Page 170 of Finding Olivia (Trace + Olivia 1)

My pulse accelerated at his touch and he grinned when he felt the increase. His hand fell away and he gripped the bar as the Ferris Wheel began to descend.

We hopped off the Ferris Wheel and he took my hand. “Do you get motion sickness?” Trace asked, stopping at the end of the line for the spinning car ride.

“No,” I shook my head.

“Good,” he grinned. “This is one of my favorites.”

He helped me climb into one of the cars, and I gripped the metal bar that held us in place, tightly in my hands, since I wasn’t sure how fast we’d actually be spinning.

It turned out to be really fun, and under normal circumstances, I would’ve been embarrassed by the amount of screaming and laughing I was doing.

Still dizzy from the spinning cars, we walked around for a little bit.

Trace stopped in front of one of the games where you could win prizes. A guy currently stood there with his girlfriend, throwing baseballs at plastic pins. “I’m going to win you one of those,” he grinned cockily, pointing to the large stuffed animals hanging from the booth, “but not until later. Neither one of us is going to want to lug that around for the rest of the night.”

He took my hand and before I had the chance to respond, we were climbing onto the swinging ship.

I screamed as it rocked higher and higher into the air, holding on tightly to Trace’s hand.

From there, he dragged me to the ride that went straight up in the air and dropped to the ground really fast. I screamed at the top of my lungs on that one, but thankfully, there were a few other girls that screamed louder than me. I was surprised one of the girl’s didn’t squeeze her boyfriend’s hand right off by the way she was gripping it.

After that, we took a break, stopping at one of the food stands.

We both ordered a corndog and sat down at a wooden picnic table to eat. I was amazed by how good it tasted, but since I hadn’t eaten much today, anything would taste good.

“Ooh! Ooh!” I squealed, pointing at a stand selling cotton candy. I had never tried it before, but I felt like I had to, in order to complete my carnival experience.

Trace turned to look over his shoulder to see what I was pointing at.

He turned back to me, finishing his corn dog. “Cotton candy?”

“I’ve never had it! I have to at least try it, even if it sucks!” I exclaimed, staring dreamily at the pale pink and blue swirls.

Trace shook his head, unable to hide his smile. “I’ll be right back.”

I shrieked in delight, like a small child, as he made his way to the cotton candy stand. He swaggered along slowly, to infuriate me.

“Hurry up, Trace!” I yelled, earning a glare from a passing mother carrying her toddler.

Somebody slid onto the picnic bench seat, beside me, and I turned to see Avery and Luca.

“Why are you yelling at Trace?” Avery asked, pulling her long hair into a ponytail.

“Because, he’s taking forever to get my cotton candy!” I cried, pointing at him as he stood in line.

Avery laughed. “I think this carnival has turned you into a five year old.”

“Probably,” I shrugged, calming down. “I’ve never been to one.”

Luca’s eyes widened as he sat across from Avery and I. “Never?”

“Never,” I replied. “I wasn’t allowed.”

“Who were you raised by?” He asked, stunned. “Nuns?”

I laughed. He was pretty darn close to the truth. “Something like that.” I took a sip of my Snapple sweet tea.

Luca removed his fedora and ran his fingers through his hair before replacing it. “That’s nuts.”

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