Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“What if I told you I don’t like that option?” Jace asked, his jaw tensing.
“Then I’d admit I don’t like it either.”
He breathed what seemed like a sigh of relief, which made me feel more at ease than it should have.
“Come on, Dax. The worst that happens is we have some fun with each other, paps catch you in some pics with me sometimes, until people get bored and move on back to Tom Brady or whoever the fuck is more interesting, and then we have some big clusterfuck of a fight because you are just so obsessed with me and I can’t get you off my back…”
“Oh really? I’d be the one obsessed with you? What if you’re the one obsessed with me?”
“Well, come on, that’s not believable.”
“You ass,” I said through another laugh. “No, the real worst is we keep this going and wind up hating each other so much, but we’re stuck because we have a deal and have to do it anyway…and then we have this hateful, bitter, public feud that everyone and their mother’s getting off to because it’s entertaining.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “You really think either of us are the type to be running to the press if things go south?”
“I know that’s not the case.” Because he wasn’t from a world where people did that kind of shit to serve their own interests. However, that’s mostly what I’d seen throughout my life.
I had to remind myself that Jace wasn’t like the rest. He was special, and maybe that was part of what made the whole situation even more concerning. I enjoyed liking Jace Kruse.
Jace added, “So the real question is…can you deal with all this baggage I got with me right now?”
“A part of me feels like I already am now. Even if we stopped…whatever this is, we’re still in this deal together, and the media will be the way they’re going to be.”
The only way around the predicament we were in was if we stopped hanging with one another or fucking around. But I didn’t want to stop, not when we were having so much fun.
“What are you saying?” Jace asked.
“We’re clearly a thing,” I acknowledged, referencing our playful back-and-forth from earlier that day, “so maybe we need to plunge ahead into the limelight as we are and let it blow up in our faces.”
“I like the idea of you blowing up in my face, then maybe gravitate to in my mouth,” Jace quipped.
I growled as I set my hand on his hip and slid it around to his ass. “And then maybe back here.”
“Hold up. I don’t even know what that thing is going to feel like in me.”
“You had a good preview.”
“I had a great preview.” We shared a laugh, and Jace added, “And I’m looking forward to the main event.”
“Well, you do owe me a solid.”
“A solid sounds like what you owe me.” He reeled me in for another kiss.
I pulled away, still grinning from the sensations he’d stirred, coupled with the absurdity of the situation we found ourselves in. “I’m in a lot of trouble with you, Jace Kruse.”
“Trouble with me can be fun.”
“I don’t doubt that.” My gaze drifted to the sheets as I considered what it would mean if we really went down that path. “Still wondering if I can handle it all.”
Jace said, “Get your ass up.”
I rolled onto my back. “What?”
“We’re going out.”
“Going out?”
“What is totally blowing your mind about what I’m saying? Am I murmuring?”
I chuckled and sat up to face him, assessing that sneaky expression he wore.
“Come on,” he added. “News has spread around this town by now, if not from the press, then through talk, so if you want a sample to see if you can handle it, now’s the time.”
“Where are we going?”
“Fever.”
“The restaurant?”
“No, that’s Fever Pitch. The club is just Fever.”
“That’s right. That’s the place you told me not to go when you wanted to meet up with me that first day. Isn’t it a little confusing to have two places with Fever in the name like that?”
“Eh, sometimes if you make a date for Fever Pitch, they wind up at Fever, which is kind of funny since Fever is our local gay club.”
“Oh, really? So you want to take me out on the town, show off your new summer fling to everyone?”
He beamed. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot. I’ve only been for a few friends’ birthday parties, but I’d be curious to check it out now that I’m messing around with a guy.” His expression wavered. “If you’re okay with that? I don’t want to push you, but I figure it’d be a good experiment. Gives you a chance to decide if you’re in this or not.”
“It’s not a terrible idea.”
I’d locked myself in my room the moment everything had blown up. I’d been so worried about being recognized that I hadn’t faced that demon from my past yet, but Jace was right: if I couldn’t do that right then, I certainly couldn’t keep on messing around with Jace.