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)
“What kind of bullshit is this?” I asked, thinking he had to be joking or giving me a hard time. After all these years, surely if he felt this way, it would have come up before.
“No bullshit, Owen. In fact, I’m being more honest than I have been in the past.”
“Then why tell me tonight?”
“Because I saw the way you looked at him on the dance floor. We all did. And now I know.”
“Know what?”
“The way I always wanted you to look at me.” He shook his head as his smirk pushed into his dimple even further. “The way I realize you can never look at me. I have to admit, in the beginning, I almost felt it was a competition, but tonight I think Lucas and I saw the same thing. That neither of us can compete with Keegan Kruse. I’ve always known when I’m bested, and as you well know, I’ve always been a magnificent loser. One has to be when they spend a great deal of time with you.”
“Frederick, if I ever said anything…or made you think there was a possibility that there might be something more than friendship here, then…”
“No, no. Please don’t make this any more embarrassing than it already is. You never did that much. We had our fun teasing, and I knew that’s where it ended. Until Keegan, I was expecting it to remain an unrequited crush. And then we both discovered the truth, it seems. And that truth never involved me. And I realize I’ve been acting pathetic and pining away for…I’m not even sure anymore. But for the first time in my life, I’m awake, and I’m wondering what the hell you’re doing fucking this up.”
I was stunned by Frederick’s confession, but equally puzzled by his interest in Keegan. He wasn’t wrong, though. It seemed to be obvious to everyone around me how head over heels I was for him, and how could I have hid it from one of the men in my life who knew me best?
“You ever heard the saying: ‘If you love someone, set them free’?”
His eyes narrowed. “The actual saying is Richard Bach’s, and it’s: ‘If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they’re yours; if they don’t, they never were.’”
“Well, he didn’t come back, did he?”
“It’s a little premature for that assessment.”
“He shouldn’t come back is the truth of it.”
“Why?”
“Because this life…it’s too much for anyone.”
“Well, I am your advisor, at least for now. I do plan on putting in my resignation after tonight, I assure you, because I think it’s time for me to—”
“Frederick, you don’t have to do that.”
“I really do. I can’t stick around, being the way I’ve been all these years, but…one last piece of advice: I’ve known you for a long time, and I know how you are. I want you to be careful and consider whether you’re doing this because you’re worried about Keegan, or whether you’re worried about having met the one person who might very well be the only person who can really hurt you.”
And if I’d ever doubted how well Frederick knew me, I certainly didn’t in that moment. “A little bit of both.”
“Think on that and get some rest, O.”
“Apparently I have to get some rest if I have to find a new advisor. What the hell are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. See if Steve and Casey need a roommate,” he joked, which got me laughing, but then he turned serious again. “I think you might need to do a little more soul-searching and revisit this before you walk away from the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
And I knew he was right.
35
Keegan
Keep your cool, Keeg. Keep your cool.
Nance sat in the passenger seat, Serena in the back, as I drove us to Serena’s apartment building. Despite Nance and Serena’s attempts at discussing the success of the evening with me, it only made it that much more difficult for me to keep from slipping into an all-out cry fest.
We’d had a fight.
A big one.
And I wasn’t okay, not even a little.
But as Serena and Nance kept on, I tried to stay in the moment, tried to forget the thing that was most impossible to forget.
“So can we talk about Casey and Steve?” Serena asked.
“Oh, they’re just good friends,” Nance said.
“They were dancing together.”
“They thought it was a hoot.”
As I checked the rearview mirror, I could see Serena’s skepticism by the way her forehead wrinkled. “You can’t convince me that Casey doesn’t have a little bit of a crush on Steve, at least.”
“Well, I didn’t say there wasn’t a crush. But until either of them say there’s more there, I don’t see how it’s any of our business.”
“Keegan, perhaps you can settle this,” Serena said. “What’s the deal with Casey and Steve?”