Shallow (8 page)

“They would prefer he be left to live with his drug dealing grandmother?”

“No, they’re not that uncaring. Their solution would have involved throwing some money at a charity and leaving someone else to do the dirty work.”

He turned onto the highway leading from Franklin to Collinsville. “I’m assuming you don’t mind going to Collinsville since you’d probably prefer we didn’t run into your parents.”

I looked in his direction. “My parents are out of town, but that’s probably best so we don’t run into any of their friends.” I felt guilty about it, but I was glad he was taking me away from Franklin.

His expression was one I couldn't quite place but then my curiosity was forgotten when he changed the subject. “Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Come on, do you really think my parents could handle another me?”

“So, you’re a handful?”

“Absotively. What about you? You said that your dad didn’t care what ‘we’ did so does that mean you have brothers and sisters?”

“One of each and I have the pleasure of being the disturbed middle child.”

I squirmed in my seat to turn in Nick’s direction so I could see him without twisting my neck awkwardly. “Tell me about them.”

“Well, Jake is twenty-one and he works for the water and electrical department in Collinsville. He still lives at home with us and he has a girlfriend named Gabbi. You remember her, right? I believe you referred to her as ‘Miss Black Halter Top’ last night at the club.”

Yeah, I remembered ‘Miss Black Halter Top’ and I also remembered the unexpected jealousy I felt when I thought he was making plans to hook up with her while he was at the bar buying a drink for me. I kept that thought to myself as he went on. “My sister, Dallas, is seventeen and she’ll be a senior at Collinsville this year.”

“Your brother isn’t in college?”

“Nah, school wasn’t really his thing.”

He said it so matter of fact, like it was fine with his family that he wasn’t in college. “What about you? Is school your thing?”

It would be a shame if he didn’t have goals for himself. “Not really, but I’m going anyway because I’m following in my old man’s footsteps. Police force.”

Shiz, Nick in a fitted uniform would probably be more than I could stand. “You’re gonna be a cop?”

“Yeah, why so surprised?”

“Because being a police officer is dangerous.”

“I happen to like danger.”

The street ahead of us was blocked and a police officer was directing traffic around whatever was going on. “Unless you get stuck showing drivers which direction to go like this guy. That would not be dangerous or exciting. What’s going on?”

“The fair is in town.”

I looked over and saw the lights of the Ferris wheel as it circled. “I always wanted to do that when I was a kid, but my mom would never take me.”

“You’ve got to be shittin’ me. You’ve never been to the fair?”

I looked away from the rides and flashing lights toward Nick. “Nope.”

He looked at me in disbelief. “You’ve never eaten hotdogs, funnels cakes and cotton candy and then puked after riding the tilt-o-whirl?”

Ewe...Maybe I wasn’t missing much after all. “Not once.”

He whirled his head to look at the traffic in the outer lane and then quickly changed lanes and wheeled into the parking area on the fairgrounds. “What are you doing?”

“Like you don’t know.” He smiled and I knew what he was suggesting. “I’m taking you to the fair.”

That was ridiculous. I wasn’t letting him take me to the fair. “No, you’re not. I’m too old for kiddie rides.”

He pulled into a spot and then looked at me. “No, you’re not but how would you know if you’ve never been?”

“Stay there,” he said before he got out and jetted around to open my door for me. “Come on, Doll Face, this is gonna fun.”

I felt ridiculous. What eighteen year-old went to the fair? Apparently me. And with the Sex Tricks Jedi, no less.

I huffed, but I couldn’t prevent the smile that had been threatening to come to the surface since he told me what we were doing. He reached for my hand and grabbed it like he was afraid I might bolt at any minute. We walked toward the admission gate and I looked over at him. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. It’s silly. You know that, right?”

“Nothin’ wrong with being silly. It’s going to be fun.”

I shouldn’t have gotten my phone out of my purse, but I did anyway. I knew I would get a million texts and calls from Jessie and Claire and I didn’t want to hear all the reasons why I shouldn’t have left with Nick Hawke. In this moment, no one could convince me this was wrong.

8 Let’s Call It A Non-No

Nick

I had no idea where I was taking Payton Archer when I asked her to leave Dane’s party with me, so it was safe to say that I never guessed we would end up at the fairgrounds in Collinsville. Better yet, I never guessed how much fun we’d have riding kiddie rides and eating pink cotton candy.

We shared a seat with a couple of rug rats on the tilt-o-whirl and they looked at Payton like she was crazy when she squealed hysterically while spinning in circles as we tilted back and forth. When the ride ended, she didn’t make a move to get out of her seat and looked at me with a serious expression I didn’t like.

“What’s wrong?”

Here it came. The part I had dreaded, the part where she told me she made a mistake by leaving with me and I should take her back to Dane’s house. I waited for the words but they didn’t come. Instead, she squeezed her eyes tightly and began to fan her face with her hand. “I should probably not do that again anytime soon. I feel like I could puke and it would be a shame to do that to you two nights in a row.”

I was so relieved she wasn’t telling me to take her back to Dane’s that I didn’t care if she puked on me again. I reached for her hand and helped steady her as she stood. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good, but I probably shouldn’t have ridden that. I get car sick, so anything going in circles tends to not agree with me. I can barely make it around a circular ramp on the highway.”

I held her hand and helped her down the steps of the ride. “Okay, no more tilt-o-whirl for you. How ‘bout we play some games? I could win you a huge teddy bear as a souvenir for your first fair.”

“I’ve never been to a fair and even I know that those games are rigged. I bet you don’t win anything.”

It was a challenge. “Have you not learned your lesson with me yet? Don’t bet against me, Doll Face. What kind of prize do you want?”

She looked around and then pointed toward a huge teddy bear in overalls hanging up by the basketball goals. “I want that big gaudy teddy bear.”

Perfect. Basketball was my game of choice. “How ‘bout I win you that teddy bear and you give me a kiss?”

She smiled and I took it as an agreement because it’s what I wanted. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

“Let’s call it a...
non-no
.”

I’d gladly take a non-no if it got me a kiss from her.

The guy behind the counter noticed us showing some interest in his booth and he began to shout in our direction. “Three hoops wins the little lady her choice of a prize.”

I slid my wallet out of my back pocket and reached for some of my earnings from the race. “How much?”

I watched him eye Payton up and down. “Five dollars for five tries. Three hoops wins her choice of prize.”

I loudly slammed a five dollar bill on the counter to take his attention off of Payton’s cleavage and he slowly pulled his eyes from her to look at me. “Best of luck, sir.”

“Yeah, right.”

He tossed a basketball in my direction and I bounced it a couple of times before I confidently took the first shot and missed. The guy behind the booth laughed. “You’re gonna have to do better than that to impress this little lady.”

I didn’t say anything as I took the ball from his nasty hands a second time to take my next shot and then missed again. Yeah, this was definitely rigged. I had played basketball for six years and could have made this shot with my eyes closed.

“Awe...Missed again. Now you have to make every shot left to win this little beauty a prize.” He leaned over the counter to look at Payton’s legs and I wanted to punch his face and knock out the last three teeth he had left in his head. “What do you think, Beautiful? Can he do it?”

She looked at me and smiled. “I’ve learned to not underestimate him when there’s something he wants.”

I took another ball from the sleaze bag and looked at the hoop closely to judge my next shot. I heard Payton ask, “Sir, do many people successfully make three hoops?” and I took my shot as she distracted him. A loud beep signaled my ball going into the hoop.

“That’s one.” I reached in his direction for another ball.

He narrowed his eyes at me and shoved a ball in my direction. I studied the hoop again and heard Payton say, “It’s so hot out here tonight,” and I knew she was doing something to distract him again. I really didn’t want to know what so I shook it off and took my next shot. A beep signaled my second hoop and he jerked his head around to look at the hoop.

I held my hands up to signal for my next ball and again he unnecessarily shoved one in my direction. He wouldn’t fall for another one of Payton’s distractions unless she took off her top.

“Last shot. Better make it count if you want to win that teddy for the little lady.”

It was a given that he was going to do something to move the hoop. The only question was would it be left or right? There was a 50/50 chance I would guess the right direction so I went with the left.

BEEP!

It was a lucky guess and I knew that, but it wasn’t about making the shot. It was about seeing Payton walk around with one of those big, ugly bears and even better was the kiss she promised me. Sort of promised, my non-no kiss.

She squealed with excitement and threw her arms around my neck so I took the opportunity to pick her up and swing her around like we had hit the Tennessee Lottery. I knew we looked ridiculous to those around us, but I didn’t care because it was a great excuse to put my arms around her.

I put her down and looked into her eyes. This wasn’t where I wanted our first kiss to happen but I would take it if she offered.

“I’ve got players behind you, so pick your prize and move on,” the sleaze bag called out.

Great job of ruining this kiss for me, Dude.
I struggled to not show my irritation. “Show him the one you want, Doll Face.”

“That one,” she said as she pointed toward the biggest bear hanging on the wall. Her eyes lit up over that ugly stuffed bear and I knew I was giving her something she would never forget. It wasn’t the bear, it was the memory.

“Thank you, Nick,” she said as she leaned over and kissed my cheek.

Damn, that was a total letdown. A brotherly peck on the cheek was not the kind of kiss I had in mind, but I smiled because I didn’t want her see that I had expected more.

“Glad I could be the one to give you your first Fair Bear.”

“
Fair Bear
,” she laughed. “I like that. I think that should be his name.”

It was starting to get late and I guessed they would be shutting things down soon. “You seem like you’re feeling better. You wanna give the Ferris wheel a try before we go?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling much better so I definitely want to do that before we go.”

The line was short because it was getting late so we were quickly loaded into the carriage that would carry us up to overlook the Collinsville fairgrounds. We rose higher into the sky each time a carriage was loaded with riders and I watched the excitement on Payton’s face as we got closer to the top.

She twisted in the carriage and looked around in every direction. “I know we’re just on a small Ferris wheel, but it feels like we’re on top of the world.” She laughed as she turned to me. “You think I’m being silly, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t think you’re silly at all. I think you’re intriguing.”

I licked my lips as I stared at the shiny gloss on her lips and imagined how soft and slick her mouth would be against mine. I had never wanted to lean in for a kiss so badly in all of my life. Being on this Ferris wheel on top of the world with her couldn’t be more perfect, but I couldn’t do it; I was too scared.

I, Nick Hawke, the
sexpert
and fearless daredevil, was scared. I was too pansy to kiss this beautiful girl because she was wonderful and perfect and different. She was special and I didn’t want to blow it with her by pushing too hard, too fast.

The wheel stopped again to load another couple. “I’m sorry I didn’t say this already, but thank you for taking care of my drunk ass last night. I didn’t think I would be so wasted after only two drinks. I guess I just drank them too fast.”

Without thinking, I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Hey, I didn’t mind. It was my pleasure, puke and all.”

She shook her head as she looked down. “Liar,” she laughed. “The whole thing with Cooper seems so stupid now. I tried to make him be my Jessie. That’s weird, I know. I’m sort of messed up that way.” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I told you that.”