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Sayler was terrible at the games. She’d get distracted and she’d rather be moving than just sitting there pretending to drive a race car, but Coraline and I loved it.
“We should go to Holidaze Arcade after this,” he suggests and I nod.
“Only if you’re sure,” I say and he looks confused.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I was just worried that you were sick of losing to me already,” I joke and he grins.
“Never.”
We finish our food and Heath pays before we head back to the truck. The arcade is actually right across from the mini golf place. Heath parks and I race him inside, laughing as he picks me up before I can reach the door.
“Cheater!” I cry as he enters first and he laughs.
We grab some tokens and Heath follows me around as I check out all of the games. When I find the racing one, I grin, taking a seat. Heath crams himself into the seat next to me and I smile as I put my tokens in.
We’re more evenly matched in the arcade and by the time we’re out of tokens, we’re both tired and my side hurts from laughing so much.
“Come on. One more stop,” he says, taking my hand and crossing the road.
We walk over to Frenchie’s Ferris Wheel. It’s all lit up now and I realize that another three hours have passed without me realizing it. It feels good to go so long without worrying about Charlotte, the diner, or anything else.
“What made you decide on taking me here for our date?” I ask Heath as we take our seats on the Ferris wheel and start to rise into the air.
“It just felt like you hadn’t had much fun in a while. You’re always working so hard, and I rarely see you smile. I just wanted to do something to make you happy.”
My heart dips in my chest at that. Heath starts to blush and I realize that I’ve just been staring at him for a solid minute.
“Besides,” he says, clearing his throat, “I wanted to be prepared. I wasn’t sure if you were bringing Charlotte or not and if you did, I wanted her to have fun, too.”
That does it.
Hearing him say that has me falling for him right then and there and I can’t help it. I lean over, my lips brushing against his as we continue to rise into the sky.
ChapterEight
Heath
Walking into the Virgin Street Diner the next day feels so different. This time, when I walked into the diner, Caroline smiled at me, her cheeks heating slightly and I wonder if she was thinking about our kiss from last night.
I took my seat at the counter, grinning as Caroline set my usual glass of water down in front of me. I have to hold myself back from grabbing her, dragging her across the counter and kissing her, and I think she knows. She winks at me, turning and heading back into the kitchen to place my order and I watch her go.
Even though we went to the next town over for our date last night, I’m sure that at least half of the town has already heard about it. To be honest, I can’t wait for everyone to know about the two of us but I have a feeling that Caroline wants to talk to Charlotte about it before the gossip hits her. I’ve never really dated before but I imagine that adding a kid to the mix changes things.
“Hey, Heath,” Ken says.
He’s the town doctor and he must be on his lunch break.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I ask, taking in the dark circles under his eyes.
“Good, keeping busy,” he says, rubbing at his eyes. He looks like he’s about two seconds away from taking a nap on the counter.
“Hey, Heath,” Gracie says, smiling conspiratorially at me as she takes the seat on the other side of Ken.
“Hey, what can I get you two?” Caroline asks as she sets my food down in front of me and moves to take Ken and Gracie’s order.
“Coffee,” Ken croaks and I see Gracie shoot him a sympathetic look.
