“We’re already aware this is potentially a bad decision. She’s just trying to protect you and, probably, piss me off a little. If I’d backed down or gotten angry, it’d reinforce her idea that she needs to protect you.” He peered down at me. “You are prone to making mistakes.”
“She basically called you a mistake.”
“No, she called your decision to go on a date with me a mistake. Which, for all we know, could be.”
“Are you changing your mind already?”
“No. But if I’ve learned anything about you over the last two weeks, it’s always to expect the unexpected.” His smile reached his eyes. “I quite like your unpredictability. And, as I said, your clumsiness is kind of adorable.”
“I hate it when you call me adorable.” I glared at him.
“Tell that to your mouth.”
I was about to tell him something, but I was so fixed on him I missed the rock. Stubbing my toe on it, I almost tripped, but Cameron was lightning-fast as he caught me.
Standing in front of me with a giant grin on his face, he brushed hair from my eyes and said, “See? Although I did expect you to trip at some point this evening.”
I shoved him in the chest and shook my head, but I was smiling.
He laughed and pulled me right into his side, this time keeping a tighter grip on me as he grabbed my waist instead of my shoulders. I fit easily into his side, and it was so comfortable to wrap my arm around his waist, too.
It almost made me pause, how comfortable it was, but I didn’t want to dwell on it.
We decided on hot dogs, fries, and nachos for food. He bought the dogs and fries; I bought the nachos and two Cokes. When we had it, we found an empty bench and sat down, listening to the rattling of the rollercoaster just behind the food stalls.
I watched as it reached the top then plummeted to the ground, a chorus of screams filling the air.
“You like roller coasters?” Cameron asked, picking up a handful of fries.
“I like watching people scream and plummet to their death,” I replied.
He blinked at me. “That’s a no, then.”
I grinned. “Do you really think that putting me, the catastrophe queen, on a high-speed rollercoaster that could break down at any second is a good idea?”
A kid who was walking past us stopped dead next to our table and said, “Mommy? Is that true? The coasters can break down?”
The woman holding his hand glared at me and ushered him away, assuring him I was wrong and just a big scaredy-cat.
Well, she wasn’t wrong about the scaredy-cat thing. The teacups were more my level. Those things could spin.
Cameron cough-laughed and covered his mouth as he reached for his drink. “No. I don’t think putting you on anything mechanical is a good idea.”
“That, and I don’t like adrenaline. Well, I like adrenaline just fine, I just don’t like doing the things that get it up. Like, why would you go on a rollercoaster just to be scared?” I shrugged and picked up a nacho loaded with guac and cheese. “If I want to be scared, I’ll get up in the middle of the night and find my naked grandpa in the fridge.”
“Did that happen?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He laughed, picking up his hot dog. “You have a thing with finding men in fridges.”
“I hope I never do it again. It’s not a habit I’d like to make,” I said with a firm look.
Cameron chuckled again, and that was the end of our conversation as we finished our food. Then, with full bellies, we threw away the trash and headed back in the direction of the mini golf.
I was bad at mini golf. And not little-kid learning how to play mini golf, I mean, bad. Given my natural talent for disaster, giving me a ball to hit with a stick was just asking for trouble.
Still, I was going to do well this time. Or I was going to try, and that was basically the same thing in my book.
As long as I didn’t hurt anyone else, I’d be fine. And it’d be a better success than the last time I attempted to play…
I shook it off and took the ball and golf club Cameron handed me. Nerves fluttered in my stomach because he was probably about to see just how much of a klutz I was.
When he realized that, he’d nix this dating thing faster than you could snap your fingers.
I followed him over to the first lane and watched as he lined up his ball. It was relatively simple, as the first ones always were, and I hated it, but I wasn’t surprised at all when he got a hole-in-one then stepped aside with a shit-eating grin for me to take my turn.