Jay walked to the bar that separated us and the bottles. He didn’t stop to aim or focus on the target. He wound up on his last step and let the ball fly straight into the other bottles. They all fell.
The stand employee smiled. “Sorry. Your friend missed this one, so no stuffed animal today.”
“All good, Johnny.” Jay put down an extra tip on the stand’s table. “Thanks for letting us play.”
“Well, I messed that up,” Brady murmured to me. “I’ll get you something by the end of the night. Want to head over to the Twirling Fury before the teens come out and it gets too busy?”
“Sure.” I looped my arm in his and tried my best not to make eye contact with Jay. His presence as he followed behind us niggled like a tiny little insect that shouldn’t have been so detrimental to my fun but took all my attention. It buzzed around, and if I tried to wave away the idea of him with her, it buzzed back more furiously.
The Twirling Fury lit up as we approached, and the little carts attached to some flimsy-looking chain spread out as the spinning got faster. Then the cart started swirling with the couples caged in.
“This is a joke,” I whispered.
“No, this is Greenville, love,” Brady responded. “It’s fun. I promise.”
“I don’t think those chains are that secure.”
Sandy shrugged beside us. “Mr. Herman has been running this little rollercoaster for years. The chains are old but unbreakable.”
The little man stood by the gate and pushed a lever that made the spinning death traps start to rise up over our head. The music was loud, bouncy, and a little psychotic. You had to be crazy to go on it. Or on drugs.
I turned to Jay. “No.”
His smile was slow, like he’d been waiting for me to look at him. “Baby girl, you got this, and when it’s over, I got you.” My heart dropped so fast I almost lurched at the shift in weight. A part of me knew right then that Jay was all I wanted that night, but I tried my best to ignore it.
I closed my eyes and clutched Brady’s arm. He was supposed to be the one I was here with. “Let’s go.”
Mr. Herman, balding and frail, smiled one of the liveliest smiles I’d ever seen as I walked up with Brady. “You’re new. I remember all my riders.”
I nodded. “I’m new to town.”
“I know. Mikka Chang, PA to Jay, and a few of us think you might be a little broken too.” His assessment and intense gaze caught me off guard.
“I… I’m not broken.”
“No. Someone broke your spirit, though.” His dark eyes squinted at me and then he lifted a knobby, wrinkled finger. “Ah, yes. I can see the guilt. Don’t worry; Greenville will fix you. This ride might break you, though.”
He cackled as he lowered the carts and slowed their spin. Clearing my throat, I tried to ignore his eerily accurate assessment. One of the couples that passed us on their way out looked especially pale. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
Brady pulled me along. “I’ll take care of you.”
Jay grumbled from behind us. “Watch your hands, Brady.”
Tunnel vision was setting in, my palms were starting to sweat, and I wasn’t thinking about Jay’s words properly. “What can happen to our hands? Do they need to stay inside the cart at all times? Oh, God. Do I want to know any of the horror stories?”
Mr. Herman came up to check our seatbelts, which pulled tight over the waist. “There’s not one horror story, little lady. But, yes, keep those hands inside the cart. I don’t want a horror story tonight.”
He laughed at his own joke and slammed our cage shut.
Just Brady and me. Jay and Sandy went into their own enclosure. “Any last words?” the man sitting across from me said.
“This isn’t safe. If we die, everyone should mark my words. There should be a vest seat belt or one of those bars that go across you at amusement parks.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Brady practically vibrated in his seat; his adrenaline was getting the best of him. As the music started up again, I wondered if I could die of a heart attack before we even started spinning.
He gripped my thigh and said, “Scream your head off.”
The spinning started, and then the cart started flipping. I saw all of Greenville whip past as my hair flew everywhere. The ride raised us so high that if we flew off we’d all die.