Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“Crawford would be proud of you for helping make such a big change in the world,” Nance offered.
Those words meant more than she could have known.
It wouldn’t have been right to turn down an opportunity to make such a difference. I remembered enough about the issue in the US, how many lives it impacted, the overwhelming flood of emotion when our Supreme Court decision was made. If I could make that change in another place, that really meant something.
With my family’s and friends’ blessings, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and wishing Crawford could have been there with us. Of all the things I knew, one was that he would have never judged me—and he would have likely been complimenting Carter for how good he looked in drag.
However, amazing as it went, after we left the party, Owen seemed slightly on edge.
“Sorry, that must have been a lot for your first day here,” I said as we got into the car. “And then my mom and Jace must’ve been grilling you to make sure you weren’t some sort of psycho.”
“What? Oh, no. That was all really nice of your family. I’m proud to have been a part of it.”
“You seem like you have something else on your mind,” I said, assessing his expression, which I couldn’t quite make out.
He looked so serious, considering we’d just seen a bunch of guys doing a weird-ass dance to “It’s Raining Men.”
“No, there wasn’t anything wrong with any of it. It just wasn’t what my experience has been with my family.”
Oh…fuck.
“I’m sorry, Owen.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not that I expected any different, and Mère and Frederick were great, but it’s been far from a party, and if anything, just created even greater distance between me and my brother than before. Meanwhile, your brother was in there, cheering you on, letting you know he was there for you. It’s the way it should be.”
I hadn’t considered that he’d have to witness that party and reconcile it with his own experience with his family.
“Yes, it is the way it should be.”
“It’s fine,” Owen said, even though he clearly wasn’t. “If my brother knew I was being serious and didn’t believe this was all just to tell him to go fuck himself, I’m sure he would be reacting differently. Or I don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe every decision I make is bound to set us at odds with one another.”
It was apparent he was talking about far more than his coming out experience.
He shook his head. “I don’t mean to ruin your special day.”
He reached out and took my hand, stroking his thumb across the back of it softly, in a way that ignited that familiar sensation he stirred within me.
“Thank you, Keegan. Not just for getting into this mess with me, but…well, I haven’t had many people to really talk to about everything I’m going through right now…outside of how it’s affecting my country, and it’s been nice to have a friend.”
Hearing him refer to me as that made me appreciate it that much more.
I wanted to do whatever I could to console him, which gave me an idea. “Hey, you wanna go out tonight? Not like a date or anything, but we could go to a gay bar.”
“I’ve been to gay bars before, Keegan.”
“But how many have you been to since you’ve ‘come out’?” The way he pondered that told me all I needed to know. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
“Isn’t the drinking age twenty-one here?”
“Yeah, but I can still get into Fever Fridays. They just make me wear an X on my hand so I can’t drink.”
He chuckled. “Well, sounds like we could have a fun time.”
“Yeah, we could, so just say yes, and then we will.”
He laughed again.
“Come on. I know what it feels like to get out of your own country. Gives you some perspective on the things that are important in life, especially when you wind up getting arrested in that country.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Oh, definitely not. Now come on. We have plenty of time to prep for interviews and stuff. We’ll be good, but we can also be bad.”
His smirk twisted into his cheek, looking particularly wicked. “When you put it like that, I have to admit, maybe a night on the town of Fever Falls is exactly what I need right now.”
And I could tell by the way he eased up that he meant it.
12
Owen
That evening, Frederick and I Ubered to the same club Keegan had taken me to that afternoon.
It was thoughtful of him to suggest it, as I could tell he was trying to cheer me up.
I shouldn’t have let him see my reaction to his party. It was an amazing thing his friends and family had put on for him. But it also left me far too aware that not only did I not have a party waiting for me back in Parlaisa, but the very act of me being with the man had created political tensions and brought forth criticism and skepticism surrounding my relationship with a man.