Page 109 of Marrying Off My Husband

“Spencer?” Eve’s voice called as air whipped past me as we slid backward.

“I’m sorry, I don’t like rides much.”

“Oh,” she said, the concern in her voice obvious as the ride reversed, and we glided forward. “Just…focus on one spot. Here, hold my hand. It’ll be okay.”

She reached out to grip my hand as I clung to her shoulder with my other one. I stared down at her fingers, wrapped tightly around mine.

My stomach flopped as we whirled backward again, my hood blowing over my shoulder from the movement.

“You okay?” she asked as we continued to swirl around faster and faster.

I bobbed my head, terrified to open my mouth.

“It’s okay,” she soothed. “It’ll only last a few minutes at most.”

I leaned closer to her, surprised that–outside of my jumpy stomach from the whirling motion–I wasn’t feeling sick.

The ride continued, and I relaxed a little, not enjoying the quivers each change of direction gave me, but not hating it entirely. Finally, it began to slow down, and we skittered to a stop, the doors releasing.

Louise giggled. “Oh, that was so much fun! Let’s go to the next one.”

As the pressure on my side released when Theo and Louise left the car, I twisted to find Eve’s dark eyes, filled with concern, studying me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Surprisingly, yes. It wasn’t that bad.”

She smiled as I slid from the car on wobbly knees, grateful that I hadn’t vomited on Eve. I helped her from the teacup, and we trailed behind Louise and Theo.

“You know, we don’t have to ride any more rides,” she said. “I’ll tell Louise I don’t like them.”

I glanced down at her, my forehead creasing. Sweet Eve was willing to take the heat for me. “Umm, it’s okay. I’ll trya few more. That one wasn’t as bad as I expected. I think the anticipation was the worst part.”

“Well, anything you don’t want to ride, just squeeze my hand, and I’ll make an excuse.”

I really hated being such a wimp. I vowed to do my best to stomach every one of them, so she didn’t have to make excuses for me.

Thankfully, the next one was a tame boat ride through a haunted mansion. Louise and Theo scrambled into the front seats of the boat, their arms wrapped around each other as they settled in and shared a kiss.

Eve and I took the back seat, squashed together again. As Louise and Theo continued their smooching, I cleared my throat again, pretending to study the vampires at the dining table.

We made it through the ride, and continued on to several others before Theo insisted he win that massive stuffed teddy bear for Louise.

I stood by as he handed his money over and the attendant passed him three balls. He nailed every shot before he proudly held the giant pink bear out toward Louise.

“Aw, my hero,” she said, grabbing the oversized thing before she planted another kiss on his lips.

“Spencer, don’t you want to win one for Eve?”

“Please,” Eve said quickly, “that’s bigger than my apartment. Let’s just grab some funnel cake instead.”

“No, wait,” I said with a shake of my head as the sudden urge to showcase my skills came over me. “I want to try.”

I dug into my pocket for my wallet and passed over my bills. I wasn’t very good at sports, but this wasn’t anything more than a video game in real life. I could do it.

I lined up my first shot, a moment of doubt snaking across my mind. With a deep breath, I tossed the first ball and nailed the target.

With a grin, born of the shock that I’d do it, I tried the second and hit it too. I moved on to the third one, my chest tightening as I figured I’d blow it all on this, but miraculously, my aim held out. I knocked down all of the milk jugs.

“Winner!” the man declared. “Which color do you want?”

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