The blazing August sun didn't scare anyone away from the fair. It may have been the hottest summer day we'd had so far, but everyone in the county was there to enjoy it.

The grounds were crowded, the muggy air sweet with the scent of funnel cakes, and a distinct hum of excitement surrounded me and Alex as we took in the sights.

There was laughter and conversation, games buzzing and the occasional whoosh of a ride passing by. The place was positively oozing fun, and I had to admit—it was about as terrible as I remembered it.

Didn't help at all that the Ring Toss was located right inside the entrance.

As we passed it, a vibrant image of younger Dalton, playing the game and winning at life, made an obtrusive pass through time and memory. My chest ached with loss. I knew this was a bad idea.

"So, Leann is...fun," Alex said as we stood in line at the ticket booth.

Grateful for the distraction of his voice, I swallowed back the emotions. "She certainly is."

"I've never felt so tall until those ten times she told me how tall I was."

"I think it was closer to twenty times," I laughed, looking up at him and admiring how actually tall he really was. Easily towering over me. But I didn't want to say anything about it. Leann had made a big enough scene.

She was obsessed with a man's height, always sizing them up and trying to guess how tall they were. If I were to do the same thing, I'd say Alex was a solid six foot, maybe six-one. Taller than Dante, not quite as tall as Spence.

Alex's eyes flickered down to meet mine. "Are you trying to guess how tall I am?"

Yes.

"Absolutely not. That would be rude."

"Hey, I don't mind." He smiled at me, amusement shining in that blue gaze of his. It lingered on me for another second before the line moved and urged us forward. Alex cleared his throat and scanned the fairgrounds. "So, how many tickets should we get? Are you big on rides and games? Or are you more of a wander aimlessly and grab some cotton candy type of person?"

I glanced around with him and blew out a breath. To me, it all looked like chaos. The music streaming from the Carousel sounded like we were in a horror movie.

"I'm not sure. I don't actually..." My eyes trailed back over to Alex. "I haven't been here in years. It's not really my scene."

He nodded slowly as we took a couple steps forward in line. When he turned to face me again, his voice dropped low. "Is that why Leann kept screaming that she couldn't believe you actually showed up?"

"You mean in between telling you how tall you are?" I smirked at him, then my face fell. "Yes, that would be why."

"Hey, it's okay if it's not your scene," he assured me quickly. As we moved forward in the line again, his hand met my lower back and he guided me along. "But before we buy tickets, we should probably get something clear."

I tilted my head at him. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to be here, Davina?" Concern filled his eyes, and his voice held a touch of urgency. "You've been a bit off since the moment we walked through the gate. And I know your friend wants you here, but we don't have to stay. Just say the word and I'll take you somewhere else."

I stared back at him in awe. And as the Carousel music screeched in my ear, I did consider leaving for a moment. There were so many other places we could have gone that wouldn't be so noisy or remind me of Dalton.

But to know that Alex would drop everything and take me somewhere else fueled some inspiration inside me, and I was committed to enjoying the day with him. Right where we were.

"I'm good," I told him after a deep breath. "It's a bit more crowded than I prefer, and I definitely don't want to ride the Carousel because that music is horrifying, but...I want to be here with you."

"I'm glad to hear that." Alex gave me a warm smile. "We'll make it a slow and easy day at the fair and avoid the scary Carousel music at all costs. How's that sound?"

"Perfect."

When it was our turn at the booth, Alex took point and grabbed as many tickets as he deemed necessary for our slow and easy day. I didn't know what that meant yet, but I felt my body calming down with each second that passed.

"Alright," he said as we walked further onto the fairgrounds, distracted as he looked over the provided map. "I'm thinking we start with the petting zoo?" He raised his brows at me in a silent question. When I nodded, he smiled and kept going. "Maybe stop by the craft tent, grab some food. Do a little local shopping?"

"I like the sound of all that," I answered. "At some point, I have to meet up with Leann at the slushie lemonade stand."

"You got it." He looked back down at the map. "Looks like the lemonade slushies are right around the corner from my favorite attraction. Now, I know you're not into the Carousel, but how do you feel about ending the night with a Ferris Wheel ride?"

My stomach spun a little but not in a bad way. I wanted to enjoy myself for once. And since everything else was coming together at the fair, I really had nothing to lose by ending the day on the Ferris Wheel with Alex, right? Especially if it was his favorite attraction.

"I'm good with that," I told him, unable to help my smile.

"Then let's get started," he said, surprising me when he reached for my hand.

So surprising, in fact, that my feet froze where they were and I looked down at our joined hands, taking in the unfamiliarity of it. Only one other person had ever held my hand like that, and my heart ticked away in my chest like it was running a marathon, my ears picking up the sound of people shuffling around us.

I needed to pull it together.

Alex tilted my chin up to look at him. "I can navigate you through the crowds, Davina." He held my eyes with the same tenderness as my hand. "But you're going to have to trust me."

He was right, I knew that. It was just harder than he could probably imagine.

That was my problem though. At some point, I had to trust someone, or I'd never trust anyone. So, I pulled that mask on and let Alex lead me around the fair. I would just have to fake it til I made it.

***

A few hours later, I wasn't even faking it anymore. Alex was great.

We'd gone to the petting zoo, made bracelets with some kids in the craft tent, and sampled dinner from three different food trucks. He even got me to play a few games.

Together, we exhibited the two extremes of skill at the shooting range, him winning while I ate the dust. But I dominated skee ball, so it all balanced out.

Before long, I was no longer nervous or irritated to be there. I wasn't thinking about my brother. I was simply enjoying myself.

Dusk was falling upon the fairgrounds as I headed toward the lemonade slushie stand. Since the line at the Ferris Wheel was extra long, Alex offered to hold our spot while I checked in with Leann, who didn't show up on time.

Perfect.

I'd been waiting fifteen minutes, practically loitering near the picnic tables, and she was nowhere to be seen. I texted her and waited some more, until the thick scent of lemon stuck to my nose hairs. Eventually, I couldn't even smell the lemons anymore.

Instead, as someone came to stand beside me, I smelled cinnamon.

Fucking cinnamon.

"How can you possibly be here right now?" I turned to Spence, finding him standing tall and handsome in his uniform.

"I'm working," he answered with a smug grin as he motioned along his clothes. "You know Chief always sends a team out here to help patrol. My number got picked."

Of course. It wasn't lost on me that all the surrounding towns pitched in on security and sent officers to the county fair. I'd seen plenty of familiar precincts represented. I just didn't think my luck was bad enough that Spencer Lovejoy, of all people, would be the one sent from ours.

"Unbelievable." I looked down at my phone, hoping for the distraction of Leann's text, I'd have no such luck. Looking back at Spence, I shook my head. "I can't escape you. Not even when I agree to come somewhere I hate."

His wolf eyes narrowed on me. "Yeah, why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for Leann," I answered, deflecting his real question as I turned to face the lemonade stand. "She wants a slushie."

"I just saw her on those spinning turtle things," Spence deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. "And I meant what are you doing here?" His arms spread out to gesture around the general vicinity.

"I'm enjoying the fair." I shrugged.

"You hate the fair," he fired back. "I know that for a fact and you just confirmed it yourself a minute ago."

"Well, I'm here anyway. Expanding my horizons."

He scoffed. "Doing that a lot lately."

"Yep."

My phone buzzed with a text, finally.

Leann: Holly is making me ride the stupid turtles until I puke. I won't be able to meet you on time.

Davina: No shit. You're almost a half hour late.

Leann: Sorry! Enjoy your romantic ferris wheel ride!

Rolling my eyes, I stuffed my phone into my pocket. Spence was still lingering beside me.

"How are you, Diva Davina?"

The question made me pause. It was so normal and friendly, and his voice had grown softer than it was a moment ago when we were tossing words back and forth. It had me eager to face him again. If only to see if I imagined it.

I didn't want his voice to be soft. I didn't want him to ask a normal or friendly question. I didn't want his eyes to look the way they did as he stared back at me with a touch of longing.

A breath hitched in my throat. "I'm alright. How are you?"

"I'm alright," he echoed. A weighted pause lingered between us before he added, "Feels weird being here. It's not the same without..."

Dalton, my brain finished for him when he couldn't do it himself.

"I know," I sighed, swallowing back the lump in my throat. "I hated coming here and watching the two of you play games for hours, but I'd do about anything for another chance to see it now."

I wouldn't complain. Not even a little.

"I'd kill for just one more round of him beating my ass at the Ring Toss."

A shared laugh floated between us, soft and sad and sincere.

Spence stepped closer to me. The rough, tactical material of his uniform brushed my arm and sent a chill over my skin. But the warmth of his presence beside me sunk deep into my bones.

"I'm off shift in an hour," he said with a touch of renewed hope in his voice. His next words caught me completely by surprise. "Wanna ride the Ferris Wheel with me?"

For a moment, I was transported back in time. To when things were more simple but still complicated in their own way.

Spence's question came out with the same energy he had on prom night when he asked me to run away with him. Hope filling his eyes, a smile tilting his lips.

We'd just had sex for the first time and going back to the real world was the last thing either of us wanted. Keys in hand and the map in his head, he told me we could be lost in the woods within an hour, tucked away from the world in a cabin no one else had the address to.

Standing next to him all those years later, I took a deep breath as nostalgia built a wall around my heart.

It was nice to remember better times, when he was just my favorite person and not the questionable one he'd become. Working with his father and alongside the same people my brother broke the law with.

At the end of the day, we weren't the same people we were at prom, and asking me to ride the Ferris Wheel with him was actually kind of ridiculous. The way things were going between me and Spence, it would be absurd for me to take him up on an offer like that.

I should have immediately said I wouldn't be riding the Ferris Wheel with him. I should have told him I didn't even want to. But nostalgia was a powerful thing, and his warmth at my side was the best thing I'd felt all day.

And after a moment of deliberation, what I said was...

"I can't. I'm..."

About to get on it with someone else.

When I couldn't finish, Spence went ahead and put his own spin on it.

"On a date?"

I looked up at him, ready to shut it down right away and tell him again that I wasn't on a date with Alex. But something stopped me.

The truth. That's what stopped me.

The more I considered all the facts, the day we'd spent together and the moments we'd shared felt a lot like a date. I couldn't dismiss how I felt around Alex just because I was standing in Spencer's orbit.

"Yeah," I answered him. "I'm on a date."

Nodding, he brushed a hand over his jaw and cleared his throat. "Well, at least you're finally admitting it."

With that, he took a step away from me, and the added distance tugged at my resolve.

"Spence–"

"I gotta get back to work," he cut me off, avoiding my eyes as he backed further and further away, leaving me with a half-hearted wave. "I'll see ya around."

I stood there watching him go, frozen in place, breathing through the confusion. Why did it have to be like this?

Why did he have to be involved in a world I wanted nothing to do with? And why did I have to be so fucking stubborn?

I trudged back to the Ferris Wheel with heavy feet and a heavier heart, my mind as busy as whoever was running the packed cotton candy stand. I tried to inhale the smell of sugar as I passed it by, hoping the sweetness would improve my mood, but it didn't do much good.

Alex's smile helped a bit when I approached him in line. I'd arrived just in time to start boarding and relief shone clear in his eyes as he beamed at me.

"I was about to abandon ship and come find you."

"No need." I exhaled a breathy laugh. "I'm here."

"Right on time." He smiled and reached for my hand again.

He held onto it the entire time we rode the Ferris Wheel, squeezing tighter as our cart lifted into the air, his body leaning into mine as we glided on the breeze above everyone else.

Physically, I felt his hand around mine. It was warm and the perfect fit, a soft presence against my skin.

Emotionally, I felt nothing.

I sat in that shaky little cart with Alex, high up in the air as gravity toyed with my stomach. I tried to stay in the moment with him. I really did.

But without permission, my eyes kept fluttering to the ground below, searching for Spence in the crowd.

***

A/N: Hiii 👋🏻 I'm so sorry for the delay between chapters. 😔 I'm currently in the middle of editing my next indie release, which has taken some priority as it comes with a deadline. 😬

Thank you so much for sticking it out with me! I want you all to know I'm still very much dedicated to this book and these characters. They occupy my mind all the time, and their story is 100% outlined, right on down to the epilogue. It's just a matter of getting the words on paper and I promise (😉) I'm getting there.

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. If you are, please hit that star button and vote! It would mean so much. 🩷✨️

And again, thank you for being here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

–Jeri ♡