Striking Sparks by Ari McKay

Author:Ari McKay [McKay, Ari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63477-154-2
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

AS he closed the lid on his ribs and set his timer, Beau breathed a quiet sigh, feeling as if he finally had a moment to relax. The last twenty-four hours had been much busier than he expected, starting with the parade that kicked off the rodeo yesterday afternoon. His nose was pink and stinging from standing on a float because someone on the planning committee had had the bright idea to create a barbecue-themed float to showcase the competition—and to do a little sucking up to the Gourmet Network too.

He didn’t know whether to be amused or horrified that someone had created huge papier-mâché drumsticks, ribs, and home fries to decorate the float. There were also 3-D pig and cow faces plastered along the sides, and flimsy, inexpensive grills he and Jake pretended to cook on. They had to stand up there, smiling and throwing candy to the kids while trying to make sure the cheap grills didn’t fall off when the float hit a pothole on Main Street.

Since they had to work both sides of the street, they didn’t talk much, and afterward, Mark whisked them away for interviews and a photo op with other local “celebrities,” like the mayor and the current high school homecoming queens.

Then it was time for the opening ceremonies, which were held at the fairgrounds. The rodeo competition area had already been set up, and the bleachers were full even though there weren’t any competitive events scheduled for that night. There were some speeches—mercifully short ones—and some demonstration events just for fun, mostly consisting of local kids who were training to compete one day.

Afterward, Mark held a brief meeting to go over the schedule for the first competition, but it was still almost eleven o’clock by the time Beau got home and fell into bed. Nerves kept his brain too busy to sleep for a while, but he finally nodded off and was roused by the alarm too early for his liking.

Once he got to the fairgrounds, he was hustled off to hair and makeup so he wouldn’t look washed out on camera—and then it was time for the first cooking event. Dave was right there, filming every move he made, but Beau tuned it out, losing himself in preparing the ribs. When he finally stepped back from the grill, he noticed Dave lowering the camera.

“Looks like you’re off to a good start.” Dave winked playfully at him.

“Let’s hope so.” Beau smiled in return, but he wasn’t in the mood to flirt, not even with Dave, who was a lot better-looking than most of the men he’d dated.

Dave had made it clear he was interested, but Beau hadn’t taken him up on any of his overtures. He tried to tell himself it was because he was too busy to fit anyone or anything else into his packed schedule, but he wasn’t sure that was the real reason.

He glanced over at Jake, wondering how a man could be so damned annoying and appealing at the same time.

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