Page 72 of Broken Boundaries

Dawson grabs my hand, and we start through the place. It’s crowded, and several times we have to push our way through groups of people. He buys us fried Oreos and a funnel cake after we eat a corndog and freshly squeezed lemonade.

“You ready to ride some rides?” Dawson asks once we’ve finished the funnel cake.

I grimace. “We probably should’ve ridden rides before we ate all that food.”

Dawson laughs. “Don’t worry. We’ll start off slow. Let’s do bumper cars!”

Ok, we must have different definitions of slow.

I follow him to the bumper cars, which ends up being really fun. Then we meet up with Jazz and Owen and start riding some of the other rides. I’m very dizzy and a touch nauseous by the time we finish our third ride. I step out of the attraction exit, looking for a bench to sit down on, when I walk directly into someone.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I say as strong hands grab my arms to steady me.

I look up into very familiar eyes.

“Brooks,” I whisper. It seems I can’t get away from him even if I’m actively trying.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just lost my footing there,” I say. He slowly lowers his hands as Dawson walks up beside me.

“Hey, Mr. Calloway. How’re you?”

“Doing good, kid. You?”

“Good. Just out here getting Aspen all dizzy, I guess,” he says with a laugh.

Harper is with Brooks. I hadn’t noticed her standing there at first because I was so focused on him, but my attention is diverted when Jazz starts asking them to go on the big coaster.

Now, when she says big, it’s not that big. But it’s big enough that it has me questioning the safety of it as part of a traveling fair.

Harper immediately agrees to a ride, so Jazz pulls her along with us.

“Guys, I am not riding that,” I tell them, needing a break to settle my stomach. “I’ll wait for you at the exit.”

“Are you sure?” Dawson asks. “I can hold your hand.”

I know he’s trying to be cute and flirty, but holding his hand would not save me in the slightest if something malfunctioned. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m feeling dizzy after that last one, so it’s probably best if I chill for a minute.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Brooks offers. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t run off.”

Dawson smiles, probably thinking he’s leaving me with a trusted adult. How on Earth would he know that he’s leaving me alone with the one man I can’t stop thinking about? The one man who is the entire reason why I haven’t taken my relationship with Dawson any further.

Jazz shoots me a knowing look, but thankfully doesn’t make any of the comments I know she’s dying to get out.

“You don’t wanna ride?” Dawson asks Brooks.

“Brooks hates these things,” Harper interjects. “I can never get him to ride with me.”

“Well, you can ride with me then, Harper,” Dawson offers, and Brooks and I watch as the four of them go stand in line for the ride.

Brooks and I find an open bench near the exit to sit on and wait. Unfortunately, he keeps an appropriate distance between us on the bench.

“Having a good date?” he asks after a few uncomfortable moments of silence.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. I didn’t realize you were going to be here tonight.”

“I try to avoid these things if I can, but Harper convinced me to come.”