AllFreeNovel
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As we turn the corner, all of the park’s glory comes into view. I spot the pile of tubes along the side fencing, the Monster Slide rising above the trees. The formerly crisp rainbow of water slides are now more of a sickly pastel hue after years of sun exposure.
I hope the safety standards have fared better…
“EEEEE!” Val squeals, placing both hands on the passenger window. “We’re here!”
As soon as I park the car, Val’s out the door. She bounces on her heels, putting on her sunglasses so she can stare at the park in awe. I sit for a moment, watching her. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Val smile like that.
She used to smile at me like that. I miss it. Miss her.
It’s part of the reason why I’ve decided to go slightly beyond Pops’s request for today. Spending all this time with Val has made me realize that I can’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers. We may be older now, but Val is still the person I loved all those years ago, and her effect on me is the same.
It’s made me wonder if I could do things differently. Be the one who fights for her. I want to prove to her that I deserve another chance. Show her that losing her the first time was the biggest mistake of my life, and now that I have her at my side again, I never want to let her go.
“You coming or what?” Val calls. She’s staring impatiently at the truck and tapping her foot like she’s a cartoon character. “I’ll go in without you, don’t think I won’t!”
I make a show of rolling my eyes at her and get out of the car, grabbing the plastic bag I stuffed my swim trunks into. “Hold your horses, Teeny.”
“They are held, but barely.”
“And you say I make bad jokes.”
She’s still tapping her foot. “So, what’s the task we have to complete here? I’m assuming we have to go on the water slides?”
“Actually, no. Pops only requested that we get ice cream.”
“What?” Val raises her sunglasses so I get the full force of her flat gaze. “Let me get this straight. Pops wanted me to play paintball—which I have never done in my life—but didn’t want us to go on the water slides where we spent our childhood?!”
She sounds so indignant that I have to chuckle. “Correct.”
“Oh, Alfie.” She sighs dramatically and I picture the little smile Pops used to have when he was particularly feisty. “But we’re going anyway, right?”
“Of course we are. We’re not coming to Tumbling Waters and not going on the slides. That would be lunacy.”
She lifts a brow. “Good to see that your time away hasn’t completely changed you.”
I let my eyes meet hers. “Some things never change, Teeny.”
Val’s expression shifts, just slightly. Her mouth puckers at the corners, and she quickly looks away. “Why don’t you go ahead into the park? I’ll head to the shop and buy a swimsuit and meet you on the other side.”
“I’ll come with you.”
To be clear, I’m not the kind of guy who normally likes shopping for clothes, but I want to spend every minute I can with her. Even if it means having to stand crammed amongst rows of clothes in a shop that smells of dust and plastic and is lit by those horrible fluorescent bulbs.
Val’s smile falters. “You want to come with me to get a swimsuit?”
“If you want me to.”
“Okay, like… you really don’t have to. You should probably go ahead.”
I peer at her, trying to guess what she’s thinking. I decide to leave it up to her. “I’d like to spend time with you. But whatever you want, Teeny.”
Her eyebrows lift like she’s surprised by my response. She screws up her face in thought. “I guess you can come,” she says slowly.
It’s not the most enthusiastic response I’ve ever heard, but I’ll take it.
We walk into the shop next to the park’s entrance and Val goes to the bikini section. And it finally hits me that this might’ve been a mistake. Because the thought of Val trying on bikinis—that cute lace one, the high-waisted pink one, the multi-color one with the ties at the sides…
Heat gathers in my stomach and I decide to exit the area STAT. I head to the obligatory Boyfriend Seating Area next to the change rooms and grab a magazine. Try very, very hard not to think of Val in that white string bikini she’s currently considering.
