CHAPTER TEN
They finally made it to Denver which meant they had two full days off, the first break after eight days of back-to-back shows, and both Tyler and Amy arrived shortly after the guys checked into the hotel.
Everyone spent the afternoon at the pool, but now the two couples were spending their evenings alone, so Harris and Wolf were on their own.
This was one-on-one quality time Harris was looking forward to, which didn’t happen often with the busy tour schedule.
“I guess it’s me and you tonight. What do you want to do?” Harris asked Wolf, who was sitting on the couch channel surfing.
“I don’t know. Let’s do something fun. I’ll call the concierge and see what’s going on.
” After a quick call, Wolf tossed his phone on the coffee table and headed to the large window.
“There’s a festival nearby. The guy at the concierge counter said you can see it from here.
Look.” He pointed out the window. “There it is. It looks like an amusement park.”
“An amusement park?” Harris repeated, a lilt in his voice. He joined Wolf at the window and saw bright lights and a giant Ferris wheel in the distance. “I haven’t been to an amusement park since I was a kid.”
“Me neither. Ethan’s parents took us to the LA County Fair when we were kids. There was so much to see and do.”
The idea of being in a crowded place like a festival or an amusement park started to worry Harris. A lot of things could go wrong. He chewed his lip as he contemplated the risks. They could get bombarded by fans with nowhere to escape. “We’ll need security. A lot of security.”
“No problem. They’re right outside. We’ll tell Paul to get extra guys. I’ll even buy them cotton candy.”
Harris’ face lit up with a smile. This was nuts, but he didn’t want to pass it up. “OK. Let’s do it.”
Paul sent them six bodyguards and a private car and driver, and alerted security at the festival of their arrival. They entered in a tight bubble of muscle, which caused people to momentarily stare, but they quickly lost interest.
“There’s so much going on.” Wolf turned in a semi-circle. “What do you want to do first? Eat one of those foot-long hot dogs or go on the roller coaster?”
“Unless you want to wear the hot dog, I think we should go on the roller coaster first.”
The roller coaster was a total adrenaline rush, but at one point, Wolf looked as if he might either hurl or shit his pants.
“I wasn’t ready for that,” Wolf admitted after they exited the ride. “I don’t remember roller coasters being so fast and twisty.”
“Then I guess that one’s out.” Harris pointed to a coaster that had loops and went backwards.
“Definitely out. Let’s play a game.” After losing at a ring toss game and failing at knocking over the milk bottle pyramid, Harris won a giant panda bear by shooting a basketball through the hoop.
“I can’t believe I won!” Harris held the huge stuffed bear out in front of him. “I guess I should find some kid to give this thing to.”
“No way.” Wolf pulled it out of Harris’ hands and hugged it to his chest. “I love this guy.”
“He’s yours.” Wolf looked adorable and so happy walking through the festival with the enormous bear, but it was cumbersome. “Do you want me to carry it for a little while or put it in the car so we can grab a beer and get something to eat?”
Wolf handed the bear off to one of the bodyguards with a pleading smile. “Do you mind?”
The bodyguard didn’t mind at all, especially since Wolf slipped him some cash.
The next stop was at a concession stand where they got a couple of beers and oversized pretzels. Wolf even bought cotton candy for the bodyguards.
They continued to walk through the festival and came upon the giant Ferris wheel they’d seen from the window of the hotel. Harris stopped to look up at its impressive height. “Wow. It looks a lot bigger up close.”
“Come on.” Wolf pulled him toward the ride. “We gotta go on it.”
The best part about being famous is that they didn’t have to wait on the long line and got seated right away.
It might seem unfair, but getting surrounded and harassed while waiting your turn wasn’t much better.
To make up for it, they smiled and waved while a few people took photos and videos with their phones.
The revolution of the Ferris wheel was slow and offered full view of the festival and surrounding area. But as they ascended higher the car started to sway back and forth, which made Harris nervous.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” Wolf teased.
“No.”
“You are. You’re scared.” Wolf let out a sinister laugh and rocked in his seat, making the car swing dangerously.
“Stop it!” Harris’s heart lurched, and he grabbed onto the safety bar with a death grip.
The smile fell off Wolf’s face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were serious. Are you afraid of heights?”
“No.” Normally, he wasn’t, but this frigging thing was about 300 feet in the air, and all he could think about was how the Ferris wheel in Final Destination fell apart. “I watch too much TV. Didn’t you see Final Destination?”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t the Ferris wheel. It was the roller coaster, so we already cheated death.
Harris furrowed his brow as he thought about the movie. He clearly remembered it being the Ferris wheel. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I just saw that one a couple of weeks ago.”
Harris wasn’t sure he felt any better since Wolf pointed out that they already cheated death, but he couldn’t think about that now, since the Ferris wheel was still ascending into the sky.
It felt as if they were higher than the clouds.
He white-knuckled the safety bar when they hit the highest point, and then the Ferris wheel stopped.
He felt all the color drain from his face and slowly lowered his gaze.
“Don’t look down,” Wolf quickly said. “Relax. You look like you’re gonna snap that bar in half.”
Harris immediately let go and then quickly grabbed it again as panic set in when he realized he wasn’t holding on.
Wolf’s strong hand landed on Harris’ and held it tightly, so they were both holding the bar. “Calm down. You’re fine. Look.” He pointed in the distance. “There’s our hotel.”
Harris squinted at the buildings and lights ahead that looked a million miles away. “Where?”
“Right there. The tall building with the lights around the top and the big antenna.”
Harris found it and imagined them looking out at the festival earlier. “Oh, yeah. I see it.” The Ferris wheel jolted as it started again, and he jumped.
“We’re on our way down. We’ll be on the ground in no time.” Wolf put his arm around Harris, cupped his shoulder with one hand, and scooted closer. “I got you.”
The earth could be tilting on its axis right now and the Ferris wheel could be toppling over, and all Harris could think about was that the length of their bodies were touching from shoulder to knee.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah.” Harris didn’t know if “better” could describe how he felt.
His heart was racing out of control, and his nerves were frazzled, but in a good way.
The tension left his body, and he leaned into the crook of Wolf’s shoulder, even taking the liberty of resting his head into Wolf’s.
A soft breeze came and blew a long lock of Wolf’s hair in Harris’ face and tickled his nose, and he tried to blow it away, because he wasn’t taking a hand off the safety bar.
Wolf brushed the length of hair away, but he needed to remove his hand from on top of Harris’ in order to do so.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” Harris protested, for purely selfish reasons. They were more than halfway down to the ground by now.
“You’re just a big baby.” Wolf smiled and took Harris’ hand again, this time bringing it to his chest. “Look, you’re only holding on with one hand.”
Harris smiled, because they were so low to the ground now, even if they fell, he’d probably survive. “Stop playing games, silly boy.” Harris nudged Wolf with his elbow, but it made Wolf shift away, and now Harris was sad, so he pushed out his lower lip.
“We can go again if you want,” Wolf said, assuming the pout was due to the end of the ride. “But I’m hungry. That pretzel didn’t fill me up. It wasn’t as big as it looked.”
“I bet that’s what they all say.”
Wolf shook his head and grinned. “Not at all. Just the opposite.”
The playful smile on Harris’ face disappeared at the implication and turned into something that he was sure looked very seductive. But it was their turn to exit the ride, and Wolf wasn’t paying attention.
They found a food vendor, and Harris ordered a greasy sausage hero, while Wolf got the giant foot-long hot dog. It was putting provocative thoughts in Harris’ head, especially after the way they were sitting so close on the Ferris wheel.
Wolf paused with the giant oversized hot dog at his lips. “Why are you smiling at me?”
“You’re really enjoying that.” Harris didn’t know if the image in front of him was more sexy or hysterical, but he couldn’t hold back his laugh and ended up doubling over.
“Shut it.” Wolf gave Harris a tiny punch in the arm and stuffed the hot dog in his mouth, adding an in-and-out motion for effect.
Harris laughed harder, and now Wolf was laughing just as hard.
“Stop! I’m hungry.” Wolf brought the hot dog to his mouth again, but another laugh made him smear mustard across his chin.
“A short burst of hysterics left Harris’ mouth before he was able to control himself. “You’re a mess.”
“Did I get it?” Wolf asked, wiping everywhere except where the yellow condiment adorned his face.
“Not even close.” Harris took the napkin from Wolf and gently wiped it across Wolf’s chin, but the thing was so tiny and already crumpled that it barely absorbed all of the mustard, so Harris used his thumb. Wolf pulled in his bottom lip while Harris repeatedly wiped at Wolf’s chin.