Page 32 of Finding Romance
Piper: Please
Me: I like the politeness, but NO
Piper: You’re not making this easy.
Me: Exactly
I get dressed and walk into the hallway. Piper is standing there waiting. She has on black workout pants with a side pocket on the thigh and a fitted zip-up hoodie. It’s not her typical clothing and I wonder if this comes from one of the many running events she has been at with her mom. I suddenly realize that just as she doesn’t know a lot about me, there are many things I don’t know about her…yet.
I hold out my hand and she accepts it. “You ready?”
“Where are we going?” she asks, cocking her head to one side.
“Somewhere,” I state as we walk down the stairs.
“Such as?” she asks as I open the door for us. I intentionally parked my car right in front at lunch today, so I unlock it and open the door. She gets in and I close her door and get into the driver’s seat.
“You ready?” I ask.
“I guess,” she huffs, attempting to be mad, but she’s so damn cute, I’m not sure I can take her frustration seriously.
I pat her thigh and she looks over at me. “I promise, it’ll be fun. And if not, you can pick what we do for the next practice date.”
She smirks. “OK, fair.”
And with that, I drive us out of the city.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Piper
It’s just starting to get dark. When Kasen turns onto a side road, I look up and see a lit-up sign for a local amusement park and then I see the rides in the distance.
“An amusement park?” I ask, looking around. I haven’t been to an amusement park in ages.
“Yep,” he replies as he finds us a parking spot.
We get out and he holds out his hand for me. I accept it and we walk up to the ticket booth.
“How’s it open still? I thought they closed for the season last month?” I ask as I look around us.
“They open for Halloween events. This is the first one,” he explains as he pays for our admissions and we go inside the park. I look around us and realize most people are dressed up in costumes.
Kasen stops at a vendor selling costumes and points to them. “Pick one,” he insists.
I look through them and grin when I see matching elf ears. I point to them and I’m surprised when he grins back at me and asks the kid running the stand for them. He pays and we put them on.
“Do you like roller coasters?” he asks.
“I do, but I also like all those games where you win the giant stuffed animals,” I say as I look around us.
“Rides first,” he insists and places his hand on my back as he guides me through the maze of pathways to a roller-coaster line. I can’t help but notice that Kasen is always on alert. He’s constantly scanning the crowds and I wonder as we get in line why he even brought me here.
“Why’d you choose an amusement park?” I ask as he stands behind me, still scanning everyone in our area.
“I read something in a book this week and I thought it’d be a good idea to come to this. It’s hard to have practiced conversation in a place like this,” he points out as he glances down at me.
“Oh,” I reply, not sure what else to say. He’s right. This place is filled with distractions and I’m not sure going on this ride is a good idea. I may have a little PTSD from a ride I went on as a kid. We got stuck going up the big hill and it took thirty minutes to get the ride going again. But I decide to be brave. That was years ago and I’m an adult now. I can most definitely handle this.
