Chapter 28

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

The next morning, mind on food, Colton drove into town and parked at the Frontier Diner. It had been a long night.

Once they were dry enough, they'd walked back to camp, which, fortunately, hadn't been too far away. Bear and Lilah had immediately surmised something was wrong. Colton had been about to tell the story but then realized that this was Marshall and Ashley's chance to shine, so he let them tell it instead.

The rest of the campers were enthralled to hear about the near-death experience and why wilderness survival skills were so important.

Marshall didn't mention that his shoulder was hurt, but both Bear and Lilah had realized it by the way he was holding his arm. While Marshall and Ashley fielded questions about everything from how cold the water was to whether they'd thought they would die, Colton told the leaders that the kid definitely needed to be checked out by a doctor.

When Bear explained to the campers that it was necessary for Marshall and Ashley to go back, the rest of the kids banded with them and packed up to go too.

It had been a really nice moment.

Once they got Marshall to the clinic, the kid had still been a trooper as they reset his shoulder. Didn't mutter a word. Having had a similar injury more than once, Colton had expected Marshall to be more relaxed once the joint was back in its socket since the pressure and pain eased dramatically once it was back in place.

But, if anything, the kid looked more upset.

"Are you all right?" Colton asked. Maybe he had more injuries than he'd been letting on.

Marshall shrugged with his good shoulder. "Yeah, I'm okay, I guess."

"No offense, but you don't look very okay. Are you sure your shoulder was the only thing that was hurt?"

"Yeah. Just…"

Shit. Marshall looked like he might cry.

"Hey. What's going on?"

Marshall slumped over on the examination table. "Is being a hero something you can only do as an adult?"

He was taken aback by the question. "No, I think you proved that today."

Marshall shook his head slowly. "No, I didn't. I dropped Ashley. I couldn't hold on. A hero would've held on. Wouldn't have let her fall."

Colton raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but that's bullshit."

"But—"

"But nothing . You held on to her even after your arm had been ripped out of its socket. That's more than most adults—hero or not—would've done."

"But I couldn't get her back up. She almost died because of me."

He slid an arm around the boy's shoulders gently. "Listen, a lot of things could've gone really wrong today and would've ended up in disaster. Starting with, if you hadn't caught Ashley and held her as long as you did, there is probably no way that I could've gotten to her, and we would've lost her in that river."

"I still wish I could've pulled her back up."

"And maybe you work toward building your upper body strength so that if you're ever in a situation like this again, you can. But make no mistake, being a hero has nothing to do with physical strength and everything to do with your willingness to help others even if it hurts yourself. You're definitely a damn hero—don't tell yourself otherwise."

The boy nodded solemnly. "I'm glad everyone is okay."

"That's always the most important thing."

When they made it back to Linear Tactical, it was obvious that Ashley considered Marshall to be her hero also. She zoomed right to his side and stayed there until it was time for the campers to go to their respective cabins.

Yeah, Marshall was more of a hero than most of the grown adults Colton knew. Ella was one also. He knew wilderness survival wasn't her expertise and that she was only on the trip as a personal favor to Bear, but she had done everything damn near perfectly. Hell, even getting him out of the water had been difficult—throwing her body weight around like she had had left her with multiple bruises.

The woman was fucking amazing. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to be around her. And as soon as this stalker situation was handled, he and Ella were going to have a very important talk. One he was very much looking forward to.

His mood couldn't be higher as he walked into the Frontier Diner, until he spotted Tony and Rick sitting in a back corner booth of the diner. He tried to turn and back out, but they saw him too quickly. Tony waved him over. Gritting his teeth, Colton made his way across the restaurant.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We've actually been staying in Reddington City in case you change your mind about anything." Tony at least had the good sense to look sheepish at the admission.

"Change my mind about what?"

Rick slid over, and Colton sat down next to him even though he really didn't want to.

"Pretty much anything," Rick muttered .

Tony shot the younger man a look. Obviously, Rick had been told not to be confrontational.

"Good thing we were so close by. I keep hearing about how you are a hero. Saved some kids from drowning."

"I'm not a hero." He caught the waitresses and signaled for a cup of coffee. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Maybe," Tony said. "But you know this is something we could spin to our advantage."

Colton took a calming breath. "I'm not interested in spinning anything. These kids are not to be used for us to gain traction with social media."

"Maybe if you would look at how your social media numbers are dropping, you might listen to reason." Tony once again shot a look at Rick at the younger man's words.

"I've never been one to pay much attention to those types of numbers—it's not what I'm about."

Rick threw up his hands. "Well, not all of us have the assurance of a bank account the size of yours. We don't come from parents who were already wealthy and famous. So, we sure as fuck check the numbers pretty regularly."

"Enough, Rick," Tony said, before turning to Colton. "Asshole here is not making his point in a wise way, but he does still have a point. None of us wants to see you lose your status, partially because it means we'd be out of a job, but also because you worked hard to get to where you are."

He worked hard because stunts had always been what he loved to do ever since he was a kid here in Oak Creek. And he wouldn't lie…the perks of fame and having people cheer you on while you did what you loved was something he enjoyed.

But stunts for him had never been about social media views or numbers of likes.

"I'm not going to change who I am in order to be more popular on social media."

Tony nodded. "Absolutely and we one hundred percent support that. Nobody wants you to change who you are. But what we do want is for you to share who you are with the public. For example, if I had been able to film you saving that kid…"

"My interaction with these kids is not for public amusement." He took the cup of coffee from the waitress and ordered the breakfast special—two eggs, bacon, and hash browns. It hadn't changed much since when he used to get it as a kid in high school when they'd come here every semester before final exams.

Tony held out his hand in a gesture of peace. "Yeah, I get that. I was just using it as an example. My point is, you don't have to change who you are—your fans just want a glimpse into your life."

"Maybe not all of it," Rick muttered.

Colton crossed his arms over his chest. "What does that mean?"

"Shut the fuck up, Rick."

Colton shook his head and cut off Tony's warning. "No, are you referring to something specific?"

Now the younger man looked uncomfortable. "Forget it."

"No. Is it Oak Creek? Town is too small and you think my fans will be bored? That's exactly the point I'm trying to make. There are parts of my life not meant to be public. Let my fans see the public parts—the stunts."

"You know how it is," Tony said. "The public wants to feel like they know you."

"And the town isn't the problem," Rick said. "Or it's not just the problem."

"Goddamn it, Rick." Tony scrubbed a hand down his face.

"What?" Rick threw up his hands. "You know it's true."

"What's true?" Colton stopped as the waitress brought his plate of food and set it down in front of him. He forced a smile at her even though he didn't feel it.

"What's true?" he asked again once the waitress left.

"Nothing," Tony responded. "Our resident asshole is being exactly that."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Fine. Right. I'm the asshole for saying what all of us are thinking. "

"If somebody doesn't tell me what the hell you're talking about right now, everybody is going to be fucking fired."

Tony held out a hand to stop whatever Rick was about to say. "There's a little bit of concern about how some of your closest friends will be perceived by your public."

"In what way? I'm not planning on putting any of them on public display."

Tony nodded. "But sometimes you don't get a choice. Especially with those who are closest to you."

The bacon he was chewing went tasteless in his mouth.

"Ella." They were talking about Ella.

"Yeah, exactly, man. Compared to the women you've dated in the past, she's not exactly hot, you know?"

Colton looked over at Rick at his words. The guy actually thought he wasn't being offensive.

"It's time for you to go." Colton managed to keep his words even when all he wanted to do was take Rick's head and bash it against the table.

"Listen, man. I know you've known her a long time and she's important to you. We get it. All I'm saying is that, comparatively speaking?—"

"I already heard you, Rick. And if you want to make it out of this restaurant with all your teeth still in your mouth, I suggest you leave right fucking now." He stood up so the other man could pass.

"Whatever." But Rick wisely slid off the booth seat and walked out.

Colton sat back down and pushed his plate away. He definitely wasn't hungry now.

"Before you tell me to fire him, you should know that he's an excellent camera operator and has a wonderful eye for shots."

"I'm pretty sure I don't give a shit about those things right now."

Tony leaned back against the booth. "Rick knows what people want to see, and as much as you may not like to hear this…he's right that Ella does not look like the other women you've dated. "

He didn't give a shit about that. "You do realize that you're just making my point, right? This is why I don't want to film my personal life."

"I get it. Your personal life is your own. We can make that happen."

Tony pushed the plate with Colton's uneaten breakfast back over to him. Colton picked up his fork.

"Good." He was only a couple bites into his meal when he realized Tony still had more to say. "Just say it."

"I know that you like it here. I know this is home. I know you've been struggling more than you let on."

Colton shrugged and put another bite of food in his mouth.

"Both Rick and I want to make sure you have a career left to come back to when you decide you're done here."

It was on the tip of Colton's tongue to announce that he wouldn't be leaving Oak Creek and that if he was going to have a career in extreme sports, they were going to have to figure out a way around that.

They were going to have to figure out how to work his image with Ella by his side.

But none of that could happen yet. "I'm more concerned about us catching this stalker."

"That's my number one concern too. And hear me out… I think the best way to do this is to get you back into the public eye. None of this cloak-and-dagger stuff you've been up to trying to catch her."

Colton managed a smile. "You heard about that?"

"My friend, it's my job to know everything about you."

Colton hoped not everything .

"I just want the stalker handled as quickly as possible. It's important, Tony."

"Then we'll make it happen. Whatever gets you back to your old self."

His old self . He wasn't even sure who that was anymore.