Page 23 of Something Real with the Sea Monster
“Oh don’t do that. I think it’s nice.”
I vow to myself then and there never to shave again.
Tegan walks toward an area that’s been gated off with padded fences and piled with padded mats, where a mechanical bull has been set up in the center. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to have a go at one of these.”
I laugh. “You’re on your own there. I know people here.”
“Awww, come on. Are you gonna let me beat you without even trying?”
“Yes! No contest here. You win. I’ll even pay for you to have two turns if you like.”
She grins and flicks her long hair behind her shoulder. “Be prepared to be amazed, then. I know I’m gonna be a natural. But I think you have to take me on the Ferris wheel afterward as compensation.”
My mouth falls open. The Ferris wheel? That would be fine, only I have a crippling fear of heights. I can’t even walk close to the cliffs at the back of the golf club. Rather than let her see my panic, I swallow and nod. “Sure. Go on. That bull is all yours.”
Nothing could have prepared me for watching Tegan ride that mechanical bull. I’d never even considered that a fair ride could be erotic before, but this one damn well is.
She slings a leg over the square body and grips the handle with one hand, glancing at me over her shoulder and lifting the other hand into the air.
The ride starts up, and almost instantly, I’m mesmerized. The bull tilts backward and forward, and Tegan’s hips rock in time with the motion. She really is a natural. Only in my head, it’s not a mechanical bull she’s riding, but something far more X-rated.
Oh christ. The ride speeds up, and Tegan lets out a whoop. Her hips are rocking rhythmically, and as the beast spins her around to face me and jerks her up and down, her tits bounce.
I have to hold the bottle of water I’m carrying in front of my crotch to hide the sudden erection I’m sporting, imagining her riding me like that. There has to be something wrong with me that this perfectly innocent—
Tegan shrieks as she loses her grip and tumbles to the padded mat, and I have to stop myself from vaulting over the fence to make sure not a hair on her head is out of place. A completely irrational reaction. I do lean over the fence to make sure, though. Her blonde hair spills out around her on the mat, and her huge grin is still stretched across her face.
She sits up, still laughing. “Oh my god. That was great. Sure you don’t want a go?”
I shake my head. “I think I’ve seen enough to know I’m in over my head.” Isn’t that the truth? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but that looked to me like a woman who needs a man who can keep up with her. How the hell am I supposed to do that? Maybe I made a mistake waiting all this time for my fated mate. And now I don’t have a hope in hell of satisfying her.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the Ferris wheel.” Tegan pokes my arm, jolting me out of one unpleasant train of thought right down another terrifying one.
“Ah, right. I didn’t forget. I just hoped you might.”
“Oh no.” She grabs my arm and tugs me along in the direction of the intimidatingly flimsy looking structure. “You’re not getting out of this so easy.”
The Ferris wheel must be about fifty meters tall, yet the metal bars are thin enough in places that I could easily wrap a fist around them. How’s something that weak supposed to hold up me and all the other people on board?
Tegan drags me over to the short, smiling lady selling tickets, and I reluctantly hand over the cash for two. “Is now a good time to mention I’m a little nervy of heights?” I mumble as we walk toward a bench seat.
She just laughs and strides straight to the seat, plonking herself down on one side like it’s fine and not a thin metal death trap.
I swallow.
I can’t make my legs take me the extra few steps to the seat. The ticket lady comes up beside me. “Just take a seat. Hurry up now. The next group is waiting.”
I look behind, and sure enough, Josh Davies is there with his two daughters, both dressed in adorable matching pink dresses and wearing cute blonde pigtails, grinning at me likewe’re not about to die. Josh gives me the country man’s nod of acknowledgment, and a little bit more of my pride dies inside me.
“Come on, Jack. What are you waiting for?” Tegan pats the seat beside her.
What am I supposed to do here? I can’t look like a coward in front of her. I straighten my back and take a deep, decisive breath in. Might as well savor it. It could be one of my last breaths after all. I take two quick steps forward and drop onto the seat.
I instantly regret it when the whole thing sways alarmingly. I grip the armrest and seat until my knuckles are white. The ticket lady yanks the bar over us and steps back, and all of a sudden the wheel turns and we’re halfway around the circle with our feet dangling in the air. I try to breathe through it. Try to focus on Josh and his daughters climbing onto the seat at the bottom of the ride.
Tegan’s hand fits over mine where I’m gripping the seat between us. “Hey, you really weren’t kidding, were you?”
I laugh, and I’m sure it comes out more like a bark than actual laughter. “No. Not really. No.”
