Unavoidable (12 page)
Authors: Yara Greathouse
“Yes, I do! ‘Cause you are the
Beast!
You ain’t scared!” She smiles up at me and winks. Crap! I better play this off.
“That’s right! You got it, girl. The Beast! That’s who I am, and don’t you forget
it!” I start pumping the air, and flexing my arms, showing her my dancing pectorals.
Yeah, that’s right, I try to get her to look at me, but she completely ignores me,
grabs me by the elbow and tells me, “Take your watch, belt and shoes off. Leave only
your socks on.”
I do as she tells me to. She does the same and pulls her hair up into a ponytail.
I guess Brianna feels a little sorry for me because she starts to explain what this
is and how it works.
“Colton, this is a Zorb. It’s a transparent plastic, shock absorbing orb. We climb
inside through these holes on the side, and one of the attendants is going to secure
the harnesses…” I raise an eyebrow and give her a cocky smile, “…don’t get any kinky
ideas,” She shakes an index finger at me, “There are two layers of plastic, the outer
layer is approximately 10 feet and the inner layer is about 6 feet 7 inches, leaving
about 2 feet of cushion in between, filled with air and held together by nylon strings.
The trapped air acts as a shock absorber for the riders – that’s us.” She smiles really
big.
“No kidding.” I say. She rolls her eyes and continues.
“One attendant will be waiting for us downhill. The ball stays on track thanks to
the small poles you see alongside the road. We will be going downhill at about 32
miles per hour.” She looks at me with a sincere expression and smiles. “I am so glad
I get to do this with you. It is one of my favorite fun things to do!”
I did not want to sound like a wimp, but being powerless inside a ball that will tumble
downhill and has to stop by hitting something? Yeah, I was a little concerned. I better
fake it. “Okay. Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it.”
One of the attendants point to the side opening, Brianna easily hops right in the
hole without help, like some kind of summersault. She is so graceful. I wish I could
ask her where she learned to do those things, but I am afraid to say something in
the event it’s one of those prohibited questions.
I put my hands and arms through the hole and I’m having a little trouble getting my
wide shoulders in, so Brianna grabs my hands and wiggles me in until I fall, very
ungracefully inside of the sphere. There are two harnesses opposite each other on
the inside walls. Brianna positions herself in front of one and I position myself
by the other one. The attendant approaches to fasten Brianna’s harness, and he is
touching her wrists, waist and ankles. I’m about to show him a piece of my mind, when
I see Brianna’s’ face looking at me, Smiling expectantly. I decide to postpone the
caveman act for when it is really needed and relax. Seconds later the guy is securing
my harness, and we are getting ready to roll.
“I much prefer to being tied up by you than some random guy.” I tell her.
“We can play-act later, now I need you to concentrate on this experience. It won’t
last long.” She blows a kiss. I hear the attendant ask if we are ready, Brianna responds
that we are. I feel us moving, slow we start to tumble. You can’t see clearly through
the plastic, but I decide it’s not so bad after all. Brianna is smiling expectantly,
when all of a sudden we hit the dropping point…
“Hooooolyyyy shiiiiiitttt!” I scream like a sissy and I don’t care. I don’t like the
feeling of being at the mercy of the ball. I have no control of what it’s doing or
what I can do. You can’t see very well because of the movement of the ball and how
the centrifugal force is pinning you against the wall. As I’m trying to figure out
what to do, I hear giggles coming from the not-so-nice girl who’s putting me through
this misery.
“Cooollllttoonn, reeelaaax aaandddd eeenjooooy iiiitttt!”
I feel a bump to the left we rotate and flip and hit on the right side, up again,
my head is down, my head is up, and I’m all over the place at once. It feels a little
like bumper cars meet Magic Mountain. It’s not so bad. Different, yes, but not bad.
I’m fucking lying to myself. This shit is crazy! “Fffffuuuuccckkkk, Bbbrrriiiaaaannnnnaaaa!!!
I’m able to briefly focus on Brianna and her ponytail is all over the place, she is
laughing hard and enjoying the ride’s motions. I smile because I am happy she is having
a good time. I love her laughter and her sounds are all mine. I’m delighted that I
finally have her all to myself and not having to share her attention with anyone…
And just like that, because I’m so wrapped up inside my head, I feel a huge bump and
my body propels forward, but does not go anywhere because of the restraints.
We are in between upside down and sideways, I feel the attendant at the bottom of
the hill positioning the ball. Brianna looks at me expectantly, “Well, how was that?”
“Remind me not to judge gerbils next time we go to the pet store.” I groan a little
bit, “It was fun, I think. I would have enjoyed it more if we could have been tied
together
.”
“Yes. And you would probably have ended up with a broken tooth from a direct head-butt
to your mouth. I need to keep your lips intact, for the time being. I have plans that
cannot be ruined by a bruised or bloody lip.”
“Hmm, I like the sound of that!” Right then the guy comes in to liberate us. And I’m
thinking everything is okay when I get hit with a wave of nausea. I start breathing
in through the nose, out through the mouth and all I want to do is to be outside this
ball and get clean, fresh oxygen.
“Colton? Are you okay? You are looking a little pale, no, I mean green all of a sudden…
Oh, crap, are you about to blow!? Get out, get out!”
I race out of the ball, and drop to one knee. One of the guys hand me a bottle of
cold water and I thankfully drink it and feel the wave going away. That was close.
Nothing would have said ‘pussy’ louder than puking after a wild ride with my new girlfriend.
Wait. Did I just call her my girlfriend? I’m shocked that I’m even thinking that way.
Maybe I just meant my friend who happens to be a girl. I have always been against
DTR. I don’t like to “Define The Relationship” because I have never wanted to be with
someone the way I want Brianna. I drink some more water. She is looking at me with
concern and maybe – is that guilt?
“Your color is coming back.” She grabs me by the chin. “Much better! I guess you are
not into wild rides as much as I am…” She slaps me lightly on my cheek.
“I’m fine. Most have been something I ate for breakfast. Really, I don’t normally
act like this after a ride.” I hear the operator guy snickering, so I get up and stare
him down. I’m at least a whole foot taller than him. When he realizes he is about
to get his ass whipped, he points to the golf cart that we are supposed to drive back
up the hill.
We get on the cart and begin the ride back up. I wrap my arm around her shoulders
and kiss the top of her head. She gets comfy in the crook of my neck and I feel her
take a deep breath.
“Sooo, Colton…”
“Yes?”
“Wanna do it again?”
Brianna
“Oh, man, it only gets better every time you ride it!” I tell Colton excitedly. Him?
Not so much. “Don’t think that your efforts to impress me are going unnoticed. I love
the fact that you are not crazy about doing this, but you still do it because I like
it. Maybe we need to go bungee jumping next! Wouldn’t that be cool?”
He looks at me like I am crazy. “I have to mentally prepare myself for that before
I do it. Jumping off a cliff with only a used rubber band to keep me from cracking
my skull wide open is not that very appealing to me.”
Fine. I get it. “Yeah, I guess you are right and I know it’s hard to be able to keep
up with me. That does not mean you are off the hook.”
“What do you mean, I am not off the hook?”
“You owe me one or two. I’m going to let you slide today, because I did spring this
on you as a surprise, but there’s tons of other things that we need to experience
together.
” I look at him and smile. Can’t wait!
“You’ve got that right. And right now we need to experience sharing a meal together.
I’m starving!”
“No need to act like you lost your breakfast or anything!” I crinkle my nose at him.
“It was a close call. I have a great idea. We are only a few minutes away from the
coast. Are you allergic to seafood?”
“Nope. What do you have in mind?” He looks at me a little concerned.
“Don’t worry! I am not going to force you to eat weird stuff. Ciara told me about
this little diner not too far from here that serves Po’boys and seafood – Have you
been there?”
“That is a great idea. The guys and I have been there before. It’s small and quaint,
the food is delicious and it’s not that far away.”
I smile at him and my self-doubt starts to creep in. He is so handsome it hurts. Why
is he with me? I’m not special or beautiful. Or very smart. If I was smart I would
be staying away from him. How can I let him get to know me when I can’t talk about
my past? I’m having a great day with him. Who would believe that I’m actually
dating
. Oh dear God! Have I lost my mind?
“Earth to Brianna! Come back to me!” Colton brings me back to the here and now. I
smile at him and notice he has his arm resting on the middle console and his hand
is leisurely hanging off of it. I have a sudden need to touch him, but I don’t want
to seem desperate… I reach out and slide my fingers along his pinky finger, hooking
my pinky to his. His skin is so warm and comforting… I start lightly rubbing the tip
of his finger, and just that little touch gives me reassurance that I’m not dreaming.
Colton is sweet and caring and sunny and he likes me. Or at least the me that I am
now. I rest my head on the seat and look out the window. Maybe I will give him a nugget.
A peek of who I am.
“My favorite color is gray. I think daisies are simple and complicated all in one.
I prefer tigers over lions, I love college football and tolerate the NFL. I used to
be scared of everything. I dream of being free of my past for good. Sometimes I feel
sad that I never knew what it was like to be loved by my parents. I have to have music
on at home at all times – I do not like being in complete silence. I love books and
I love coffee with hazelnut cream and sugar. And I’m definitely having an awesome
day when I get to read a great book AND drink coffee at the same time. And last for
today, my trainer at the gym refuses to train with me if I’m mad, he says I’m too
rough!”
I lightly chuckle at that last one but I don’t look at him. I don’t want to chance
and see rejection in his eyes. I just casually keep contact with his pinky and keep
looking out the window. I really wasn’t expecting anything from him other than pulling
over on the side of the road and telling me I’m batshit crazy, get the fuck out of
his truck and good luck with my baggage. Suddenly I feel movement of his hand. He
moved it away. This is it. Shit – me and my blabber mouth! And as I was getting ready
to pull away, I feel him crossing his arm on top of mine, and he grabs a hold of my
hand, interlacing his fingers through mine, brings it to his mouth and kisses the
top of my hand. A tender, sweet and heartfelt kiss.
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