Roustabout (The Traveling #3) Read Online Free Page A

cup to go, before heading out and hauling ass eastward.
    I loved the Midwest—friendly people and wide-open spaces. My kind of place.
    Our destination was the Carver County fairground in Waconia, about 20 miles from St. Paul. Aimee was excited because she’d be near enough to visit her family. Kes was less thrilled, knowing that his asshole father was also close by, but he’d get to see his sister.
    Thank Christ I hadn’t hooked up with her last spring before I found out who she was. Shit would have been more than a little uncomfortable.
    My gut twisted at the thought, but I did my best to ignore it.
    The county fair took place later in the year, but several traveling shows like ours used the empty lots from Easter onwards. I’d visited for the first time the year before when it had been just me and Zef as Hawkins’ Daredevils. We’d done okay, putting on a pretty good show, but there was no denying that Kes was the star attraction, and without him we’d struggled to make the big bookings.
    I was nearly as good a stunt rider as him, because I had no fear—not of dying anyway. I wasn’t trying to kill myself, I just didn’t care either way.
    But I couldn’t do that extra shit he did—the fire juggling and what Aimee called ‘being a showman’. Kes had spent his whole life in the carnival; I’d done 12 years, and I still didn’t know everything there was to know. Along with the freedom, that was one of the things I loved about this life: every day was different, and I didn’t have to stay still.
    With Kes back in the game, we were packing them into the smaller showgrounds and with luck, we’d be able to get back to some of the bigger, better-paying arenas next year. Kes and Aimee needed the money badly. I didn’t care for myself, but they deserved more.
    It was nearly 11AM by the time I pulled into the fairground two hours behind already, thanks to me. The pin for the Ferris wheel was in place, stark against the pale blue sky. All around, there was a buzz of activity as families settled in and the roustabouts started to erect the games and slides, sideshows and rides.
    I inched the rig toward the faded grandstand where we’d be setting up and put the rig in park, letting the diesel engine stutter and die.
    Zef and I both jumped out and I stretched my back to work out some of the stiffness. Zef was already around the back unlocking the trailer’s doors.
    “Welcome to Minnesota.”
    I turned around, surprised to see Kes’s sister sitting on a bench in front of the grandstand, hiding a smile.
    “Well, if it isn’t Miss Hawkins. You’re lookin’ prettier than ever. You sure you’re related to Kes?”
    An arm hooked around my neck as Kes dragged me away, folding my arm behind my back painfully.
    “No hitting on my sister, motherfucker!”
    “Wouldn’t that make me a sister-fucker?” I asked, then regretted it immediately as Kes punched me in the ribs.
    “Your mouth is writing checks your body can’t pay, asshole,” he grunted.
    He let me go, and I stood up, rubbing my sore ribs.
    “Sorry, Miss Hawkins,” I called out. “But you call me anytime you want, sugar.”
    She laughed as Kes started to chase me, and I had to make like Usain Bolt.
    I jogged back to the showground to get started on emptying the rig with Zef and Luke. Kes was pretty well healed after breaking his back eighteen months ago, but he wasn’t supposed to do too much of the heavy lifting. Aimee would get on his case if he did, and man! That woman had a set of lungs on her once she started.
    We’d gotten it down to fine art, hauling out the ramps and setting up in the showground, but it was hot work and I was sweating like a pig. I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt, then concentrated on tightening the bolts on the jump ramps.
    The humidity was a bitch, so we were all relieved when set-up was finished. Luke and Zef went to grab showers while I decided to do a quick walk-through before I lost the light.
    I was surprised to