Maybe I’m being a total gentleman and this is a story that will go down in the history books as the most romantic event in history. Or maybe it’ll go down as the stupidest thing a guy has ever done. I take a deep breath and press the doorbell. I guess I’m about to find out.

Bayleigh’s grandmother opens the door, a curious expression on her face. “Oh, hello,” she says, sounding a little confused.

“Hello,” I say, smiling to cover how nervous I am. “Can I speak with your husband for a few minutes, please?”

She looks me up and down, her lips wrinkling into a fine line. “One minute,” she says, closing the door. I wait for what feels like a hell of a lot longer than a minute and then when the door opens again, Bayleigh’s grandfather appears. He’s holding a cup of coffee that smells like he’s not a fan of sugar or medium roast.

I stand a little straighter. “Good afternoon, Sir.” 

He stares at me for a moment, and then closes the door and takes a long sip of his coffee. “What can I do for you?” he asks.

“I’m here to apologize,” I say, trying to remember all the things I rehearsed this morning before I came over. Of course now that I’m standing in the presence of this man who loves Bayleigh and hates me, I forget all of it, so I have to make it up as I go along. “I know I arrived very suddenly after a long time of my house being abandoned,” I say. “I should have definitely introduced myself first before I brought in a tractor and got to work. I’m Jace Adams, and I’m a professional motocross racer. I came here this summer to get some practice for my career—”

“Aren’t there places to do that kind of thing?” he says. “Professional tracks that you can go to?”

“Yes, sir. I just wanted to be alone so I could focus.”

He doesn’t look like he believes that, but I don’t want to go into more details.

“Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat. “I understand you and my late grandfather were friends?”

“Yes, Richard and I were very close,” he says, his eyebrows wrinkling in the first show of emotion since he stepped out on the porch. “I was sad when he passed away.”

“His house is still full of his things.” I glance next door. “If you’d like to come over, I’d be happy to let you take any of his stuff that was meaningful to you. I didn’t really know him and he has no one else to leave his things to.”

“That would be very nice of you,” he says with a slight nod.

I can tell I’m starting to win him over and it’s the greatest feeling ever. I ask him to tell me about Richard, my late grandfather. He brightens a little—well, as much as a grouchy old man can brighten—and he tells me stories about the man I didn’t know. I learn about how they loved fishing together and how my grandfather kept going to church after my grandmother passed away even though he hated it and had only gone to make her happy.

Probably half an hour goes by, and we’re still talking. He hasn’t explicitly accepted my apology from earlier, but think things are going well. I listen to his stories and I ask questions in an effort to let him see another side of me, the side that’s not a selfish asshole punk kid.

“Thank you for coming over,” he says after a while. “I’d love to go get Richard’s fishing poles later on.”

“That’d be great,” I say. “Just come over anytime.”

“Thank you,” he says, offering me a small smile.

Now is my chance. “One more thing,” I say. I’m nervous as hell now.

He had been walking back to the door but now he stops and turns to me. “Yes?”

“I noticed the county fair is in town,” I say. “I thought it would be fun to invite Bayleigh to go with me. Would that be okay with you?”

He studies me for a long moment, and just when I’m sure he’s going to tell me to pound sand, he shrugs. “If she wants to go, she can go.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say quickly. I don’t even try to hide my grin because I know I can’t.

“Mhm,” he says. “Don’t keep her out too late.”

 

* * *

 

The Salt Gap county fair is exactly what I’d expected, which is to say it’s not at all like the carnivals back at home. This one has a rodeo and patrol cops on horseback and big jacked up trucks everywhere you look. It’s a lot cheaper here in Texas. I pay for Bayleigh and I to get into the fair and she grins the whole time, which makes me wonder if a guy has ever paid for her before.

Bayleigh is cute as hell tonight and it’s hard to keep my hands off her. We walk next to each other as we make our way through crowds and venders and people selling cotton candy and beer. I want to grab her hand but I’m not sure if that would be a welcome gesture right now. We reach the end of a line of booths selling weird country stuff like cowboy boots and big metal signs. This is definitely not like California.

There’s a group of teenagers in front of us, all wearing some kind of cowboy attire. Literally every one of them has a cowboy hat and boots, but the girls are kinda slutty with it, pairing their boots with cut off shorts. Bayleigh looks over at me, doing a once over on my jeans and black T-shirt.

“I’m surprised they let us in,” she says. “We’re not exactly the time of people who come here.”

I take her hand under the pretense of guiding her around a group of people who are in our way, but really I just want to feel her palm in mine. “Speak for yourself. I’m wearing my genuine leather chaps under these jeans.”

“Really?” she says, eyes widening.

I laugh. “Better watch out. Your gullible is showing.”

She rolls her eyes at me but she doesn’t let go of my hand. We head toward the carnival games and look for something to play.

“This stuff is totally rigged,” she says, lifting an eyebrow when I stop at a booth.

“Yeah, I know,” I say, handing some cash to the guy at the ring toss game. “But it’s fun.”

We play a lot of games and we suck at all of them. At one point, I’m seriously trying to knock over these damn wooden bottles in a triangle and even though I hit them, they don’t fall over. Totally rigged. Still, Bayleigh laughs at my attempts, and I feel like getting a laugh out of her is better than winning some stupid game.

Another carnie guy waves me over, promising me that his games are easy enough that I can win something for my sweetie. I look over at Bayleigh. “What do you say…sweetie?” I grin. “Want me to win you something?”

“Only if you let me win you something,” she says, snatching the cash from my hand.

Oh man, I like this girl.

The carnie at this booth was right. It’s a balloon wall and you get five darts for a dollar. All you have to do is pop a balloon with your dart and you win. I win a cheap stuffed sponge creature that’s clearly a knockoff of Spongebob Squarepants.

“Way to go!” the carnie bellows as he hands me the toy.

Bayleigh claps for me. I bow down as I accept her clapping and then present the toy to her. “For you, princess.”

“Oooh,” she says, batting her eyelashes. “Thank you, noble knight.”

With her remaining darts, she pops a yellow balloon. To the carnie, she asks, “What’s the most embarrassing thing I can get?”

His bloodshot eyes light up. “I know just the thing!”

I’m assuming it’ll be some stupid stuffed animal, but when he turns back around he’s holding a plastic necklace. It’s a big chain link thing with a massive pendant at the bottom of it. We’re talking a pendant the size of a basketball. The carnie wiggles his eyebrows and then presses a switch on the back of it.

It lights up.

The word bootylicious blinks across the pendant.

“Oh my God, no,” I say.

Bayleigh places the necklace over my head and positions the pendant in the center of my chest. “You look beautiful,” she says, giving me this wicked sexy smile. She and the carnie high five. I glare at her, but I’m just playing with her. I have no problem making an ass out of myself it makes her smile.

While we’re waiting in line for one of the carnival rides, I can’t help but stare at her. My necklace is still glowing in a rainbow of colors, but I refuse to turn it off. Now I think it’s embarrassing her more than me. “This is fun,” I say. “I never expected my self-inflicted summer punishment would turn out this great.”

“Same here. I thought I would have died of boredom by now.” She reaches into her  back pocket and then frowns, and touches the other one.

“What are you looking for?” I ask.

She looks at her hand, confusion wrinkling her eyebrows. “I don’t know,” she says, tapping her pockets again. Then she looks up. “Shit. I was looking for my cell phone.” She laughs a little, but I can tell it’s bothering her. “Ugh, it’s such a habit, you know? I can’t believe I’m not over it yet.”

I put a hand to my chest. “Am I so boring that you need to find someone else to talk to while you’re around me?” I shake my head. “Ouch, Bayleigh. I’m heartbroken.”

She gives me this look that makes my knees weak. “Maybe I’m having such a great time I felt the need to post it to Facebook or something.”

“That’s better,” I say, smiling.

Hours fly by faster than time should be allowed to go, and soon it’s nearly time to leave. I sigh and face the truth. “I promised Ed I’d have you home by eleven,” I say, bumping into her shoulder. “That gives us time for one more ride. What will it be?”

“How about something slow?” she says, looking at her empty nacho tray. We’ve eaten a ton of junk food, so a fast ride wouldn’t be a good idea. I look around, then find the Ferris wheel. Perfect.

Something in her demeanor changes as we walk toward it. I slide my arm around her shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” she says quickly. Her attention is on the Ferris wheel that’s currently letting people onto each little carriage. I take my arm off her shoulder just in case it’s what’s making her uncomfortable.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” I say, trying to sound lighthearted. She waits until we’ve climbed onto the Ferris wheel to answer me.

She shrugs. “I guess I'm just realizing that we had an awesome time tonight, but that only makes the rest of the summer sucky because after tonight, there won't be anything fun to do. At the end of the day, I'm still grounded, I'm still stuck here and I still don't have a phone or computer.”

“You can't think that way,” I say. I want to touch her, so I run my fingers through a strand of her hair, figuring that’s safer than holding her and pulling her close to me like I’d prefer to do. I grin and let my fingers slide through her impossibly soft hair. “Now that Ed doesn’t consider me a soulless bastard, I’m sure he’ll let you come over. We’ll find something fun to do.”

Her eyes meet mine. The wheel lurches to a stop at the very top. My stomach tightens. It’s not exactly the height that bothers me, but the fact that this thing can be folded up and driven around on an eighteen wheeler when the fair is over. Kind of makes me wonder about the safety of it. She turns to the side and looks over, down at the ground below.

“You’re braver than I am,” I whisper in her ear.

She turns back toward me, her lips twisted in a little smirk. I can’t help myself. I held back long enough and now I can’t do it any longer. I kiss her. Slowly, softly, I kiss her. When the ride starts moving again, I reach up and take her head in my hands, holding her steady while we kiss. She leans into me, kissing me back with feeling. It’s all the encouragement I need. I wrap my arms around her, part her lips with my tongue. She lets me, and she tastes like candy and soda and everything perfect in this world.

All around us, the world is whooshing by as the Ferris wheel makes one loop after another. I hold onto her, and kiss her like this might be the only chance I get. As the ride starts to slow down, I pull away. Her smile nearly kills me.

I tap a finger on her nose. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”