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)
“He’s just pretending he doesn’t have a heart of gold,” the other guy said playfully. “How’ve you been, Keeg? And you must be this prince we’ve been hearing about? I’m Camden.”
As Jude extended his free hand, Camden offered a slight bow, which made me smile before shaking both their hands.
“Nice hat, Keeg,” Camden said as they low-fived, and the way Keegan beamed made me instantly jealous. There was this part of me that felt I should be the only one to compliment his hats.
“Thanks, man,” Keeg told him, blushing.
And he could make him blush? I was not amused. Something about the exchange—how relaxed and friendly they were together, mixed with Keegan’s own manner—made me wonder if Keegan had messed around with either of them.
“If you guys can grab some extra bags and load up your car,” Jude continued, shaking me from my jealous thoughts, “we’ll stash them in the walk-in freezer at the restaurant. He’ll need plenty since he can’t get anyone out to fix the damn thing until tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Keegan said, and we joined in the work.
When we finished stocking up on bags and slid back into the car, I had to ask. “Have you messed around with either of those guys?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but I spit out, “No, that wasn’t fair of me to ask. I’m sorry. If you did, it doesn’t matter. I’m just not used to being jealous over a man.”
“You were jealous of them?”
“You have to admit they’re very attractive.”
“I mean, I crushed on Cam a little bit when I was in high school, but outside of that, no. We’ve never done anything.”
“It’s terrible how good it feels to hear that,” I confessed, which only made Keegan smile more.
“It’s hard liking someone, isn’t it?”
I laughed.
I did like him. And I was realizing just how much I was growing attached to him with every passing day.
We took the ice to Fever Pitch and helped the guys take it into the restaurant’s walk-in freezer. I hadn’t met Benny yet, so Keeg introduced me before we headed out to Nance’s.
I’d had the good fortune of having several dinners with the Kruses since I’d started staying in Fever Falls for lengthier visits, and I cherished each one. Nearly as much as I cherished Keeg’s ass and the way he offered it up and taught me how to truly worship a man’s body. We had our suspicions that Nance and Jace were onto the fact that our fake relationship had transformed into something more, but neither pressed for details or explanations. It seemed, like with Keegan coming out to them, they wanted us to tell them when we were ready...when we were sure where this was all really leading.
That night, we had to add a few additional leaves to Nance’s table to accommodate a larger dinner party than usual, including Frederick, who was staying in Fever Falls for the week. He had been acting as one of my liaisons as I worked between Keegan’s hometown and my home nation. After a major victory for our cause, he had hopped on my jet for a visit and to celebrate.
“I think cheers are in order,” I said as I lifted the glass of Arnold Palmer, which Nance had made for me, a personal favorite I’d acquired during the time I’d been staying in Fever Falls.
“Yes, we have so much to celebrate!” Keeg added, raising his own glass. “To the new poll results!”
The party clinked glasses, and Nance asked, “What difference does the poll make, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Frederick finished sipping from his glass before offering a reply. “A huge difference, Mrs. Kruse. When they see that seventy-five percent of our people are in favor of the Equal Marriage bill, it will pressure our legislators when it’s time to vote in two months.”
“That was very different than the first poll in your country,” Dax remarked.
“There was always speculation,” I chimed in, “that it was the wording of the poll that had led to the results, and I think this confirmed it.”
“Yes,” Frederick continued, “and it’s already affected political discourse about the bill. Several have already stepped forward to promote the cause. Even the King has been considering making a public appearance at a major event to express the royal family’s support of the bill.”
“A major event? Soon?” I asked.
“Soonish,” Frederick said. “Five weeks from now.”
Everyone else at the table seemed as interested as I was in the specifics. Although, I was mostly surprised that Frederick hadn’t already mentioned this to me.
“I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up,” Frederick continued, “but he’s been talking about coming to the Fever Falls Autumn Festival.”
As soon as he spoke the words, my jaw dropped. I turned to Keegan, who, judging by his stunned expression, was as surprised as me. Everyone must have had a hard time gauging how to react to the news, because they kept looking between Frederick and me.