Page 62 of Jingle Bell Jilt
She wraps her free hand around my upper arm, and it makes me go all gooey inside. Man, I’m falling fast and hard. “Ooh, that does sound fun,” she says.
“Is there anything else you want to do?” I ask. We’ve made our way back to Hogsmeade and it’s starting to get darker and the lights on the rides are starting to blink on.
“I don’t know. I hadn’t really looked at much because I knew there wasn’t time to do anything else.”
I point to one of the many roller coasters. “Do you want to go on that? Then it should be time for our dinner reservation.”
She stares at it. “Is it wise to make yourself sick right before dinner?”
“I suppose it’s better than doing it right after.” I grin down at her.
She lifts a shoulder and swallows. “Okay. Bring it on.” She hunches down slightly as if it gives her an added look of fierceness and it will somehow help her conquer the coaster. The lines are long but not as bad as I’d expected. I’m guessing a lot of people are watching the live band play.
We only have to wait about thirty minutes before we’re loaded into the car and our buckles are checked.
I glance over at Shay. Her face is pale, and I think she might…what? Barf? Cry, Or maybe just freak out. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I’m super claustrophobic,” she whimpers.
I raise my brows. Yes, I know this already because there were several rides at Disney that we skipped because of it. “Why does that matter? We’re completely out in the open.”
She tugs on the safety harness pressed down on our shoulders. “I know but this is pressed down so tight, I can’t breathe in all the way.” Her hands are shaking and she’s breathing erratically. Oh, my crap. This is really scaring her.
I reach over and grab her hand. “First, you need to exhale. You’re holding your breath and it’s making you bulkier.”
Her shoulders lower a fraction and I can see her breathing regulate better.
“Now, lay your head back and close your eyes. If you stay relaxed, the harness will not feel so tight. We’ll only be on here for a minute, max. And then it’ll be over.”
Just then the car screams out of the loading station and races through several loops and corkscrews. Shay screams but keeps her eyes pinched shut the whole time.
I would laugh if I wasn’t so worried about her.
The car jerks to a halt and the safety harness releases.
Shay takes in the deepest breath I’ve ever seen.
“Are you going to be okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she nods. “I’ll be shaky for a little while, but I’ll be fine. I can breathe now.”
“Did you know that was going to freak you out?” Why would she agree to go on it knowing how much it was going to scare her?
She drops her eyes. “Kind of. Intense roller coasters usually do that to me because the harnesses do have to be so tight.”
I stare at her. “Then why did you agree to go? We could have skipped it.”
She shrugs. “You looked like you really wanted to do it. And after you’ve done all the dumb things I’ve asked you to do, it didn’t seem right for me to pull the claustrophobia card.”
I think that card is an important card. Like the draw four of the deck kind of card.
I put my hands on her shoulders and stare at her. I don’t know what to say. She knowingly freaked herself out just for me. I should be flattered, and I am, but I also feel terrible that she put herself through that just to make me happy. She should know that I wouldn’t think differently about her if she didn’t go on the ride, right? I frown because I don’t like the answer.
“Next time, will you just tell me first?” I pull her into a hug, and I can still feel her body shaking.
This is further proof to me that Nathan is a lying sack and dumber than a box of rocks. How am I friends with this guy? Have I changed so much since college while he has stayed exactly the same?
I no longer feel bad about warning him not to get married and not just because I want her for myself. But because he shouldn’t have married the woman he described to me. I just don’t know who that woman was, because it wasn’t Shay.
