That following Saturday, on the day of River's birthday, I show up on his doorstep at four in the afternoon with a gift bag in one hand and a small cake in the other. I had spent too long trying to figure out exactly what kind of cake he'd like, but I had nothing else to do while my mom was getting her dialysis treatment.
I use my elbow to knock as loudly as I can on his door, and almost as if he were waiting for the sound, he opens it instantly, rolling his eyes when he sees the cake. "You didn't have to get me anything," he says. As much as he tries to hide it, I see his lips curve into a smile. "But thank you."
"Are you ready for our big day?"
He raises a brow. "Big day of what, exactly?"
"Of fun," I say with a grin, but it falters when he looks behind me at the flurries of snow falling to the ground. "I called to make sure the place I'm taking you to is still open."
If there's even a chance of a dusting in North Carolina, everything shuts down. The minute the roads ice over, everyone enters a state of emergency. Milk is gone. The eggs are gone. The water is gone. Then the following morning, when the dusting melts into the grass again, everyone goes about their days as if it never happened.
"Don't forget your jacket!" Tracy shouts from a nearby room, scurrying in with a puffy black material. "It's freezing outside."
River rolls his eyes for the second time today but takes the jacket from her and slips it on without complaints.
"We're going to celebrate you tomorrow," Tracy reminds him. She looks over at me. "You'll come too, right Hazel?"
I nod. "Of course."
Tracy hands River a backpack, and he scrunches his nose up. "Did you know she was taking me somewhere?" His eyes flicker to mine, but I can't read the expression.
"Just go and have fun!" She excitedly pushes us out the door. "And please drive carefully. It's horrible weather."
The pavement is clear, the flurries of snow not even cold enough to stick yet, but I tell her I will regardless as we walk to my car.
***
When we pull into Frankie's Arcade parking lot, I hold my breath as he scans the building. Aside from the two cars that I'm assuming belong to the employees, we're the only car here, and River lowers his head so that he can stare up at the sign through the windshield.
"I wasn't sure if you'd be into this," I blurt out, "but you told me before that you'd never been to an amusement park, and while this isn't exactly a park with rollercoasters, they have this simulation thing where it makes you feel like you're on a rollercoaster. It looked pretty cool in the description online, but if you don't like it, and if you don't—"
He grabs my cheek to turn my face to his, pressing his lips against mine. His body is leaning over the console, and with one hand, he clicks my seatbelt off, tugging me over the threshold onto his lap. My knees are on either side of him, my core completely on fire as the heat spreads between my legs.
"I love it," he breathes heavily against my lips. He grabs a stray hair that's fallen into my face and pushes it behind my ear. "I love you, Hazel."
He grazes his fingers lazily up and down my back, sending goosebumps racing across my skin from head to toe. "I love you too," I reply. "Did you want to eat your cake now and open your gift, or wait until afterward?"
His eyes meet with mine, the lust dancing devilishly in them. "I'm not hungry for cake."
I don't ask him what exactly he's hungry for because if it's the answer I'm thinking, we'll never leave this car.
I smile and gently kiss his neck, flicking my tongue across the sensitive spot I've learned always gets to him. His breathing becomes quicker in seconds, his chest rising and falling rapidly underneath his black t-shirt.
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," I whisper into the crook of his neck. "Come on, let's go."
***
After we got our tickets onto a plastic card, we spent the next two hours in a competitive feud of arcade games. I beat him at ski ball, and he creamed me shooting basketballs into the tiny hoops. I laughed my ass off when he accidentally dropped his popcorn trying to play air hockey one-handed, and even though River tried to conceal it, he was radiating happiness. It was how he kissed me after a round of miniature bowling. The way he couldn't keep his hands off me at the coin slots. His tan skin was gleaming the entire time, the pearly whites of his teeth never seeming to disappear.
When we had made our way through practically all the games and food items on the menu, the last ride stood before us—the rollercoaster simulator.
Since nobody else is here other than a little kid and his grandma, there isn't a line. River and I swipe our cards before the employee and climb inside. We strap our harnesses as River lets out a loud breath.
"Is it bad that I'm nervous?" he asks. "I've never ridden a roller coaster, so I have no idea what to expect."
I look at him over the top of my harness as the employee starts the ride up, the machine whirring as the lights turn on. "Have you ever been in a car and gone over a big hill?" He nods. "It's like that. You know, when your stomach does that dropping thing?"
Our chairs start tiling backward until we're horizontal on our backs, and River lets out a laugh I've never heard before. Like he's a little kid again that just got told he could have ice cream before dinner. "Oh, shit," he says, "what if I get motion sickness?"
The screen in front of us shows a view of a rollercoaster car, a sunny day with bright green grass as we climb inch by inch to the top of a hill. Since we're completely enclosed, it seems like we're actually there, almost as if I can feel the wind and the heat directly on my skin.
"I guess we'll cross our fingers that you don't. If you do, I'll rock vomit on my clothes for the rest of the night."
The trees on the screen keep getting smaller as we climb to the top, our seats vibrating and shaking as we do.
"Fuck," River says with a shaky laugh. I see his hand come between us, an open palm for me to take. I entwine my fingers with his, smiling when he gives it a tight squeeze. A nervous River is adorable. It shows a more vulnerable side to him that I never knew existed.
When we get to the top, when our chairs tilt forward, River cusses again from how high up it seems like we are. The entire car goes into a vibration frenzy when we take off, shaking side to side like we're right there on the coaster. We both are in hysterical laughter as we try to hold on, our hands still entwined when I let out a scream.
The coaster goes upside down, and it takes River and me along with it. My hair blows in his face, and he's still cussing up a storm. Our hands are wrapped together so tightly that our fingers are turning white.
I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Being with River at this moment and giving him this experience means the entire world to me. I wonder how much it means to him, but hearing his shrieks of pure joy makes me think that maybe he feels the same, too.
After another minute or so of twisting and turning, the ride abruptly stops, the screen going dark again, and the doors open to let the light from the arcade pour in.
I blink a few times to get my eyes to adjust to it as I unbuckle my harness and step out. My legs feel like jello, the room spinning.
"I have never had so much fun," River exclaims.
"Me either."
My curls are going every which way from being thrown upside down, so I run my hands over my head to try and slim it down. River's curls look perfectly untouched atop his head. He's sexy as ever as he leans up against the wall next to the ride, one hand in the pocket of his skinny black jeans, the other fumbling with a gold chain around his neck to fix it back in place.
My mouth waters at the sight of him as images from that night in his car flash through my mind. As much bad that happened that night, the good outweighed it.
His breathing ragged in my ear, the low growls filling my head as he took me completely, giving all of himself. I want to feel him again.
"Are you ready to go?" I ask, raking my eyes over his body. "I have another surprise for you."
His eyes pop up to mine, and since he knows me so well, he can already read the expression on my face. He knows what I want, and I can bet a million dollars that I'll get my way.
Those brown eyes of his darken, a more serious expression flickering over them. "Absolutely," he says. "I can't wait to see what else you have in store for me."
A/N:
Crying.
I love them so much.
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