"You look so happy," I say.
"I'm happy you're happy."
He is.
The thought makes me warm all over.
He slides his arm around me as I unwrap my map. There are all sorts of other attractions, but none of them matter to me. I head straight towards The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Joel leans in to whisper, "You can be just as bossy as Hermoine."
"That's quite a high bar."
"Even so."
"You mean when we're… during sex?"
"Yes. But right now," he pulls me tighter, "you're taking charge, angel. If I don't follow you, I'm going to lose you."
That is true. I turn to Joel with a smile. I'm teasing him back. "Don't tell me you suddenly have a problem with me being bossy?"
He smiles back at me. "As long as you know I'm going to be the one in charge when we get home."
Desire pools in my core. Dammit, I want him already. I want him pressing me against the wall and issuing illicit orders.
But there's more than that. The way he's smiling, with all that affection—I want that just as much.
I want his heart as much as I want his body.
"Whatever do you mean?" I tease him back as we take the path on the left. The concrete is lined with bushes and trees. It's still very much a theme park.
This time, Joel doesn't whisper. He says this loud enough that anyone can hear. "I'm going to finally fuck that gorgeous ass of yours."
My cheeks flush.
My chest.
My entire body is red.
No one is gawking. No one is grabbing security to get us kicked out of the park.
"You okay, angel?" Joel runs his fingers through my hair. "You look a little flushed."
"I…" Um. I'm incredibly flushed. I bite my tongue. I squeeze my hands against my sides. Still, I'm hot all over. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Don't talk about this kind of thing in front of Hogwarts."
Oh my God.
That's Hogwarts.
Okay, it's not really Hogwarts. Even from here, it's clearly too small. But it looks just like the wizard school, this grand grey castle on top of a rocky mountain.
We're standing at the start of the attraction. The street in front of us is modeled after Hogsmead, the small town by the wizard school. With the sun shining, and the sales kiosks, and the tourists in Hollywood t-shirts, I can tell I'm in a theme park.
But when I look up, at the castle, at the shop signs and the sloped roofs, and the fake snow atop the sloped roofs…