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 don’t know if that comes as a surprise—”
“It’s not a surprise, son.”
Oh. I hadn’t expected that.
“I always thought you and Rush… Did you think I would care?”
“Not really. Not logically, but I guess I didn’t know? Hell, we don’t talk to each other now. I was afraid it would be one more thing standing between us, if that makes sense. I don’t know if it does. I know you’ve always been good to Rush, but…”
Dad put his hand on the back of my neck and held me so I looked at him. “I will always love you. I don’t care who you love or anything else. You’re my son, and that’s all that matters. I’m sorry I haven’t done a good job showing you that. It was so easy to just check out, and the longer I did it, the less I knew how to come back.”
“You can’t do it anymore. You have to get help. Maybe…maybe you can move here, be around family. Me, Rush, Mama K, Lincoln, and Cam…he’s my…”
“Boyfriend?” Dad filled in for me.
“Yeah. He is. He’s…everything to me, and I hurt him, I think. He wanted us to go to Florida and spend Christmas with his family. Then he offered to stay here with me, but I told him I wasn’t ready to tell you yet.”
Dad frowned for a moment as he watched me, his eyebrows pinched together. “You love him?”
“Yes,” I replied, and Dad stood. “What are you doing?”
“What your mother would have done.” Then he smiled, maybe the biggest smile I’d seen him give since she died.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Camden
Please don’t contact me…not for a while. ~ Letter from Henry
On Christmas Day, I got out of bed at six o’clock in the morning.
It didn’t matter that I was a grown-ass man and there were no kids in our family. This was Christmas. That called for getting your butt out of bed early, opening gifts, drinking hot chocolate, and spending time with family.
There was a pang in my chest when thinking about family. I wanted Jude to have a family. To have traditions and laughs and joy…but I wanted us to share that together too. And holy shit, falling in love around the holidays made me really fucking sensitive. But I mean, my boyfriend was hot, so who could blame me?
I took a quick leak, washed my hands, and brushed my teeth, then pulled on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a T-shirt.
I frowned when I heard voices in the living room because no one was ever awake before me at Christmas. I was already being a miserable bastard, and they were going to take this away from me too?
“I’m not sure if you guys are aware, but this is my thing. I’m supposed to wake you all…” My words trailed off as I rounded the corner from the hallway into the living room and… “Jude? Holy shit. What are you doing here, Beautiful?”
Great. I was fucking sleeping. That had to be what this was, a goddamned dream, but really I knew it wasn’t. I just couldn’t believe he was there.
“Surprising my boyfriend for Christmas,” he said simply.
Mom, Dad, Sawyer, and Carter were all in the room already. My eyes darted around until I saw another man, who had to be his father, drinking a cup of coffee and leaning against the wall.
He’d told him. Jesus fucking Christ, he’d told his father, and they’d come to Florida. “Best. Boyfriend. Ever. You totally passed Boyfriend 101,” I said, when what I really wanted to say was, I fucking love you so much. Let’s hide in my room so I can sink inside you all damn day.
Jude stood as I moved to him. I cupped his face in my hands and paused for a moment. I mean, he’d obviously told his dad he was bisexual and had a boyfriend. They’d come to Florida, so it couldn’t have gone badly, but I also wasn’t sure how he would feel about kissing in front of him, or my family, for that matter. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he replied. Then Jude dropped his forehead against mine and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“Shh.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Nothing else matters right now. You got me the best gift…until you see what I got you. No one chooses gifts as well as I do.”
“Camden Matthew Burke!” Mom huffed.
“What, Ma? Everyone knows it’s true.”
“You got me something better than showing up on Christmas Day?” Jude cocked a brow.
My heart sped up, and my chest felt so damn full. Christ, what this man did to me. “No,” I replied. “That’ll always win.”
I caught his eyes, trying to show him how I felt, trying to ask if he was okay because as glad as I was that he was here, I’d never wanted to rush him. You could want something and miss someone and hurt—which I had—those things were normal, but this was still always Jude’s show. He always decided when.