Chapter 13
Jenn is cute when she’s tipsy. She’s not as guarded, and a little more flirtatious. I like it. What I don’t like is the bullshit line her ex gave her about having sex. Does he really think he can lie like that and make her believe it? How many other girls has he told this do?
He's doing a huge disservice to the entire male species by making us look like a bunch of cavemen who are incapable of self-restraint. Not only that, but I certainly don’t want to hook up with every girl I come across. Men aren’t inherently hardwired like that. We can be loyal and faithful. I’ve had so many girls throw themselves at me at the races and I haven’t hooked up with a single one. Why? Because sex is more than just sex. It’s called making love for a reason.
I want to be with someone important to me. Not just some rando girl who wants to jump my bones. I take a calming breath and look out over the festival grounds, trying to stop feeling so pissed off. That moment is gone. I told Jenn that her ex was lying his ass off and I think she believed me. If not, I’ll have to keep finding ways to convince her that not all men are cheating assholes. I don’t want her to go falling for another asshat like that again. She deserves someone better. A real man. Me, if I wasn’t so unavailable because of my career.
We are still sitting on this bench, relaxing against each other while the world goes on, while couples hold hands and little kids scream on rides. A country music band plays under a pavilion to a hundred fans who are dancing along and singing every word. Everyone is having a good time here, but I’m probably having the best time.
Even though she’s my fake girlfriend.
I catch the sight of something in the corner of my eye and it gives me an idea. “Hey, Jenn?” I ask.
She lifts her head off my shoulder to look at me. “Yeah?”
“Remember how we said we would save the PDA for times when it would make a difference?”
She nods. I grin. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
Her eyes light up in confusion but I crush my lips to hers before she can say anything. Her hand presses hungrily to my chest, sliding up to my neck while her lips move against mine.
The kiss is hot and fruity from her peach margarita and I wish it could last forever. But I might be about to get punched, so I pull away slowly.
“How dare you,” she says playfully, her eyes dancing under the glow of the festival lights.
I lean forward and whisper in her ear, “We have an audience.”
She looks over her shoulder. Jay is standing not twenty feet away, holding a corndog and wearing the angriest look of contempt I’ve ever seen on a man. He shakes his head in disgust and stalks off.
Jenn giggles. “Okay, that was amazing.”
I brush some hair out of her eyes and grin down at her. I want to kiss her so badly, but I promised I’d only do that if we had a captive audience. No one is watching us right now. Kissing her would be against the rules.
I can feel my pants tightening in arousal from that kiss. I have to get away from this situation, stat. “Wanna go for a walk?” I ask.
“Sure,” she says, and I swear she sounds a little breathless, like maybe she was thinking the same thing.
That only makes my manhood even harder.
I reach over and take her hand. I know it’s not as serious as kissing, but it still counts as PDA. I’m afraid she’ll rebuke me at first, but she doesn’t. Her fingers lace into mine like it’s an old habit.
“He’s still here,” I say as an explanation. “He might run into us again, so I figured we should be holding hands.”
She smiles up at me. “I was thinking the same thing.”
We wander down the festival, hand in hand, looking exactly like every other happy couple here. I wonder if anyone else is here faking a relationship. Probably not.
“Aiden!” my sister calls out. We find her standing near a guy selling cotton candy. She waves us over. “Hey, Jenn!”
“Hey,” Jenn says. She glances up at me.
“She knows the truth,” I whisper. “But her friends don’t.”
Bella tells us we have to try the cotton candy because it’s really good, so I buy some for me and Jenn. Bella’s friends cluster around me, all taking turns talking about how much they love motocross while we wait for the guy to swirl up a fresh batch of pink cotton candy around the paper handle.
See, this is what happens every time I go anywhere with a motocross scene. Girls flock to me, bat their eyelashes and talk to me about their extensive love of the sport. It’s amazing how many of them find a way to casually (but not so casually) touch my arm while they talk. If men were like Jay says they are, then I’d be stripping down and having sex with each girl here.
Of course, I’m not. Which proves my point exactly.
I wish I could tell Jenn that, but I can’t exactly say that topic out loud in front of everyone. Still, I’m polite though, because they’re fans, and the fans have a lot of sway in professional motocross. Team Loco likes me to maintain a good rapport with them.
Jenn and I tag along with Bella and her friends for a while. I’m happy for the extra people because it’s helping me focus on not being attracted to Jenn. When it’s just the two of us, I find myself wanting to do all kinds of naughty things with her. We need this buffer of five extra people. Well, at least I need it. I’m sure Jenn is just fine.
The next couple of hours are a blast. Jenn and I ride a ton of rides. I especially love the scarier ones because she clutches onto me and buries her face in my shirt. I get to wrap my arm around her and hold her tightly. We don’t run into Jenn’s ex anymore, and I’m grateful that we don’t have to have the happy mood ruined by that prick. Still, it would have been nice to have an excuse to kiss her again. Regardless, I’m just really happy being here with her. It’s also nice spending time with my little sister.
Half an hour before the festival closes for the night, we all decide to ride the Ferris Wheel before going home. Luckily, it’s the kind that only has room for two people per seat, unlike those bigger ones that fit four people in each carriage. Jenn and I get to be alone.
She snuggles against me, like she’s done all night. I might love it more than I love kissing her. She’s soft and warm and makes my heart all melty when she’s near me. I love the smell of her and the feel of her hair through my fingers.
I close my eyes and breathe in the moment while the ride takes off, swooping us to the top of the wheel and then back down again.
All of a sudden I hear the screech of fireworks. Jenn and I look up and see a burst of red sparkle through the sky.
“There’s fireworks?” I say.
“Every night during the festival,” she says.
“Sweet.”
We have the perfect vantage point to see the fireworks as they go off while we ride the Ferris Wheel. Soon, the ride is almost over, but the colorful sparkles are still lighting up the sky. We get stopped at the very top while they let off some passengers below.
“This was really fun,” Jenn says. Her eyes light up blue from a firework.
“Yeah it was. This is the first time I’ve done something that wasn’t work in a long time.”
Her eyes sparkle again. “Thanks for everything.”
“Trust me, the pleasure was mine.”
My phone goes off, halfway ruining the moment. Our ride jostles forward a few feet while the next person at the bottom of the wheel gets off. It’s Bella texting me.
“My sister wants to go to her friend’s house after this,” I tell Jenn. “But she forgot she has to drive me home.”
I’m about to type out a reply when Jenn puts a hand over mine. “I’ll take you home,” she says softly.
“No, I don’t want you to do that. It’s out of the way.”
She shrugs one shoulder. “Okay so maybe you should just come home with me?”
I swallow.
She watches me for so long I think I might explode from anticipation. “You want me to come over?” I say.
She grins. “We could hang out. You know… as friends.”
“Okay, sure,” I say with a nod. “That would be fun.”
A final blast of color fills the night sky. Jenn’s eyes crinkle at the corners. And then she grabs my shirt and pulls me toward her. Her eyes close, and mine do too.
And then we’re kissing once more, with no one around to see us.
It certainly doesn’t feel like we’re just friends.