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)
“I’m the same Beau as always. It’s you I can’t figure out.”
He stared at me and I at him until Kenny cleared his throat. “Beau?” he asked. “Why are you staring at Ash like that?”
He shook his head, his cheeks tinged pink, and replied, “Because he’s a dork.”
A dork you like, Campbell. But that was okay, because I liked him too.
“Okay, I want you guys to watch me and Ash for a second,” he told them, then explained to me what he wanted to do. We ran through a couple of plays together, Beau receiving as I threw to him. The team paid rapt attention. My passion came alive, burst inside me, nearly making me breathless in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was as if football was breathing life into me again when it had begun to feel like it strangled me…yet despite the lack of oxygen, it had still been something I’d wanted.
“Did you see how Campbell faked left and went right?” I asked. “I can read him, and that’s what you have to learn to do—read each other. Here, why don’t you try?” I handed Kenny the ball as Beau spoke to Adam.
We ran the play over and over and over—the four of us. I could see the confidence in them grow, see when Adam knew to fake and Kenny knew the right moment to throw. “Perfect! That was beautiful!”
And it was.
Beau and Adam jogged to us, a grin splitting Beau’s face. Jesus, he was…pretty. Sexy, fucking hot, but also pretty in a rugged sort of way. I didn’t know if that was normal, if it was okay to think of him that way, but I did.
“You guys did amazing,” Beau told them both, and I stupidly wanted to tell him it had been amazing coaching with him. Ugh. I was suddenly incredibly sappy. “I’m going to go grab a drink,” he added.
A guy who’d been on the sidelines approached. “You’re going to have to excuse me for freaking out a little bit, but I can’t help it—Ashton Carmichael’s out here coaching my nephew!”
“Just helping. Beau’s the coach. We used to play together in high school. I’m just lucky he still lets me play with him.” Hopefully, he’d let me play with him in other ways later… “Thank you, though.” I held out my hand to the man, and we shook, introducing ourselves.
He spoke to me for a moment, then asked for an autograph, which I gave. Beau had come back by then, and he grinned at me as I signed the paper.
When everyone left, the three of us cleaned up and then went to the truck. “You two wanna grab some pizza before we go home?” Beau asked.
“Is that really a question? It’s pizza,” I replied, and Kenny laughed.
We headed for the same pizza parlor we’d gone to before. Beau glanced at me and asked, “Want me to get you a beer?”
“Nah, I’m good,” I replied, and then said to Kenny, “I’ll play Pac-Man with you. Beau can handle the food.”
“Gee, thanks,” Beau replied just as Kenny said, “Sure!”
Kenny and I went straight for the arcade, where I got us a bunch of tokens. We took turns playing Pac-Man, too many times to count before I asked, “Air hockey?”
“I don’t usually play air hockey.”
“You don’t have to. We can do whatever you want.”
“Let’s try,” Kenny replied, making a strange burst of pride swell inside me.
I added tokens to the machine. The puck came out on Kenny’s side. He set it on the table, shot, and clink, it went right in.
Holy fuck. I hadn’t expected that. “You know this means war, right?”
The puck was warm against my fingers as I set it on the table and…clink! “I’m a bit of an air-hockey champion.”
“You know this means war, right?” Kenny asked, making me drop my head back and laugh. He was so fucking cool. I loved hanging out with him.
We were neck and neck the whole game. The rest of the points didn’t come as easily as the first two, but we traded off each time until we were tied six to six. Not even gonna lie, sweat beaded on my brow a bit as I defended my goal from Kenny and his expert attack. The puck bounced back and forth as we each hit it over and over before I moved in, swiped, missed, and the damn thing went straight in.
“I won! Beau!” Kenny ran toward the arcade door. “I won air hockey! Look, Beau!”
His excitement made me laugh. I felt it in my chest, like it helped fuel my heart.
Beau came through the door, a smile stretched across his face as he looked at the score and then his brother. “You played air hockey?”
“I won air hockey,” Kenny replied.
“He’s good, Cranky Campbell.”
“I can’t believe he played,” Beau replied, then turned to Kenny. “I’m proud of you.”