she had worked hard to bridge that gap. Besides, maybe she deserved a day of being the center of attention. Hell, it might get some of the attention off Jace and me.
“Okay,” I said. “You can stay, but be on your best behavior.”
“When am I not on my best behavior?” she asked with a wink. “Don’t answer that.”
She hugged me before returning to her new amateur paparazzi entourage.
I shook my head as I returned to Jace, who was spraying Zed, which seemed to be the theme of the day.
Zed and Jace shared a laugh before Jace caught me in his periphery and turned, his expression shifting to worry. “You guys okay?”
“I’m less annoyed than I was before, but I think that’s about as far as we’re going to get.”
I watched Serena put on her show, posing for pictures, flashing her signature smile, reminding me of her golden days in the limelight. I was glad I let her have that, if only because it was her at her most natural.
And only a cruel universe could have led us both to where we were now—me in front of the camera, the place I wanted to be least, and her always trying to get in front of it, continuing to chase the ever-elusive dream.
* * *
“Wow, looks like Serena worked up her angle,” Carter said as I chatted with him on the phone on the way back to Jace’s place.
“You’ve already seen it?”
“Yeah, she’s trending on Instagram along with Jace and the other hottie firefighters of Fever Falls. Elliott would have been pissed if you hadn’t worked this car wash to your advantage, but clearly, you did.”
“Very unintentionally.”
“Keep being as unintentional as possible, then, I guess.”
I laughed. “Anything exciting happening on the West Coast?”
“Well, I contacted Brant, that hot agent at WME, and plan to go out with him.”
“Oh, a date?”
“Gross. Who said anything about a date? Being in a relationship has changed you, Dax Munro.”
“Yes, it has,” I acknowledged as I snuck a glance at Jace, who had his hand on my thigh as he drove us back to his place. His bangs were still damp from the car wash. “And it’s official now, but don’t tell the press.”
Carter audibly, and incredibly overdramatically, gasped.
“And speaking of which, don’t go mentioning that to your WME trick, because I know for a fact they’re in bed with Glitz & Glam.”