“I think the fact that you’re having these thoughts means you’re not selfish at all… I feel the same guilt.” I’ve wanted this man for years, but I never thought I would ever get here and now we are and he feels the same but never in my fantasies did I ever picture how we’d ever tell people about us. How we’d tell Lucas.

  I bite my lip as I prepare to tell him about what Rory said. “Rory texted me while you were outside talking to Wes,” I tell him. “She’s worried about Lucas.”

  He frowns. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. She says he’s drinking more than usual and…” I clear my throat. “There have been a lot of girls.” I sigh. “She thinks he’s going through something and I really hope it doesn’t have to do with me.”

  He turns onto his back and I immediately hate myself for making us have this conversation. He turns on the light on his nightstand and sits up. The sheet is still covering his lap but his naked torso is on display, shiny from sweat and glistening and I can’t help but notice how gorgeous he is and how much I want him even amidst this slightly uncomfortable conversation.

  “Sorry,” I whisper as I sit up too and wrap the sheet around my chest. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” I push my thoroughly just fucked hair out of my face.

  “No, I’m glad you did.” He reaches for me and pulls me closer to him. “Don’t keep anything from me.”

  I nod. “She wants me to talk to him and if I’m being honest I do too. Just so I know what’s going on.” I bite my bottom lip as I prepare to speak my biggest concern. “I hope he’s not doing all of this to get any feelings he may have for me out of his system.” I frown. “I want him to be completely over me if he’s not already but not by being self-destructive.”

  “Hey, this is not your fault.” He strokes my cheek before tucking a hair behind my ear. “Maybe this has nothing to do with you at all and Rory is just overreacting.”

  I don’t know if he’s trying to make me or himself feel better, but I hear the skepticism in his voice.

  What am I going to say if it comes out that it actually is because of me?

  “Okay, and on that note, I’m dating your dad.”

  I hadn’t even noticed the tears in my eyes until I feel Theo’s hands beneath them. “Please don’t cry. We’ll figure it out.” He pulls me into his lap to face him and begins to rub my back slowly, and even though there is not much between his dick and my pussy, it’s not remotely sexual.

  “What if figuring it out means I can’t have you?” More tears form in response to my words and my heart begins to race at the thought of not getting to be with Theo. The thought that Theo and I would be over before we even had a chance to begin. “And I hate the friend that it makes me that being with you is becoming a bigger concern.”

  I meet his warm brown eyes that are filled with so much sadness and confusion. “I know. I knew this was fucking dangerous.” He grimaces. “Going down this road with you.” He clears his throat. “I spent so many years just focusing on being a good father only to finally be ready for more with a woman and it’s…you.” He chuckles darkly. “Which probably negates everything.”

  TG: We have plans tonight.

  It’s six in the morning and I’m sitting in the kitchen of Avery’s watching my mother pull out a batch of her infamous blueberry muffins when I open Theo’s text. A smile pulls at my lips seeing the words on the screen and I shift my body away from my mother so she doesn’t start an inquisition as to what has me grinning at my phone before the sun is barely up.

  Me: Oh? What kind of plans?

  TG: It’s a surprise.

  Me: I don’t particularly like surprises, you know.

  And while this is true, I have a feeling I’ll like whatever he has planned.

  TG: I do know but you’ll like this one. Leave your car in the garage on Main Street and I’ll pick you up at five.

  Me: What should I wear?

  TG: Casual, we’ll be outside.

  Me: Okay…Do I need overnight clothes?

  TG: Since when do you sleep in clothes?

  Me: Lol I meant do I need to bring things for the morning?

  TG: No, I’ll have you home at a respectable time tonight.

  Me: Okay. Can’t wait *kissy face emoji*

  TG: Have a good day, beautiful.

  The excited nerves are coursing through me all day as I go through a million different things Theo and I could be doing tonight. I leave the café around three which is enough time for me to go home, shower, and change. After changing my clothes ten different times—because really what the hell is casual anyway?—I decide on a black short strapless sundress under a chambray shirt in case it gets a little chilly tonight. I make it to the garage at five minutes to five and am not shocked to see Theo already there. The garage has mostly cleared out from the day, so I find him easily, parked in a corner away from most of the cars and I wonder if that’s on purpose.

  Another reason why I wore a dress.

  I park my car next to his and before I can even open my door, he’s there opening it and holding his hand out for me. “Hi.” I smile and the sexy smile he gives me heats me all the way to my toes.

  “Hi, gorgeous.” He pulls me into his arms and slowly slides his hands down my body. He cups me underneath my dress, giving my ass a gentle squeeze, and I gasp just as his lips connect with mine. His tongue licks his way into my mouth and dances with mine as he pushes me up against my car. I don’t know how long we’re kissing when he pulls back and presses a kiss to my nose. “We should get going, we have a bit of a drive.” When he opens the passenger side door of his Mercedes for me, I notice he’s wearing dark blue jeans and a black v-neck shirt and I want to laugh at our matching attire.

  I look him up and down and then down at myself and he realizes what I’m looking at. “Well, now there won’t be any question that you’re mine,” he says as I slide into the car.

  We’ve been driving for about twenty minutes south on the highway when I realize we are probably leaving Pennsylvania. “Can you tell me where we’re going?”

  “Maybe when we get a little closer.”

  “How long until we get there?” Even with his dark sunglasses, I know what kind of look he gives me and I let out a sigh. “Fine. How was your day?”

  “Good. A pretty easy day. How about you?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary.” I shrug, thinking about how normal this feels, talking about our days like a regular couple. His hand finds my thigh and I want to melt at how warm and strong it feels and how large it looks against me making me feel feminine and sexy. He squeezes it gently and my pussy flutters in response.

  I look down at where his hand is resting and then up at him and lower my sunglasses to the tip of my nose to shoot him a warning look. “I wouldn’t unless you’re prepared to pull over somewhere.”

  He laughs and it’s one I can see myself hearing for a very long time. He strokes the skin gently without removing it and I shake my head at his teasing. I put my hand over his, rubbing the skin with my fingers when he wraps his hand around mine and brings it to his lips to kiss my knuckles.

  Oh my God.

  “I had to actively stop myself from thinking about you today in order to get any work done.” He’s still got my hand encased in his, rubbing his thumb over everywhere it can reach. “You are a very present fixture in my mind these days.”

  “I think about you a lot too,” I tell him because I can’t remember a time since I met him that he wasn’t somewhere on my mind.

  We’ve been driving for close to an hour when I start probing for more details. “Are we going to Maryland?”

  “Not quite that far.”

  “What’s in Delaware?” I ask, referring to the only state between Pennsylvania and Maryland that’s on this road. “Where we’d be outside?” I start thinking of all the possible places and none of them would make sense unless…

  I gasp excitedly and turn to him. “Are we going to the fair!?” I clap my hands together because I fucking love the fair and if that is where we’re going it warms my heart that he remembered that fact. He gives me a smile revealing his perfect teeth, and I squeal. “Oh my God! I was so mad that it left Philly before I could go! Theo!” I do a dance in my seat already thinking about the funnel cake I’m about to devour.

  “I didn’t say that’s where we’re going.”

  I purse my lips at him suspiciously. “So, that’s not where we’re going?”

  He chuckles. “Yeah baby, that’s where we’re going.”

  I bite my bottom lip. Oh yeah, I am so glad I wore a dress.

  Thirty minutes later, we are pulling up to the fairgrounds. It’s almost six-thirty so it’s still light out and I’m so excited to see everything when it gets dark. One of my favorite things to do is to ride the Ferris wheel at night and see everything lit up with neon bright lights.

  “Theo, this is so great, thank you for this.” I tilt my head back to offer him my lips which he takes as he holds me tight against him. “This is already the best date ever,” I tell him when we pull apart.

  He gets our tickets and soon we are pushing through the turnstile to let us onto the grounds. “So,” he looks around, “what do you want to eat first?”

  I laugh because I was always into all the fair food and I used to be very serious about what we should eat at what times so we didn’t get sick on any rides. I tap my chin and look around. “Well, are you hungry? If so, turkey legs first. We are very close to Maryland though so waffle crab fries are also a great idea if they have them. If you’re not hungry, we can start with dessert.” My eyes dart between all the food vendors near the entrance and I don’t see any of those. “Snow cones? Pass,” I say waving my hand. “Oooh! Fried pickles?” I point to the stand a few yards away.

  “God, you’re fucking cute.” He wraps an arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple. “Whatever you want.”

  We get an order of fried pickles and a boozy lemonade which I’m really not sure what that consists of and we start walking around.

  “So, I know you’re staying in Philly for the foreseeable future while you’re helping your mom, but do you see yourself anywhere else?” He asks as we walk amongst the crowds. It’s a weeknight, so while it’s a little less busy than I’m sure it is on the weekends, there’s still a good number of people and more children than I’d expect for a school night.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought except for when I was considering moving to New York with Lucas and Rory, but the thought of anywhere else seems scary. I’ve lived here my whole life. I didn’t even go away to college.” I cock my head to the side. “What about you?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose if there were a reason.” He takes a sip of the drink and immediately coughs. “This is awful by the way.” He scrunches his face and I snatch it from him.

  “What did you expect? Top-shelf liquor? Don’t be a snob.” I laugh. “This may or may not have been concocted in someone’s bathtub.” I take a sip of it. “Just ride the wave.”

  “I want to make sure I can get us home.” He laughs. “Maybe you ride that wave alone.” He points at me. “Back to your question though; Rae is here and Lucas isn’t far. My parents are still in New Jersey. I don’t see why I’d leave if practically everyone I know is here unless I had a real reason to move.” We make it to a row of different games and I can already feel my competitive side coming out. “Like maybe the woman I was seeing needed to move and we were serious and I wanted to go with her.”

  His eyes trace my face and though the implication is loud, I don’t respond to it. I look at the first game, the high striker, which is the one where you have to slam the large hammer down to ring the bell and I nod my head towards it. “If my memory serves me correctly, you’re pretty good at this one.”

  “It’s been a while.” He hands me the bag of fried pickles and wipes his hand on a napkin. “Let’s see.”

  “I want a big stuffed animal,” I say, holding my arms out. “The biggest.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me. “That I’m going to be stuck carrying around the park?”

  I give him a fake pout. “Okay, a smaller one, but this is what happens when you don’t tell me things, I would have brought a backpack to make it easier to carry a bunch! Now I can only get like two.” I pout jokingly as he steps up to the game and pays the attendant who can’t be older than eighteen. The guy hands him the oversized hammer and I take a step back to give him some space. Just as he raises it up and he’s about to hit it, I scream. “Don’t miss!”

  He stops just before it hits the metal plate and he turns around and glares at me for breaking his concentration. The attendant snorts. “You’re funny.”

  “Hush, Avery,” Theo growls over his shoulder before he does it again, slamming it down so hard that I hear the bell a second later. The visual of his strength makes my knees weak and I bite my lip.

  God, what can’t this man do?

  “And you didn’t even break a sweat! See I was trying to give you a challenge.” I giggle as I move into his arms and wrap mine around him.

  He presses his lips to my temple. “Which one?”

  “Hmmm.” I look around and spot a cute little yellow dragon and point at it. “That one!”

  Theo laughs as the attendant hands it to me. “It looks like that dragon from that book you love.”

  I pull away, giving him a curious look because while I know why I picked it, I’m surprised he does. “How did you know?”

  “I listen.” He shrugs as he hands the kid an extra five dollars with a nod and guides me toward the next game.

  “Yeah, but we weren’t together…I mean…”

  He brushes his lips against mine gently. “I’ve been very aware of you for the past year.”

  I don’t know if it’s the rail liquor lemonade making me emotional but his words make my heart flutter in my chest. “Come on,” he says as he tugs me toward another food vendor. “I think I want fried Oreos now.”

  After a few more games, including one involving a football that he was obviously way too good at, it’s starting to get darker. I now have another stuffed animal, a cute giraffe that is bigger than my dragon and almost half my height.

  So yeah, Theo is carrying it.

  He won even more, but he ended up giving them to whatever young kids were around which made their night and me very turned on.

  We’re walking for a bit longer when we run into a funnel cake stand that has a long line of people. “This was really fun,” I tell him. “Thank you for this. It was so thoughtful.”

  “Of course,” he says, like it’s the simplest thing he could have done. “I would do anything to keep you smiling like you have tonight.”

  I grab his jaw, tugging his face closer to mine, and press my lips to his. I don’t know how long we’re kissing when we hear a throat clearing behind us. We turn to face them and we see three teenage girls who are probably around fifteen staring at us with the goofiest expressions. “You guys are so cute,” one of them says with a grin.

  “Thank you.” I smile as we move forward.

  “He’s hot,” I hear one of them whisper causing both of us to chuckle.

  “You hear that, babe? You’re hot,” I whisper and he rolls his eyes as we move up in the line. “Hey, I was once their age thinking the same thing.”

  “Please don’t remind me.” He grabs my hand and laces our fingers.

  We order our funnel cake and sit at a picnic table to eat it. “Can I stay over tonight?” I ask him as I take a bite of the funnel cake and the powder flies everywhere.

  “You never have to ask. I want you in my bed whenever you want to be there. I just didn’t know how easy it was for you to keep staying over.” He leans forward. “You have powder here,” he says just before his tongue darts out and licks the tip of my nose.

  I gasp, touching the wet skin on my nose. His tongue is very acquainted with my pussy and a lot of other places and somehow that has me turning into a fucking puddle. “Theo.”

  “Mmmhm?” He looks at me through hooded eyes and if there weren’t children everywhere, I’d climb into his lap and rock against him a little bit. I turn my head towards the main attraction of the fair and then back to him.

  “I’ve never fooled around with anyone on a Ferris wheel before,” I tell him with a sexy smirk.

  We finish the funnel cake and make our way over to the ride and after a few moments, we slide into one of the cars. It’s fully dark now and the whole ride is lit up with turquoise, purple, and pink lights. I sit next to him and drape my legs over his knees, not wanting to alert the guy controlling the ride that I plan to climb into his lap.

  “You going to climb on my dick and ride me?” Theo whispers in my ear and a delicious shiver runs through me. I look up and around as we start moving and I shake my head. “I don’t know how sturdy this ride is for me to bounce up and down on you.” I giggle as we make our way a fourth of the way to the top.

  He pulls me into his lap so that my back is resting against his chest and lifts my dress to my waist. He pushes my hair to one side and presses his lips to my neck as he wraps an arm around me and drags his fingertips down my stomach. He glides his fingers over my panties, stroking me gently and I let out a sigh.

  “I would put my tongue here if there was room. I’ll have to settle for just touching your pretty pussy for now.” He presses a wet kiss to my neck as he pushes his fingers inside of me, swirling his fingers around my clit.

  “Fuck, Theo.” I moan as we keep moving to the top.

  “Shhh, baby, do you want people to know what you’re doing? That you have your man’s fingers shoved down the front of your panties?” He slides two fingers into my opening. “You want my third finger?” I let my head fall back and nod against him, my body already humming as it chases my release. “You look so pretty like this. Squirming and panting in my lap. Fuck, you’re so gorgeous. We’re almost at the top. How close are you, baby?” he murmurs in my ear.

  “Close,” I mumble out. “Oh fuck, that’s good.” He continues fucking me with three fingers and rubbing the heel of his hand against my clit every few strokes.