Page 100 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

They laughed hysterically in unison while Noah and I looked at each other and smiled. That was a bit embarrassing.

I will be mortified if I hurl all over him. So I made a mental note not to overdo it with food and beverages. It would be a nightmare if I got nauseous and vomited all over myself—then I really would feel like a kid.

Noah dropped some change in a parking meter, and I waited for him as Vanessa and Vienna walked ahead of us. Loud music was playing from all directions of the park. I suddenly felt a rush like a sugar high, because I was there with him. I kept praying that my stepmom would spend most of the night with her sister, leaving me the opportunity to have this sexy man all to myself.

“Are you ready to get your ass whooped?” Noah said with a challenge in his voice.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m a pro at carnival games.”

“Well, prepare to have your ego deflated, because I’m a very competitive opponent, and I never lose.”

“We’ll see about that.” I playfully shoved my shoulder against him and he shoved me back while we walked to the ticket booth. My heart skipped a beat when he grabbed my hand and held it, afraid to lose me in the crowd. I kept imagining that he was taking me out on a date—a romantic date that would end in a perfect kiss. I sighed inside, knowing that this would never come to fruition.

Noah bought some tickets for the rides and gave a bunch of them to Vanessa.

“Let’s play the games first!” exclaimed Vienna.

“She just wants to win that big purple bear,” said my stepmom, pointing at one.

“All right, ladies—I hope you’re not sore losers.” Noah simpered.

****

We played a variety of games that night. I did pretty well, considering the opponents I was up against and the tricky ways the games were rigged. I didn’t win anything huge, but I did win a glow-in-the-dark Slinky toy at this balloon dart game. The prize wasn’t all that special. Noah ranked first out of all of us, and he also bought that purple bear for Vienna (after she begged him a hundred times). We played several watergunand Skee-Ball games, and a range of others that required skill or chance. I was actually having a lot of fun, even though Noah was claiming victory after victory.

“And we have a winner!” shouted the carny man, chiming a big bronze bell.

“Hell yes!” Noah raised his arms in the air triumphantly. He certainly wasn’t humble about winning, because he flashed the smuggest smile ever and said, “See, I told you … You just got owned!”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Quit boasting. Bragging isnotattractive.”

“I think I’ve earned bragging rights,” he replied proudly.

I shook my head and squirted him with the watergun.

“Hey!” Noah quickly grabbed a gun and returned the attack.

I screamed and tried to dodge the assault as our laughter filled the air. There wasn’t much water left in the guns, so we weren’t completely soaked.

“Okay, okay, you win!” I placed the weapon down and raised my hands in mock surrender.

“I’m glad you can admit defeat.” He chuckled as he aired out his shirt.

“Pick your prize, sir,” said the man who was working the game stand. He was holding a long wooden staff that had a hook at the end of it.

“What do you want, baby?” Noah asked me.

There were so many prizes to choose from, but I knew exactly what I wanted. “That one.” I pointed at a life-size bunny that was hanging above us. It was bigger than Vienna’s bear and its fur was dyed sky blue.

“You got it.”

Alice meets the white rabbit.In my case, blue rabbit.

This felt like vindication, oddly enough. I had never won anything that big before, and no one had ever won me the biggest prize at the game stands. Those big stuffed animals always seemed to be an impossible trophy to possess. My stepdad hated festivals and carnivals. When I was eight years old, we went to a fair, and I begged him to buy me this little plush bunny that was only five bucks. Rob yelled at me, told me to shut up and quit my whining. He said he refused to pay for a stupid stuffed animal that was a waste of his hard-earned money. The memory still stung a bit as I flashed back to it. Holding that ginormous rabbit now gave me a sense of justice. We’d always had financial problems in my family due to my stepdad’s spending habits. All he ever did was waste his “hard-earned cash” on booze and poker games. Rob was a cheap, hypocritical asshole, but Noah … I couldn’t even compare them.

“Hey, you okay, sweetheart?” He’d noticed my sadness. “Do you want another prize? I can always just buy it.”

The depressing memory disappeared as soon as I wrapped my arms around him. “No, I love it. Thank you,” I said gratefully.

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