I wonder what Owen’s thinking about. Is he scared too? Of the ride, or of other…more important things. I remember the ring, the proposal, and my stomach lurches again.
Click. Click. Click.
“Sawyer,” Knox says, and there’s something different about his tone…something that tears my gaze away from the scenery below.
His eyes are already on me, not the view, not the drop we’re climbing toward. Just me.
“Whatever happens with Owen,” he says quietly, “I need you to know?—”
The train crests the peak.
For one perfect, breathtaking moment, we’re suspended at the top of the world. I can see everything. Feel everything. Knox’s hand in mine. The sun on my face. The wind whipping my hair. Owen two rows back in my peripheral vision.
It’s exhilarating.
“Know what?” I ask, having to raise my voice over the breeze whipping around us.
Knox opens his mouth to answer.
And then we drop.
Chapter 8
Sawyer
The drop captures all the air in my lungs. Colors blur by as we plummet down the first hill. It’s so fast, so intense, that my stomach nosedives. The only thing keeping me anchored is the pressure of Knox’s hand around mine.
In the background of it all, I hear Owen shrieking like he did as a kid…his notorious roller coaster screech. It cuts through the roaring wind and the rattling tracks and I can’t help but crack a grin. He’s happy. Maybe not truly, deep down where it matters, but right now he’s experiencing joy and knowing that loosens the tightness in my chest.
The track rushes up to meet us and then we’re banking hard into the first turn, pressing me into Knox’s shoulder. He’s solid and warm, even against the fabric of my shirt. Of course he would be and of course I’m aware of every point where our bodies touch and of course I hate that I do.
The turn straightens and I catch a glimpse of the setting sun before the track tilts up again. We’re climbing fast, gearing up for the first loop, I think. All I know is that my heart is trying to break out of my chest.
“You good?” Knox shouts, squeezing my hand.
I can’t speak, instead I nod as much as I’m able to and grip his hand tighter as we climb higher, the nose of the train tilting back, back, back until I’m staring straight up at the cotton candy sky.
Click. Click. Click.
That sound is like nails on a chalkboard. I grip the restraint with my free hand, trying to breathe, listening to the couple behind us laugh nervously and trying to hear Owen, but I think he’s silent again.
I wonder if he’s watching me? If he’s in the moment or thinking about everything to come.
He has a ring.
The thought slams into me again as we near the top of the climb. He’s going to propose tonight…or at least hewasgoing to. Am I being rash? What we have is so close to married couple status, would a ring matter?
Yes. A ring is forever.
I close my eyes and picture it for a split second. An altar, me in a white dress, Owen beside me, Knox as his best man. Fuck. I feel dizzy and it’s the absolute worst timing.
We crest the top of the climb and there it is...the massive loop ahead. We’re about to go upside down…completely inverted, what feels like hundreds of feet in the air.
“Here we go!” Knox says, his voice trembling.
And we tip forward, plunging into the loop.
The world completely inverts so suddenly it’s disorientating. Blood rushes to my head as we swing upside down, my hair falling toward the sky…no, the ground…no, I don’t know which way is up anymore. The restraint is the only thing between me and the pavement far below so I grip that thing like my life depends on it.
