in line. Soon enough, we are strapped into a little car made for two and screaming as we zip and zoom, taking corkscrews and sharp drops.
I’m holding onto him for dear life, and I admit seeing him scream his head off makes me drop whatever barriers I’d been holding. There is no hiding our emotions when we are going at 200 miles per hour.
We ride one roller coaster after another, laughing the entire time. The rush of adrenaline has us kissing as we wait in lines, our fingers laced, our hearts racing.
“I’ve never had so much fun in my life,” I admit after another ride. We’re eating corndogs at a plastic table, catching our breaths. “I’ve never been to an amusement park before.”
His eyes practically bug out of their sockets. “Seriously? But you aren’t scared at all.”
“Oh, I’m scared of things,” I tell him. “I’m scared of rejection. And my heart being broken again. I’m telling you, my parents really did a number on me. But height? Speed?” I shake my head. “That’s the easy stuff.”
“So you aren’t scared of things moving fast?” he asks, taking his hand in mine. He runs his thumb over my knuckles and my whole body feels alive. Present. Ready.
“No. I’m not scared of things moving fast. It’s like… maybe I’ve been waiting my whole life for this ride to start.”
“Fuck.” Josh shakes his head, a smile on his face. “I’m falling for you, Jessa,” he says.
“Good,” I tell him, not shying away from my truth. “Because I’m falling for you.”
“Where do we go from here?” he asks, pulling me to stand.
I grin, feeling like a girl in love, pointing to the Ferris wheel. “Let’s go count the stars.”
Chapter Five
Josh
When we get to the Ferris wheel, I slip the attendant a few hundred bucks, asking him to stop it at the top for an hour.
He smiles, and once we get on, I see that he gets out a sign that reads CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE. I grin, pulling my girl closer, kissing the top of her head.
When we get into our enclosed pod, I rest my arm around her and settle in for the best ride of my life.
“So you went to places like this growing up?” Jessa asks.
“Yeah, my parents did this thing for birthdays and Christmases where we didn’t get toys or clothes, we got experiences. So as a family, we always were onto some new adventure.”
“Wow, that’s so cool — I want to do that with my kids one day.”
“You want a family?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah, it’s not that I want some perfect family after my messy one, but I’d like to be a mom. I want to have a family to create memories with.”
“I want that for you too, Jessa.”
She looks up at me, nestling closer. “And what about you? You want kids?”
I grin. “After tonight, you know how much of a kid I am. But in all honesty, yeah. I want to coach the tee-ball team and drive the minivan. The whole thing.”
“Have you always been so ready to settle down?”
I laugh. “No. I’ve always known I’d want to be a father someday. But the settling down part? I never had expectations about when that would happen.”
She nods. “I understand that. I haven’t, either. I figured I’d get my bakery going, which is more work than I expected. And then maybe one day I’d find my person.”
The moment feels weighted — not in a heavy way, in a sacred way. In a way that will change everything.
“Jessa,” I start at the same time she says my name. We laugh.
“You go,” she says, facing me, her hands on my chest.
“Jessa, I know it’s faster than a roller coaster, but I swear to you, I’m more than falling. I’m head over heels already.”
She smiles wide, nodding. “Me too, Josh, me too.” Then her eyes go wide in alarm. “Wait, did the Ferris wheel stop?”
I chuckle, telling her how I paid the guy off.
“So we’re up here, alone, for an hour?”
I nod. “Yeah, that okay?”
She licks her lips. “You know how I said I’d never been to an amusement park? Well, I’ve never done something else, too… and I think this is the perfect spot.”
“Wait, what are you saying, Jessa?” I ask, my cock twitching.
“I’m a virgin,” she says. “And I think you should pop my cherry on top of the Ferris wheel.”
I groan, pulling her into my lap. “God, you are perfection. You know that, right?”
“When you say it, I somehow believe