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)
Theo nodded. I unlocked the door, and he made a quick call to his mom, who really didn’t seem to care that he was coming to my place.
I tossed the keys on the counter. “You thirsty or anything?”
“I’ll have a beer,” he replied. When I cocked my head at him, he laughed. “I’m kidding. It was a joke. Probably not a very good one, though. Maybe that’s another bad habit? I always considered my sense of humor to be a good thing, but maybe it’s not. So you’ve known me for five minutes, and you’ve seen I have a habit of losing things, I ramble, and I make inappropriate jokes.”
I had to admit, it was a bit hard to keep up with him. Theo spoke rapid fire and went from subject to subject. I chuckled. “It’s fine. You keep things interesting. And I’m sure you have a great sense of humor. Your choices are sweet tea, water, or orange juice.”
“Sweet tea, please.” I fixed Theo a glass of tea, and he walked around the kitchen, living room, and dining room, looking around. He studied the paintings on the walls and the books on the shelves. “This apartment doesn’t seem like you. I mean, not that I know you. Obviously, I don’t know anything about you other than the fact that your name is Jude and you rent this apartment from Lincoln and you have that construction guy over a lot.”
That he’d noticed Cam surprised me. That he’d realized this place wasn’t me surprised me more. “It’s not. Most of this stuff is Linc’s. My shit is in storage.”
“Ooh! What about the puzzle?” Theo rushed over to the table in the corner. “Is that you or Linc?”
“Me.” I walked over and gave him his tea, which he literally drank in five seconds flat. “Been a while since you had a drink?” I teased.
“No. One’s mouth gets dry when they talk too much,” he replied, and I laughed. He was a good kid. I liked him.
“You wanna do some of the puzzle with me?” I asked.
Theo nodded. His eyes were big, and he looked like an excited puppy. I couldn’t help but wonder if his mom ever did shit like this with him and if his father was around.
So we sat down and started working on the puzzle of the Atlanta skyline. Theo did most of the talking. By the time he got a text that his mom’s assistant was almost there, I’d discovered he was a senior at Fever Falls High, loved art and comics, his mom wasn’t going to his show that night at seven, he had a few friends but no one close because he thought he was too much for people sometimes, and he liked riding his skateboard.
“Thank you for letting me come over. That was cool,” Theo said as I walked him to the door.
“No problem. I’m always around if you ever get locked out again, or just want to visit.” There was something about the kid. I felt for him. Now that I thought about it, I realized I hardly ever saw his mom. I’d seen him around a whole lot more, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen them together.
“That’s…thanks. I appreciate it.”
We said our goodbyes, and the second we did, I found myself calling Cam.
“Hey, you. Miss me?” he teased.
“No,” I replied. “Do you want to go to an art show tonight?”
“Are you asking me on a date?” Cam said playfully.
“Nope.”
“You’re crushing me, Beautiful. And yeah, I don’t know much about art, but I’m down.”
The thing was, I didn’t know much about art either, but I wanted to support Theo. I wanted him to have someone there. I thought maybe he might need it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Camden
Of course, you were the one who had the guts to talk to me first. I’m not sure there’s anything you’re afraid of. ~ Letter from Henry
“So how is it we ended up going to an art show at Fever Falls High tonight?” I asked Jude as I drove us to the school. His request had been a bit of a surprise, but I was glad he’d invited me. Things seemed to be going back to normal between us after the-hookup-that-shall-not-be-spoken-about. Well, except he watched me all the damn time, and I pretended not to notice, but ya know, just a normal day.
“This kid who lives in the condo next door to me.”
“Beanie kid?” I’d seen him around.
“Yeah, him. I came home today and he was locked out. I heard him talking to his mom, who seemed not to have the time for him. He mentioned an art show. She can’t go, and I just…I don’t know. I wanted to support the kid. Is that weird?” Jude asked.
Fuck, this beautiful man was going to kill me. “No. It’s not weird. It’s sweet. Aww, you’re so sweet. I’m gonna try and think of a new name I can call you—Joyful Jude? Your first name is hard, so we’ll go with your last. We can be like Beau and Ash…hmm…Sweet Sandoval? Syrupy Sandoval?”