"Big and cuddly?" Riley asked. "I'll take that comparison. Come on, let's go on the Ferris wheel." He grabbed both of our hands and started to pull us along behind him.
"Will they let me on with this?" I nodded towards the bear.
"They better," Riley said. He bought us tickets and led us to the gate as the Ferris wheel slowed to allow us to climb into a car.
Since no one stopped me from taking the bear, I placed it down at my feet and got comfortable on one side of the long bench. Connor sat beside me and Riley opposite us.
"Wait until you see the view from the top," Riley said as the car started to wobble and move.
"I'm surprised you don't have a Ferris wheel tour," I teased.
Connor snorted. "This doesn't go fast enough for us. If it did, I'd be all over it."
"That would be sick," Riley said. "Gravity-defying Ferris wheel."
"I'm starting to think I shouldn't have given you the idea," I said jokingly. "Next thing, you'll have one of those and a rollercoaster that starts at the very top of the mountain and goes all the way down."
"That would rock, but it wouldn't be good for the environment," Connor said. "If we could have one inside the mountain…"
"You'd have to be a billionaire to do that," I said. "By the time it was built, you'd be a millionaire."
A ride inside the mountain probably wasn't good for the environment either.
They both laughed.
"Accurate." Connor shifted over and draped an arm over my shoulder. "Let's enjoy this. Look, we can see the lake from here."
I looked out over the lights of the town, and beyond to where Lake Aurora reflected the festival lights, the water glittering.
"We'll be skating on that in a few weeks," Riley said. "I fucking love this town. I remember guys from school leaving because they said there was nothing to do, but there's so. Fucking. Much. How could anyone be bored here?"
"And when it rains, you can read mafia romance books," I said.
He stared at me for a moment, before making a face. "Fucking Whitney. Connor, your sister has a big mouth."
Connor's body shook slightly as he laughed. "If you're ashamed of what you read?—"
"I'm not," Riley said quickly. "Leah and I would have gotten around to that sooner or later. If you want to borrow any of my books, you're welcome to." He nodded.
"Same here," I told him. "Have you ever read dinosaur romance?"
"What… You know what, never mind." Connor shook his head. "I don't want to know."
Riley grinned and mouthed, "He'd totally read those."
"I can lip-read you know," Connor said dryly. After a moment he added, "I might try one. A guy gets curious."
"You might even learn something," Riley told him.
Connor flipped him off with both hands.
I laughed softly and looked out over the edge of the car.
I froze. Frowned.
I must be seeing things. He couldn't possibly be here.
I squinted as he turned his face up towards me. My lips dropped apart.
