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)
In the end we decided he needed to tell her where he was going. He didn’t have to say why. I told him I could speak with her if he needed me to. Cam had offered the same. We could say he was volunteering at the event with us, which was still a little white lie, but the truth too. Cam was helping out, and Theo would be helping Cam.
Theo hadn’t wanted us to talk to her with him. He’d wanted to do that on his own.
There was a knock at the door, and when I opened it, Theo stood there with his mom, who looked slightly flustered.
“Hi, I’m Jude. This is Cam.”
She shook both our hands. “Annie. Nice to meet you both.”
“Thanks for letting Theo go with us. He’s a great kid.”
“He is a good kid, isn’t he?” She looked at him and smiled, making me soften up a bit toward her. Maybe she was like my father. She loved her son, just didn’t do a good job showing it.
“It’s been really neat to get to know him. He’s a wonderful artist, and he got me back into drawing as well. I always wanted a kid brother,” I told her, and received another genuine smile.
“Theo always wanted siblings too. He said you’re like a big brother to him. I appreciate you spending so much time with him. Video games aren’t my thing.” She laughed before continuing. “He doesn’t get along well with his father and never wants to see him. It’s good for him to get out more.”
Maybe you should get out with him more…spend more time with him…
And hell, I hadn’t even realized Theo’s father was in the picture. He never mentioned him.
Her phone began to ring, and she looked at it. “Shit. I have to take this. I gave Theo some money. Thank you again.” That simply, Annie was gone.
“She’s in a hurry. She’s always in a hurry,” Theo said, his jaw tight.
“Yeah, but she let you come with us. I’m glad about that.”
“It wouldn’t have been the same without you, kid.” Cam smiled at him. “Looking handsome, by the way.”
Theo blushed. He was wearing black jeans, a white button-up shirt…and his beanie.
“You guys look nice too,” Theo replied.
“I look great. Jude looks okay,” Cam teased.
Cam looked fucking gorgeous in a vest and bow tie, and the way he couldn’t keep his hands off me earlier, I was pretty sure he agreed with my similar outfit.
The three of us left after that, taking my car for the short ride to the center. I parked around back, and we sat in the car for a moment.
“You doing okay?” I asked Theo.
“Yeah…I’m scared as shit, though. I mean, I’m scared. Just scared. What if I talk too much and people think I’m weird or no one likes me or…”
“Everyone will like you,” I told him.
“Trey is excited to meet you,” Cam added. “All our friends are as well.”
“And again, if you want to leave, we leave. It’s that simple.”
Theo nodded, but I wasn’t sure he believed us.
Camden said, “Hey, you’re doing great. This is a big step. Cut yourself some slack, okay? Awkward Boy is the best, and a whole lot less awkward than he realizes. Everyone will see that. Just ask Construction Guy. He’s smart as fuck.”
That made Theo laugh and me fall a little more in love with him.
Cam looked at me next. “Do I need to give you a pep talk too, Beautiful? Because I will.” He reached out and cupped my cheek. “You good?”
“Rock steady. It’s safe here.” It felt different in this environment and with our friends than it did with others.
He frowned slightly, making me think I said the wrong thing, but then he grinned and dropped his hand. I must have imagined it.
“Okay, let’s do this, gentlemen,” he said, and he was the first to get out of the car.
I looked back at Theo one more time and gave him a reassuring smile before we got out too.
There was a single rainbow flag hanging off the building with a sign out front. Theo walked quickly, with his head down, and my heart went out to him. I was sorting shit out in my own head at my age. It had to be even tougher at seventeen.
Camden held the door open and signaled for us to go in. When we gave the tickets to the woman at the front, Cam said, “Aren’t I lucky? I’m escorting the two most handsome men tonight.” Then winked. Theo blushed, and I rolled my eyes, but really, he turned me all gooey inside.
We heard music in the distance, and Cam led us through the room and down some stairs, to a large open space with a DJ, food, drinks, and tons of people singing and dancing. There was a large Christmas tree at the front of the room, which Cam had told me about before. They had a list online where you could buy gifts for LGBTQ teens. They were all stacked beneath it, and damn, there were so many of them. It made me proud that our town had stepped up, or at least part of it had, but also sad, wondering how many of those kids were homeless or couldn’t be out in their personal life.