make the line interesting,” I say, glancing at all the Jack Sparrow stuff.
When it’s finally our turn, the four of us are seated in the back of a boat. “You’re not scared, are you?” Liam asks.
“It’s a kid’s ride,” I say. Five minutes later, I’m eating my words when the boat takes a short but steep plunge. I grab Liam’s arm hard. “Uh, sorry.”
It’s dark, but I see him smile.
Brad and Garrett take off to Thunder Mountain Railroad. Thankfully, Liam doesn’t press me into going. I’m not ready for a roller coaster yet. Instead, he has fun humiliating me by making me ride things like Dumbo, the teacups, and the carousel. I’m having fun, though.
We take a hundred stupid selfies. Even one in front of the castle. Bria texts all of us to meet up for lunch and then Garrett makes us go with them to the Buzz Lightyear ride. “You have to try it,” he says. “Brad and I have been on it three times already.”
“Buzz Lightyear?” Liam says. “Really?”
“Don’t give me that look,” Garrett says. “Just wait, you’ll get addicted to it, too.”
I lean close to Liam. “What do you think they’d say if I told them you rode Dumbo?”
He covers my mouth with his hand. I laugh and bite him playfully.
Once we’re on the ride, I get why the two of them liked it so much. It’s a target shooting game. I score 300,000, beating all of them. Brad and Garrett get right back in line.
“My feet hurt,” Bria says. “Can we sit for a while?”
Crew points up. “How about the people-mover thing. Seems like a good place to sit and relax.”
We go with them. It doesn’t take long to get on, and the four of us get our own car. Liam and I sit facing Crew and Bria. The elevated train takes us all over Tomorrowland, weaving in and out of the building that houses Space Mountain. I hear the screams of people riding the roller coaster.
“No way am I going on that one,” I say. “They can’t even see where they’re going.”
“There are lots of other things to do,” Liam says.
It’s completely dark, so I can’t tell if he’s upset about it or not. “Are you mad that I don’t want to go on roller coasters?”
“No.”
“You can go with the others, you know. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I like hanging out with you, El. I don’t need to ride them.”
We emerge from a dark tunnel. Crew and Bria are making out. Bria pulls away. “Oops, sorry.”
Crew says, “I think I like this ride the best of all.”
I wonder if Liam wanted to kiss me in the dark tunnel. Or hold my hand or put his arm around me. Because it’s all I think about. And not just here on this train. It’s all I’ve thought about for days.
But he hasn’t touched me since. His words from that night keep echoing in my head. I can never have this. What did that mean? Whatever his father did to him made him feel like he could only date women like Ronni. But why?
After five more hours and nine rides—including four more times on Buzz Lightyear, because, come on, I had to defend my title—we’re in the van heading to our hotel.
“You’re all checked in,” Bruce says when we arrive, handing us our keycards. “Tom took your luggage up.”
I peek into the bar. Garrett is hitting on a pretty woman. “He doesn’t waste much time, does he?”
“Looks like he’ll be putting a sock on the door tonight,” Liam says.
“Where will that leave you?” I say, feeling guilty again. “You should stay in my room. It’s really yours anyway.”
“No.”
“Liam, we’re adults. There are two beds, or a bed and a couch. What’s the difference which room you sleep in? We should see if we can switch our room to one with two queen beds. You shouldn’t have to sleep on uncomfortable couches anymore.”
“Garrett and I switched to queens over a week ago. The couches were killing my back.”
“We’ll swap with him then. We have both keys; you can give him mine later.”
In the elevator, he eyes me speculatively. “Are you sure, El?”
“I’m sure. I feel bad I didn’t offer sooner. It’s not fair to Garrett.”
He hesitates. “I promise I won’t—”
“I know.” I exit the elevator. “Just make sure to put the toilet seat down so I don’t fall in at night.”
“I’ll do my best.”
We get to his and Garrett’s room first. “Perfect. Two queens.” I see my things