“Enjoy the carnival,” I say. I know exactly how to treat these small-town good girls to get what I want out of them. You have to start slow, or they get scared off.
Another thirty minutes pass, and I move between the rides, keeping everything running smoothly. I spot the three of them at the end of the long line for the Zipper ride and realize this is my chance. Zipper cars only seat two — cozily.
Junk’s operating the ride, so he’ll make it extra long for me. Though he'd better not be a dick and speed it up until she pukes on me.
“Hey, ladies, I told you, you’re VIPs tonight. Come with me.”
Without touching them, I lead them to the front of the line. I nod at Junk, giving him my signal for a longer, slower ride and he laughs.
The brunette climbs into the car, and Emily moves to follow but I grab her hand and hold her back. The redhead either didn’t notice my move, or didn’t care and climbs in next. Junk slams the door and locks it, then moves the ride until the next car is in place.
Emily climbs in and turns to look back out the car. I hop in beside her and pull the cage shut, and Junk quickly moves our car along.
The cage is cramped, and the sides of our bodies touch, from our ankles to our shoulders. She tries to shuffle away to minimize our physical contact, but there’s nowhere to shuffle to.
“What’s the deal? Why do you keep coming up to me?” she asks.
“Because, you’re the prettiest girl I’ve seen in the whole country.”
“But not the whole world?”
“I’m sure the whole world too, but we don’t go there.”
Kickstart my Heart (Emily)
“Oh, where do you go?” I ask, making polite conversation.
The ride moves again. It’s still loading new passengers, so we only go a short distance up the side of the track. Our cage swings back and forth when we come to a stop again, and I grab the padded bars in front of me. Steel doesn’t even look like he’s aware we’re moving.
Why does he keep talking to me? This, for some reason, is the third ride I’ve been on with him tonight.
There’s no point in denying that my skin tingles everywhere his body brushes against mine. This cage is cramped, and I’m pinned between Steel and the metal.
“We go all over. Since we’re small, we take a different route every year.” I can feel his eyes on me as he speaks, but I keep my gaze on The Gravitron that’s straight ahead of us.
“Huh, interesting. Have you been in the carnival long?”
“Ten years.”
My eyes widen, and I turn my head to look at him. Our eyes connect and a rush of something moves through me. What was that?
“Wow, that’s a long time,” I say, holding his eye contact. Even in the dark of the night, the blue of his irises is bright.
Our cage moves and stops again to load more people.
“It’s all I know.”
“So, what made you join? Couldn’t find a circus to run away and join?”
“Something like that,” he says smiling.
The smile once again transforms his face to utter gorgeousness, my heart flutters and I have to look away.
No one in Colmar looks half as good as him. Or even a quarter as good. Even Dylan, our high school’s heartthrob, is a smear on a shoe compared to Steel.
“Something like that? Like I’m sitting in a cage with an ex-con?”
Our cage moves and stops to load another pair of passengers.
“You know, carny code says you don’t ask a person about their past. It’s no one’s business.”
“Carny code?” I say laughing, “Do I have to follow your code when I’m not a carny?”
“Goldie, you’re so pretty, you can write your own code.”
“Then are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“Why you joined?”
“I joined so I could travel to this town and meet you.”
I burst out laughing. “To meet me? You joined a decade ago.”
“It took me that long to find you, but I never gave up looking. I knew I’d find you.”
“Do you use that line on all the girls?”
The ride moves again, but this time it doesn’t stop. The noise of it creaking and groaning as we sped up is even louder than the thumping music.
Our cage swings more and more each second. One second it’s like I’m lying on my back, the next I’d facing the ground and locking my grip on the bars to keep me from falling on my face. Steel still hasn’t grabbed the bars, and sits like he’s on a chair at a dining room table.
But it’s stupid fun, and I can’t stop laughing.
We’re at the highest point, and our cage flips upside down, causing me to squeal. On reflex, I grab Steel’s thigh. The hardness of the muscle underneath his jeans draws my attention away from the ride.