Unveiling The Sky (34 page)

Gabe and I shuffled into his room to get ready while Derek begrudgingly did the same. I got in the shower first since my hair would take longer to dry. He tried to convince me that to save water and time, we should shower together. Rolling my eyes, I walked in—alone—and laughed when he mumbled, “It was worth a shot.”

He was waiting—naked—as I stepped out, and somehow I was able to limit our interaction to one ass grab and only a couple of kisses before he stepped into the shower. I had just finished blow-drying my hair when Gabe walked out with nothing but a towel around his waist. My eyes greedily took him in and I couldn’t help but fixate on the droplets of water still running down his chest. Unconsciously, I licked my lips as a couple disappeared into the towel, heading straight toward his—

“Alara,” he growled. “Stop it.”

“I’m not doing anything,” I said as I raised my arms in defense. “I was just standing here.”

He gave me a hard look filled with heat. “No you weren’t. You were looking at me like an on-again, off-again vegan who hasn’t had meat in a freaking year.”

I rolled my eyes as I made my way over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist until they settled on his lower back. Teasing the top of his towel, I dipped a few fingers inside as I lifted up to kiss him.

He groaned and pulled away, gripping my elbows to keep me from advancing. “If I kiss you right now, I won’t be able to stop and then we’ll never leave.”

“Try,” I whispered, and that was all it took to seal his mouth over mine. We were lost in each other’s lips for several minutes before Gabe pulled away again, panting.

He gave me one last peck and a saucy smile before backing away. “Okay, seriously, we need to focus. Naomi is gonna kick my ass.”

I worried my bottom lip at the mention of Naomi and shuffled toward my overnight bag. “Did she seem more… I don’t know, more hyper than usual?”

“Naomi always seems hyper to me. She’s the Energizer freaking Bunny personified.”

“Yeah, I guess…” I trailed off as I bent down and pulled out my jeans and sweater. I jumped when I felt warm, strong hands wrap around my middle and pull me up. Gabe gave me a quick squeeze before turning me around to face him. With his hands on my hips, his gaze thoughtfully roamed over my face.

“You worried?”

Nodding, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Her and Caleb have barely seen each other lately and she doesn’t seem all that concerned about it. Hell, she doesn’t even bring him up, and honestly I’m too afraid to.”

He frowned and pushed a loose strand of hair out of my face and behind my ear. “What are you worried about?”

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but Naomi really loves Caleb. I don’t think it’s the breath-stealing, life-changing, soul-encompassing kind of love…” I felt the blush rise over my cheeks as I forced myself through the topic. “But she loves him all the same and I think they’re near the end, and I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“But it has to happen eventually, right? If she wants to find that breath-stealing, life-changing, soul-encompassing kind of love, she has to go through this.” His voice was soft as he traced my ear with a light touch.

I nodded and leaned my head into his chest. “I know, I just… I hate it.”

“Yeah.” He blew out a breath that tickled my ear and started rubbing my back. After a few more comfortably silent minutes, we pulled away and finished getting ready. We met Naomi and Derek at the front door fifteen minutes later and piled into Derek’s car. As we neared the fair Naomi began bouncing in her seat, causing her very disgruntled brother to mutter some choice words about her. But not even that got her down—the second we arrived, she sprang from the car and skipped to the ticket booth. Derek gripped his large coffee mug and adjusted his sunglasses before trailing after her.

“I’m surprised he agreed to come considering how hungover he is,” Gabe observed as he wrapped his arm around my waist and rested his hand on my butt while we walked toward them. I smiled at the gesture and leaned into him, not feeling awkward at all because there wasn’t anything remotely sexual about it. It seemed more about comfort than anything else, like he couldn’t walk next to me and not touch me.

“Naomi loves the fair and it’s sort of become their thing. The only way Derek wouldn’t go with her is if he were dead.”

We spent the entire afternoon there, and honestly nothing had ever felt that perfect. Derek and Naomi exhausted themselves on the rides while Gabe and I just enjoyed walking around and talking. He had just finished telling me about his horrible experience rushing a frat when he surprised me by stopping at a basketball booth and handing money over to the fair worker.

“Uhh, whatcha doing?” I asked as he bounced the ball a few times in front of him. He smirked as he looked up and nodded toward the stuffed animals. I chuckled. “You eyeing that purple pony, Gabe?”

“How dare you?” His mouth dropped open as he gripped the ball. “I’m aiming for the pink one.” He turned toward the hoop and proceeded to make all three in a row.

“H-how…” I sputtered.

He just shook his head and laughed before pointing up. “Pick one.” When my eyes found his again after I had my baby blue elephant in my arms, his look of amusement had faded and in its place was one of pure affection. My heart tripped over itself as I returned his gaze, no doubt conveying complete amazement by the person standing in front of me. Something seemed to pass between us in that second, like we both knew that this simple look was one of the moments that made us realize how much we meant to one another. His soft small widened as he turned around and handed the guy more money before making three more baskets, this time missing one in between.

“And who’s that one for, mister?” I asked as he stepped back.
 

He smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “What, you think you’re the only lady in my life?” I raised an unimpressed eyebrow right back, staying silent and fighting my grin.

“Dude, just pick one.” The pimply-faced teenager gestured toward the stuffed animals as he smacked his gum and leered at a group of girls walking by.

Gabe rolled his eyes and nudged my arm. “Pick one for Megan,” he whispered as he placed a kiss on my cheek. My eyes drifted shut and my throat seemed to close around my emotions. He was perfect. He was flawed, but he was so, so perfect.
 

I shook my head and opened my eyes before wordlessly pointing to a green and blue dragon. Gabe grabbed the stuffed animal and placed his palm on the small of my back, guiding me away. We walked in silence for a few minutes until we reached the beginning of the chairlift. Without even looking at each other we stepped in line, and ten minutes later we were airborne with two stuffed animals wedged between us.

One of Gabe’s arms was stretched along the back so his hand could play with the ends of my hair, while the other was resting on my knee. Both of my hands were in my lap, nervously twisting as my gaze shifted between his face and the two stuffed animals in between us. It was such a simple thing, such a stupid thing, and yet it felt monumental.
 

Maybe it only felt that way because it was the moment I realized I was in love with Gabe. I couldn’t say I fell in love with him, because that never made any sense to me. If you look up the definition of fall you’ll find something like this: to drop or descend under the force of gravity, as to a lower place through loss or lack of support. And that was nowhere near what happened.

I didn’t drop; I soared. I wasn’t forced by gravity; if anything, I fought against it until I willingly walked into his arms and gave him my heart. I wasn’t in a lower place; I was in a better place, the best place. And there was no lack of support; there was so much support that I was slowly becoming the person I’d always wanted to be.

I jumped into love, and even though I could still fall, I knew I’d jump all over again.

She hadn’t said anything for the past twenty minutes, and I was growing restless as I thought about what could be going through her mind. I lifted my hand and slowly dragged a finger from her temple to the corner of her mouth. Alara’s breath faltered and her hands clenched in her lap at the contact. “Penny for your thoughts?” I whispered.

Smiling and shaking her head, she grabbed my hand and linked our fingers together. “Thank you. She’ll love it,” she said while nodding to the dragon.

“Good. I want her to love it.” We smiled at each other as we came to the end of the ride. I grabbed both stuffed animals as we hopped out and moved toward the exit.
 

We met up with Naomi and Derek shortly after that. Naturally I was still holding both stuffed animals, and they both took turns making fun of me for a good thirty minutes. Naomi tried to get me to win her a goldfish, but one look at Alara’s alarming expression and I told her that I pulled a muscle on the last shot I took. No one believed me, but thankfully Naomi didn’t push it as she dragged us to the food stands where we each ate a full plate of fried dough doused in enough cinnamon and sugar to ensure we became diabetics. Just as we left the concert area and decided to go home, Derek and Naomi begged us to let them go on one last ride.

“Hmm… I don’t know,” Alara mused as she wrapped an arm around my waist and looked up at me. “What do you think, honey? Have the kids earned one last ride?” Naomi smiled as Derek mumbled something under his breath before they both turned away, claiming they’d be back in thirty.
 

I smiled down at Alara before running my nose along her hairline and inhaling the scent of coconut and lime. The scent had my eyes closing and my mind wandering to how I woke up this morning. “What about me?” I asked hoarsely.

“What about you?”

“Have I earned a ride?” I nipped her earlobe before pulling back to look at her expression. Honestly I had expected her to be blushing and fumbling for an answer, and that I could have definitely handled. I wasn’t expecting to be met with a heated stare and slight nod of her head. My eyes widened as a smirk slowly appeared on her soft pink lips.

Quickly looking around, I smiled when I saw the unoccupied photo booth a few yards away. She laughed as I grabbed her hand and practically dragged her toward it. That laughter was quickly cut off as I shoved her in and pulled the curtain shut. It was tiny and cramped, but you know that old saying,
when there’s a will there’s way
? Yeah, well, I had
tons
of will.

Gripping her face, I brought our mouths together in a kiss that could only be described as primal. We opened for each other at the same time and our tongues battled for dominance as my hands slid into her soft hair. I moaned and fisted her hair as I tasted the sugar and cinnamon from earlier, making Alara taste so much sweeter. The kiss seemed to go on forever as Alara’s soft pants filled the small booth before I guided her head back and moved my mouth down the slope of her neck. My hand had just grabbed her left breast when the curtain was pulled open.

“Ahh…” Alara squeaked as she jumped a little and hit her head on the wall. I scowled as I turned around and met the stare of an older gentleman who claimed to be manning this part of the fair.

“Excuse me, sir, ma’am. But you need to actually use the booth in order to… s-sit in it.” He was embarrassed as he stumbled over the word
sit
and avoided eye contact. Growling, I pulled my wallet out and shoved a few dollars in the machine before reattaching my lips to Alara’s neck.

“Gabe,” she whispered, lightly shoving at my shoulder. A second later the outside light disappeared and the curtain closed. “Oh God,” she moaned. “That was embarrassing.”
 

I moved my lips back to hers, and the next moan that left her mouth was purely from pleasure. She seemed to forget all about our interruption as she sat up straighter and slid her hand down my stomach until she was rubbing me through my jeans.

“Goddamn,” I rasped into her mouth. “We need to get out of here.” She smiled against my mouth before removing her hands and adjusting her sweater. I leaned my head back against the booth, thumping it a few times before rolling it her way. “It’s probably been about thirty minutes,” I said softly.