Page 71 of Plus Size Player

You’re perfect.

“Why is that?” he wondered.

When I turned my face up to him, our eyes locked.

“You.” The admission spilled out of me in an unexpected breath. I ripped my eyes away from him and stared out at the sky. “The thought put into it.”

It wasn’t just something he thought would be fun for us to do. He heard me mention how I hadn’t been since I was a kid and he got us tickets. It was sweet. It was thoughtful. It somehow felt simultaneously nostalgic and new.

Using his forefinger and thumb, he turned my head toward his. He didn’t say anything. He searched my face and smiled in a way that made me warm inside. I felt open and vulnerable under his gaze. It didn’t scare me so much as it made me feel exposed.

He brought his mouth just above mine. “You are always a thought.”

My stomach fluttered.

His lips had just brushed mine. “You—”

The Ferris wheel jerked unexpectedly, and we both startled apart.

“Whoa,” Russ reacted, looking around. “The fuck is this?”

The ride kept moving but we were swinging harder than we were to begin with. “I knew this was a setup when I saw the rust on this thing!”

“And you laughed in that man’s face, so he put us in this rust bucket.”

My head fell back, and I let out a loud cackle. “You laughed, too! You think I wanted this? You think I wanted us dangling in the air on a rusty cord?”

Shaking his head, he ran his hand down his face. “The cordisrusty as hell.”

I snickered. “I think your boy is doing it on purpose.”

“All because you laughed in his face.” He shook his head. “You wrong for that.”

“There he is right there, mean mugging you.”

When we looked to the right and saw the attendant staring at us, we cracked up. Twisting so my back was to him, I tried to hide my face. “He’s going to think we’re laughing at him.”

When our amusement died out, we were cuddled up with one another. Russ pulled me into him, my back to his chest and his arms around my waist as we stared out the window. His head rested against mine and I felt his breath against my cheek. I was comfortably content as I enjoyed the view.

The gentle sway of the ride as we ascended combined with the classical music playing over the speakers to create a vibe. The sun kissed my skin through the glass, and being in his arms, I was just as warm on the inside as I was on the outside.

“I never thought dangling precariously from the sky could be so peaceful,” I murmured.

“It is.” He kissed my cheek. “Are you tired?”

I languidly shook my head. “No. Just”—I smiled—“relaxed.”

“I like seeing you like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t have a care in the world.”

“With you, I don’t,” I admitted.

The words were true, but they slipped out of my mouth before I had a chance to swallow them down.

“Good,” he uttered, holding me tighter. “Because that’s exactly how I feel with you.” He paused for a moment. “You’re my escape.”

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