Chapter 28 #2
“Don’t you worry, I know all about Tate Jacobs and his iron arm.” I take off my sunglasses and hand them to Gabby, who’s watching this scene play out with conflicting expressions of exasperation and amusement. “But you must not know about me.”
“Oh my god. Someone has to go against her,” Gabby says, no doubt having flashbacks to the time I almost got thrown out of a pool hall in college. “She won’t stop until she wins.”
“And don’t even think of going easy on me.” I narrow my eyes at all the boys lining up for the challenge. “When I crush you, I want to know I did it while you were at your best.”
—
“Are you going to walk around with that thing all night long?” Ciara eyes the gigantic stuffed cow I picked out after winning ten straight matches in the football toss. “We can go put it in the car if you want.”
“And deprive the people from realizing they’re in the presence of a champion?” I adjust the cow on my hip. It’s growing heavier by the minute, but I won’t let a silly thing like physical discomfort hold me back. “I don’t think so.”
“If you insist,” she says, and I can’t read her mind, but if I could, I’m pretty sure she’d be screaming that she thinks I’m nuts. “I left the schedule open before the Starlight Stampede. We can either do rides first and eat after or eat first and do rides later.”
“It’s up to you,” I say. “You’re the Celestival expert. I’m just happy to be here.”
My phone vibrates in my purse, and I grab it, hoping to see Tate’s name on the screen.
Instead, I almost throw it across the crowd when I see the missed call and voicemail notification from the lawyer’s office that helped me work through my mom’s and grandma’s wills and the sale of the house.
I haven’t heard from them in months, and my stomach falls into my feet thinking about what they could possibly be calling me about or, worse, who.
But before my brain can begin to conjure up one worst-case scenario after another, a pair of strong hands wraps around my waist and pulls me out of the panic spiral before it even begins.
“I say rides now,” Tate answers with the easy decisiveness that’s always eluded me. “I just walked by them and the lines are practically nonexistent.”
He pulls the cow out of my arms, relieving me of its weight, and touches his mouth to mine. It’s short, but heartachingly sweet, and I feel the eyes of the entire town watching. My stomach does cartwheels. His touch is much more thrilling than any of these rides could ever be.
I drop my phone back in my purse and thread my fingers through his. I’ll figure out what the lawyers want tomorrow. Today is for the Celestival.
“You’re finished with the booth?”
He nods. “Shift change. Dante took over for me,” he says to me before turning his attention to Gabby. “He told me to tell you he’s excited to hang out if you’re still interested.”
“I am!” Gabby screams into the crowd. “I definitely am.”
Playing it cool has never been one of her strengths. For better or worse, Gabby wears her heart on her sleeve.
Tate’s body bounces with silent laughter at my side. “Cool,” he says. “I’ll let him know to meet us at the food tent after the Stampede.”
“Okay then,” Ciara cuts back in. “Now that we have all that decided, I’m going to hang out over here while you go risk your lives on those rusted machines of death.”
“Drama queen.” Millie tsks. “If you ate too much pie during your judging segments, just say that.”
To say that Ciara took her job as a pie tester seriously would be an understatement.
She was never satisfied with one bite, and by the end of the competition, her bronze skin had turned olive and everyone thought she was going to blow.
I think it’s the only reason Pam didn’t throttle her when Ciara ranked her blueberry pie in second place.
“Laugh if you want, but my stomach comes secondary to the obvious safety issues of climbing onto a Ferris wheel that was in San Antonio yesterday,” Ciara defends herself. “It’s Six Flags or nothing for me.”
“A ride stopped working when she was a kid,” Tate explains to the newcomers—that is, me and Gabby. “She hasn’t set foot on a Celestival ride since.”
“It didn’t just stop working,” she shoots back. “I was hanging upside down for fifty minutes! I couldn’t eat more than crackers or walk in a straight line for a week!”
My excitement for the rides fades.
“Um…” I look up at Tate. “Maybe we should stick with the rides that keep us right side up.”
“That’s what I thought.” Ciara sticks her tongue out at Millie. “Some risks can’t be avoided, but spinning upside down on a ride held together with rusted nails, duct tape, and a prayer isn’t one of them.”
We follow Ciara to the bench in front of the Tilt-A-Whirl and load her up with my stuffed cow and the rest of our goodies before putting our lives in the hands of disinterested ride operators.
Gabby and Millie team up, ignore all of Ciara’s warnings, and head directly to the Helix 360, a horrifying ride where you’re basically tossed into a cage and spun upside down over and over again.
Tate and I opt for the slightly less thrilling Viking Pirate Ship that swings but doesn’t go upside down.
“I don’t remember the last time I’ve been on a ride.” I bounce from toe to toe as my nerves start to assault me. “I used to go to Elitch Gardens all the time as a kid.”
“Elitch Gardens?”
“It’s an amusement park in Denver. I think it was bought by Six Flags at one point, but don’t quote me,” I tell him.
“It was the best. There were so many rides, and it had the best water park. I don’t know why I stopped going or when the roller coasters stopped being thrilling and became terrifying. ”
Growing up sucks for so many reasons. I wish I could go back and view the unknown with wonder instead of fear.
I hate that I let life steal that from me, but if my move to Celestial has done anything, it’s pushed against my belief that I have to know all the answers.
Maybe now I can embrace the magic of adventures again.
“Probably when the news started being delivered to your phone. It’s hard to remain unscathed when we’re constantly inundated with the worst of the worst.”
“You’re not wrong. Do you think I should swap out my iPhone for an old Nokia?”
I remember thinking my mom’s brick of a phone was so cool. The world was much simpler when you had to text with numbers and the only thing to do on your phone was to play Snake.
“Or you could turn off the notifications,” he offers like the rational king he is.
The ride slows to a stop in front of us, and people flow off of it as the attendant opens the gate and checks our wristbands.
I grab Tate’s hand and pull him to the last row of the boat before the rest of our group can take all the best spots.
A couple that I don’t recognize slides in beside us.
After months of learning everyone’s names, it’s been so strange to see so many new people hanging around.
Now I know what it must’ve been like for everyone when I arrived.
“Arms up,” a deadpan voice on a speaker says, and we all follow directions as the lap bar falls across our thighs.
My stomach turns as last-minute regrets chase away my excitement, but when I look at Tate, it’s all forgotten.
There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes that makes him look younger and—impossibly—more handsome than ever, and he’s looking at me with the same smile I see before we go to bed each night.
My toes curl in the tennis shoes Ciara pressured me to wear as I realize that lust might be the only thing more potent than fear.
“Ready?” Tate asks.
With him by my side? There’s only one answer. “Always.”