He squeezes my hand and pulls me close, spinning me to stand in front of him so he can wrap his arms around me from behind. The night air is chilly, so I’ve stolen his sweatshirt again. “Yep. It’s my favorite. You scared?”
“Uh, yea. Do you see how high that is?”
He smiles against my temple. “It’s totally safe, I swear. Look—little kids are getting on. You’re going to love it, I promise.”
We move forward in line and it’s almost our turn. I look longingly behind us at the Merry-Go-Round.
“You got this, Willa. But if you really don’t want to, we can do something else. You pick.”
Knox is sweet, and that’s kind of new for me. I’ve never had any boyfriends, but I’ve hung out with guys and fooled around, had sex a couple times. None of them so much as asked me what I liked on my pizza, let alone cared enough to give up their favorite thing for me. Besides, he spent his whole day doing exactly what I wanted, right down to the cheese fries. So, I can be brave. “Nope. I can do this.”
His eyes glisten as he smiles. “You won’t regret it. Wait til we get to the top. The view is pretty awesome from up there.”
“Yea, if I’m able to open my eyes and look,” I tease.
“If you get scared, just hold on to me,” he says as we step onto the ride.
We sit down, and Knox starts to buckle us in, but that little door hardly looks big or sturdy enough to keep us on this ride. I scooch forward to fiddle with the lock.
“What are you doing? Here, let me help,” he unlatches the door and closes it firmly, accidentally catching the cuff of his sweatshirt on the handle. I pull back so it doesn’t get caught, but I’m a second too late, I realize, as I hear the rip of fabric. Knox holds my wrist still and gently unhooks his sweatshirt sleeve. It’s got a little tear I realize as I sit back and buckle in. “I am so sorry. Your shirt. It’s ripped, and—”
He fingers the shredded cotton cuff. “It’s no big deal. It’s not technically my sweatshirt. Well, it is now, I guess. But if it says Rockvale, that means I stole it from my buddy Booker at some point. Besides, I like it this way. Gives it character.”
I relax back into the seat until we start moving. The swaying motion has me a little uneasy, so when Knox pulls me close and wraps his arm around my shoulders, I don’t resist.
We make our way up toward the top, looking down at the theme park below as we seem to float in the sky.
“It’s pretty up here, right?” he asks and I nod. The sun has set and night is falling, the stars peeking through the sky. I lean my head against his shoulder and close my eyes. It’s dangerous to feel this close, this comfortable with anyone, but Knox makes it so easy to just be.And I promised myself this morning that today was for me—just one day to indulge and be carefree. That’s not too much to ask, right? I’m a consummate rule-follower, so what can it hurt to cuddle up with a cute guy on a theme park ride? That’s got to be some sort of rite-of-passage.
He traces my fingers, my hand, my wrist, just as he drops a kiss on the spot behind my ear. I suck in a breath at the contact.
“You good?” he asks, tipping my face up toward him.
“Really good.”
“You smell like cherries or flowers or something. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t get enough of it.”
I mean to tell him the name of my lotion, but words escape me as he kisses my cheek, my jaw, my lips. I turn and deepen the kiss. Suddenly, I don’t care so much that we’re fifty feet or more in the air.
Until we stop. The little carriage lurches forward and I gasp. “Knox, what is happening?”
“Nothing, baby,” he tells me. “They’re just letting people off below us.”
That’s what I figured, too, but the ride is fully stopped now. “I don’t think so. Can you look down? Did something happen?”
He squeezes my shoulder as he looks over the edge. “Seems fine. They’re probably just stopping us for a minute. We’ll start again soon,” he tells me soothingly. And I’d believe him, but then a voice comes over the loud speaker.
Attention Ferris wheel riders: We have had to momentarily stop the ride. Please stay seated in your cars. The issue will be solved quickly, and we’ll resume the ride as soon as possible.
A chill rolls down my spine, but Knox holds me close. “Baby, it’s ok. I’ve got you. We’re good.”
I lean back into him, willing my body to relax. He senses my tension, and his hands roam my body, caressing each curve.
“Let me distract you?” he asks, his voice rough, but sweet.
I answer him with a kiss. Ok, we’re definitely doing more than cuddling, but I’m eighteen. A senior in high school, just about to graduate. I have the rest of my life to follow the rules, so it’s ok to break a few with Knox, I tell myself as his lips sweep over mine. He doesn’t break our connection, but traces a path down my body, over my breasts, and I gasp at the contact, instinctively spreading my legs and thanking whatever gods exist that I wore stretchy little shorts.
God help me, but I’m a fool for Knox Gallagher. On paper, we don’t work, but it feels so good to be in his arms. In no world should I be spreading my legs, tossing my head back, and inviting his body into mine, but all my mind can process right now is the attention he’s giving me. And that’s so bad, but it feels so good.
