Chapter 28 – Wesley
Now that was some incredible sex.
I’m glad Chelsea enjoyed it, because I want to do it again. And again.
“Sometimes our fears are scarier in our minds than they are in reality,” Chelsea says.
“True,” I tell her, glad that she wasn’t scared while we were making love.
“That’s why I think we should go back to the amusement park.”
“What?”
I look at her like she’s grown an extra head.
“I know you thought bringing me here to have sex was going to get you out of it,” she laughs. “But I think it’s your turn to do something for the first time with me…”
“Oh, I see how it is,” I tell her, laughing, but I’m nervous.
“Look, I understand your hesitation,” she says, “and I don’t want to rush you into anything. But we could start small. By the time we get back to the park, I doubt we’d have enough time to wait in line and ride The Beast anyway. There’s a smaller, less popular roller coaster you could start off with.”
“Is there, now?” I ask, knowing that I’m going to have to do this.
What kind of a fucking badass will I be in her eyes if I can’t even ride the dinkiest roller coaster in the park?
“Let’s go,” she says, raising her sexy body from the bed and searching for her clothes. “I’m not ready to stop having fun yet today.”
“All right, all right,” I tell her, getting up a lot less enthusiastically than she is. “But you’re the only person on the planet I’d do this for.”
“I know the feeling,” she says, flashing me her gorgeous grin.
And that right there is enough to make me agree to do any outrageous thing with her, including facing my fear of heights.
***
Chelsea takes my hand as we’re in line for The Rattler.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asks.
I shrug in what I hope is a nonchalant way.
“No, but I’m more sure than I’ve been in the past, and that has to mean something, right?”
The Rattler looms high and menacing above us and I start to doubt that it’s any friendlier than The Beast. The line is long and gives me plenty of time to think about changing my mind but I don’t.
I try to make light-hearted banter with Chelsea and to tell myself that this is nothing. And although I’m still scared, I’m not nearly as scared as I used to be.
Finally we approach the front of the line and I smile, looking more confident than I feel as we’re ushered into the loading area and sit down in the seats.
We buckle in, and then as the ride begins everyone— including Chelsea— lifts their arms over their heads.
I lift my arms too, the cool night air hitting my face in a breeze of fear mixed with excitement. And then the machine lurches forward, dropping us down and pushing us faster into oblivion.
“Holy fuck!” I yell, squeezing Chelsea’s hand above us in the air.
I’m embarrassed but then I realize that Chelsea is yelling the same thing, and so is everyone else on the ride.
Everyone is scared, and that’s the point. If it hadn’t been for Chelsea, I’d never have realized this one basic fact: I’m not the only person who might be afraid while riding a roller coaster. I was just the only person too pussy to try riding one until now.
She’s already been teaching me so much: how to fish, how to ride a roller coaster. How to open up and trust someone.
Maybe this could actually work.
But as The Rattler embarks on its long, fast descent, my heart jumps up into my throat and I scream in terror along with all the other passengers, but for an additional reason. Because I think:
What if I’m falling too hard?
What if it’s too late to get off this ride that I never should have gotten on in the first place?
I don’t know that I was ready to ride a roller coaster and I don’t know that I’m ready for whatever is in store with Chelsea. With both of them, it’s too damn easy to start out, yet so damn hard to not freak out during the ride.
And I don’t know how I’ll manage to get off either ride once it’s started. I hate fucking losing control and it’s clear that I already have.