Letting out a huff, Taylor said, “Well, um, there’s like a million calories in that.”
“Baby,” Ryder said, as he wrapped his arm around Taylor’s waist and pulled her to him. “I’ll burn them off later tonight,” he said, sucking on her neck and grabbing a handful of her ass.
“Ew, gross,” Sarah said.
“Oh, come on, Sarah!” Taylor giggled. “Quit being so immature, you’re not a virgin.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said hesitantly.
Wait, what? Was Sarah a virgin or something?
Looking up at me, Sarah gave a small smile. It didn’t give her dimples and something told me in my gut that something wasn’t right. Leaning down I whispered into her ear, “Is everything okay?”
Nodding her head, Sarah said, “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. Something just seems off,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
Waving her hand, Sarah said, “Oh no, I’m fine,” and attempted to give me a big smile.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head. “Where would you like to sit?”
Looking up at me with an amused look on her face, Sarah said, “The front.”
“Why’s that?”
“So you can see everything!” Sarah said with a huge smile on her face.
While we both stood quiet, patiently waiting for the line to move, both Sarah and I couldn’t help but watch Ryder and Taylor. They were either bickering back and forth or practically fucking in the line. It didn’t really matter. Both acts were annoying as shit.
Before I knew it, Sarah was cheering, “Oh yay, it’s our turn!” She stepped down into the seat. Once all of the instructions were read out loud, the roller coaster started to move. While we went up the long, steep hill, Sarah cheered and giggled. “I’m so excited!”
Even though I was excited about the roller coaster and the view, as our car dipped down the hill I was looking at a much better view—the way Sarah’s hair blew in the wind. Her huge smile and that infectious laughter. I couldn’t believe that just a little under a month ago Sarah and I were… nothing.
***
Pulling into his driveway, Ryder said, “All right, I’m going to bed.”
“But what about—” Taylor started to say but Ryder cut her off. “Babe, I’m exhausted.”
Pouting, Taylor crossed her arms and whined, “Fine.”
I squeezed Sarah’s hand. After she looked up into my eyes, I nodded my head towards her house. “I’ll walk you to your house.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Today was a lot of fun.”
Smiling, Ryder said, “Yeah, today was fucking awesome,” and reached his hand out to give me a fist bump.
“Later, dude.” Turning towards Taylor, who was still pouting, I said, “See ya.”
“See ya guys later,” Taylor muttered underneath her breath.
Out of hearing distance I said, “Wow, that girl is a piece of work.”
“She’s a bitch,” Sarah blurted.
Letting out a laugh, I said, “Yeah, I guess.”
Stopping at her front door, Sarah started to let go of my hand. Looking up at me, she asked, “What?”
Releasing her hand, I placed my hands on either side of her waist and pushed her up against the front door.
“What are you doing, Gabe?” she breathlessly asked, placing her hands on my forearms.
Leaning my head down, I said, “Kissing you.” As soon as my lips met hers, Sarah moaned against my mouth. Moving my hands up to her face, I kept her face still. Kissing closed mouth for a minute or two, I pulled away. Sarah’s eyes were closed but they slowly fluttered open. Smiling down at her, I said, “Good night, Sarah.”
“Sw – sweet dreams, Gabe,” she stuttered.
Even though we both said our goodbyes, neither of us made a move to leave the other.
I didn’t want to leave but I made the first move. I knew she was exhausted because she fell asleep against my shoulder on the way back from the park. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I whispered. Leaning in, I gave another peck on her lips and pulled back.
“Okay,” she whispered. Turning around, she started to unlock the front door so I headed down the stairs.
“Gabe,” she said.
“Yeah?” I asked, spinning around to face her.
“I—” she started to say but stopped.
“Yes, Sarah?” I asked again.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said sadly.
Nodding my head, I said, “Yes, you will.” Once Sarah got into her house and locked the door, I started to walk to my car, which I parked in her driveway. Pulling my key out, I started to unlock the door but I stopped. I could feel eyes on me. Looking up at her house, I saw Sarah standing by her bedroom window with a smile on her face.
I waved to her and watched as this beautiful smile came across her face. She waved at me. I smiled and then got in my car. I pulled out of her driveway and drove the few minutes to my house. The only thing that ran through my mind was that I wondered what Sarah was going to say to me, but didn’t. I wondered if it was the same thought that I had. The one I wanted to tell her but was too chicken shit to…was that I loved her.
Chapter 7