We Fall Like Ashes | Wildfire Series

Mine For Tonight - Beau & Collins at the Cardairel Hotel

This is a compilation of Beau & Collins' night together. Contains spoilers for those who haven't finished the book.

B E A U

My palms were sweaty.

Knees weak.

Arms heavy.

Goddamn, I was a walking, talking, breathing—well, barely breathing—Eminem song right now. Minus the vomit on my sweater of course. And thank fucking god for that because my date was already making her way up the stairs toward me, all sophisticated and gorgeous. And very much looking like she wouldn't be the type of person to go out with someone who had remnants of their mom's spaghetti down their front.

Not that Momma Martin would even make spaghetti. Well, maybe she would. As long as it could be paired with at least three other courses. Maybe two.

Shit, focus. Stop thinking about your mom while you're on a date. Think about her, you asshole.

She wore the red one. Somehow I'd known she was going to wear the red dress. Out of all the ones I'd sent her as options, that one stuck out the most. Begged to be put on and showcased at a gala like this one. Only the best for the Cardairel Hotel. Only the best for Collins Bryant, this beauty I didn't even know.

But I was going to know her soon.

Holy hell, I was going to give Bren my Range Rover. That was it. I'd decided. He deserved it after setting me up with this girl. She glanced up at me with those dark, melting eyes, and something flipped on inside me. A light switch? No, not even close. A flame torch would be more like it. And not just any torch but like...a special one. Yep, the Olympic-mother-fucking-torch was burning up my body from the inside out.

An opening ceremony raged on inside me, and my heart was the host. Unbuttoning my suit jacket, I rubbed at my chest, needing the thumping in it to chill out with the celebrations. This was just the beginning, and Olympic event number one was coming right up.

Just say hello. Introduce yourself. Be cool, dude.

"Hey."

C O L L I N S

He should be a model.

Bren said his girlfriend described this guy that way. That he should be a model.

And my god, she wasn't wrong.

She was also pissed. At me.

Well, not so much me. More Bren. And rightfully so. If I'd known she didn't realize I was coming tonight, I would have never shown up. It was so long ago, that high school era when I hooked up with Bren and other guys just to dull some kind of pain. And sure, we had a connection, but it had nothing to do with sex or romance or anything like that.

I was so far from a threat to Madie and Bren's relationship. But of course, she couldn't see that right now; she just saw her boyfriend walking up with his ex-fuck-buddy. I didn't blame her. I shouldn't have let Bren set me up with his friend. I should have stayed home. Alone. Like I usually did to keep from hurting other people.

Although, then I wouldn't have met him.

Was it possible he was a model? I mean, it would explain how he'd afforded to send five freaking designer dresses to my door with a note to pick out the one I liked best for our date. Who does that? What kind of college kid does that?

The answer was pretty clear now that I was here: Beau Martin wasn't a kid. He might have a boyish charm to him, but the minute he looked me over and gave me a crooked grin from the top of the stairs, I knew.