Page 68 of Love to Hate You

The betrayal in Autumn’s expression made Summer feel guilty and embarrassed, and like she’d broken sis-code. How would Summer handle it if someone had done the same to her? Not well. Stalking someone’s socials was wrong, which meant Wes had been right. And that irked her.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I was just worried that you hadn’t talked about the important stuff”—she gave Autumn a scolding look—“before you jumped into things. I mean, this seems like a whirlwind.”

“We’ve talked about what matters,” Randy said, as they took a step closer to the entrance of the ride. “There isn’t anything that would change the way I feel.”

Summer glared at Autumn, and Autumn glared back in defiance. So she still hadn’t told Randy about her financial woes. This was bad. Very bad. He might say things like that now, but thinking you know how you’d react and actually reacting were two separate things.

Summer had been so engrossed in the conversation that she didn’t notice they were next to go until the employee asked them how many. Autumn said, “Two,” and that was the end of that. Decision made: Summer was left to go by herself. And that was how Summer ended up on the waiting dock for the Gravitron next to the employee with more piercings than fingers to tell her she could board the ride.

A wave of nerves washed over her, causing an obnoxious souring of the belly. She was going to have to go it alone. A place in life she’d need to start getting used to. When her sister moved to New York, Summer would be left all alone. Sure, she’d have Cleo and her loyal customers, but no family.

Summer watched as her sister and Randy held hands as the bottom of the ride dropped out, leaving only the velocity to keep them upright and plastered to the wall. Autumn looked as put together as ever, but Randy was a chartreuse shade of green, gripping onto Autumn’s hand as if he were in labor.

To her dismay, neither threw up on the ride, but that didn’t mean they were in the clear. Twin Day 2021 had taken two hours, but Autumn had blown chunks on the Tilt-A-Whirl in a spectacular way and been sentenced to a full twenty-four hours in the Cone of Shame. It had been amazing. But now Summer felt like she was the one at the disadvantage.

She’d had the confusing run-in with Wes this morning, drunk three cups of coffee, then eaten her weight in saltwater taffy and funnel cake. Then there was the fun fact that Autumn clearly didn’t want her to go with them on the ride, officially making Summer the third wheel. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was going to have to hold her own hand on the ride, since she was watching Autumn and Randy go around by themselves.

The ride slowly came to a stop, and Randy gave her a big wave as they exited through the back gate. Mr. Piercings opened the entrance and asked her, “How many in your party?”

Summer had just opened her mouth to tell him “one,” when her RoChance app chimed, letting her know a potential soulmate was within range, and someone said, “A party of two, please.”

She turned to find Wes resting his palms on either rail, leaning on them enough that his biceps bulged to the point of stretching out his T-shirt. A shirt that had#WINNING WITH HERand an arrow pointing to the left in glittery pink puffy paint across the chest. It was clearly homemade and the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard you were in need of someone to fill out your party of two.” He tapped the bill of her hat. “Plus, I couldn’t pass up seeing you in the Cone of Shame.”

“Oh, you’re going to be the one wearing the cone. Mark my words. I have a stomach of steel.”

Chapter 21

friends with bennies

“How do you feel?” Wes asked, crouching down so he could meet her gaze beneath the rim of the neon orange parking cone. The poor thing looked miserable.

The second the ride’s bottom had dropped out, Summer’s stomach had also bottomed out. She’d puked all over his shoes, which was why he was walking around in trout-shaped flip-flops he’d bought at a tourist trap for way too much money. What a pair they made.

As for the other pair, they were standing in front of them in line for the Ferris wheel, making out. It was PG and he expected Summer to say something very librarian-like—“No kissing in the stacks” or “Keep your tongue to yourself”—but she was just staring up at the Ferris wheel looking like she was going to throw up again.

She wobbled a bit to the right.

“Whoa, stay with me,” Wes said, steadying her by the arm. It was clammy and shaking. “You’re going to be okay,” he whispered.

“No,” she clarified. “We’re going to die.”

“We don’t have to do this.” He pointed at the exit, the one near the front of the line where chickensbok-bokedtheir way out.

She eyed that exit for a long while, as if weighing her options. “I am tired of being a wuss. So of course we have to do this. It’s Randy’s choice to pick his favorite ride. It just so happens to be a death trap. But I’m turning over a new leaf, sitting in the uncomfortableness of it, and giving your family another chance.”

He didn’t like that she considered herself a wuss, since she was the bravest woman he knew. But he liked the last part about giving him yet another chance. He’d blown it yesterday at the chapel, then again this morning when he’d phoned the chairman of the board in the middle of a conversation, so he’d come to apologize for pulling back and to explain his reasoning.

She was correct, he was sending mixed messages, and it was his responsibility to explain to her why he’d been acting that way. She deserved at least that.

“So you don’t like heights? So what? Everyone has their fears. Plus, remember, together we’re winning!” He pointed to the puffy paint on his shirt and smiled.

Summer pushed the cone back on her head so she could see his eyes. “What’s your fear?”

His gaze locked with hers. “That I’ll end up like my dad and hurt the people closest to me.”

---