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“Whatever that was,” Audrey said under her breath, “Cut it out now. The boys are coming back.” Maggie turned, expecting Mac, and saw Dean and Cal headed towards them.
Dean was handsome. Dean was kind. This had been a wonderful afternoon.
“Two tickets,” Dean said and held his arm out for her to hold. “Ready?”
Maggie let Dean take her hand in his and lead her to the base of the ride. The mohawked kid operating the wheel opened the door to a yellow car and ushered them inside. Dean slid across the metal seat and pulled Maggie in after him. He lay his arm across the back of the car as the operator closed and latched the door.
“Have a good time,” the kid moved back to the controls, body hunched under a layer of black clothes and heavily spiked hair.
The car started with a jolt, and Maggie slid into Dean’s body. They were pressed together, thigh to thigh, hip to hip, just like Mac had said. Maggie shook her head. She was not thinking about Mac. He and his grumpy attitude had no place on this ride with her. The car lurched forward and stopped, lurched and stopped as the cars behind them filled up. Maggie turned to see where Audrey and Cal ended up and caught sight of Mac talking with the kid manning the controls. She saw Mac hand over some cash, buying his own ticket, and the kid nodded.
The sun had warmed the metal of the bench, so Maggie kept her knees raised, trying not to burn herself. She had to rest on the tips of her toes to keep her thighs up. Her legs were barely long enough to keep them off of the metal. Noticing her struggle, Dean looped an arm under her knees and propped her legs across his lap.
“Are you having a good time today?” Dean’s voice was a low rumble against her chest.
Maggie smiled up at him and nodded because she was having a wonderful time, but being so close made her forget how to use her vocal cords. The car had made a full rotation by the time she found her words.
“I’m having a great time, Dean. I’m so glad I asked you to help me.”
“I’m having a good time, too.” Dean said, “And I’m happy to play boyfriend with you. Are you getting the stuff you need?”
Maggie nodded. “I think so.”
The car swung past the controls and continued to climb up towards the top again. Maggie forced herself to look away from Dean and around at the green fairgrounds dotted with little red tents and even littler animals and people. Even if the car didn’t stop, she could still write some details from this experience. The scent of popcorn and sugar mixed with the animals below, and she noted she should add that detail. Heat from the metal seats and the warmth from Dean’s body made sweat bead up along her forehead and behind her knees.
When she looked down, Maggie noticed the skin of her translucent thighs, unused to so much time under the UV rays, was already inching towards the cardinal red. That was going to hurt later. But all the discomfort was worth it to see Dean’s hair catch the sun like gold.
The car squealed and came to a shuddering stop, and Maggie’s breath caught. They sat perched at the very top of the wheel. Whoops and squeals from some of the other cars and passengers hit her ears.
“You okay?” Dean pulled her closer. “If you don’t look down, you can pretend we aren’t so high up.”
Maggie hadn’t considered being nervous. She was too thrilled about being stuck. It helped to have Dean’s solid weight pressed against her.
“I’m okay.” She said and let her smile bleed across her face. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back to let the sun kiss her forehead and cheeks. Take that, Mac, she thought, and her smile grew. The Ferris wheel had stopped all on its own. Fate had clearly thrown her a gift.
“Hey Babs,” Dean said, and she turned her face towards him but didn’t open her eyes. “If this were an actual date, I’d end it with a kiss.”
Maggie’s eyes popped open. Her skin was stretched tight, itchy. “What?”
“Yes or no, Maggie?” Dean said.
“Yes,” Maggie said, but something wasn’t quite right. Her stomach pitched and twisted, saliva flooding her mouth.
Dean leaned towards her, his green eyes shuttering as he moved. Then the car lurched, and the wheel turned again, and Maggie recognized the lurching roil of her stomach. With a shove, she pushed Dean away and leaned over the side of the car, losing her dignity along with her lunch.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Asshestareddownat her blinking cursor, and the words still wouldn’t come, Maggie had to admit dating Dean would not be a quick fix. Maggie had translated some of the warmth from when he’d held her hand or smiled at her. She’d also been able to express some flutters that had kicked off in her belly when they’d been at the very top of the wheel. But the words and feelings were so contrived on the page that she wanted to roll her own eyes when she read her words back.
Love was universal, but it was also unique. The vague descriptions she was coming up with were like looking at love through a haze of smoke she kept trying desperately to clear.
Maggie had her iPad and keyboard set up just to the left of the register. Shay was somewhere in the bowels of the store, reading the latest manga they’d stocked and shelved that morning. The store was pretty empty during the week with only the occasional customer on lunch break. Maggie had hoped a change of scenery might inspire some revisions. There were only so many hours she could stare at the divots in her wooden desk while pretending she was working.
The bell over the door tinkled as someone walked into the shop. Maggie shut her iPad and pushed her ash-brown hair behind her ears. She could worry about her misbehaving manuscript later.
“Welcome to The Tattered Cover,” Maggie said with her customer service smile. “Can I help you find anything today?”
The man waved her off and headed down one row of books towards the back of the store. Shay was back there and could help him if he needed it. Maggie tucked her tablet away on the little shelf below the register and grabbed a rag and some cleaner to wipe down the glass display case. The display housed some of the more expensive playing cards for games Maggie was only tangentially familiar with, some adorable alien-eyed collectable figurines, and a few of Mac’s blades. Gary liked to show off more high-cost items at the front, and the cabinet’s lock was just a bonus. Did Maggie enjoy cleaning display cases? No, it wasn’t a favorite work task at all. Was it better than staring at her unrevised novel? Yes.
