I breathe out and then take his hand. “Fine.”
“Have fun you two,” Poppy calls behind us, smirking.
“Wait, y’all aren’t coming?” I question.
“No, I think we’re gonna hang down here,” Logan yells behind us as we disappear toward the ferris wheel.
The line is short, so we walk right up to board. Tanner pulls the lap bar down, and the wheel begins to move, taking us higher.
I move closer to him, shutting my eyes.
I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die.
“You’re safe,” he says “Open your eyes. The view is beautiful.”
My chest is tight with anxiety, and I’m doing my best to control my breathing, but I’m terrified. I squint my eyes open and find Tanner staring at me. Not the fair.Me.
“You’re safe,” he repeats.
“This is terrifying,” I say. “What if it gets stuck?”
“It’s not going to get stuck,” he says. “You can release the death grip on the cheetah. Goldie didn’t force you on here.”
I release my grip a little and set the stuffed cheetah in my lap. Breathing out, I scoot a little closer to where he sits. The wheel moves down and around and then starts to climb again.
“We’re going around again?”
“Yeah, a few times, but you’re okay.” He settles his arm around my shoulders.
“I think I’m just going to look at you because if I look out or down, I’m afraid I’m going to get sick.”
“That’s fine,” he chuckles, fixing his gaze back on me. “Would it help if we talked about something else,” he offers.
“No.”
“Okay,” he says with a laugh.
The wheel continues to move, and we sit in silence, staring into each other’s eyes. He attempts a funny face, and I let out a little giggle. My stomach begins to flip, and I’m not sure if it’s our proximity, or him being so nice, but I know I don’t hate it. In fact, I really like being close to him.
The wheel makes another round, and my heart drops as we make it back to the top. Then, it stops.
“Why did it stop?” I shout.
“Relax, I think it’s supposed to,” he says.
“You think?”
“Well it’s been a while since I’ve ridden a ferris wheel, but I think they usually stop at the top at least once. It’ll start moving again soon.”
I fidget with Goldie, accidentally letting my gaze drop. I realize how high up we are, and I immediately panic.
“Tanner, it’s not moving.” I shift closer to him, and the seat begins to rock. “Tanner, I’m, like, really freaking the fuck out. It needs to start moving. Why isn’t it moving?” I bury my head into his chest and try to slow my breathing.
His hand finds my back, and he starts to rub slow, calming circles around my spine. “It’ll start moving in a minute.”
“Attention folks! Looks like it’s stuck. Please remain seated, and we’ll get y’all down as soon as possible,” the operator calls through a megaphone.
“It’s going to be okay,” he assures me.
