Page 68 of Plus Size Player

My excitement was genuine, and when he collected our wristbands from the man at the gate, I was bouncing on my heels.

“This is incredible!” I exclaimed. “Everything looks like it did fifteen years ago, but at the same time, it looks completely different.”

“I’ve actually never been here before.”

My eyes bulged. “What?”

He shook his head. “It’s my first time. My family isn’t from here. I only moved to Maryland when I got to HU.”

Grabbing his hand, I tugged him toward the gate. “Well, then, come with me. There’s a lot I want to show you.”

He smirked. “There’s a lot I want to see.”

From the moment we walked through the gates of the amusement park, I knew we were going to have a good time.

And we did.

We rode almost every rollercoaster, and he made fun of my exhilarated screams down each hill. We competed at the ring toss, and we playfully talked shit the entire time. When we got hungry, we tried different foods from different stands, and rated each item like we were food critics. We watched a band’s musical performance and danced like they were playing our song. For almost seven hours, we didn’t just enjoy each other’s company. We had fun.

We even got into a spirited argument with a man who incorrectly guessed an answer for trivia.

“I didn’t know you knew so much about the government,” I marveled, truly impressed.

“The only way to work the system is to know the system,” he replied.

“Let me find out you’re as smart as you are pretty.”

He chuckled. “I could say the same about you. You swept that planet category. Were you an astronomy major or something?”

“I minored in astronomy.”

“Really?” He gave me a look. “Let me find out you wanted to be an astronaut.”

The laugh that erupted out of me was so loud and boisterous. He had been cracking me up all day. So, it caught me by surprise that he was staring at me like it was the first time he’d ever heard me laugh.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He shook his head. There was a little wistful smile that played on his lips. “No reason.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

Before I could say anything, he cleared his throat.

“What made you pursue astronomy?” he asked.

“It was by accident. I thought it was an astrology class I was signing up for as an elective. But the first class was so interesting, and since I’ve always loved the sky, I stayed.” I lifted my shoulders. “But it worked out.”

“Yeah, I see.” He pointed back to the booth where the trivia took place. “We almost took first place back there.”

Amused, I bumped him with my hip. “We were robbed, and you know it.”

“Okay, okay.” He lifted his hands and relented. “We were.”

“They said they were asking ten questions and they asked nine.”

“Well…” He pulled a face.

I stopped in my tracks. “What?”