“I’ll take the cheetah,” I say, pointing to the one Wren liked. He grabs it down with a long hook and hands it to me.
“Here you go,” I say, putting my arm out to hand it to her.
“You won me the cheetah?” she smiles. “Now I feel like I should win you a dog.”
“Well, you did say you liked it.” I flash her grin, and she takes it from me.
“Thank you.”
“What are you going to name her?”
“Goldie.”
“Perfect.” I smile, slinging my arm around her shoulders. “Come on, I need to gloat that I won the bet, and we have bumper cars to ride.”
CHAPTER 30: ARACHNOPHOBIA
WREN
Earlier at the apartment, Tanner called me his friend, but then he won me the little cheetah and picked the bumper cars over the pirate ship. The mixed signals have my head spinning, and the ambiance of the fair is making it worse.
“Y’all want to do the haunted house?” Lacey asks.
“Of course you want to go to the haunted house next,” Poppy says. Logan wraps her up in a hug from behind and kisses her on the cheek.
“Come on, Chatterbox, I’ll keep you safe,” Logan says.
“We’re in,” Donovan says, grabbing Enzo’s hand.
“I’m in,” Jacks says, throwing an arm over Lacey’s shoulder, pulling her into his side.
“Tanner? Wren? Y’all coming?” Lacey asks, smiling.
I rock back on my heels nervously and look over at Tanner. Haunted houses are kinda like scary movies—I usually do my best to skip them. I’m hoping Tanner remembers our conversation from the other night and will help me bail.
“I’ll do it, if you do it,” he says, smirking. “Come on, roomie. Let’s go.”
Asshole. Hot, sweet, incredibly wonderful asshole, but still an asshole.
“I might sit this one out,” I say, clutching the cheetah stuffie in my arms.
“Nope,” Poppy says. “If my anxious ass has to go in this thing, we’re all doing it.”
“She makes a fair point,” Tanner says, popping cotton candy into his mouth. “Come on. Goldie and I will keep you safe.”
“Fine, but the first sighting of a clown with a chainsaw and I’m out.”
“Deal,” he says. “I doubt it’ll be that bad. This is a family fair.” He gestures toward a young family with small kids.
Our group begins to head towards the haunted house which is positioned in the back of the fairgrounds. It’s a bit of a walk, and we all do our best to maneuver through the crowds and stay together, but it’s difficult with the amount of people.
Everyone is paired off, so Tanner hangs back with me. “Cotton candy?” he asks, holding the bag out in my direction.
“Thanks,” I say, grabbing a handful.
“Tonight has been fun,” he says. “I’m glad we got to hang out. After today, I really needed a fun night.”
“I know you did.”
