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)
Owen finally said, “I think that will just about do it on the front of giving me enough to come up with an assortment of questions and answers for us to work on when I arrive. I’ll send you my flight itinerary and everything once we get that settled.”
It was amusing. He sounded so business-oriented, yet the more I talked to him, the more I found myself developing an even bigger crush.
He’s a fucking prince. Of course I’m crushing on him.
But we had a line we couldn’t cross.
It was for the best.
I doubted he had much interest to begin with, outside of a playful kiss and the realization of what this could do for his country—and to honor his family, something I understood all too well.
“I’m looking forward to your visit, and everyone is going to go crazy when they find out the prince of a country is coming here.”
“I’m excited about seeing your hometown, and I’ll probably call you again for a quick chat.”
“That’s fine. I enjoy talking to you.”
He was silent for a moment. Had I said something wrong? Had that been too much?
“It’s nice chatting with you too. Chat later, boyfriend.”
I smiled. “Chat later, boyfriend.”
Yup. In way over my head.
10
Owen
I had anticipated feeling anxious about my trip to Fever Falls, but one thing I hadn’t expected until I hopped on my jet for the flight to America was how excited I would be.
The truth was: I wanted to see Keegan again.
Just like our initial encounter in Parlaisa, throughout every brief phone chat we’d had prior to my visit, he’d managed to captivate me. The more I heard that powerful voice that pushed from such a tiny body, and that snicker, all full of innocence and playfulness, the more I wanted to see that face of his once again. It was strange to think that I had been so angry at this kid when I had believed he could have ruined my day out in Parlaisa…when really, he was what had made that day so special.
Once Frederick and I arrived at our hotel, we checked in, and then I Ubered to Keeg’s apartment. Frederick would have to wait to see him again because I didn’t want him crowding us in that first meeting. Keegan was likely stressed out enough as it was—he didn’t need my advisor to jump into grilling him with preliminary prep questions.
When we arrived at Keegan’s apartment complex, the driver navigated through a cluster of buildings until he stopped at one—4B, with a nail in the B so loose that it hung below the 4 and faced the wrong direction. I hopped out of my ride and headed up the exterior stairs leading to his unit.
It didn’t take but a second after I knocked for Keeg to open the door—like he’d been waiting since I’d called him from the callbox at the complex gate. I thought my heart was about to pulse right out of my chest with how excited I found myself at seeing that smile, which lasted just a moment before his face turned serious again and he awkwardly adjusted the bill of his cap from the side to the back.
Behind him, on a sofa in what appeared to be the apartment living room, Casey and Steve sat on a couch, video controllers in hand.
“I see you guys fixed the TV,” I noted.
“Nah,” Keeg said. “It’s mine. I just moved it out here so they would get off my bed.”
“Come on, we weren’t that annoying,” Casey said as he and Steve paused their game to hurry over to me.
“No, no, I wanted to be up till four a.m. so that you guys could take down a monster,” Keegan called back.
Even as he said it, I could tell by the expression on his face that he appreciated his friends, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had been more involved in some monster battles than he was currently stating.
“So this is your place?” I asked as he ushered me inside and closed the door behind me. “I thought you’d mentioned what a mess it was last we talked.”
“He made us clean up,” Steve groaned.
As I looked to Keegan, he tucked his head low, as though he was embarrassed to admit that he’d made his friends clean the place for my visit. I’d forgotten how long his lashes were or how full his lips, but his face was doing a great job of reminding me of all the things I’d taken interest in during our first meeting.
Steve and Casey asked about my flight and how I was doing before Steve chimed in with, “Okay, well, we’ll leave the two lovebirds alone for a bit.”
“What?” Keeg asked, clearly surprised by their quick exit.
“Yeah, we need to pick up some groceries anyway,” Steve said.
“It’s true,” Casey added. “We’re down to one Hot Pocket and half a strawberry Pop-Tart. Well, more like a quarter of a Pop-Tart since I got to it last.”