Hot Summer Night

26 - Seraphine

He sighed again, and I immediately believed he knew something he feared telling me about.

"What are you hiding from me?"

It took about twenty heartbeats for him to answer me finally. "It's the easiest place to be for something terrible to happen. And Chadwick is still searching for you."

"I'll wear my wig. It's why I have them, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what? Do you know something that you haven't informed me about?"

"We'll go. I don't want to break Everly's heart. I've done enough of that already," he said finally, but I noticed the dread in his tone.

I wasn't sure how to take his response, and when he sat up and rested his feet on the floor, dragging his hands through his hair, I ensured, "I'll hide myself well. I promise. He'll never know it's me."

***

Declan was right about how hot it would be today, and when the sun had set, it didn't even cool down; it got even more humid, making me regret my clothing and wig choice.

My wig was black with long bangs, straight, very long, and heavy. I highlighted my eyes with black eyeliner and eyeshadow and lined my lips with black lipstick. I also wore a couple of fake liprings. I wore faux leather pants with buckles wrapped around my thighs on both legs, and the sides of my pant legs were tied up in laces from ankle to hip. My top was also faux leather, with buckles and laces as well, and I wore a push-up bra to make my breasts appear bigger and fuller.

I figured if I wanted to really shock everyone tonight, I needed to dress gothic. But now, between the heavy wig, this faux leather, and the humidity, I'm sweating up a storm.

I got strange looks everywhere we were, or it was Declan; they were strangely looking at wondering what a hot guy like him was doing with someone like me, and it had me laughing on the inside.

"Do you know how badly I want to hold your hand right now?" Declan whispered in my ear as we walked along the line of food trucks, looking for something to eat. I've always loved fair food, and since it'd been years since I last had it, I wanted to have everything I saw.

"Another time," I told him, grinning. Loving how this inability to show me affection or that I was his around Everly and everyone else wandering around the fairgrounds was torturing him.

Everly stepped in front of us, walking backward as she asked, "Dad, can I have a footlong and a bag of cotton candy?"

"Sure."

She pointed, saying, "We'll have to go back that way; we've already passed it."

He looked at me. "Do you know what you want yet? Or should I already know?" he grinned, hinting that he knew I was looking for the food truck selling Gyros.

Looking at Everly, I quietly said, "You know me so well." I wanted to try something different, but thinking about them has my mouth watering.

Declan got Everly her footlong, cotton candy, my Gyro, and garlic fries, and he got a gator on a stick and outlaw fries. Then, when we found an empty picnic table in the rides area, Everly sat beside me, and Declan sat across from us.

While Everly excitedly talked about what she wanted to do next—go on the rides, every once in a while, I'd feel Declan's knee brushing up mine, and whenever I'd find his eyes, my belly fluttered from him winking and smiling at me.

"Dad, we're going on rides, right?" Everly asked, her tongue hanging out as she consumed a large chunk of her pink cotton candy.

He smiled at her, but it almost appeared forced. "Of course. Whatever you want to do, just let me know. Which rides were you thinking?"