16. Josh
JOSH
“You’re sure?” Victoria asked Cambrie for the third time.
“Yes, I want one more churro, then I’m going to meet up with some people for the fireworks.” Cambrie stood with her hands on her hips. “I can handle walking alone.”
“We can go with you,” Victoria offered.
“It’s not like I’m a small child wandering off. I have this,” she waved her phone, “and we already planned to meet up by the rollercoaster entrance at eight thirty. If I get lost, I promise I’ll call them or you.”
“Fine,” Victoria conceded. “I’ll see you tomorrow."
“Bye,” Cambrie danced away, merging into the crowd, but I could see the light-up stars of her headband bouncing until she turned a corner toward the food stands.
“She forced me to the parade, then dragged me here with her for hours, and now she’s ditching me.”
And I was grateful for that.
Cambrie was endlessly entertaining and kept us from having a single awkward or silent moment, but she picked up on me wanting alone time with Victoria and made it happen. The perfect wingwoman, and I’d have to thank her later.
“You said no spinning rides, but does that include the Ferris wheel?” It was enormous, bigger than the ones you’d typically see at a state fair, and I could only imagine the view you’d get from the top.
She considered for a long moment. "Technically it does spin, but you're not. You just slowly rise and fall.”
“Is that a no?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“No, it is not included as a spinning ride.” She smiled.
“Would you like to ride it?” I then quickly added, “With me?”
“Oh, good, you’re being specific.” She laughed. “Yes, I would like to ride it with you.”
“Great,” I turned, and she moved in closer to me as we headed in the direction of the massive ride.
I wanted to put my hand around her waist or shoulders so we didn’t get separated through the masses, but wasn’t sure if that would be too forward.
This wasn’t a date.
At least, it hadn’t been up until this moment.
No, dates had to be planned. There was intention, a question, and agreement.
Not asking to go on a ride.
This was just two friends––no not even that––acquaintances, enjoying all the fair had to offer.
I was suddenly back in middle school. Sweaty palms, self-doubt, and all.
We found the end of the line and joined, a few people glanced toward me, but the wonderful disguise Cambrie bought was still working, and I was happy I’d changed after we were done with official duties so I could blend in for the day.
“Victoria?” A somewhat familiar voice called, and I looked around to see half the women from the East team walking toward us.
Just perfect.
“Hi,” Victoria waved and stepped forward to give one of them a hug. “Presley, how are you?”
“Great,” she looked over at me, and her eyes widened. “That’s a good look on you, Josh.”
“Hey,” I shushed her. “I’m incognito.”
Crystal laughed next to her. “You look ridiculous.”
“Then I fit in,” I gestured to her tangle of flashing necklaces and oversized flag shirt.
“Hey, fans gave me these.” She gripped the necklaces.
“And I picked out the shirts,” Presley shot back.
Then I realized they were matching and grimaced. “Good choice. I can see your style hasn’t improved since college.”
Victoria pointed at me. “I forgot you went to West Penn too. Did you guys play at the same time?”
“I was a freshman when she was a senior,” I explained.
“He was such a pest. Listened to everything Hunter told him to do.”
“Like what?” Victoria asked, a little too excited.
“Grabbing coffee or food for the guys. Running their errands. Pranking the women's team.” She narrowed her eyes. “I had to throw away my lucky laces.”
I put my hands up. “I was not responsible for that.”
“You were there,” she snapped.
“Yes, but I did not mess with your skates.”
Presley sized me up as if I wasn’t over half a foot taller. “Then who was it?”
“I cannot say.”
“It’s been years; you don’t have to keep this up.”
“There is no statute of limitations on team secrets.” Plus, it was her now-husband who did it, and I was not going to get in the middle of their marriage.
“Are you Presley Shaw?” a little girl ran up to her.
She lowered to a crouch, so they were eye level. “Yes, I am. What’s your name?”
The girl’s parents rushed over, apologizing, but Presley just smiled at them and signed the little girl’s patriotic teddy bear.
She waved as they walked away, then turned toward us. “Fifty-three.”
“Dang,” Crystal muttered.
“What?” I asked.
“We’re tracking how many times we get spotted.” Jackie explained. “She’s winning.”
“Fifty-three times? Just today?” There was no way.
“Jealous?” Presley whispered.
I glared down at her through the blue lenses of my glasses. “No.”
“Because you, too, could be meeting fans if you weren’t trying to hide.”
“I met plenty earlier. I’m just surprised.”
“Cause we’re women?” Jackie lifted her chin.
I fought back an eye roll. “No, because you want to be seen.”
“We’re here for this tournament. Of course we want to meet fans,” Crystal explained.
“I know, I just––”
“Not all of us are here to go on dates,” Presley pointed between me and Victoria. “But I totally support this.”
I closed my eyes and willed the ground to open.
“Thanks,” Victoria beamed and bobbed her head.
I stared at her, shocked until I realized she hadn’t heard Presley and was still talking to Jackie, who reached out and tapped the flashing star.
“Where did you get them?”
“At a stand near the pirate ship swing.”
“We’re going to have to go find some,” Crystal said to her team.
“Yeah, let’s give these guys some space. Have so much fun, you two,” Presley winked at me, and I glared back. She almost gave me a heart attack, and she knew it.
We moved up in line, and soon it was our turn at the booth.
“Four tickets,” a sunburnt teenage boy said in a bored voice with his hand held out.
“Tickets?” I repeated. What tickets?
“There are tickets for the rides?” Victoria asked, looking around. “I didn’t see any signs.”
“It says it right here.” The teen pointed to a five-by-five-inch paper stuck to the banner that read Freedom Ferris wheel.
“I didn’t…” she looked up at me. “No one has asked me or Cambrie for tickets all day.”
The teen shrugged. “Ferris wheel is four tickets.”
“Is that Josh Henson?” a voice called from some distance away.
The teen perked up, just slightly, as he eyed me. “Are you?”
The last thing I wanted were a bunch of phones aimed at me as I floundered in front of Victoria.
“I’m sorry. They didn’t tell us the details about the festival.” I pulled out the lanyard that the coaches handed out earlier. “They said this was our pass.”
He nodded. “Athletes and sponsors get on free.” He motioned for me and Victoria to take the steps up to the platform.
“It is Henson!” another voice screamed.
The employee latched the bar across our seat. “Please keep all hands and feet inside. Do not rock. Do not throw anything.”
“Josh Henson!”
Once we started moving and we were safe from the crowd reaching us, I pulled off my hat and glasses and waved down.
“Sorry, the disguise was working so well,” I said once we were high enough to be out of danger of being overheard.
“Probably drew attention for thinking you got free rides.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t think about tickets. I wasn’t planning to go on anything.”
She huffed. “Typical celebrity, expecting special treatment.”
“That’s not––”
Her laugh cut me off, and I relaxed back.
Our car swayed slightly as another group was loaded. We were only maybe ten feet off the ground, but the view was already amazing.
“This is stunning. It doesn’t look real,” Victoria took in the scene in front of us, the National Mall was lit up, showcasing the monuments.
“This is the first chance I’ve had to stop and take in the city.”
“Even when you play here?”
“Yeah, it’s always in and out. I don’t get to play tourist.”
“I get that for most locations, but you never snuck out to see places you’ve never been before?”
“No,” I admitted. “I stick to the schedule and rules.”
She turned to me with a lifted brow. “Really, Henson?”
I rolled my eyes at the nickname. “Please call me Josh.”
“I can’t use your nickname?” she teased.
“It’s not a nickname, it’s just my last name, and it’s what all my teammates call me.” I didn’t want to think of her as one of the guys.
“Fine, Josh.”
Man, I loved the way she made that sound.
She stared at me, like she was considering something.
“What is it?” I finally broke.
Her lips twitched, but she kept from smiling. “I’m a direct person, Josh. I gather information and state the facts.”
“Yeah, you’re a reporter.”
“Right, so I call things as they are.”
“Okay?” I wasn’t sure where this was going. Was she about to interview me now?
“So, I’ve got to say, this is pretty romantic.” She turned away, but I caught her grin.
I stared over at the Washington Monument, as if the giant obelisk would give me the right words to say. “Oh?”
My voice broke.
Come on. I didn’t blink when two-hundred pounds of muscle skated directly at me while aiming a shot that would reach a hundred miles an hour, but sitting next to a beautiful woman, my cool disintegrated.
She laughed. “Objectively, this is a very romantic situation. We’ve got the view,” she waved her arm in front of us, “the music and gorgeous sunset. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was your goal all along.”
If she was going to be blunt, then so was I.
“Thanks, I did hope the timing would work out with the sunset.”
She faced me. “So you admit it? You did plan this.”
I cracked. “Since about one this afternoon, when they said we’d have the rest of the day to spend how we wanted.”
“So you didn’t just happen to run into us?”
“No, I’d asked around to see if anyone had seen you, and I was told about the headbands.” I smiled up at the flashing stars. “Then Amelia texted me that she spotted you and Cambrie and told me where to find you.”
“Interesting,” her eyes lowered before meeting mine again. “Since we’re being honest, I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to kiss you.”
“For how long?”
She smiled, then bit her bottom lip as if she was trying to keep it in. Finally she caved, “Since before today.”
“Yesterday?”
She shook her head.
“Two days?”
“More like since the first time you walked away from my interview.”
“Then?” I was shocked. “You weren’t mad at me?”
“Frustrated, confused, and intrigued. But not mad.” She lowered her eyes. “I still feel bad about the article. I should have reached out when it was published, and we could have cleared it up rather than it festering.”
“I could have reached out too,” I reminded her as I slipped my hand around hers. “I could have been direct with you.”
She squeezed her hand and lifted her gaze to mine. Her eyes sparkled with the reflection of the festival lights, and I couldn’t look away.
Never in a million years did I think I’d be sitting here, in a romantic setting, with Victoria Kehoe. Fate had a funny way of twisting things and making us jump through hoops to get to where we’re supposed to be.
Because that was how this felt. Like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
My eyes dropped to her lips, and that seemed to be the signal she was waiting for. We met in the middle, our mouths colliding as her hand slipped from mine before sliding around my neck.
Fireworks went off in my mind.
Hoots and whistles came from below, and I pulled away, grinning back at her before leaning over the cart to see my teammates below.
“They found us.”
“They saw us,” she let out a nervous laugh.
“They did,” I waved them away, but of course, they ignored me, just cheering louder.