Once they were situated, the ride operator lowered the lap bar on them and then motioned for the other person in the booth off to the side to move their bucket. Seconds later, they were off the platform and making their way up the side of the wheel.
Every point of contact between Zach and Danielle burned like a summer fire. Her forearm was settled next to his—her hand inches away from his. Her shoulder was pressed into his arm and the warmth of her leg next to his was sending shock waves across his skin and exploding in his body.
They slowly inched to the top of the wheel and Zach wanted to talk to her. To ask her what was going on in her mind. But he couldn’t bring himself to open up to her like that. Fear of rejection gripped his chest causing his tongue to freeze up. He’d about broken in half when she left before. Would he be able to survive if she did it again?
“This is just ridiculous,” Danielle said, drawing his attention over to her. She was tipped forward, surveying the people on the ground below them.
He followed her gaze and began searching every face he could make out. It was hard to make out much. Dark clouds had drifted in around them, surrounding them in a heavy and ominous feeling.
“I mean, why wouldn’t she answer her phone?” Danielle asked, motioning toward her purse. Just as the words left her mouth, her phone rang.
Danielle scrambled to retrieve it from her purse. Seconds later, it was pressed against her cheek. “Hello? Sunny?”
The voice on the other end was muffled but from the relieved expression on Danielle’s face, it was Sunny.
“Oh, you did?”
Pause.
“Okay. Yeah. We’re on the Ferris wheel. We’ll come find you once the movie is over.”
They said their goodbyes and Danielle pressed the end button and slipped her phone back into her purse.
“They’re okay?” Zach asked as he peeked over at Danielle.
She let out her breath. “Yes. Apparently they are playing some old-timey scary movie on the far end of the grounds and Jesse wanted to see it. Sunny didn’t get my messages until now. She said it lasts an hour and then they’d be out.” She glanced over at him, a sense of relief settling around her.
“See, no need to be worried,” he said, nudging her with his shoulder.
She peeked up at him. “Yeah. You’re right. I guess, I just panic sometimes. He’s my world. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him.”
She looked so small and fragile, sitting next to him. He had this deep desire to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her close. He grasped his hands in his lap as he fought the urge. She was just beginning to open up to him. He didn’t want to scare her off. Not now.
Instead, he moved his attention to the world around them. The ride moved until they were at the top of the wheel and then paused. It was amazing to be up that high. The landscape spanned out so far.
“It’s beautiful up here,” she said, her voice was breathy and caused his stomach to lighten.
“It really is.”
A silence fell around them. Her soft sigh was picked up by the wind and floated away.
“Besides the Patriots, what have you been up to since I left?” she asked.
Zach glanced over at her to see her smiling at him. He swallowed as feelings of hope filled his chest. “Not much. School and the NFL have consumed my life.”
She nodded, dropping her gaze down to her hands and fiddling with her nails. “I’m sorry,” she said.
It was so quiet that Zach wondered if he’d even heard her. Leaning in, his movement must have caught her attention because she turned to glance at him.
“You’re sorry?” he asked, holding her gaze.
She chewed her lip and nodded. “Yeah. I left without saying goodbye. That wasn’t fair to you. We’d always been close and I just panicked.” Her worried expression morphed into a shy smile.
Zach wanted to hold her. To let her know that he forgave her. That a lot of mistakes had been made that summer. Mistakes that he wished he could take back. “It’s okay. I was an idiot that summer. I shouldn’t have…done what I did.”
She must have understood what he was saying because just as the words left his lips, her gaze flicked down to his mouth. Then, her cheeks reddened and she turned so she was studying the world beyond the ride. “Yeah. I, um…”
Regret sank in his stomach. What was he doing? Why was he forcing her to face what had happened that summer? If she were anything like him, she was trying to forget all the pain associated with the events like he was.
