Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“What?” He glanced around uneasily.
Serena, who stood just beside him, threw her arms up in approval, shouting, “Do it, do it, do it!” And her demand incited the rest of the audience to follow suit.
Elliott sealed his eyes shut and took a breath. “You will be lucky if you have a job after this.” He smirked, which coupled with how he joined me on the stage on the stool, let me know it wasn’t the worst thing I could have put him through.
“Lose the shirt,” I told him, and seeing his hesitation, I reminded him, “It’s for charity.”
And as with most guys I’d coerced into experiencing similar instances of humiliation, that was enough to get him unbuttoning. I helped him out of it as the music started, and I whispered, “You sing the male parts.”
“I don’t know this.”
“That’s terrible, but fortunately, you don’t have to. Just fake it.”
And with that, my number began. A comedic, sexy clusterfuck of a romp—by which I mean, an utterly fabulous drag number.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sawyer
Tonight I got told I was boring. We were out with Julian’s friends. I wish I were more outgoing, but I don’t know how to be.
~ Sawyer’s Journal, 20 years old.
There was an unfamiliar twist in my gut as I watched Carter with Elliott. It wasn’t the way I would have felt with Julian—like I wasn’t worthy, or there was something wrong with me, or like he didn’t want me. It was more like this primal urge to pull Carter to me and be the one he was dancing and singing with. But I fucking hated being the center of attention, dancing, or singing, so that didn’t make any sense.
But I did like Carter. I liked him more than I probably wanted to admit.
Which was also why I hadn’t totally been sure how to act around him with Cam and Linc. Camden already knew some of it, obviously, but Linc didn’t, and when he did, I knew he would never keep his mouth shut. I was pretty sure I could expect something in: three…two…one…
“So you finally put out, huh?” Linc asked, and Cam laughed. I flipped them both off.
“I’m not fucking Carter.” Which was the truth. I wasn’t actually fucking him…yet, but I wanted to. “We’re just friends.” Again, true. We were friends, and he made me feel like some kind of sex god, but that was beside the point.
“Oh my God, Cam! Our little boy is growing up! I hate to be the parent who says this, but I was starting to worry he was S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T. What would we have told everyone?”
Sometimes I hated my friend. But really, I was fighting the smile tugging at my lips. “So every weekend, huh? Rush leaves every single weekend to go race?”
Linc crossed his arms and scowled at me. “You’re a mean, mean man, Sawyer. You used to be nice. Where did we go wrong raising him?” Lincoln asked Cam, and we all laughed.
But then I heard Carter’s voice over the crowd again, and my eyes found him. He was dancing with Elliott, who was stiff as a board, but his eyes kept darting toward me. It wasn’t a cocky, flirtatious look—almost like a worried one. Christ, I was pretty sure he was checking on me, trying to tell me with his eyes that his dancing with Elliott wasn’t anything, and maybe…maybe that he wished it were me.
My heart did this strange tumble-and-swoop thing that almost made me fall off the damn barstool.
No. No, no, no, no. I could not let myself fall for Carter. He didn’t even live in Fever Falls, for fuck’s sake, and while we were now friends and liked screwing around, Carter wouldn’t want more. Not with someone like me.
I gave him a little nod and a smile, trying to let him know I was okay, and damned if he didn’t nearly glow back at me. Carter was different, so different than I gave him credit for. I felt like an ass for having judged him.
“Hello? Earth to Sawyer. You have a little drool on your chin,” Linc teased, and I shot him an I-will-hurt-you look before Cam wrapped an arm around him.
“You be nice, Short Stuff. Leave my brother alone.”
“Thank you.”
“This is his first real crush!” Cam added, and I hated them both again.
“Are these guys giving you trouble?” Jude asked from behind the bar.
“Yes, I’d like them removed.”
Cam turned on his stool and winked at Jude. “Hey, beautiful. Wanna leave with me?”
“He’s straight,” I told my brother.
“Are you?” Cam asked Jude.
“Is anyone really straight in Fever Falls?” Linc added.
“Even if I’m not straight, you’re not my type.” Jude winked at Camden, who clutched his chest and pretended to be wounded.
“You’re breaking my heart here, beautiful. I thought we had something special.”
“Are you flirting with the straight guy again?” Beau asked as he approached us with Ash, Jace, and Dax. I glanced quickly at the stage and saw Carter exiting it, but he didn’t come our way. Disappointment settled in my gut, even though it was likely for the best. It was obvious neither of us knew how to react around everyone else.