Would you rather eat your hand, or never play baseball again?
Would you rather go back in time, or see the future?
Would you rather fart forever, or continually pee?
Would you rather walk in on your parents doing it, or have them walk in on you?
Would you rather use sand paper as toilet paper, or vinegar as eye drops?
“Where are you taking us? We are miles away from campus and, well, civilization.” We passed a sign that said we were in a village.
“Almost there. Trust me, pooks, you’ll have fun.” She hummed to herself and finally turned into a parking lot. Hundreds of cars were already there. Lines of people ran into the entrance. Balloons, rides, horses and cotton candy filled the air with sound and noise. She’d taken me to a fair.
“Greta?”
“I don’t care what you think. You’re my fake boyfriend and a fake boyfriend goes to the fair. He buys his girlfriend cotton candy and holds her hand on rides.” She turned off the engine and crossed her arms, studying me. “You love rides, Ronnie. Don’t get shy on me.”
“No. I’m not shy. I’m surprised, that’s all.” I grinned, her excitement getting me eager. “I haven’t been to a fair this big since I was a kid.”
“Well, let’s get the hell in there!” She cheered, jumping out of the car. I followed her crazy ass into the line and laughed when she pointed out all the actors on stilts. “Look, Aaron. Ah! The clown is creepy as hell.”
We got to the stand and I graciously declined her offer to pay. “Gabs, I’m buying.”
“It’s my treat. You buy the food, big guy.” She patted my chest and shoved her credit card at the young guy. “Let me treat you, hot stuff.”
I tried again to pay, but the schmuck had already run her card. The gesture meant a lot to me. I knew how tight money was for her. She handed me my ticket and I pulled her in for a quick hug. “You didn’t need to do that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She then smacked my ass with a wild grin. “I wanted to check to see if the stick came out yet. It’s almost there.”
“God.” I laughed, grabbing hold of her hand to slow her down and to get used to the act. “Let me take a picture of us before we get high on sugar.”
“Our first selfie.” She pressed her cheek to the side of mine, and I snapped a picture of us. “Here’s to day one of one hundred and eighty.”
Chapter Five
Greta
We wandered around the fairground for an hour without getting on a ride. I was desperate to ride the tilt-a-whirl. We passed it three times, Aaron ignoring it each time. He still held on to my hand, and I couldn’t say it wasn’t pleasant. His hand engulfed mine, his callouses feeling good against my soft skin. Neither one of us were a hand holder, but it wasn’t for my lack of trying. I cringed, a flash of Todd’s face intruding.No, thank you. Goodbye, Todd.
“Ronnie, we are going on that ride.” I hit his hip with mine. “It’ll be fun.”
“I’m having plenty of fun without the metal of doom ride.” He shaded his eyes and looked all the way to the top of it. “I prefer to live. How about we do a different one?”
“I’m doing you a favor. You dothisone for me.” I jutted my chin out at him, challenging him to deny the fact. He clearly didn’t care. He just shook his head.
“Chickenshit.” I released his hand and was about to head to a different one, but his arms come around my neck. My back pressed to his chest, his head resting on the spot between my neck and shoulder. I shivered and broke out in goosebumps. He’d never had any problem getting in my personal space. Ever. But the fake-girlfriend shit made me nervous. Jumpy. Paranoid.Ugh, pull yourself together.
His strong, tight body tensed against me. He could break me with one squeeze if he wanted. He was that strong. And those massive biceps trapped me, preventing me from taking another step toward. I gulped, wiggling against him to try to escape. It was a pathetic attempt.
“Nice try, shrimp.”
“Let me go, you barbarian!” I swung my legs up, but a low chuckle began in his belly. “Are you laughing at me right now?”
“Yes. You’re all arms and legs. No muscle.”
“Thanks, asshole,” I said to his forearm. The forearm that was close enough to bite. An idea came to me. He lowered his mouth to my ear and I forgot my thought.
“Did you or did you not call me a chickenshit?” he whispered, his breath tingling my ear.
