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 can’t believe he’s dating a prince. I want to date a prince one day.” Theo’s hand slapped over his mouth like he couldn’t believe he’d said what we had.
“Who doesn’t want to date a prince?” Cam replied, not missing a beat. “I mean, not me. My boyfriend is hot, but it’s a good goal.”
I rolled my eyes, but really, I liked it.
“Did you like…always know?” Theo asked softly, without looking at us.
“I think so. I finally admitted it to myself and put myself out there to experiment with a guy because I knew my brother was gay. I know that sounds weird. I’ve always joked about doing it because of Sawyer, but I think knowing that he liked boys, even though he’d never actually told me, made me feel okay inside about being attracted to them myself. I’ve always drawn more strength from Sawyer than he realizes.”
My pulse went a little crazy hearing him say that. Cam always came off like he didn’t need anyone—want them, yes, but not need. I knew that wasn’t true. He needed his brother more than anyone in the world.
I reached over and grabbed his hand. It was the only time I’d done something like that in public.
“I bet that helped…” Theo said, “it being both of you.”
“It did,” Cam replied. “I don’t want to push you, and if you don’t want to talk about it, you can always tell me to shut up, but there’s a holiday party coming up in a few weeks at the LGBTQ center. I got tickets for the three of us in case either of you two knuckleheads wanted to go. Again—no obligation, but the offer is there.”
Well, damn. I hadn’t known he’d done that. But I wasn’t surprised. It was such a Camden thing to do. “That sounds fun. I’m down if you guys are.” They’d all opened my eyes to so many different things since moving to Fever Falls. I’d never been involved in so many charity events or organizations as I had since meeting Camden and their crew.
“I… Can I think about it?” Theo asked.
“No,” Cam replied, but thankfully, Theo chuckled and shook his head. He knew Cam as well as I did.
“Thank you.”
“Nothing to thank me for, kid.”
They brought our food after that, and the three of us sat together and ate. We laughed and talked, and Theo ate all his food and some of our fries. We’d just finished when Cam’s cell rang. It sat on the table beside him, and he picked it up, looked at it, and frowned.
“It’s Henry,” he said.
Honestly, I hadn’t even known the two of them spoke enough for him to know Cam’s phone number, but then…maybe Cam had had the same one for years? And really, why did it matter either way?
“Who’s Henry?” Theo asked.
“An old friend,” Cam replied. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab this real quick. I want to make sure everything is okay.”
He stood and answered, saying hello as he walked away.
“Who’s Henry?” Theo asked again.
“One of his friends.”
“Old boyfriend?”
I wasn’t sure they’d ever used that title, but what I did know was that Camden had loved him…and that Henry had loved Cam too.
“I’m not sure.” I shrugged. “But it’s fine either way.” And it was. Hell, I was best friends with the only person I’d ever been in love with.
My stomach clenched, this sort of wrongness slamming into me.
Oh God…I didn’t know what made it hit me right then, but I realized I felt wrong because my thoughts had…because Rush wasn’t the only person I’d ever loved.
I was pretty sure I might be in love with Camden Burke…and maybe I had been for a long time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Camden
I can’t be with you…for real, at least…even though it’s you I’ll always love. ~ Letter from Henry
It felt strange waiting in the Italian restaurant for Henry.
We hadn’t done something like this in years—actually, we’d never done anything like this before. When we’d been together, any time we spent with each other had been behind closed doors. We’d done it in hiding. Henry hadn’t even wanted anyone to know we were the kind of friends who hung out, this fear inside him that people would take one look at us and know we were together.
I’d been understanding at first, then resented him, been angry with him, but I hadn’t left him. I loved him and wanted to support him. That was what you did when you cared about someone. And coming out, or hell, even admitting to yourself, was so damn personal. I couldn’t push Henry into it even if I hadn’t understood the need to hide.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Henry said, and I looked up just as he sat across from me. His blond hair was styled, sort of off to the side with gel. He wore a vest with a long-sleeved shirt underneath it, which was cute as hell, and he knew I secretly liked that shit. But he also liked it himself, and he had a wife, kids, and another kid on the way, so I wasn’t assuming he did it for me.