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)
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Just something I’ve told Kenny before.”
Okay… “After we finish the shed, wanna take a break for lunch and beer?” I asked. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, his bicep tightening as he did so. My eyes trained in on the ball of muscle, how firm and cut it was. Yeah, I definitely needed a beer break.
“Sure. And thanks for getting my hat sweaty.”
I grinned, took it off, and held it out to him. “Want it back?”
“Fuck no.”
Laughing, I slipped it back on my head. I didn’t know what had made me take it and wear it all morning, but Beau always made me do weird shit. It was annoying as hell.
So we kept talking about random stuff as we finished up the shed, and then went inside. I ordered pizza, and first thing I did afterward was crack open a beer. “Want one?” I held the bottle up for Beau.
“Sure.”
I pulled a second out of the fridge and handed it to him. When I did so, our fingers brushed. The heat must have begun to get to me because it was making me woozy. I needed to hurry up and get some food in my stomach.
“So, patio cover next?” Beau asked as he leaned against the counter, tilted his head back, and took a few long swallows of beer. And now my eyes were oddly glued to the muscles in his throat, to his Adam’s apple as it moved.
“Yep.” Looking away, I concentrated on a fly buzzing around the yellow kitchen. Relax, dude. You’ve been through this before. Just gotta get your head on straight. It always goes away.
“What are your plans?” Beau asked.
“I was going to build another—patio cover, I mean. I did some construction work in college, helping a buddy out. And that’s what Dad always did. He used to take me to work with him, remember?”
“Yeah.” Beau nodded. “I remember when Wyatt and I went with you guys too. Remember Wyatt nailed his finger to a two-by-four?”
We both chuckled. “Wyatt hated that shit.”
“I loved it,” Beau replied. “I used to wish my old man wanted to take me to work the way yours did. He wanted to leave us instead.”
His words landed in my chest, and I couldn’t help but let my eyes snap to Beau again. He drank the rest of his beer, then turned and washed his hands in the sink. I stared at him from behind, which was strange, I knew. Still, I couldn’t pull my gaze away. It traveled from his sweaty hair, down his back, to his ass before I went to drink the rest of my beer, only to realize it was gone, and I did my best to force my eyes away from him.
“He didn’t deserve you guys. I know that’s not true comfort. I tell that to myself about my birth parents.” Not because they gave me away. No, I was glad they’d done what was best for me there. It was what had happened later, afterward. That dumbass thing I’d done in college that no one knew about.
“Kenny deserved better.”
“So did you,” I replied. “And damn, he’s lucky to have you.”
Okay, so I got that our eyes were always meeting, but it happened again, like they were drawn together. Something shifted in Beau’s expression as he took me in. It was intense, strong as a touch running the length of my body. We didn’t talk like this when we were kids. Hell, I didn’t talk like this with anyone.
He opened his mouth. I waited with bated breath to know what he was going to say and—ding-dong! We both jumped at the sound of the doorbell. I could tell he noticed it in me too because he looked down, shook his head, and snickered. “So luckily, that was just the doorbell and not a serial killer coming to get us.”
“How do you know that’s not who’s at the door?” Beau asked.
“Good point. But would he ring the bell?”
“Maybe to throw suspicion off his true motives.” He took a step toward me, and another. “You go first. I got your back.”
“Oh, I see how it is. You’re sacrificing me?” I teased, even though I liked the idea of Beau by my side, sacrifice or not.
“Your house.”
“Pfft. I’m not taking the fall because of that. If I go down, you’re going down with me.” Damned if I didn’t grab his arm and tugged a laughing Beau along with me.
We ate the pizza that had been delivered and then went right back out to work. The conversation continued to flow, and Christ, he was funny. Beau could always make me laugh, but what made it even better was the fact that he didn’t try. I didn’t think it ever occurred to him to try and be funny the way it did with me.