Page 238 of Collided

Heath reluctantly opens his mouth and takes it. I drop my hand and watch him chew it and then gulp it down painfully slow. His throat moves sensually.

It’s the last thing that should be sensual, but it’s Heath. Everything about him is sensual.

“It’s good,” he says. Eyes fixed on me.

“You can have more.” I try to hand him the stick, but he only plucks a little bit.

On our walk to the Ferris wheel, Heath eats half of the cotton candy. I pretend that I don’t notice, but it’s hard not to. I just smile and let it be.

For the first time, I’m happy. These three people have suddenly become the most important people in my life. I’m beginning to love them. I always thought it was better to be alone. At least that’s what I fed myself because something was wrong with me. Now I realize that nothing is wrong with me. I just didn’t find my group of people. And now that I have, I don’t ever want to let go of them.

I can’t imagine my life without them. I hope I don’t have to.

We get to the Ferris wheel and buy the tickets. Marie and Sebastian go first, and then it’s our turn.

The sound of the door closing makes me shiver in both excitement and fear.

I seek Heath who’s sitting opposite me and has already his eyes on me.

“You’ll be fine,” he assures me.

“I think I will be. I mean I’ve never seen someone die on a Ferris wheel, or have they? I don’t think I’ve heard the news. There would be if something like that ever happened. Wait. I think I remember—”

Heath shuts me up by kissing me.

The cabin starts moving up and my heart goes down.

I reach for him, and my hand lands over his chest where his steady heartbeats drum under my palm.

Suddenly, he’s all I can focus on.

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “You’re safe with me, Rose.”

“I know,” I say.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you.”

A silly thought crosses my mind. “But I can’t protect you.”

The Ferris wheel is going up but I’m too engrossed in our conversation to look out.

“You don’t have to protect me. I can do it myself. However, you can tend to my wounds.”

“I can do that.”

“Yeah.”

Our gazes lock, and in his eyes, I see everything I wanted to see. Lights, people, town, and the sky. There is everything.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper.

His breathing gets deeper.

I touch his face with my finger and trace his cheek, lips, nose, and forehead. There’s no flaw.

“So very beautiful.” My finger stops at his lower lip.

I lean forward and peck his lips which taste like cotton candy and warmth.

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