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“How about that fifty-dollar wallet? The brown one. Can you put a heart on it and the initials ES on the top and JN on the bottom?”
I gaped at him. “You don’t actually have to do that!”
He shrugged, and my heart thundered wildly in my ears as the man laughed. He picked out a wallet from a box that was like the one on display and showed it to Ethan, who nodded. Then the man stamped it with the heart and our initials. Ethan paid. I was horrified to see that he handed the leatherworker a one-hundred-dollar bill, but the man gave Ethan change, and then Ethan put his money in the new wallet. My heart almost beat out of my chest as I snagged it. He let me take the wallet from him, and my fingers trembled as I ran them over the seared leather. My eyes stung with tears.
What did this mean? Were wedatingdating? I glanced at him, and his face was pink as he watched me. I carefully handed the wallet to him with both hands, and he tucked it into his back pocket.
“Uh, what do you say we eat?” He glanced around and didn’t meet my eye.
I took his hand again, and he gave it a quick squeeze the second our fingers touched. I grinned at him. “Yeah. How about we start with some bacon cheese fries, then hit the sugar?” I bounced on my toes and grinned.
He laughed. “What, don’t they let you have the good stuff at home?”
Groaning, I shook my head. “Mom is very much into keeping her waistline the same as it was in high school, and Dad hates greediness, which means that you shouldn’t eat anything that isn’t strictly necessary to keep you alive, unless it’s a church potluck.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s been a while since I had anything like this.”
“Well, then today’s clearly the day you’re going straight to hell,” he murmured into my ear before leaning back to wink at me.
My stomach tugged with some guilt, but when he pecked a kiss on my cheek I practically floated after him, staring at his butt. If this was what the road to hell looked like, it was a pretty nice view.
7
ETHAN
We walkedaround the fair for an hour, checking out more food options and the rides and exhibits. We bought funnel cakes, and the fifteen dollars was worth it to see Jonas’s wide smile and hear his moans as he took bites from the deep-fried batter.
“Mm. This is so good.” He swallowed and took another large bite of the dough, his eyes slipping closed as a sinful groan left his pretty lips. “So good.”
“Yeah, real good.” I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the pink tongue that darted out from between his red lips and licked powdered sugar off his mouth.Fuck. My cock plumped. I shook my head, forcing myself to concentrate on the food clutched too tightly in my hands. I tore off some of my funnel cake before I shoved it into my mouth and chewed. The sweet taste was perfect. This was the best kind of date I could imagine. Hell, this was thefirstone I’d ever been on, so I didn’t know what to expect.
Jonas finished the last of his late afternoon snack and took the time to suck on each one of his fingers, and I watched, hypnotized by the way his lips wrapped around his digits. Everything he did teased me, and the ridiculous thing was that he was oblivious.
“Do you want the rest of mine?” I held out the other half of the dough I had left, and he flushed, his cheeks lighting up like a Christmas tree.
“Are you sure?” he asked nervously.
I nodded because it was obvious he’d enjoyed the food a lot.
“Thanks.” He took the paper plate from me and finished off the rest of the funnel cake in minutes, tearing into it like he wasn’t sure when he would get to taste it again. When he was done, he threw the plate into a trash can.
“Where to now?” He bounced on his toes and the pure joy in his gaze was strange to me but also adorable. I’d never met anyone like him, so full of childlike wonder. Maybe that was why he enjoyed being around me. Maybe he saw me in a light no one else did, not recognizing the darkness for what it was. I was broken—cracked and falling apart, only held together by threads—and he made me feel shiny and new.
“I don’t know.” I glanced around the fair and watched as kids and adults alike shifted across the grounds, excitement fueling every movement. I’d never had the money to go to events like this, so I hadn’t bothered attempting to because it would only end in disappointment. As a kid, I’d wanted to go, but Mom had refused to take me, and Leo had been broke, too.
“Oh, let’s go on the Ferris wheel.” He pointed at the large wheel in the corner of the park, one of the few rides here, and I couldn’t say no, so we joined hands again and headed in that direction. A few people smiled at us as we walked past, and while Jonas grinned back, I ignored them.
When we got to the booth for the wheel, I pulled out my new wallet and dragged out a twenty, passing it to the sour-faced man, who grunted in acknowledgement. He gave us tickets and waved us toward the line, and while Jonas practically bounced his way there, I casually walked with a grin I couldn’t contain. He was cute as fuck. Certainly not the type of guy who should be seen out with me.
“This is going to be so much fun.” Jonas’s grip on my hand tightened and he gave me a wide grin. “I love Ferris wheels. Have you been on one before?”
All I could do was shake my head and wince in embarrassment, but he leaned against me, bumping his shoulder with mine.
“They’re fun.”
I smirked. “I believe you.”
When it was our turn to get into the caged-in seats, Jonas sat on one side, and I took the other. The carriage rocked, and I froze, but he didn’t seem worried as he settled in. A man with a black eye patch closed the door, effectively locking us inside, and a ball of anxiety began to build in my chest. The white wheel began to move, and it stopped occasionally, letting more people on the ride, and I tried not to overthink what was happening.
Jonas was in his element, shifting closer to the edge and peering down toward the ground, and each time he moved, the cage rocked.
