Page 98 of Gabriel's Salvation

“I don't know… it does look kinda high, and you're pretty short,” I say, trying my hardest to sound seriously concerned.

“Wait here,” I hear her mutter as she leaves the line, marches over, and physically measures herself by standing with her back against the size chart.

“Told you. You're too short Riley,” I gasp.

I can't help but laugh when she spins around with a shocked look on her face, that is until she sees that the line doesn't even come up to her shoulder.

“You're such a dick!” she spouts out when she realizes I was just teasing her.

She sculks back to me and stands beside me without saying another word. I look down a few minutes later and she's standing with her arms crossed with the cutest pout on her lips. I reach out, running my finger across her lip.

“Stop pouting,” I say quietly.

“No,” she scoffs defiantly.

“Stop acting like such a brat,” I laugh. “I was only teasing you.”

She looks up, rolls her eyes at me, then turns her back on me slightly. Stubborn little shit! Her attitude reminds me of the way she was that first night in the shitty motel. I kinda love it.

Throwing my arms around her shoulders from behind, I pull her against me. She tries to wiggle away, but she's locked in my grip.

Realizing she’s trapped, she sighs and sinks into me. “That's better,” I whisper. “Now I suggest you smile like a good girl and stop pouting like a little brat; otherwise, I may have my way with you right here until you smile and scream my name.”

I feel her breath hitch against the hair on my arms before she turns to look up at me, desire clouding her eyes.

“You wouldn't dare?” she mouths.

I move one arm down around her waist, which to the outside world may look like I'm just giving her a tighter hug. But as I pull her hips closer, the wide eyed look she gives me lets me know that she knows exactly what I'm doing. “Try me,” I whisper as I arch my hips ever so slightly to push myself against her ass. Seriously, what I wouldn't give right now to pull her into one of these bathrooms or down a secluded corner and take advantage of that smart mouth of hers.

“Next,” the guy calls as he starts letting a few more people through to ride the rollercoaster. Riley shuffles closer and I have to tug down my shirt a little more to ensure no one gets an eyeful of the bulge in my pants.

We sit down on the ride and it begins moving, slowly at first. This isn't so bad, I think as we go over the first little dip, until we start climbing. Higher… and higher… and higher.

“Put your hands in the air,” Riley says from beside me. I peer over and notice both she and the couple in front of us have their hands in a little surrender sign just a few inches above the safety bar. Are they all crazy? I'm assuming the bars are there for a goddamn reason.

“Trust me, hands up!” Riley says just as the coaster comes to a halt at the top of a steep hill. Reluctantly I comply, but just as I do, the rollercoaster flies downwards. “Fuuuuuuck!” I scream as we hurtle downwards and my arms take on a life of their own, flying high above my head.

The rollercoaster flies through the sky this way and that way, all the while my hands seem glued to the invisible ceiling. Suddenly out of nowhere, I feel fingers intertwined with mine. Is she holding my hand? I don't remember the last time anyone held my hand. Memories of my mother flash through my mind like lightning.

A split second later, we’re stopping with a jolt. Our hands finally drop down to the bar but Riley doesn't release me. I stare at our hands for a long moment before she finally releases me. A wave of emptiness replaces the once warm feeling. “Sorry,” she mumbles when she catches me staring.

We exit the ride in an awkward silence. Not wanting to ruin things, I point to another ride, one that looks kind of like a pirate ship, “Wanna go on that one?”

“Yeah, okay,” she says with a grin.

As soon as it's our turn we find a seat and wait for it to finish filling up. The ride starts rocking us forward and back, getting higher and higher. It's not as fast or scary as the last ride, but still good fun. We both grip the silver bar with our hands side by side. Riley looks straight ahead letting out a small “woah” every now and then but I’m busy focusing on our hands. Our baby fingers are side by side, I move my finger slightly so that it overlaps hers but she doesn't seem to notice. Why is this so fucking nerve racking? It's hand holding. Kids hold hands; heck, toddlers hold hands.

I shuffle my hand over a few millimeters more so that now my baby finger and ring finger are resting on top of hers. Come on Gabe, grow the fuck up. Your fingers have been around her throat and inside her pussy, you can put them on top of her hand. I shuffle my fingers slightly closer. Suddenly her other hand reaches over, grabs mine, and places it fully on top of hers. I look over to see a small smile on her lips.

“At the risk of sounding like a pun, you looked like you needed a helping hand,” she smirks.

The ride ends and I release her hand and make my way off, the next ride we go on kind of looks like a big circle filled with swings, except that it flies high into the sky.

This time as soon as we sit down, I reach out to grip Riley's hand. It's kind of clumsy at first, my big fingers kind of squishing her tiny ones. Riley wiggles her hand in mine until our fingers finally feel comfortable inside of each other, almost like they belong together. We spend the whole ride flying through the sky, hands firmly clasped together. I'm almost sad when the ride ends and we have to let go again.

“How about we grab a drink? My mouth is as dry as the desert after that,” Riley says as she subconsciously pokes her tongue in and out like some sort of lizard.

“Good idea,” I reply while trying not to laugh. Riley stretches out her hand to me, and I look at it dumbfounded for a moment.

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