Falling For the Best Man (Camp Firefly Falls Book 10) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Falling For the Best Man

  About This Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Copyright

  His-Charmed Life (CFF #11) Excerpt

  Contents

  Falling For the Best Man

  About This Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Copyright

  His-Charmed Life (CFF #11) Excerpt

  FALLING FOR THE BEST MAN

  Camp Firefly Falls #10

  Ally Decker

  Website | Newsletter

  Opposites attract… but are they really all that different?

  Charlie Amis is having the time of his life. He's at Camp Firefly Falls for his best friend's wedding, but there's also a week of easy, unfiltered fun beforehand. Improv after breakfast, Broadway trivia after lunch, show tunes at the campfire… What more could he want? Apparently, the answer is: Tall, Dark, and Handsome who makes a fish-out-of-water impression look sexy as hell.

  Kevin Randall shouldn't be surprised the camp turns into a theater geek heaven, not with so many actors around and the bride's Broadway obsession. He's definitely out of his depth, so he's planning to hide in his cabin—or wherever the wi-fi connection actually works—but Charlie's dimpled smile is enough to drag Kevin away from his laptop again and again.

  Among the crazy wedding preparations and to the tune of Broadway's greatest hits, the two men fall head-first into a kind of summer romance they could only dream of as kids. But as they become each other's plus one for the wedding, can they also become something more?

  *This story can be read as a standalone M/M romance, but it's also a part of my New York City of Love universe. If you want to find out how the soon-to-be-married couple got together, you can grab In the Spotlight HERE.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Private planes were not a part of Kevin Randall's everyday life.

  Sure, he had been working for Foster, Young, and Urban for over five years now, but coming from the tech support in the Army to spending his days restoring the reputations of New York's not-so-finest had been an interesting adjustment. And for the most part, he'd steered clear from the glamour and blitz of it all. He was just the guy behind the monitor.

  That was at work, though. No one expected anything fancy of him or tried to push something onto him there. But this, now, was something he couldn't—wouldn't—say no to. His good friend was getting married, and if Kevin had to get there by the private plane, then that was just how it was.

  Even if it was completely bizarre, as far as he was concerned.

  He'd known, obviously, that Greg, Sylvia's fiancé, was a world famous actor, and Kevin had heard enough stories to know the life of these two was nowhere near normal, but he was also usually completely removed from that.

  Until now.

  "It's just a plane," Nate told him when Kevin pointed it out as they were driving to the airport. Nate Urban was one of his bosses, a good friend, and Sylvia's brother. He was also the guy more used to the glamour life of rich and famous.

  "It's a private plane your sister's future husband is paying for, to take about twenty people to a remote location for a week-long wedding party," Claire, Nate's fiancée, said dryly. "It's not 'just' anything."

  Kevin nodded and patted the passenger seat where she was sitting. "Yes, exactly, thank you."

  "It's better than having the place crawl with paparazzi." Nate shrugged. "I'm all for private planes if I don't have to worry about that."

  "Leave your fixer pants at home," Claire told him. "You're there as the older brother, not a fixer."

  "He'd be worse about the paparazzi as the older brother," Kevin pointed out right as they passed the sign to the private landing area.

  Claire glanced at him in the rearview mirror and nodded. "There's that."

  "Hey!" Nate protested, but it was a moot point. His over-protectiveness was only dulled these days because Sylvia spent most of the year away from New York City. It most certainly wasn't gone for good.

  "May I remind you that you suggested scouting the area when you learned it's a remote place?" Kevin asked, but whatever else he was going to say was lost once he noticed the plane behind one of the hangars.

  It was smaller than the commercial civilian planes, though still bigger than he had expected. Definitely bigger than the planes he remembered from the Army days.

  "Private planes have to factor in the space for egos, huh?" Claire muttered, and Kevin smirked. That would explain it.

  They got out of the car, went through the private check point, and then they were pointed to the empty waiting area at the back end of the hangar.

  Kevin checked the time and grimaced. "How the hell are we the first ones here?" Half an hour before the take off was cutting it really close, even for a private flight.

  "I guess our plane just got delayed." Claire sat on one of the small seats, stretching her legs in front of her.

  Nate sat down as well, draping his arm over the back of her seat, but before he could say anything, loud honking made them all turn to the entrance. Through the large, open door they could see a bus parking right at front. A second later, people started pouring out of it, led by Sylvia and Greg. They were a loud bunch, laughing and hip-checking each other, and some of them looked like they had already had a drink or two.

  "Seems like the party has started." Kevin turned to Nate and Claire. "We should've hitched a ride on that bus."

  Claire snorted and shook her head while Nate ignored him completely, eyes focused on Sylvia. When Kevin followed his gaze, he saw the future bride waving at them with a big grin on her face, showing the family resemblance that was usually hard to spot.

  Kevin gave her a small wave before moving on to scan the rest of the crowd. He'd known they were going to fly out with Greg's old Broadway crew, as well as a couple of friends both Greg and Sylvia had made in the theatre world in the last couple of years. As Kevin looked around, he recognized quite a few faces. Some of them he'd seen on the posters around the city, and some he remembered from when he'd been dragged by Sylvia to see Illuminations, Greg's Broadway debut.

  One person especially caught Kevin's attention. The man's hair was longer now and he looked softer without stage makeup on, but Kevin remembered those eyes—dark, almost black, and all-seeing. Soft, once the curtain had fallen down and he'd stopped performing.

  Charlie Amis.

  Kevin hadn't been to any Broadway show since Illuminations, but the name had stuck in his head.

  And now Charlie was here, less than a hundred feet away, while Kevin continued to stare.

  He made himself turn to Nate and Claire again, noting in relief that they were too busy watching the newly arrived group to notice what he'd been doing. Good. He wouldn't be able to
get them off his back if they got a whiff of his interest, if it could even be called that. Yes, he noticed the guy, but it wasn't like he was going to do anything about it.

  He didn't realize he glanced in that direction again until he caught the warm gaze from across the space between them. Charlie tilted his head a bit to the side and stared at Kevin for what seemed like a really long time, until the redhead by his side threw her arm around his shoulders, drawing his attention away.

  Kevin curled his fingers around the straps of his backpack as he turned the other way. For better or worse, the wedding trip just got a hell lot more interesting.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Charlie had been Greg's best friend for years. They'd connected in theater school and stayed in touch even after they'd each headed to a different coast—Greg to L.A., to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and Charlie to New York, to fulfill his lifelong dream of performing on Broadway.

  But even if they'd known each other almost half their lives, Charlie had never flown on Greg's private plane.

  "That's injustice, it's all I'm saying," he told Greg, trying to contain his grin. They were almost ready to take off, and Charlie couldn't wait. He loved flying, but he didn't do it much, bound to New York for most of the year.

  "First of all, it's not my plane, I've just rented it—"

  "Oh, because that's perfectly normal," Charlie cut in. "'I've just rented a private plane' is what I'm telling my friends every other week."

  "Second of all," Greg continued as if Charlie hadn't interrupted him, "Good to know you're after my money."

  "Busted," Charlie said, but then he lost it and started laughing, Greg following right after.

  "What are you up to now?" Sylvia appeared in the aisle between them and squeezed by her fiancé to take the window seat next to him.

  "I've just found out my best friend is a gold-digger," Greg told her, and she snorted, shaking her head.

  "The tabloids insisted that's me," she said with a glance at Charlie. "Don't try to take the title away."

  Charlie smiled at that, happy they all got to joke about it now. There had definitely been a time of adjustment for Sylvia, when she'd struggled with media attention and the vitriol that public could spew. "Gold-digger" was one of the kinder names she'd been called.

  "You can have the title. I just want the plane," he told her, and as she smiled, he turned to glance down the aisle.

  The Tall, Dark, and Handsome was pulling something out of his bag in the overhead baggage compartment, and Charlie let his gaze travel up and down the man's body. Fuck. Was anything not attractive about this guy?

  Charlie had noticed him back at the airport. The man had been sitting with Sylvia's brother and his date, but lacking a date of his own. What he wasn't lacking in was height, shoulder width, and the damn sex appeal that had made Charlie swallow hard against his suddenly dry throat.

  And when their gazes met, the temperature in the hangar went up a notch.

  "What are you looking—oh!" Sylvia leaned over Greg's lap and chuckled when she'd noticed what—or rather, who—got Charlie's attention. "Great choice," she told him as she straightened back in her seat.

  "Hey, now," Greg said at the same time as Charlie hung his head.

  "Shut up, you." The last thing he needed was Sylvia playing a matchmaker.

  "I was just pointing out Kevin's—" Sylvia glanced at her fiancé and visibly tried not to laugh, "—objectively esthetically pleasing appearance, that's all."

  That made Greg chuckle and shake his head. He raised his eyebrows at Charlie. "Well, he is—"

  "If you say 'objectively esthetically pleasing', I'm getting off the plane," Charlie cut in.

  "Single. I was going to say he was single." Greg looked between him and Sylvia. "And gay. But from what I've gathered, he's more of a…short-term kind of guy. Very short, in some cases."

  Of course he is. Charlie refused to acknowledge the dull shot of disappointment.

  "Hey, wait a minute," Sylvia protested, frowning. "Don't make him sound like he's a player," she told Greg, before turning back to Charlie. "He's not. Yes, he hasn't settled down yet, but isn't the fact that he's single now a good thing?"

  Thankfully, the pilot's voice over the intercom saved Charlie from answering.

  He kept his gaze trained on the safety video, knowing they wouldn't be covering the kind of danger he would be getting himself into with Kevin if he wasn't careful.

  ***

  Charlie let himself relax as he leaned against the railing on the small porch of the cabin. The camp was almost exactly as he'd pictured it. Better yet—almost exactly like the camps he remembered from childhood. It made him nostalgic in the best of ways. He'd teased Greg about this wedding destination, but if Sylvia and Greg felt like he did about this place, Charlie could understand the choice now. He had a lot of great memories from summer camps, anything from s'mores to his first kiss with a boy.

  Camp Firefly Falls was clearly a place upgraded for adults, but it managed to keep the charm of an old-school summer camp, which was a perfect combination, as far as Charlie was concerned. He might not love the shitty signal reception, but he appreciated getting a cabin of his own. Actually, all the guests who hadn't come with their plus one—and there were more of them than usual, Charlie had noted, probably since they couldn't exactly ask just anyone out to attend a secret wedding of a movie star—got a cabin to themselves. They were also all situated in one part of the camp. He didn't know if that was supposed to encourage hooking up within the group or not, but it wasn't like many people minded getting swept into a romance of their own at a wedding.

  Charlie wasn't looking for a quick hook up, though. He missed having a real relationship, and he wanted to settle down. Hell, most of his closest friends were either married or about to be, while he wasn't even seeing anyone.

  His last relationship had ended over two years ago, and that felt like way too much of singlehood. He'd recently realized that he longed for something that just…didn't seem to be coming together for him. He wished for a happy, passionate, and fulfilling relationship, but he might need to make peace with the fact that he wouldn't get to have that anytime soon.

  Unless he'd give online dating another try—which, definitely not—Charlie was out of luck with his chances of meeting anyone, too.

  A memory of Kevin looking at him across the hangar showed up uninvited in his mind, but Charlie just shook his head. He knew almost nothing about the guy, and what he did know didn't sound very promising.

  That didn't stop him from glancing around, wondering which of the cabins was Kevin's.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The internet wasn't working.

  Kevin hadn't left New York for the wilderness of Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts, for the internet not to work.

  "You're overreacting," Nate told him, leaning against the door frame of Kevin's cabin, but he had his phone in hand and frowned at it just the same.

  "I'm not overreacting. We're here for a week. There's no way I'll be offline for a week."

  "Of course not," Nate muttered, and Kevin considered not sharing once he'd get his spot up and running. Because he would. Soon. No way some glitchy service providers were going to keep Kevin away from the internet. He had a lot to do for work, but he also had a few other ongoing projects he couldn't just abandon.

  "You'd curl up in a ball and cry if I took away your phone," he finally said. Nate was officially his boss, but they had been past that for years now. All three partners at Foster, Young, and Urban treated him more like a junior partner than an IT specialist. But more importantly, they were all friends, too.

  "You'd have to fight me for it first," Nate tossed back, but when Kevin raised his eyebrows from his place on the floor, Nate offered him a self-deprecating smile and a shrug. They both knew Nate wouldn't stand much of a chance. They'd sparred enough for that to be perfectly clear. "Anyway," Nate added, glancing behind him and straightening in his stance. "Come on, it's time for
dinner. You can pick this up later."

  Kevin shook his head. He was almost there. He just needed ten minutes, tops. "Go on, I'll join you as soon as I'm done."

  Nate looked like he wanted to say something, but finally left him alone without another comment.

  Kevin turned his attention back to the screen in front of him.

  Internet, first. Food, second.

  ***

  By the time he got the wi-fi working and left his cabin, it was closer to fifteen minutes, not ten. Still acceptable, in Kevin's opinion. He followed the sounds of voices and laughter, and then saw the rest of the wedding party guests sitting at one long table under the big open tent. He could see Sylvia and Greg at the top of the table, and he smiled at the way she radiated happiness as she looked at her fiancé. Kevin remembered the couple's rocky beginnings, so it made it even more special to see this fairytale come to life like this.

  Then he saw the man sitting to Greg's right.

  Charlie laughed out loud, and when the sound reached Kevin, it reverberated through him and pulled at something inside him Kevin wasn't sure how to name. It wasn't the same warm pleasure at seeing Sylvia happy. This was sharper, unnerving, laced with desire, but also something more. Kevin had seen a lot of things and people in his life that were flashy and demanding attention, but none got his focus so finely attuned to them as this man—who wasn't even trying. Sure, Charlie was an actor, so a certain amount of charisma was a given, but there was something else about him, too, that got Kevin's attention.

  Then Charlie turned his head, and suddenly, he was looking straight at Kevin.

  Fuck.

  They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Kevin wished he could know what Charlie was thinking. Was he merely curious about the stranger at the same party? Was he creeped out by said stranger staring at him for too long? Or maybe he was interested, intrigued just like Kevin was…