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)
“Hey, sweetie.” He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then turned his attention to Ash. “Hey, sexy. You ready to give me a try yet?” Linc reserved a wink for Ash, and I rolled my eyes. He was forever flirting with Ash, but I knew it was all in fun. Lincoln would never hurt me, and I also knew that it was his way of trying to feel involved with us. I’d learned things about my friend that I hadn’t realized were there, just by being with Ash.
Linc talked a big game…but he needed me, needed to feel he wouldn’t lose his place in my life. I didn’t know what made him need me, and he sure as shit wouldn’t ever lose me, but it was just a part of who he was.
“No, but I can put a feeler out for any other closeted football players, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Ash teased, leaning in and hugging Lincoln too.
“Sigh, he must really like you if he’s still turning me down,” Lincoln told me.
“I guess he must.”
We went inside. The house was decorated from top to bottom—pun not intended. Kenny stood by the table, pouring punch in a glass. He handed it to his girlfriend, Lori, before his eyes landed on us.
“Ash! Beau!” He grabbed Lori’s free hand because he was a gentleman like that, and the two of them came over.
“What about me?” Lincoln asked.
“It’s good to see you too, Lincoln,” Kenny told him.
I nudged Linc. “Don’t worry. He likes Ash more than me too.”
“Hey, K-man. Happy birthday.” Ash gave Kenny a tight hug, and then it was my turn. We said our hellos to Lori as well, the five of us chatting until Mom came into the room.
“Hey, boys.” She kissed Lincoln, who said hello, and then she went to Ash.
“Hey, Ma,” he told her, and they hugged before she and I did the same.
I loved watching Ash with our family. I knew he’d always wanted a big one, and even though it was only me, Kenny, and Mom, he had a bit of an extended family with Linc and the guys, and of course Wyatt and his family. I just wished his parents were alive to see it.
The house began to fill with people—from school, the football team, the center. We laughed, played games, and celebrated Kenny.
It was three when Ash was looking out the window like he was expecting something.
“What did you do?” I asked him.
“Nothing.” He feigned innocence just as a large delivery truck pulled up. “K-man! Your gift is here!”
We all crowded outside just as they began to pull out a full-sized Pac-Man arcade game, followed by an air-hockey table, which Kenny now played religiously too. When Ashton Carmichael introduced you to something, you couldn’t help but fall in love with it, just like people couldn’t help but fall in love with him.
“Ashton! Where are we supposed to put that?” Mom shrieked.
“I don’t know…move the couch outside? It’s an arcade game! What’s more important?” he replied, and Mom smiled.
They moved it into the garage, and eventually they would turn my old bedroom into a game room. Kenny was stoked.
The party was over, and Ash was in the garage playing the games, when Kenny came back inside. “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” he told me.
“It was pretty great, wasn’t it?”
He fingered the edge of his journal. “Yep! Will you take me and Lori on a date tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
Kenny looked at me, little wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled. “I’m glad you’re happy, Beau. No one deserves it more than you. You’re the best brother in the whole wide world.”
My heart swelled. “Thanks, but I think that title belongs to you.”
“Because of you.”
“What?” I asked him.
“I’m happy and a good brother because of you. I knew what to do because I watched you. I write notes when you tell me stuff so I don’t forget it, and when I see you do things, I write it down too because you’re a hero and I want to be just like you. Sometimes I’d see things, watching you, like when you were sad or lonely or falling in love with Ash, and I made wishes for you. They came true, didn’t they?”
My vision blurred as my eyes watered. I thought I might have been the luckiest man alive. “Yeah, Kenny. They came true. And you know what? You’ve taught me a lot too. You think I’m a hero, and I think the same thing about you.”
“I guess that’s what brothers do.” Kenny shrugged, and I laughed, hugging him.
Ash, Mom, and Lori came in, and we visited for a while longer before Ash and I got back into the truck to go home.
We spoke about the programs Ash was working on. Nothing was finalized yet with the LGBTQ youth sports program, but Ash had done a few talks at high school GSAs and college sports programs over the past few months. We would still be coaching together next football season. Other than that, Ash was trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He’d never given much thought to what his dreams were outside of football.