I had no idea what to make of Manning. He was hot and cold. Sometimes, I thought there was something between us, but then he went and treated me like a five-year-old. “Why do you care what I do?” I asked.
He laid a heavy hand on my shoulder and it spanned all the way to my neck. His fingertips brushed my skin, his palm warming me. He shook me gently, my entire body swaying. “I’m not attacking you. All I’m saying is be better than that. We’re at a fair. This is supposed to be fun.”
“For who? I feel like I’m tagging along on one of Tiffany’s dates.”
Manning took his hand back and crooked one corner of his mouth. “Trust me. If this was a real date, you wouldn’t be here. She asked if I wanted to go to a carnival with you guys, and it sounded like the kind of innocent fun I haven’t had in a while.” He nodded backward. “So let’s go on a ride. How about the Ferris wheel?”
I widened my eyes. “I told you I can’t.”
“Nah. You’re scared, but I’m going to go with you. You’ll see there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
My heart raced. Not just because Manning had touched me. Not just because he was looking out for me. Mostly because no part of me wanted to get on that ride, but I was considering it just to have some time alone with him. “What about Tiffany?”
“She’ll find us.”
He strolled away. I had to hurry to keep up. Two kids darted between us, nearly knocking me over. “We can do the bumper cars,” I said. “Those are way more fun.”
He looked sidelong at me. “What scares you about the wheel?” he asked. “You don’t like heights?”
It wasn’t that. I sat on the roof all the time. So what was holding me back? I glanced at the ground as we walked. “I don’t know. What if something happens up there and you can’t get out? How do you know it won’t break down or the seat won’t fall off?”
“You just have to trust it.”
“Trust what?” I asked, pointing to the operator. “That guy looks like he’s in high school. How can he be in charge of lives?”
Manning laughed. “I think I understand the issue.”
I furrowed my brows. “What issue?”
“You don’t like to feel out of control. I’m the same, but you have to know when to let go or you’ll drive yourself crazy.”
Sometimes, Tiffany called Dad a control freak. Nobody had ever referred to me that way, though. I was diligent about my schoolwork and when it came to my future. Did that mean I needed to be in control? I wasn’t sure.
We stopped at the ticket booth. Manning leaned into the window and said, “Two adults.” He looked back at me. “You are an adult, right?”
I frowned. “I don’t know—”
“Fourteen and over,” said the ticket taker.
He handed her a ten. “Then two adults.”
“I mean, I don’t know if I can do it,” I said. “I don’t want you to spend the money if—”
“Don’t worry about the money. But try to look younger next time. Save me a few bucks.”
Because his brows weren’t as low and heavy as usual, I was pretty sure he was teasing me. He didn’t do it often enough for me to know.
As we got in line, I tilted my head back to take in the behemoth of a ride—the creaks of the machinery, the gum-chewing, spaced-out attendant, the kids tilting their car in the sky to see how far forward they could make it swing. Adults just stood around, smiling at them. You had to be a certain height to ride. Manning was probably twice that. Unfortunately, I came in with plenty of room, too.
If I was going to get on this thing, I had to distract myself. Already, my stomach felt uneasy. There were a lot of people out tonight, waiting in line for corndogs, getting quarters for the arcade games, spinning postcard stands outside a souvenir shop. “What would you normally be doing tonight?” I asked Manning.
“Some nights I have class. Since it’s the weekend, I’d probably be at a bar.”
“Oh.” College and bars—that was a whole other world to me. “What’s your class for?”
“Criminal justice. I want to be a cop.”
Even though my mouth popped open, I hoped I didn’t look as shocked as I felt. I couldn’t picture him in uniform. “Like a police officer?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He scratched his chin. It might’ve been the first time he didn’t look at me like I was from a different planet. “Why?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. He was mysterious. Rugged. Hard to pin down. To be honest, he seemed more like an outlaw than a peacekeeper. I didn’t want to insult him, though, so I tried to think of something else to say.
“Lake?”
I blinked. The way he said my name brought me back to Earth. I thought I could be on a rocket to the moon and come crashing back in an instant when he called for me. “What?”
“You can tell me what you’re thinking. I don’t have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have, I like them to be honest.”