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Lilli: Big talk. Let’s see some action.
I laugh at Lilli’s dare and wonder what Will would’ve done if I had kissed him tonight, like I had wanted to so many times. I wonder what that would mean for us, for this summer, if we were to make the jump.
Chapter 16
A large fair is set up as we pull into the next town. It is late afternoon, and we decide to go to our hotel. After a quick dinner, I’m resting in my room when there is a knock on my door. I open it to find Will.
“Come out with me.” He bounces on his toes with a goofy smile on his face.
“Is that how you ask me on a date?” I ask, hiding my own excitement. Will has asked me to do plenty of things with him over the weeks of this road trip, but this feels more intentional.
“It is me asking you to save me from my boredom.” Will corrects, but I don’t deflate because I see the teasing glint in his eyes.
“Well, in that case, sure. What is your plan?” I turn back to my room to grab a light jacket and leave Will in the doorway.
“Fried food. Unsafe rides. Rip off games. Tacky prizes.” Will lists, sounding more excited with each item he names.
“You want to go to the fair?” I’m surprised he is interested in going. Doesn’t seem like his sophisticated city boy behavior. Though, as the weeks have passed by, most of Will has defied the city slicker box I tried to shove him into.
“Well, there is nothing else to do.” Will says, but his eyes are too bright. He is excited.
An hour later, we are walking through the fair. I’m eating a funnel cake and Will is explaining how the last game, which he lost terribly, is rigged. I’m nodding along with his complaints, but I’m not really listening. Instead, I’m enjoying the atmosphere. The strung-up lights, the crowds, and the soft carnival music.
“You aren’t listening, are you?” Will asks, and he grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers as we walk past the various booths and stands.
“What is this about?” I ignore his question and give a pointed look at our hands.
“We are at a fair. We have to hold hands. It’s typical.” He squeezes my hand.
“You want to be typical now?” I look up at him, not quite believing this giddiness that has overcome him.
“I do with you.” He might as well as said I love you for the way my heart explodes. I’m such a simp for Will.
“Well, in the interest of being typical, I say we ride the ferris wheel.” I point to where it dominates the carnival skyline.
“Will you kiss me when it reaches the top?” Will leans down to ask softly.
“You will have to wait and see.” I tease, but both he and I know I will.
“I’m on the edge of my seat with anticipation.” Will pulls me toward the line, which luckily isn’t a mile long, like some of the other rides.
When we get on the ferris wheel, Will wraps his arm around my shoulders and I relax into him. I’m not sure where his feelings are at and I’m not sure it is smart to get involved with him, but I am sure I like him. He fills me with a lightness I haven’t felt since Mama died, like maybe life can be as simple as holding hands with a boy you like at a county fair.
“Do you like me, Will?” I don’t feel like I need to tread lightly with Will.
“Yes, Hannah, I like you.” Will rolls his eyes as if that is obvious, but to me it really isn’t. Sure, he flirts with me, but the other half of the time he talks about how limited my world view is.
“But why?” I’m not being self-deprecating. I know I have a lot of good qualities and I know Will sees some of those, but I am curious why he suddenly is pursuing me.
“Because you never back down. You challenge me every time I try to tell you how something is. You aren’t willing to let anyone define you.” Will begins, and I think he is going to say more, but I interrupt him.
“You like me because I’m stubborn? You realize that is a fairly common personality trait?” It isn’t one of my traits that I would have listed as good.
“Well, it helps that you are hot.” Will gives me a wicked smile and I swat at his chest.
“Maybe you aren’t that different from the boys in my hometown.” Usually, that dig would get him, but he just laughs in response.
“Maybe, or maybe that is just something we all have in common. A pretty girl is a pretty girl, no matter where you come from.” He gives me a charming smile and I doubt that he knows he doesn’t need the lines and the panty-dropping smile with me. He won me over long before now with his teasing smirks and well-worded barbs.
