I Never Expected You (I Never 2)

“Woah, you okay?”

“Yeah, umm, I must have tripped over my foot or something. You know I’m so clumsy.”

Fuck, what was that? God, he must think I’m such a fucking idiot. Now that I have my bearings, we walk toward the entrance, and of course when I pull my wallet out, Zach swats my hand away.

“No, this was my idea, so my treat. Put your money away.”

“You’re crazy; I can pay for myself, you know.”

“I know, but I just told you I’ve got this. Buy us a funnel cake inside, okay?”

My eyes light up, my mouth waters, and my stomach growls just at the mention of a funnel cake, the best food invented, like ever.

“You got it.”

As we walk through the entrance, I am transported back to being a kid and blink the memories away. Today is not a day to mourn the losses we have faced over the last fourteen months. Zach went through all this trouble; the least I can do is enjoy myself and not make a complete fool out of myself, yet again.

“What do you wanna do first?” The sound of his voice brings me back to the present.

“All of it!” I jump up and down because I can’t believe we’re actually here. The excitement I feel overpowers the sadness.

He throws his head back in laughter at my response.

“Okay, how about funnel cakes because I don’t even remember the last time I ate one, and if I don’t get one in me soon, I’m gonna go savage on your ass.”

He sarcastically places his hand on his chest. “Well now, we can’t have that, can we?”

I nod, and Zach leads me over to the concession stand. His hand gently presses against my lower back, sending a shiver up my spine. I quickly catch my breath and hope he doesn’t notice.

The funnel cake tastes even better than I remember. I’m pretty sure I made noises that one shouldn’t make when eating food and definitely shouldn’t make in public. Of course, when it was our time to order, Zach went back on his word and wouldn’t let me pay for them either.

With stomachs full of funnel cakes and fresh-squeezed lemonade, we head over to play games. My mind is seriously playing tricks on me today. While playing the ring toss, I watch how defined Zach’s jaw is while he concentrates. Defined jaws are so sexy—how have I never noticed that before? Of course, I miss every shot.

During the baseball throwing game, my gaze lowers as I watch his muscles flex against his black Henley. The way his sleeves cling to him is sending all sorts of feelings to places they have never been before, at least not in the presence of Zach. I completely zone out most of the game, imagining what it would be like to run my hands up and down his strong muscles.

“Oh look, they have the water gun horse race game. Isn’t that your favorite?”

The sound of his voice brings me back to the present. That game was more Emmett’s favorite, but he always let me win, so I said that it was my favorite. I’m sure if either of them had ever played to full potential, I would not have won as much as I did.

“Aww, those are so cute.” I notice the teddy bears hanging.

“Well, let’s get you one.” He smiles, and my insides are liquid.

Am I the only one feeling this?

A younger kid joins us. We take our positions, and the bell rings. I focus everything I have in aiming the gun at the target.

DING. Son of a bitch. The little motherfucker. The kid who came up last minute to join won and won’t stop talking shit. This kid is seriously killing my mood. I get up to walk away and feel Zach’s hand grip my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“One more try,” Zach tells the carnival attendant, handing him another dollar. “You’re going down, punk.”

He directs his attention to the little kid that won’t stop running his mouth that he won. What the hell, where are his parents? I sit back down.

All the saliva in my mouth instantly dries, forcing me to feel parched at just the feel of his arms wrapped around me. What is happening right now? Zach takes my hands and wraps his fingers around mine, ready to aim the water gun at the target. Zach leans in. His head is directly against mine. I can smell the mint on his breath from his gum.

“You ready, Hails?”

I can feel his breath against my ear. His body is pressed up against mine so that our hearts beat the same rhythm. I try to control myself so I can focus, but him being this close is doing all sorts of things to me right now. I can’t even explain it. The starting bell rings again, and Zach’s hands tighten around mine as he focuses.