“Shit,” she swears, stopping and looking at me. “I didn’t even think people might recognize you.” Her hand slips out of mine and I want to grab her hand back.
“Does it bother you?” I ask her, seeing her eyes looking around. “It really doesn’t bother me. Worst case, I have to take a couple of pictures.”
“No,” she says, stepping in close to me, and I swear I stop breathing, “worst case is you throw up on the ride and it goes viral.”
“That pretty much is a worst-case scenario,” I admit, looking around and smiling at a couple of people who have stopped to look. “Now before I run out of here with my tail between my legs, let’s get this over with.”
I slip my hand in hers, this time our fingers intertwined and it feels more intimate. “Okay, so I think we just do the Goliath and call it a day.”
I don’t answer her as she pulls up the park map on her phone. “I think it’s over there.” She points and I try to collect myself.
She zigzags through people, the whole time holding on to my hand until we get to the ride. “Are you tall enough?” she jokes over her shoulder, going through the line of fast pass and I can hear people yelling.
“I think I’m going to be a little sick,” I tell her and she turns back to me, stopping me in my tracks but making her bump into my chest. My hand comes up to grip her hip, while she puts her hand on my chest.
“We don’t have to do this,” she backpedals softly. I move my hand from her hip to the small of her back, and I pull her closer to me. “I’ll still take the job.”
“A deal is a deal,” I tell her, looking into her eyes and then down at her lips before looking back up at her eyes. “We do scary things all the time.”
“You are one of the bravest people I know,” she says softly, and I wonder if she can feel how fast my heart is beating under her hand. I can blame it on the ride, but the reality is that it’s her.
“It’s funny,” I reply, as if there aren’t a thousand people around us, “I was thinking the exact same thing about you.” I let go of her hand and move it to the side of her neck. Both of us staring in each other’s eyes.
“Sorry,” someone says from behind me, interrupting the moment, “are you guys going or can we go ahead of you?”
I chuckle, hanging my head before looking back at him. “We’re going,” I tell him and then drop my hand from her neck to slip back into her hand. “Let’s go.” I walk ahead of her and go to the front of the line.
“This is the line for the first car,” she tells me, looking at me with big eyes.
“Go big or go home, right?” I tell her and she just opens her mouth and then quickly closes it. “Besides”—I pull her closer to me—“I never back down from a dare.”
twenty-one
Lexi
I watch him walk until the end of the row and then he turns to get in line at the first railing. “This is the line for the first car,” I tell him, trying not to freak out and make him even more nervous.
“Go big or go home, right?” he declares and I open my mouth to say something, but then close it again when I feel his thumb rub mine. He pulls me close to him, our chests practically touching, making my stomach flutter as if it’s in a washing machine cycle, spinning it back and forth and then around and around. “Besides, I never back down from a dare.”
All the words I have ever learned in my whole life are erased from my memory. The only things I can focus on are his eyes. His smile. The heat from his hand that is in mine and on the base of my back. “It’s your turn,” the guy behind us says and I close my eyes, trying not to die from embarrassment. I also want to turn around and tell him to fuck off already, we are all going to get a chance to ride the fucking roller coaster.
“We’re going,” I throw over my shoulder, “relax.”
“Here we go,” Kirby mumbles as he steps into the front seat and moves over to sit. He sits down and the man comes over and pushes down the harness over his chest. “Shit, this is getting real.” He looks over at me and I can see his foot moving up and down with nerves. I reach my hand over to put it on his leg, his hand covering mine. “I think I’m going to vomit.”
I don’t want to laugh at him; this big strong man who gave me courage to take the biggest leap of my life is scared of such a small thing. “It’s okay, I’m here.” I turn my hand over in his and he shocks me by raising our hands to his lips as he kisses my fingertips.
“If I die, at least I’ll have kissed a part of you,” he says. I don’t know if he knows he’s said it out loud, as I try to calm my own nerves that are coming on for a whole different reason.
The sound of the lock clicking into place makes it even more real. The attendant comes over to make sure we’re securely in our seat. “Shit, I should have maybe kissed you for real if I’m going to perish.” He then closes his eyes as the roller coaster starts to move. “Shit, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he repeats and I see him swallow as he squeezes my hand. “Oh my God!” he yelps as we move up toward the top. The clicking the whole time is louder than it should be. “In case we die”—he looks over at me—“I should tell you that you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my whole life, and I thought that the very first time I saw you.”
“We’re not going to die,” I tell him. “It’s going to be—” I don’t have a chance to say another word because it drops down and the only thing I can do is watch the fear on his face. He closes his eyes at the same time he screams out, and I feel suddenly horrible for making him do this. The ride lasts maybe two minutes, at most, and when it slows down, I look over at him and see him blinking open his eyes. It comes to a stop and the sound of the lock clicking has my chest decompressed from the harness. I let go of his hand as I push up the red harness, and I’m too ashamed to look at him.
“Wow,” he says, standing up and holding out his hand to me. “That was—” he starts and I blink away the tears.
“It was.” I swallow the lump and step out with him, trying not to freak out the whole time. We walk down the exit route and stop when we see the pictures come on the screen and he bursts out laughing.
“Oh wow,” he says and I look up, seeing the picture of him with his eyes sealed shut so tight his nose is scrunched up and his mouth is wide open. “We are going to buy it,” he states, walking up to the counter. “We are going to need two of those.” He points to the picture on the screen. “Oh, can we get it on a mug also?”
