The bottom of the ninth arrives and we are losing terribly. Most of the bleachers have emptied and only us, and a few die-hards who have decided that being shirtless is somehow an act of defiance, are left in our lonely little section. I have yelled enough to lose my voice, and Christian has joined in, using almost the same level of aggression I saw at the airport to chastise the players. He seems born to be a foul-mouthed heckler, but I'm still not entirely sure he understands all the rules. His inappropriate jumps for joy when he thinks something amazing is happening – but isn’t – are the sole source of brightness during the last few innings, as our hated rivals stomp us into oblivion.
I'm gathering up my trash and belongings to head out early, so we can beat traffic, when the crack of the bat and the rising sound of the crowd around me brings me to my feet. A deep fly ball is heading our way. I reach for Christian, but he isn't there. I look around and see him, two rows above me, all by himself, holding his glove up in the air like this moment has been his mission in life. The ball is heading right for him. Two or three guys are making their way toward him. He glances their way for only a second before turning his attention back to the ball.
"Don't fucking think about it, boys," he says. "That ball's mine."
The men immediately back down and the ball lands directly in Christian's glove. I scream and throw everything I was holding to the ground, including my beer. He jumps in the air with it triumphantly before swaggering back to our seats and holding the ball out to me.
"I caught it for you," he says.
I'm caught off guard by the flash of genuine sweetness peeking through his smug outer persona. I look up to see the other bleacher creatures heading back to their seats, and when I turn back to Christian, he is looking down at our seats with a stern expression on his face.
"You are messy as hell, you know that?" he says, and I follow his gaze to the spilled beer all around us.
The sweetness lasted a few seconds, anyway.
"Yes, yes I am," I say with a nod. I take a step closer to him and lower my voice. "You know, spilling beer is considered a very serious baseball sin. Perhaps I need to be reprimanded."
A sly grin crosses my face as he grabs my wrist and starts pulling me toward the parking lot.
* * *
Christian
By the time we get to the car, I can't wait another second for Piper to touch me. I've been hard the entire game watching her breasts bounce up and down as she cheers and listening to her mouth off to the people around us. Her little quip about the beer just pushed me over the edge. The parking lot is a complete gridlock, but that's exactly what I want. Leaning the seat back slightly, I unbutton and unzip my pants. My cock springs out immediately, and I reach for Piper's hand.
Her skin is hot and soft against my shaft as she coils her fingers around me. My hips buck up as her hand strokes hard and fast. The windows of Piper's car are more tinted than those of the rental car, so I'm not concerned about people seeing us. Even if they do, I don't care. I'm don’t feel like waiting anymore.
I reach up and cup my hand behind her head, digging my fingers into her hair.
"Suck me," I command.
Her head dips down with her mouth already open, and I growl against gritted teeth as her wet tongue swirls around my cock. One hand grips the base as she moves in a masterfully synchronized rhythm where she is either touching or sucking every inch of me at all times. Her other hand goes to her own pants, releasing the button and lowering the zipper so she can wiggle them down slightly. Around us, cars are moving, but I don't care about anything but Piper's mouth and hand on me, and watching her fingers dip down into her panties.
I feel her murmur against my engorged head as her fingertips find her clit. She massages for a second, then withdraws her fingers. Taking her mouth from me, she sits up slightly and holds her fingers to my lips. I suck them for a second, before pushing her head back down onto my cock. She dips her head down further, letting me enter her throat, as she uses her now-wet fingers to massage herself. I'm heading straight into a powerful orgasm, and I don't hold myself back this time. The speed of her fingers between her thighs grows faster as my hips thrust into her mouth. Finally, I explode, and her hand tightly grips the base of my shaft to hold me still as she swallows luxuriously.
As soon as I feel the last twitches of my orgasm, I pull out of her mouth, and reach across to push the driver's seat all the way down. Yanking her pants the rest of the way down her hips, I push her panties aside and delve in with my tongue. She tastes sweet and hot as I eagerly lick up her silky fluids. Her hand wraps around under her thigh and I see her plunge two fingers deep inside herself as I concentrate the tip of my tongue directly on her clit. Around us, horns blare, and I know traffic is moving more steadily. I don't stop. Her fingers thrust deeper and I use one hand to spread her lips to give me even more access. In seconds, Piper screams out and I feel more of her luscious wetness flood my mouth.
Sitting up, I adjust my pants and look around. We're the only ones still sitting in our parking spot, and people around us are getting impatient. I notice a few craning their necks to try to peer into the windshield, but the sunshade Piper put there when we parked blocks us from view.
"We could get arrested for that," she says as she slides up to a sitting position and buttons her pants.
"Worth it."
* * *
Three days later…
"Is everything OK?"
Piper nods as she ends her phone call and sets her phone on the arm of the couch.
"Tabitha says Glenn's father is doing much better. She might even be able to get home early and see me again before I leave."
"That's fantastic to hear," I say. I don’t tell her what’s actually on my mind – my own father, and the heart condition that has plagued him for years. "What did you say his name was again?"
"Glenn?"
"No, his father."
"Oh, Ben."
I look at her for a beat.
"Ben?"
"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing's wrong with it. I just find it funny that a man named Ben had a son named Glenn."
"Well, I mean, I guess technically his name is Benjamin. So, a man named Benjamin had a son named Glenn."
"Does Glenn stand for anything?"
"I don't fucking know. What would it stand for? Glennward?"
"It's better than Glennjamin."
She laughs and nods.
"You're right about that. Alright, so you didn't get a chance to tell me before Tabitha called. Which side of the debate are you on?"
"What debate?"
"The funnel cake debate. Powdered sugar or strawberries?"
It takes me a few seconds to process back through the conversation and remember that we were talking about our favorite junk food. She'd mentioned funnel cake, and how she and her father had always argued over whether to get powdered sugar or strawberries on it.
"I don't know. I've never had one."
Piper looks genuinely shocked.
"What? How could you have never had funnel cake? Ever? What do you eat when you go to fairs and amusement parks? You're not one of those people who refuses to eat at them, are you?"
I laugh at the sheer horror Piper is apparently experiencing at the idea that I've never sampled her most treasured confection. She's talking about going to amusement parks and fairs as though they are integral elements of life that no one could possibly survive without. It's another little facet of her personality, another thing I’ve discovered about her in the almost two weeks since we met.
"Well, I don't know that either since I've never been to an American fair or amusement park."
Piper stares at me for a second, her mouth half-open as if she was stuck on a word.
"You can't be serious. You've never ridden a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or a log ride?"
"I've ridden a Ferris wheel," I say. "There's a huge, old one on the castle grounds, and I loved riding it when I was young
er."
Piper is looking at me quizzically, and I realize what I said.
"The castle?" she asks. Shit. I've gotten through almost two weeks with her without arousing suspicion, and now I’ve gone and said something fucking dumb like that. "Is that some kind of Cambrian amusement park?"
I open my mouth to answer her but close it to nod.
"Something like that," I say.
Four more days. Just four more days until I have to go back. I know Piper will eventually figure out who I am. Unless she keeps herself completely hidden away from the real world; she's going to hear about me at some point. But that doesn't have to be now. I still have four days with her, and I want to enjoy them to the fullest.
Two hours later, we're weaving our way through a parking lot that's giving me flashbacks to the rental car nightmare at the airport. Piper humored me by letting me drive, but she's leaning so close to me, pointing, and giving instructions, I feel like she might as well just sit in my lap and take the wheel. But the thought of her perched in my lap makes my stomach clench, and I have to shake my head to concentrate back on the lot.
"Park over there, it's closest to the gates," she directs, pointing through the windshield to a partially-filled section several rows away.
"How do you know?" I ask, turning the wheel to comply anyway. “I thought you said you hadn't been here before."
"I haven't," she says. "This is new for the both of us, but I do know a thing or two about parking at amusement parks. The best gate is always on the right. Everybody goes to the left or straight down the middle, so the ones on the right usually have the best parking and the shortest lines."
I laugh at her thoroughly thought-out logic as we pull into a spot three rows back from the gate.
"To be fair, the park is barely open."
She shoots a glare in my direction.
"Do you want the full amusement park experience or don't you?" she asks.
"Oh, I want it," I respond. "I need to know what it is about these places that takes a woman who has literally traveled the world and brought new meaning to the term 'roughing it' all in the name of helping others and makes her heart flutter."
"My heart isn't fluttering," she says, but I can see her lips twitching as she tries to hold back a smile.
I watch as she climbs out of the car, the sunlight catching her hair. She braided it and twisted it into a tight knot on the top of her head before we left this morning, and the sun shining down on it now was bringing out strands of dark red and honey.
"Are you coming?"
"Not yet. Why don't you get on your knees over here and see if you can change that for me?"
She smirks at me, and I unhook my seatbelt. Climbing out of the car, I am immediately thankful for sunglasses as the sunlight bounces off the pavement ahead of me, nearly blinding me. By the time Piper has rounded the car to meet me, she has also donned a pair of black glasses which somehow only make her more attractive to me. We walk toward the gate with a few other eager adrenaline seekers filtering in from the adjacent parking lots. For the first time in our adventures together over the last couple of weeks, I have a slightly tense feeling in the back of my mind. With as many people as I can imagine are going to be here today, the chances of someone recognizing me are higher than any of the other places we visited.
As we head through the turnstiles and show our tickets, however, I noticed few are even glancing our way. We continue through a set of metal detectors and suddenly find ourselves in front of a massive fountain. Cobblestone streets curve to either side with rows of tiny shops and restaurants forming what looks like a small town. It is vaguely reminiscent of the villages of Cambria, and the countdown of days remaining pricks the edges of my thoughts again.
"Let's go."
She starts walking away from me, using one finger to beckon me to follow her. After a few steps, I chuckle and jog forward to fall into step beside her. I snake my arm around her waist, holding her possessively close to me as we make our way deeper into the park.
Chapter Ten
Piper
When I told Christian I wanted our adventure today to be a theme park, I planned on bringing him to the one I had visited countless times with my father when I was a girl. He insisted, however, that if it was going to be a true adventure, I had to pick somewhere I hadn't been before. It felt strange to be in a new and unfamiliar place so close to home but having Christian beside me helps propel me forward. It's the same feeling I've had since the first night we spent together, a new impulse inside of me, willing me to discover anything and everything I can with him. I can feel myself falling for him, and the effect is disorienting. I've always lived my life for myself, never considering what it would be like to share it with a partner. Now I have the compulsion to inject myself firmly into Christian’s reality, and keep him in my own. It’s overwhelming and emotionally straining. I'm discovering new parts of myself the more I learn about him, but I have to remind myself this isn't permanent.
I know there are only a few days left before he returns home, and even if he wasn’t, I have no intention of not going on my next trip. It makes it easier knowing that both of us are leaving so close to the same time. With him heading back to Cambria three or four days before my departure for an extended stay in Guatemala over the next several months, it'll be easier. I can at least feel like I'm not leaving him behind. We can enjoy the time we have together, then part with amazing memories. I'm determined that some of those memories will be from today, when I introduce him to something I hold dear, even though I haven't visited a theme park in years.
As we walk, I sneak glances at Christian out the corner of my eye. Having him this close to me leaves me breathless. It seems ridiculous considering the extensive, and very intimate knowledge he has of my body, but just walking with his arm draped around me makes my fingertips tingle, and butterflies swarm in my belly. I want to be close to him, to touch him, and explore even more of the sizzling chemistry between us that brought me to this moment. The lingering, constant reminder that I don't really know who he is, however, holds me back. No matter what I think I'm feeling, we have only a tenuous connection at best, and it won’t last after Christian boards his plane and returns home. But we have today. We have this moment, and as we step into the shadow of the first roller coaster, I want to let these troubled thoughts go, and think only about him.
"Do you want to dive right in?" I ask, indicating the hulking metal coaster in front of us.
Christian gazes upwards, following the tremendous hills and towering loop with his eyes.
"I'm going to say this in the gentlest way I can think of considering we're in public. Fuck, no."
I follow his gaze, tracing the path of the coaster. I'd expect someone with as much swagger as Christian to take something like a thrill ride completely in stride, but I suppose everyone draws the line at something.
I look around.
"OK. Maybe you're right. But I have no idea where to go from here. We need to find a map."
I meet Christian’s eyes, and see the corners of his lips curl up into a sly smile. He starts walking backward just as I had when we first enter the park. He uses one finger to beckon me toward him, and I feel my knees weaken. I hate how much control he has over me, yet I relish the feeling of being putty in his hands. He has me right where he wants me, and he knows it. My breath quickens, and I follow his silent command without even thinking, as if my body responds to him autonomously. It knows him, and wants more of the intense, delirious pleasure he's been showering me with every day.
"You promised me an adventure,” he finally says. "Why don't we go find it?"
We walk along in easy silence for several minutes before we discover a sprawling bumper car track. Under the metal canopy, the tiny cars glitter, their crooked metal connectors still against the ceiling as they wait to receive the first jolt of electricity of the day. I watch as several people trickle through the line and the attendant opens the gate to let them run out onto the track.
I flash Christian a smile, and take off toward the line, weaving my way through the metal barriers that provide a division for the queue.
"You can't be serious," he says. "I'm not riding a fucking kiddie ride."
I ignore his resistance and take a moment to consider the still empty cars scattered across the smooth concrete floor. Selecting a silver one already pointing in the right direction, I tuck down behind the wheel. At least this will give me a slight advantage over some of the other drivers who will need to fight their way into proper orientation before starting to circle the track.
I look up to where I left Christian and see that he's not there anymore. I figured he must have stomped away in his refusal to have fun, but out of the corner of my eye, I see him squeezing his tall frame into a green car several yards away from me. His eyes are locked squarely on two guys in front of me as he loops the fabric seat belt around him far more aggressively than such a gesture requires and positions his hands firmly on the steering wheel. I suck at bumper cars. I'm just unequivocally horrible at them, but I'm not going to tell Christian that. There's no reason for him to know my childhood visits to other theme parks are dotted with incidents of getting stuck in corners, or long periods of going backward. Today, I'm facing down my nemesis, prepared to bump the way the good lord and amusement manufacturers intend.
The already bored attendant lifts his tethered microphone, mumbles something completely incomprehensible into it, and drops it back into place on the podium. An instant later, I hear the sound of electricity buzzing overhead, and my car jumps to life. Although I turn the wheel frantically, my car is barely moving. In fact, it’s crawling. Oh, shit. It's happening again. I'm cursed. Despite having chosen a vehicle I was sure would at least start me off in the right direction, I am apparently incapable of operating a ride intended for children.
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