Stripped Down (Tap That)

A memory came rushing back to Rick.

It was the summer after Sloane’s senior year. Eight months after the kiss. He had grown almost three inches and had started working out. Flirting with girls. Enjoying his rising social status.

Then he’d come to the Fish Festival with the guys and he’d seen Sloane on the Ferris wheel with her boyfriend and everything he’d gained in the last eight months seemed like nothing compared to what he’d lost.

He knew he would never have Sloane and that had crushed him like nothing else.

The Ferris wheel started moving and her long dark hair blew back.

God, she was beautiful.

He knew the answer to the question then, with total clarity.

It was love.

It hit him in the chest like a wrecking ball. Boom.

He was a complete and total idiot.

She’d been trying to tell him they could have a future together. That they both wanted the same damn thing. A normal family life with a partner you loved, and she’d been hinting that maybe, they should explore that option together.

He ran his hand through his beard, agitated. Holy crap, he had seriously blown it.

“Are you okay?” Axl asked him.

“No. No, I’m not. I’m a complete idiot.”

“I could have told you that,” Axl said, giving him a hard time.

“I need you to take Finn.”

“Where the hell is Lilly? Or better yet, Finn’s father?” Axl asked. “I’m on duty. I shouldn’t be babysitting.”

Rick was watching the wheel turn around and around, knowing he had to be there when she got off of it. “Give me a break, seriously. Just take him.”

Without waiting for an answer, he strode over to the Ferris wheel right as River and Sloane were disembarking.

“Hey, Sloane, want to ride with me?”

She shot him an amused look. “Um, I just got off the Ferris wheel. Oh, and hello to you too.”

What had happened to all his years of easy flirtation and cheesy pick-up lines? He seemed to have forgotten all of it under the weight of the realization that he always had, and always would, love Sloane. “I have a ticket,” he said.

She eyed him like he was losing it. “Okay, I’ll ride it with you and River.”

“River is staying with Axl.”

“What?” River protested. “Why can’t I go another time?”

“Because it’s my turn.” He had to do this before he changed his mind. The carnival sounds retreated and all he could focus on was Sloane.

“Ooooh,” River said. “I get it.” She made a heart with her fingers in front of her stomach where Sloane couldn’t see it.

That made him laugh. He gave her another twenty bucks out of his wallet. “Go buy your funnel cake.”

“You already gave me twenty dollars.”

“You’re not supposed to care.”