Chapter 14
Max
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” I heard Tony tease.
Since we returned to our booth a few feet up the aisle from Audrey’s, I’d barely taken my eyes off of her.
We’d gotten a lot of the high-school and college aged trainees to volunteer to help with our booth.
Most of them needed the community service hours for their projects or resumes, and this was a perfect way to gain some.
They all practically set-up and ran the booth for us. All Tony and I had to do was supervise.
The break was nice. Especially since I had a lovely view of Audrey’s smile and her hip hugging jeans.
She seemed like she was having a ball running the booth with her friend.
They hyped up the younger children to do their best and cracked jokes with the older ones when they missed.
The wind carried her laugh, filling the air like sweet music.
It’d been a minute since I’d seen her so happy. Joy always looked so beautiful on her.
Without breaking my stare on Audrey, I flipped Tony off.
Two other women wearing the same tee shirts as Audrey and her friend, Gianna, came over. They all conversed for a brief moment, and I heard Audrey say, “Thank you!” as she moved out from inside the booth.
She and Gianna linked arms as they started walking down the path towards the other rides and attractions the carnival had to offer.
I hopped off the booth ledge I was sitting on. “I’ll be right back,” I told Tony.
“Lord,” he mumbled. “Here y’all go.”
Ignoring him, I headed out of the booth and followed after the girls. I stayed more than a few steps behind, keeping a close eye on Audrey’s ponytail of bouncing curls.
They finally stopped in front of the food booth Benny was running. Audrey chatted with her father for a few minutes, notably shaking her finger and tilting her head in disapproval a few times.
While I watched their conversation, I spotted a funnel cake station with practically no line. I quickly hurried over and purchased one.
By the time the cashier handed me the sweet treat, burning the palm of my hand through the paper plate, the girls were on the move again.
They walked for another few minutes towards the field serving as an impromptu parking lot. I thought about speeding up, so I could catch Audrey before she left. But, they stopped a few feet before the rows of cars.
Gianna threw her arms around Audrey in a tight hug. “Text me when you get home,” the wind carried her voice.
They released each other, and Gianna disappeared between the rows of cars.
The smile on Audrey’s lips left with her friend.
Her chest rose and fell in a deep sigh as she glanced around the flashing lights of the carnival.
She wrapped her arms around herself and started walking through the aisle on the right, making a beeline for the array of picnic tables nearby.
The seating area was illuminated by the golden lights of the ferris wheel and carousel on either side of it.
Audrey sat down at one of the empty tables. Eyes fixed on the carousel, she leaned her back against the edge of the table. Her frown deepened as she dived into her thoughts, finally left alone to deal with them. At least she thought she was.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked, unveiling myself.
She jumped at the sound of my voice. Her eyes darted to me, and her frown quickly transformed into a pout. “Yes,” she said.
“By who? Your imaginary boyfriend.” I sat on the small inch she left open near the edge of the bench and playfully shoved her. “Move over.”
Rolling her eyes, she complied, scooting over enough to let me sit comfortably beside her. “You ain’t shit for the stunt you pulled earlier. You know that, right?”
“What do you mean? Are you not single?”
She looked away. “Mind your business.”
“Can’t. I bought you funnel cake,” I said, offering the plate to her.
Audrey glanced at it from the corner of her eye. Her lips twitched, and I knew she was fighting to keep her pout alive.
“Come on,” I encouraged. “It’s your favorite.”
“Just because I’m accepting it doesn’t mean you’re forgiven,” she said as she reached for the funnel cake and pulled a piece off. She hummed as she popped it in her mouth and chewed. “Hmm, and it’s fresh.”
“Warrants extra brownie points?”
She shot me a side-eye. “You wish.”
“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Shut up and eat.”
Chuckling, I obeyed and pulled off a piece on the other side of the funnel cake.
We ate in a content silence for a few minutes, watching the other patrons mill around the carnival. Well, at least she did.
I kept my eyes on Audrey, admiring the way the lights lit up her face. Beneath them, her irises glittered like amber gems. The golden light traced over her cheeks, outlining their cherubic shape.
Audrey glanced at me midway into taking another bite and caught my shameless stare. Her brows stitched together, but she didn’t comment.
Shame. I was banking on the moment to tell her how beautiful she looked.
“So, are you done working for the night?” I asked to prevent an awkward silence from falling over us.
“Yeah. But I’m staying until ten. I’m driving Dad home, and I told him he wasn’t staying all night.”
I checked my watch. It was only eight-thirty. More than enough time for me to take her on a spin around the carnival. “Are you trying to race me in the water gun game?”
“Only if you’re prepared to lose.”
“Oh, you think you still got it?”
She scoffed. “I know I do.” She grabbed my hand and bounced off the bench. “Come on,” she said as she started tugging me up. “Let’s go.”
Grinning, I wrapped my fingers around hers and let her tow me back towards the rows of game booths.
We joined a row of others in one of the water gun races booths. Audrey reached over her shoulder for her cross-body purse, but I shooed her hand away. “I’ve got you,” I told her.
Her brows came together. “You sure?”
“Yeah. No use paying money to lose.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
Audrey perked up as she grasped the handles tight. Leaning over, she squinted for a better view of the tiny target we needed to hit.
As soon as the buzzer went off, we all pressed down on our triggers and water streamed out of our guns like lasers. The stuffed animals atop the poles rose based on the accuracy of our hits.
The purple bunny atop Audrey’s post climbed quickly, leaving all of ours in the dust. It wasn’t long before it reached the top and the winning buzzer went off.
Audrey squealed as she raised her arms in victory.
“You cheated,” I teased, nudging her with my elbow.
“No, you just suck,” she said, shoving me back. “Do you want a consolation prize?” She pointed to one of the pandas hanging from the ceiling of the booth. “I’ll give you that one.”
“The hell am I gonna do with that?”
“Snuggle with it at night.”
“There’s someone else I’d rather be snuggling with,” I replied, running my eyes over her body, visually caressing every soft curve.
Audrey quickly averted her eyes. Ignoring me, she asked the clerk for the purple panda.
She noticed one of the other contenders, a girl no older than ten years old, eyeing the bear as the clerk bought it down.
Offering the girl a smile, Audrey handed the plushie to her.
“Here, you go,” she said, her voice warmer than chamomile tea.
The little girl’s eyes lit up as she accepted the bear. “Thank you, miss!” She quickly turned around to show her mother the gift.
I reached for Audrey’s hand and helped her off the stool. “Come on,” I told her. “I’ll go win you a real prize.”
Her brow rose, but she didn’t yank her hand away. She allowed me to hold it as we took a walk to see what other games we could play.
We stopped at the balloon dart game, one of our favorites as kids. Again, she tried to reach for her purse.
“Stop,” I told her. “Tonight’s on me.”
She watched me take out my own wallet. Her eyes lingered on the large wads of bills inside of it. Her brows creased, and for a moment, I thought she was going to comment.
Tearing her eyes away, she turned her attention to the colorful balloons on the wall. She took the first turn with the darts. She pressed her waist against the edge of the counter and tossed the darts at the balloons. Loud pops rang through the air as she hit every single one.
I did just as good on my turn, popping each balloon I aimed for.
With our scores, we were able to get one of the medium-sized prizes, but I wasn’t letting her settle for that. I paid for one more round. This time, we split the darts and took turns throwing them.
The clerk nodded in approval as we popped all of those as well. “You two are pros,” he said. “Which of the large prizes would you like?”
I looked at Audrey to make the decision.
Her eyes raked over the selection. “Hmm, I’ll take…” She pointed her finger towards the large zombie-looking bear plushie. “That one!”
He pulled the large bear down, and Audrey eagerly accepted it.
She tried to hold the bear by its neck, but the damn thing was half her size. I grabbed it from her and threw it over my shoulder.
We walked over to one of the basketball shooting games. “These are always rigged,” I told Audrey as we approached it.
“Yeah, but the trick is to pay attention to the air pressure. Calculate your toss based on how much air is in the ball.” Using whatever science she had in her head, she tested the weight in her first ball. She carefully angled her arms and tossed the ball toward the net.
Both the clerk’s and my brows rose as it swiftly went through the basket, all net.
The other two balls followed, flawlessly gliding through the air and swooping through the rim. I almost couldn’t believe that shit. And judging from the open mouth on the clerk’s face, he couldn’t either.
“Can I have the Lakers one?” Audrey asked, pointing to the line of team-themed basketballs sitting along the top of the booth. Smiling, she held the ball out to me. “You still like them, right?”