“Are you kidding me? We’re so doing this.”
“Yes! I knew you had it in you,” Hunter said, full of unabashed glee.
I smiled and took his hand, my sensors immediately recognizing his racing pulse. It seemed all too clear he was more excited about this adventure than I was.
“So you never answered my question,” he said, leading the way for us.
“Hmmm?”
“Your favorite ride.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “The carousel, I guess.”
Hunter gave me a funny look. “Seriously?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
He tapped his chin in faux concentration. “What isn’t wrong with it?”
My mouth fell open in mock dismay. “Take that back. The carousel is a classic.”
“Classic? How old are you? Forty?” he replied.
Um, more like a few months old. If we were using created-on dates. “You’re just jealous of my excellent taste in rides.”
“No. It’s just that I picture you on the front of a roller coaster, screaming your head off and laughing with your arms in the air.”
Something guarded inside of me gave way. I could see the image clearly, and I wanted it. I wanted to be that girl. Happy and free; excited about the unexpected. I wanted to see myself through Hunter’s eyes.
Acting on a whim, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. His chin rested on my head, my cheek against his chest.
Subject’s heart rate: 92 bpm.
Inspiration levels: Elevated.
Hyperventilation unlikely.
“What was that for?” he whispered.
I glanced up at him, whispering the words in my head I wasn’t brave enough to voice. Because you make me feel alive. But ultimately, “Just because” was all I said aloud. His lips grazed my forehead. The contact was brief, but the warmth inside me lingered. “So, are you going to prove me right?”
“About what?”
He tipped his head in the direction of a gigantic roller coaster named the Blazing Inferno. The ten-foot sign for the ride was engulfed in flame-like streamers and the winding track was painted bright red.
“I would, but I don’t think we can run the roller coaster by ourselves,” I said.
“You happen to be looking at a trained professional.”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Nope. Back in California, I spent a whole summer working as a carnie.”
“You never mentioned that before.”
He took my hand and began pulling me along, his smile broadening. “So I have a few secrets.”
As we closed in on the ride, prickles of concern traveled up my arms. Starting up the roller coaster was going too far, wasn’t it? Were there silent alarms on these things? What if some security guard showed up and found us here trespassing? We’d be brought somewhere for questioning—and questions about who I was and where I came from were pretty unanswerable at this point.
“Hunter, this is crazy,” I said the moment we arrived at the Inferno’s entrance.
“We’re not going to get caught. Trust me.”
“It’s not that,” I lied.
God, I was getting so freakishly good at it.
He squinted at me curiously. “Would you rather go on another ride? The Ferris wheel would be easy. All I’d have to do is throw one lever, and we’d be up so high, we could see for miles.”
I had to admit, that sounded wonderful. So wonderful I was finding it hard to say no.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” he pleaded.
I closed my eyes for a minute as my android brain performed another scan. This time to make sure there weren’t any cameras or secret security systems hidden in the shadows. This amusement park seemed rather antiquated, so maybe the owners didn’t have the right technology in place. We did hop their fence, after all.
Advanced perimeter scan.
Video capture capabilities: Zero.
Alarm triggers: None.
I opened my eyes to Hunter biting his lip with anticipation. Resistance was futile.
“All right. One lap on the wheel.”
“You won’t regret it,” he said.
That was the problem. I didn’t regret any of the time I spent with him. Not even when it wasn’t in his best interests.
We jogged over to the entrance gate of the ride, our fingers loosely intertwined. I climbed onto the bench seat while Hunter got behind a few of the controls, his brow furrowing together as he tried to familiarize himself with them.
“You okay over there?” I asked, my legs swinging back and forth, the tips of my shoes skimming the ground below.
Hunter glanced up and winked. “Piece of cake.”
He flipped a switch and the frame of the ride lit up with hundreds of tiny white lights. My stomach plummeted and we weren’t even moving.
Wattage: 10,000 watts.
Visibility: High.
A voice inside my head said I should put a stop to this. All of it—this date; this relationship or whatever it was. Especially when a giddy-looking Hunter dashed over, slid next to me on the seat, his eyes beaming.
What was I doing? Every second I spent with him was putting him in danger. I just had to accept that, no matter how much it scared me. No matter how lonely I’d be without him.
Without anyone.
“I have it on autopilot. Prepare to be dazzled,” he said, locking the bar into place. It reverberated with a metallic clang and suddenly I felt trapped—like I was being held in that coffin-like device within Holland’s nightmarish compound.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” I mumbled.
“Are you afraid of heights?” Hunter asked, and I heard the skepticism in his voice.
I shrugged, even though that so wasn’t the case.
“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” he said softly. “I can go stop it now.”
The disappointed slump of his shoulders sealed it for me. “No, it’s fine.”
With a slight jerk, the huge wheel began turning and we were slowly lifted toward the sky, our feet dangling beneath us.
“I have a confession,” I said quietly.
These words came out and I hadn’t meant them to.
“Yeah?” He looked at me intently.
More silence. Even though I was trying desperately to eke out the truth. Then I realized I could just simply break things off with him. Tell him we have to go our separate ways after this. I didn’t even need to give him a real reason. I could just say what boys in Clearwater would tell my ex-friend Kaylee when they were done with her: It was for the best.
But eventually, the truth won out.
Well, not exactly.
“I’ve never ridden a Ferris