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“What?” I ask, the panic making my heart beat even faster. “Who says that? Who tells someone it’s ‘too late’?”
The kid shrugs and moves on and I glare at him while he moves. Jane tries kicking me from her spot.
“War.” I smirk a little at the nickname before remembering myself and where I am andhey, dude, don’t wet yourself in front of this woman.“Are you sure about this?”
I hear some sort of mechanics starting, a whir behind me that I will probably remember for the rest of my life, a clang signals that the kid has left the “Danger Zone”—love that they call it that.
“I’m… sure,” I push out.
The ride jumps and Jane squeaks, I try to laugh at her excited fear but all I can muster is closing my eyes as the ride starts its two-hundred-foot ascent to my doom. I feel us rising and hear Jane giggle.
It’s a cute fucking sound that I can’t even enjoy because my insides are rioting.
“Jane,” I say, my heart hammering. “You okay?”
“I’m great! Are you?”
“Uh-huh,” I force myself to say, my eyes are closed tight still and because I didn’t watch the rise as we started, when I open them, the drop is even worse. “Holy fuck.”
I thought I whispered it, but Jane seems to think I really am freaking out. “Warren, are you sure this is okay? Maybe we can signal someone.”
“Nope, this is how I die.” I try to focus on the lights far out into the city instead of the ones that are directly below us—two hundred feet below us.
“Warren, it’s okay, deep breaths—”
We hesitate at the top, and because I feel genuinely worried I’m about to meet my death, I blurt out, “I’m Note Guy!”
“What?” Jane yells, the wind up at the top taking our words away.
“I’m No—” My words turn into a bloodcurdling scream as we plummet to the earth. I can’t catch my breath; my lungs compress against my ribs and I clench every muscle in my body.
Jane, on the other hand, is laughing her ass off. Screaming, yes, but laughing all the same.
Her laughter is something I can try to focus on as my eyes and ass both clench in fear; at least there’s that.
The end doesn’t come as we get closer to the ground and for a second, I can breathe, until it shoots us back into the sky to surely meet Jesus and down again. My brain is mush and by the time it slowly lowers us to the ground, my eyes are wide, heart pounding, and Jane is a ball of giggling energy that I wish I was feeling.
We make our way out—on unsteady legs—and once we’re out of the “Danger Zone” Jane turns and throws her arms around my neck. I wrap my shaky arms around her waist and pull her to me. I’m not ashamed that I’m clinging to her in this moment, for any other woman, I never would have done that terrifying ride—and probably wouldn’t ever do it again, no matter how amazing Jane was.
I’d like to keep my insides in my body.
“You’re Note Guy.” Her statement has me tensing and I pull back.
“I am.” I look down into her eyes, my own feelings wary now that she officially knows.
“I knew,” she responds, then waves her hand. “Well, not at first. But my friend clued me in.”
I frown, hands still resting on her hips. I’ll never admit to needing to hold on to her for my own balance, but it was true. “Your friend? What friend?”
“April Mae.”
“April?” I ask, stunned. “You’re friends with April?”
She grins and nods at me. “Yeah, just this year we’ve been friends. But I confessed to having a secret admirer and then when I mentioned you… well, she figured it out.”
“I’ll be damned,” I reply, smiling at her. I pull her closer. “Are you pissed?” I rest my forehead against hers, the adrenaline from the ride and this conversation keeping my heart at a steady, upbeat pace.
She ponders my question for a moment and then says, “Honestly?”
