She still looked completely flustered. “But what do I do with it?”
“Hell if I know. Toss it on your bed like all those throw pillows you have.”
“Well...” she still acted undecided, but I could see the yearning in her eyes. The girl wanted her stuffed animal. Finally, she relented with a quiet, heartfelt, “Thank you.” She blinked and I swore to God, if she dropped a single tear, I was going to drag her to the first quiet, shadowy nook and kiss her senseless.
But, really, what kind of heartless parents didn’t give their kid a stuffed animal? Even my freak show of a mother had tossed a dirty, dog-mauled teddy bear with an ear torn off at me one year for Christmas.
Needing to steer us away from anything emotional, I tugged on her hand. “That’s it. Time to take you on the rides and see how sturdy your stomach is.”
“Oh, I don’t... No, that’s okay.” Eyes widening, expression instantly leery, she shook her head and resisted my lead.
“What? You’re not scared, are you? Don’t worry. We’ll start out easy. How about the Ferris wheel?”
“The Ferris wheel?” Her eyes bulged even wider. “But that’s the biggest, tallest thing in the entire park.”
“Oh, come on. You have to try it out at least once.”
It was surprisingly easy to talk her into it; I think she secretly wanted to go but was nervous.
After buying tickets, we got into line behind a bunch of kids. We were by far the oldest two people waiting to board.
Leaning toward me, Aspen murmured, “This is silly. Let’s just go.”
“Nope. You’re not chickening out on me.” I tightened my grip on her hand, keeping her close as I stared up at the Ferris wheel as it slowed to let a pair of giggling girls off.
Her back immediately stiffened, and I saw some of her professor-self sprout on her features. It was kind of hot. “I am not chickening out. I’m—”
“Chickening out.” I grinned smugly, daring her to contradict me.
“Fine,” she snapped, turning to face the ride. “Let’s go on the Ferris wheel ride, then.”
“Good,” I spit back. “Because it’s our turn to load.”
“What?” Her fingers squeezed around mine as she whimpered. “Oh, God. Noel, wait.”
Pulling her along, I helped her into the seat the guy was holding open for us before I hopped up beside her. She looked so nervous, her fingers wrapped around the safety bar until the bones in her knuckles tried to poke through her skin.
Needing to distract her, I bumped my elbow into hers. “You know, the first kiss I ever had happened on the top of a Ferris wheel.”
Aspen turned wide eyes to me. “What was it like?”
I bunched up the features on my face as if to say meh. “Wet and sloppy. We were both pretty clumsy, but then, we were only eight.” I winced. “And her parents saw the whole thing. They dragged her off as soon as we landed, chastising her for going anywhere near the nasty Gamble boy." With a sigh, I shrugged. "She never talked to me at school again."
When I noticed Aspen was giving me an odd stare, I asked, "What?"
The corners of her lips fluttered up with a smile. "I actually meant, what was the ride like."
“Oh. Well...” Just as our cart jerked into motion and we were lifted into the air, I reached out to cover her hand. “Time to find out.”
She sucked in a breath and leaned toward me. As the wheel paused to let more people on, Aspen gulped audibly and leaned forward to gaze out at everything we could see from this height. “Wow.”
“I know.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“I think…I think...it’s the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.” Tears glistened in her eyes and there was no way I could do nothing.
Leaning in, I pressed a brief, polite kiss to her cheek. As I pulled back, Aspen touched her damp skin with two fingers and glanced at me.
Feeling more self-conscious after this small peck than all the open-mouthed, heated kisses we'd shared before, I cleared my throat and tried to shrug it off. “What? It’s a tradition for me. And your parents aren’t here to take you away afterward, so...why not?”
Her lips lifted into a smile, and I blew out a relieved breath, glad she wasn’t pissed.
We spent the rest of the ride in quiet contentment, taking in the reflection of the sunset off the water of the river below.
“Okay, that was fun,” she admitted once our feet were back on solid ground.
“Aren’t you glad I made you try it?”
Lifting her chin, she tightened her lips as if to hold in a grin, but I saw it anyway. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
“So what now? Bumper cars? The scrambler?”
“I have a better idea.” Grasping on my hand, she started off. I followed, charmed by this carefree, eager side of her.
When we passed a tent, she dodged right, taking me into the quiet, shadowed spot next to it, squeezing us between canvas and the hut holding the puppet show.
“Wha...?”