“Then he won’t mind if I borrow you for a while.” Reece turned up his palm in invitation.
I looked down at Reece’s hand and a thrill raced through me, but I couldn’t do it. I left it hanging in the air.
“What are you doing here?” Jeremy asked him, emboldened by my hesitation. “I thought you were suspended.”
Reece shrugged. “It’s a public park. I bought a ticket.”
“Yeah, so did I! For Nearly!”
I stepped back, jaw hanging open as if Jeremy had slapped me. He’d crossed a line. I was no rent-a-girl.
Without a word, I slipped my sleeve over my fingers and reached for Reece’s hand.
? ? ?
Reece guided me through the sweet fried funnel cake smells, past roller coasters and bumper cars, until we were climbing to a shady wooden platform. I stopped midway, holding up the line for the log flumes.
“What are we doing here?”
“What’s it look like we’re doing?” He squinted at me through his puffy purple eye, and the butterfly bandage crimped the skin.
“I’m sorry.” I gestured to his broken face. “Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine. Believe me, I’ve been through worse.” He tried to smile, but the split in his lip was tight and swollen, threatening to crack. “But if you want to make me feel better. . .” He arched an eyebrow toward the ride. People barked behind us to keep the line moving.
“Okay! Just quit bleeding already!”
Reece laughed, and I followed him up the ramp to the boarding platform. He took the backseat of a narrow boat, and I dropped a cautious foot into the front, but the attendant stopped me. “Oh, no, sweetheart. Two to a seat.” She ushered the next couple into the front and nudged me. There was only one seat left, and it was in Reece’s lap.
“What are you waiting for?” he teased.
My stomach did that flip thing. The attendant nudged me again and I fumbled my way into the boat. Reece grabbed the back of my sweatshirt and pulled me down between his legs.
My face was on fire as the boat rocked away from the platform and sluiced down the flume. I leaned forward, gripping the metal rails. After a few easy turns, the boat lurched onto the first incline and the gears ground us upward with a slow steady click, click, click. Gravity pulled me back against his chest. It was hard and soft at the same time, and even as I clenched my stomach muscles, I felt myself sink into him as the boat climbed higher. My head rested in the hollow of his shoulder, his neck too close to my temple. I concentrated on the water, reminded myself of the steep drop at the end of the ride, but all I could feel was the rise and fall of his breathing, how steady it was compared to mine.
“Are you scared?” He breathed in my ear, but I felt it everywhere.
I was petrified. “Maybe.”
The flume creaked, suspended for a heartbeat before it fell, and my stomach dropped. I screamed and pressed into him.
We sloshed, giggling and dripping wet through a few mellow turns and eased back to the platform. My knees wobbled when I stood up.
Reece shook out his hair as we descended the wooden ramp, spraying me with droplets that rolled down my glasses. When I looked up, Reece was looking at me again, the way he had in the booth at the diner.
His smile fell away and he stepped in close, closer. Too close until I couldn’t breathe. He lifted a hand to my face.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
“I didn’t mean to . . .” He pressed his lips shut, then tried again. “I wasn’t going to . . . your face is . . . wet. . . .” He spoke softly and looked at me through one deeply sad eye.
I didn’t move. Didn’t turn away. Didn’t stop him when his hand came up slowly this time. Would it be so bad to let him touch me, right now, when I knew he was thinking about me? To know what he really wanted? To know if any of this was real?
His hand cupped my face, thumb sliding between my glasses and my cheek, smoothing droplets of water over my skin. Heat radiated under his fingers, like sunlight. Brushed over my sunburned skin like a warm wind. I closed my eyes and inhaled summer, heard laughter over the screams and shouts from the rides.
Reece’s thumb pulled away first. I grabbed on to his wrist, wanting to hold on to the unexpected and beautiful piece of him I’d just tasted. But it was gone. An icy sensation trailed down my spine, hair prickling over the back of my neck. I opened my eyes, confused, and found Reece staring angrily over my shoulder.
His rage slid into my veins. I let go of him and turned to see Oleksa and Lonny sitting on a park bench, watching us. Lonny reclined with one arm swung casually over the seatback. Oleksa perched next to him, elbows propped on his knees. He massaged his bruised knuckles, his eyes locked on Reece’s. A silent conversation passed between the three of them. Were they really so different? Reece and Lonny and Oleksa?