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)
He was a good man in ways I wasn’t, and hell, now he was…well, he was exactly what Kenny said he was. A hero. Beau saved people’s lives. It was more than I could say about myself.
When I rounded the corner at Cypress and Willow Brook, there was a gleaming fire engine in front of a red-brick building with green around the windows. Huh, the green was new. A blond man was there, kneeling and petting a dog a woman had on a leash. As I got closer, he nuzzled the dog, and when the woman walked away, he stood and began wiping down the truck. He turned my way when I approached, then did a double take that I was all too familiar with.
“Holy shit. You’re Ashton Carmichael.”
I plastered on my best smile. “Guilty as charged.” Great, after what had gone on in my career lately, maybe that wasn’t the best term to use.
He wiped his hands on his jeans, then reached out with his right. “I’m Jace.”
Transferring my coffee and bag into one hand, I shook his. “Hey, Jace. Nice to meet you.” My eyes skirted around him, trying to look into the bay, hoping for a glimpse of Beau. It wasn’t my fault if I happened to be walking down the street he worked on and one of his coworkers stopped me.
“Shit…this is kind of embarrassing, but do you mind if I get your autograph? It’s, um…for my brother.”
I nodded, feeling both a spike of adrenaline and the hairs on my arms stand on edge. It was strange the dichotomy I felt about fame. On the one hand, I fucking loved it. I’d always thrived on attention, and what more could I ask for than what I got as a professional football player? But on the other hand, it made my gut twist, an edge of discomfort that always made me feel like a liar…a fraud. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”
“Great, man. Thanks a lot. I’ll be right back.” Jace disappeared inside, and I took a few steps toward the building, trying to look for Beau. I was bordering on creepy stalker, but at the moment, I couldn’t find it in myself to care. Beau made me feel like I was the Ash I’d been when I grew up there, not the ex-football-player. Plus, I’d always been a little fascinated with Beau Campbell. There was no denying that. There had always been something about him that caught my attention. He was different, kind.
My pulse throbbed against my skin, pounded in my ears. I shook my head, forcing away whatever that feeling was.
Jace came back a moment later. He offered me a pen and a piece of paper, which I signed for him. He rubbed at the blond scruff along his jaw. “Thanks. This is great. My…brother will love it.”
I smiled at him, peeked into the building again. “Glad I could help.”
It was then that a shadow moved around the back of the fire engine. Before he came into view, I knew it was Beau, and sure enough, there was my very own, personal Beau-scowl, his dark hair covered with a backward ball cap.
“Ah, hell,” Beau said, and I grinned.
“Hey, man. What a surprise. It’s great to see you too!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Beau
Beau says you should try to be kind to everyone…unless they’re an asshole. ~ Love, Kenny
The most fucked-up thing about seeing Ashton Carmichael standing in front of the station was that I wasn’t surprised. It felt like something I shouldn’t know about him—that he would show up today, not considering the fact that we hadn’t seen one another in so long—but I knew. He’d come because he knew it would fluster me, even though I hated that it did. He’d come because he liked to get under my skin. And he’d also come because I’d done something nice for him and he would want to thank me. I thought maybe that wasn’t the Ash people usually took the time to acknowledge. Hell, I knew I didn’t. It was hard to do it even now.
“I stopped by Campbell’s Confections. Decided to take a walk around. It’s been so damn long since I’ve roamed these streets,” Ash said, then held up the bag with Mom’s logo on it. “Want a chocolate éclair? I mean, I have an extra one and all, but if you can’t while you’re working, I understand.”
My brows pulled together at the vulnerability in Ash’s voice. I wasn’t sure anyone else would hear it, didn’t quite know how I could, other than I’d grown up paying too much attention to Ash, watching him because he drove me batshit crazy. Ash was basically the definition of confidence, and while I could see it in him then, there was something softer in his eyes too, and something in the unsure tone of his seemingly easygoing voice.