I Never Expected You (I Never 2)

“We won!”

“Of course we did. Did you doubt me? We make the perfect team.” Zach hands me the black teddy bear with the red heart on his left paw that the guy behind the counter gave him.

“You know, Jacobs, if I didn’t know any better, I would say this was a date.” I let out an awkward laugh. Let’s get real—me on a date with Zach Jacobs? Ha!

There is something I see in his eyes…I can’t describe what it is, but at that moment, I start to realize that maybe all of this—the feelings, the moments, the lost looks—all of it is not just me. Perhaps there is a possibility that he feels this too.

“Go on the Ferris wheel with me.”

“Umm…I’m sorry, are you nuts?”

I look at him as if he has lost his mind.

He says he notices everything about me, but does the fact that I don’t do well with heights entirely skip his mind?

“I promise to protect you.”

I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. I see that seriousness in his eyes again. Something that I’ve never noticed before tonight. Damn it, Cami, for getting into my head. Something about the tone and seriousness of his voice makes me believe his statement.

I swallow as a new flash of nerves comes over me. As I try to get my anxiety under control, my body betrays me, and I nod in agreement. How is it that he can get me to agree to him about this as if I can’t say no to him? We walk the short distance to where the Ferris wheel is, and with each step, I try to come up with a reason not to do this. It isn’t until his hand finds its way back to my lower back, applying the slightest pressure as if reassuring me that it will be okay, that my nerves start to dissipate.

Once situated in the bucket seats, the bear between us, the ride begins to move backward and my heart just about stops. My grip on the bar tightens to the point where my knuckles are turning white.

“Hey, come here.” Zach extends his arm and nods his head in his direction for me to scoot in closer to him. I slowly do so in hopes I don’t move the seat. The Ferris wheel comes to a quick stop, of course, when we are at the very top. Fuck my life. I bury my face in Zach’s chest and tighten my grip around his waist. I breathe in his masculine scent, and it instantly calms my nerves. Shit, he smells good.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you, babe.”

He just called me babe, and I’m not freaking out. It is actually an opposite feeling—as if it was natural and he had been doing it for years. His thumb rubs my shoulder as he pulls me closer into his chest. His voice calms me in a way that I would have never imagined. Is this what it was like for Dani and Emmett? This is ridiculous to think that Zach and I could have that.

I look up and find him already staring at me. His blue eyes are looking deep within me, and it ignites something in me. It’s in that very moment that I am willing to finally admit the truth that I don’t want him to let me go. These arms are the arms I want to be wrapped up in; I want to be lost looking in his eyes and for his smile to make me weak in the knees. I can’t be the only one feeling this. What this is I’m feeling, I don’t know, just that something has changed between us.

Still in his embrace, I whisper in a shaky voice, “What is happening between us?”

He exhales a breath in a way that makes me feel like he has been holding it in for a while. Is it possible he has been feeling this too?

“I don’t know, Hails. I can’t explain it. All I know is that I can’t get you out of my head. Let me take you out.”

I push up off his chest, our faces just a breath away from each other. I no longer notice that we’re stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel overlooking the city. It’s just Zach I see and feel. If a light breeze came through, our lips would be touching.

“Okay,” I whisper against his lips.

Holy shit, is this happening? Before I can press my lips against his, the cart starts to move, and instead of the excitement pushing me forward, I fall backward, but Zach’s hand stops me from getting too far away from him. His fingers lace in mine, and I notice how perfectly my hand fits into his.

We are doing this—his smile is as genuine as mine. I just agreed to go on a date with Zach. You would think that would scare me, and I would be nervous, but it’s quite the opposite. I’m no longer scared of the heights, or should I say, the drop.

Zach was right when he said he had me. I just have to hope that he won’t let me fall without being there to catch me.

This night could not have been more of a disaster. Fuck, I just wanted to show her the perfect date. First, my Jeep wouldn’t start earlier, requiring Kyler to give me a jump start. I stopped to pick up a bouquet of daisies, her favorite flower, and of course, they were out, so I had to get her red roses. How cliché? She had loved them anyway, but I wanted to prove to her that I knew the little things like her favorite flower. Now, the restaurant has lost my damn reservations. I’m not sure this night can be salvaged. Maybe we were just doomed from the beginning.

Standing outside of the fancy restaurant, I continue to look down at my shuffling feet, feeling extremely fidgety. Right now, I’m lost in my thoughts, trying to come up with a plan B. Of course, I don’t have a plan B—who has a plan B for a date?

Haylee approaches me, drawing me out of my thoughts as I feel her body heat against mine.

“I’m sorry tonight is a complete disaster. I…I…”

“Are you okay?” Haylee asks as she steps in closer to me, placing her hand over my cheek.

I lean into her touch, closing my eyes to remember this feeling, knowing that after tonight, all hope for a second date is probably lost.