13. Jess
13
Jess
W e’d arrived at the theme park.
Part of me was relieved. I got the feeling that if I’d continued replying to Theo’s messages, I’d wander into dangerous territory.
I didn’t know why I’d made that comment about there being no point in having something big if you didn’t know how to use it.
Actually, that was a lie. I knew why I’d said it. Because ever since I’d been forced to sit next to Theo, my thoughts had started straying from PG to X-rated.
That comment about there being many things that turned him on didn’t help. It was only natural to want to know what those things were, right? That was when I’d started thinking about what he’d be like in bed.
Then I’d caught myself. Having these thoughts about my competitor wasn’t right, so I’d stopped replying. And I was glad the coach had pulled into this car park not long after he’d messaged so he couldn’t ask why.
‘We’re here!’ Nancy announced .
Everyone gathered their things before getting off.
I quickly headed out to join them. If I could make friends with some of the other residents, I wouldn’t have to hang out with Theo. Or if I set him up with Janine, they could go off together and I could be on my own.
Just as I was about to go over to her, someone touched my shoulder.
‘Can I have a word?’ When I turned around, I saw it was Theo. He gestured me away from the crowd.
‘What’s up?’
‘Thanks for sitting next to me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to lie about the Edwin email thing. It’s just that Janine was getting a bit… handsy and I didn’t want to be rude.’
‘You never minded being rude to me!’
‘That’s different. She made me uncomfortable and I didn’t want to create a scene.’
‘Oh…’
I’d just assumed that he’d like the attention, which I now realised was wrong.
‘Anyway, I just asked around and looks like Edwin isn’t here and no one’s sure if he’s coming anymore. So if you’re not keen on being here, you probably don’t have to stay.’
‘You’d love that, wouldn’t you!’ I crossed my arms. Just when I was starting to feel sorry for him, he showed his true colours.
‘What do you mean?’ He frowned.
‘You’d love me to leave so when Edwin turns up you can tell him I went home and get in his good books!’
‘No!’ He shook his head. ‘That wasn’t why I told you. It’s just, when Glenda and Edwin mentioned going to the theme park yesterday, I got the impression that you were afraid of going.’
‘I’m fine!’ I raised my voice. There was no way I was giving him the satisfaction of discovering one of my fears. ‘And I’m definitely not leaving.’
‘Fair enough.’ He held his hands up in surrender. ‘I was just trying to help, that’s all.’
‘There you are!’ Nancy came over. ‘I thought you’d run off to the rides already! So the coach will be leaving at seven p.m. sharp. You’re free to do whatever you like during that time, but I’d like to meet up with you at some point to take some photos.’
‘Photos?’ My brow furrowed.
‘Yes. Edwin sends his apologies, but he’s not sure he’ll be able to make it. But he asked me to take some photos of our newest residents for the community newsletter.’
I groaned inside. The last thing I wanted was any photographic evidence of my spending time with Theo, but I couldn’t say no when Edwin wanted to check that we were making an effort to get along.
‘Great!’ I said as enthusiastically as I could. ‘If you can’t find me, just call!’
Edwin had asked if he could pass our numbers on to Nancy when he’d booked the ticket.
‘Will do. You kids have fun together!’ She winked before rushing off.
‘We should exchange numbers too,’ Theo said.
‘Why would I want to give you my number?’
‘Could be useful. And it’d save us from having to email…’ He smirked.
‘I’ll pass.’
‘Suit yourself. Come on.’ He started walking towards the entrance. ‘Seeing as Edwin’s got Nancy spying on us, we may as well make the most of it. Which ride do you want to go on first?’
The truth was I didn’t want to go on any of them.
I took in the theme park in front of me. There was an assortment of rides—a big wheel, a merry-go-round, a railway and of course a roller coaster. My stomach twisted.
Then I had an idea.
‘Do they have bumper cars here?’
‘Think so.’
‘Let’s do that.’
Having the opportunity to crash into Theo repeatedly was definitely something I could get on board with.
Once we’d bought our tokens, we headed over to the dodgems, queued up, then climbed into our cars.
‘You’re going down, Eaves!’ I shouted happily.
‘Given your love of testicles, I thought it’d be you who’d be going down !’ He smirked.
‘Ha-ha, very funny.’ I rolled my eyes. I’d known it was only a matter of time before that balls email conversation reared its ugly head. Head probably wasn’t the best choice of word.
As soon as our cars started up, I made a beeline for Theo and crashed into him.
‘That’s for stealing my parking space.’ I smashed into him.
‘You sure you want to do this? Once I start to ram you, I won’t stop.’
My cheeks heated. I knew he was referring to what he’d do with his bumper car, but my mind went straight to the gutter.
When I was working three jobs, I was too exhausted to even think about sex, but after a few days of going at a slower pace, my libido seemed to be coming back to life. The fact that Theo was ridiculously hot didn’t help.
‘Bring it on!’
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
He backed up and just as I thought he was going in the opposite direction, he crashed into me, causing my head to jolt. I returned the favour, and for the next few minutes we repeated the same pattern.
He’d ram into me hard and I’d try and do it back, harder. And he wasn’t fazed. The harder I hit him, the bigger his smile grew. The sadist was actually enjoying it.
When the bell sounded to signal that our time was up, I was a bit disappointed.
‘That was fun!’ He stepped out of the car.
‘Yeah. It was good to crash into you without worrying about getting arrested.’
‘I enjoyed banging you too.’ His eyes darkened and a bolt of pleasure shot straight to my core.
And for the second time today, I wondered what it would feel like if Theo really did bang me.
Our eyes locked for a few seconds, then the screech of a little girl crying because she’d dropped her ice cream jolted me out of my trance.
‘We should… see what other rides they have.’
‘Yes.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Let’s go.’
We went on multiple different rides. Luckily I convinced Theo to go on the tamer ones, like the Busy Bee Coaster, which was like a children’s roller coaster, and the Gallopers carousel. He’d suggested we go on the Waltzer: the car that turned clockwise, then anticlockwise. Although it made me dizzy and my stomach churned a little, I was grateful that none of the rides had been scary.
We passed the Rock ’n’ Roller roller coaster and as Theo stopped, my stomach churned.
‘Fancy a ride on this?’
‘Erm, maybe later.’
‘This is the best time to go on,’ one of the people in front of us said. ‘It’s not normally this quiet.’
Just as I was contemplating how to wriggle out of it without looking stupid, Nancy came up behind us.
‘Great timing! I was just about to call you for the photo. You going on?’ She pointed. ‘Let me take a photo of you two before you do. Then I’ll take another one at the end—as a before and after! Edwin will love that! Smile! ’
Theo stood awkwardly beside me and I pasted on a grin, trying to ignore the knots in my gut.
‘You’re up!’ The attendant ushered us forward.
‘You don’t have to go on if you’re scared,’ Theo said, lowering his voice.
‘I’m not! I’m fine !’ I marched forward and got into the car.
As Theo slid in next to me and I started to realise the enormity of what I was doing, my heart thundered against my chest.
I should’ve just said no. But I didn’t want him to think I was weak. I had to do this.
‘It’s not too late to get out,’ Theo said.
‘I’m fine ,’ I repeated, trying to convince myself.
As the barriers locked, my pulse raced and my hands started to shake .
The engine started up and the car slowly began to climb up the track. I squeezed my eyes shut. If I just kept them closed and counted to a hundred, it’d soon be over.
The car travelled higher and higher, then suddenly shot down the first slope before racing around the track.
‘Shit, shit, shiiiitt!!!’ I screamed as it hurtled to the left before shooting upwards and dropping down at what felt like a million miles an hour, taking my poor stomach along for the ride.
I felt sick. My heart was beating so fast, any minute now it was going to fly from my chest.
The screams of exhilaration and happiness from the other passengers rang in my ears. They were enjoying it, but I was so scared I could feel the tears welling in my eyes.
This was a huge mistake.
Just as I was about to start sobbing like a baby, I felt a warm hand resting on top of mine.
‘Breathe,’ Theo said in my ear, his warm breath tickling my skin. My eyes were still squeezed shut. I could hear his voice over all the background noise. ‘You’re going to be okay. I’ve got you.’
He squeezed my hand tighter, and somehow even though the roller coaster was still zipping around the track at lightning speed, I felt my heart rate slowing.
The sensation of my hand inside Theo’s warm palm was so comforting. It made me feel safe. Like I was wrapped in a cosy blanket.
‘It’s almost over,’ he said, gently squeezing my hand again. ‘Let’s count from fifty to one together. Forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven… ’
I counted with him, and before I knew it, the car slowed down, then stopped.
‘There,’ he said. ‘It’s over. You can open your eyes now.’
When I slowly opened them, Theo’s face was in front of me. And as my gaze met his a fluttering sensation erupted inside my belly.
Theo could’ve easily taken the piss out of me. He could’ve called me a wuss for being afraid of a stupid ride. But he didn’t.
There wasn’t spite or evil in his eyes. Only concern and kindness.
‘You okay?’ he asked softly.
‘Yeah,’ I mumbled. I was still trying to get my head around what had just happened. I looked down and saw that we were still holding hands. I sent a message to my brain to let go, but it didn’t register.
‘How was it?’ Nancy beamed with enthusiasm. My head jerked up and I quickly snatched my hand away from Theo’s.
Nancy was holding her phone up, ready to take a photo, and the last thing I needed to see in the town newsletter was a picture of me and Theo holding hands.
Yeah, we were supposed to pretend to like each other, but this wasn’t a fake-dating romance situation.
‘We should get out,’ I said to Theo as I stood up and stepped out of the car. ‘They need to let the new people on.’
‘Yes, of course.’ He followed me out.
After we’d posed for a couple of photos, Nancy finally left us alone.
‘Er, thanks, for…’ I said as we started walking .
‘It was nothing.’ Theo waved his hand dismissively.
I was tempted to agree, but the truth was, it wasn’t nothing. What he’d done was kind. Thoughtful.
As I thought about how my palm had felt in his, I swallowed hard because the reality was, it didn’t feel like nothing. It felt like more.
And that was a big problem.