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Chapter 16
Harper
The only friends I'd ever had growing up were Chloe and Ryder. I'd never fit into a normal high school clique; we were all loners that somehow managed to find each other. We all lived very different lives and rarely hung out like other teens. We didn't go to parties together or football games on Friday nights. We spent our friendships hiding from the Villa Boys and trying to escape whatever situation we'd been dealt.
Today was different; I wasn't a Villa girl, Chloe wasn't a Valley girl, and the guys weren't assholes from the Valley. We were a group of teenagers having fun, which was something I'd never done before, ever.
Sitting on a wooden bench on the boardwalk, I watched Chloe and Aiden walk the shoreline and Lincoln and Maverick flirt with a group of older girls. I wasn't sure where Sebastian and Julian disappeared to, but I didn't imagine they'd made it far.
We'd all spent the entire day wasting time like normal teenagers. We'd eaten until we couldn't eat anymore and danced on the beach to music echoing down from the pier. Sadly the sun was close to setting, and the day was almost over. Before long, we'd head back to reality.
"Ice cream," Christian said, holding out a cup of vanilla ice cream with caramel toppings. I wasn't sure I could fit anything else in my stomach, but Christian assured me I couldn't leave the pier without trying the ice cream.
"Thank you." I smiled, taking the cup. He slid onto the bench beside me. It was the first time we'd been alone since we'd gotten here.
"So, what's the deal with you and Alexi?" I asked after several long minutes. It was a question I'd been contemplating asking all day, and now, watching the sunset in what would typically be a romantic setting, I wanted to know.
"Alexi?" he scowled as if the question was absurd. I nodded, taking a bite of my ice cream. "There is no Alexi and me. We had a fling, and she got clingy, so it ended."
"She got clingy?" I repeated, staring at my ice cream as I swirled the spoon around the small cup.
"Yeah, but I was never really into Alexi like that, and I didn't think she was into me like that. We had clear boundaries from the start, and it made things easy."
"Do we have clear boundaries?" I asked, my gaze flicking up to his.
"Are you planning on begging me to fuck you?" he teased.
I didn't answer. I didn't answer because I didn't know what the truth was at this point. Christian was so much more than I'd ever expected. Even though I knew he didn't know how much any of his actions meant to me.
"Then I guess we don't need boundaries." He shrugged, taking a bite of his ice cream. "Why do you get to school so early?" he asked, moving on to the next subject. I've seen you there, but you don't have detention, so why are you there so early?"
This was the first question I wasn't ready to answer. How could I tell him I got to school early to use the washer and dryer? Or I got there early to use the shower because that wasn't an option at my house? We didn't have running water in the trailer.
In the 6th grade, I was bullied and tortured to tears about my clothes and the way I smelled. My P.E. coach tried to help. It was my third time back from foster care, and I would have rather died than return to the system. So, she gave me a key to the girl's locker room and bought me a ton of toiletries and laundry soap.
The bullying didn't improve, but they couldn't say I was dirty or smelled anymore.
"Dare," I mumbled, silently praying we were still playing the game.
"Dare, huh?" Christian asked, cocking his eyebrow, his lips twitching into a smirk. "I dare you to ride that with me." He pointed up to the sky-scraping Ferris wheel to the left of us. "After sunset."
"You're on." Lots of things scared me, but heights weren't one of them.
He tossed our empty ice cream cups into the trash beside him before sliding one arm behind me and pulling me into him. We sat quietly, watching the sun disappear into the horizon in a beautiful display of blended colors.
"You ready?" Christian asked, hopping into the Ferris wheel car, causing it to sway. He extended his hand, and I slid mine into it before he jerked me up into the car. It was big enough to fit four more people inside.
"Anyone else?" the carnie yelled to the line of people waiting.
"Sorry," Christian grumbled. "This car is full." He pulled the door shut and took a seat beside me.
The wheel started to spin, swaying the car back and forth, taking us upward. Christian's hand settled on my bare upper thigh.
"Wow," I gasped, peering out the window at the glowing city surrounding us. "This is amazing."
The car eased to a stop at the top.
"It's your turn." He smiled.Hmm. I had so many things I wanted to know about Christian. What to ask next?
