Spring Fling (20 page)

Indescribable.

She couldn‟t put it any other way.

And she didn‟t want to stop kissing him!

“That‟s one,” Ethan said, breaking the kiss.

“Now for two,” Danielle said as she pulled him back into her arms for a second kiss.

Would it be just as wonderful as the first?

It was!

At that moment, the girl who was supposed to be staffing the kissing booth showed up. She was a brunette who was over six feet tall and looked like a Brazilian supermodel.

Danielle had no doubt she‟d be doing a brisk business.

“I‟ll take over now,” she said. “Thanks for covering for me.” She faced Ethan.

“How many kisses did you want to buy?”

“Sorry, but the only kisses I‟m interested in are hers,” Ethan said.

“And I owe him three more,” Danielle said. “So until he gets his money‟s worth, I suggest you wait outside.”

Danielle then leaned across the counter to give Ethan his third kiss. As she did, she whispered, “You know, once we‟re finished here, if you want some more kisses, I‟ll give them to you for free!”

Even though Ava had agreed to a ride through the Tunnel of Love, Cooper could see she wasn‟t happy about it.

“This seat is tight,” Ava complained as they were strapped in. She was trying to sit as far away from him as she could, but it was impossible. They were pressed right against each other.

“And that‟s my fault?” Cooper asked, trying not to sound frustrated. “I didn‟t know the seat was going to be so small.”

“I didn‟t say it was your fault.”

“You didn‟t have to say it with words. Your tone says it all.”

“Are you two sure you‟re on the right ride?” the attendant who was strapping them in asked. She was the same age as Cooper and Ava, wearing a red T-shirt and white shorts.

Her long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and she had a pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head. A name tag on her chest said VANESSA. “You‟re both sitting so stiffly.

Loosen up! Put your arms around each other. Snuggle! This is the Tunnel of Love, not the Tunnel of Death!”

“She thinks I‟m going to try to kiss her,” Cooper explained.

“I didn‟t say that!” Ava protested.

“And she doesn‟t want me to,” he continued.

“Are you nuts?” Vanessa asked Ava. “He‟s adorable! If I was taking a ride in the dark with him, I‟d want him kissing me!” Vanessa gave Cooper a smile. “I get off work at six.”

“I‟ll remember that,” Cooper said, wondering if he could play the jealousy card with Ava.

“She gets off at six,” Ava repeated as the car they were sitting in started to head toward the opening of the Tunnel of Love. “You should go out with her.” Cooper sighed. Forget about the jealousy card. “I don‟t want to go out with her.”

“Why not? She‟s pretty. And you heard her. She‟d want you to kiss her.”

“Yes, she‟s pretty. But there‟s more to a girl than just the way she looks. There‟s what‟s inside, too. I don‟t know anything about her.”

“That‟s why you go on a date. To get to know the person.”

“And I don‟t want to kiss her!” Cooper already knew the person he wanted to kiss, but he had promised Ava he wouldn‟t kiss her again.

“Why are you making this so hard?” he asked as their boat slipped into the darkness of the tunnel and started to go around a curve decorated with strands of twinkling white lights. “Why can‟t you forget about Josh? At least for this week?”

“Everyone thinks it‟s so easy to forget about Josh, but it isn‟t!” Ava snapped. “We went out for a year! I had feelings for him. Just because you break up with someone, it doesn‟t mean those feelings end. They‟re still there. Eventually, they start to fade, but it doesn‟t happen overnight. As much as I hate to admit it, I still have feelings for Josh and I don‟t know when they‟re going to go away.”

“But I don‟t think you‟re even trying to get over him! If you were, you would be having a good time this week instead of constantly thinking about him.”

“Don‟t tell me how I should feel! You don‟t know what I‟m going through.”

“And you don‟t know what
I’m
going through!” Cooper shot back as the boat they were in came to a stop in front of a waterfall. “I like you, Ava. A lot. But I don‟t know if you like me. I think you do, but you‟re not giving me a chance. And that‟s not fair.” Ava was silent. “You‟re right,” she finally said. “I‟m not giving you a chance. I‟m sorry.”

“You don‟t have to be sorry. Maybe just a little more open-minded?”

“This hasn‟t been easy for me,” Ava admitted. “I‟m still sorting things out.”

“I‟m
not
Josh,” Cooper said. “Remember that, okay?” Ava nodded. Then she asked, “Why aren‟t we moving? Is the ride broken?”

“I think not moving is part of the ride,” Cooper said.

“Part of the ride?”

“Listen.”

Ava tilted her head and heard the sound of couples kissing.

“How long do we have to listen to that?” she groaned.

Cooper shrugged. “Five minutes? Ten? I don‟t know.”

“What are we supposed to do until then?”

“We could make ourselves a little more comfortable,” Cooper said. “Is it okay if I put my arm around you? And you could put yours around me. It might give us some wiggle room. And don‟t worry! I‟m not going to hug you or kiss you or do anything affectionate.”

“I didn‟t say anything,” Ava said as she slipped her arm around Cooper‟s back.

“You didn‟t have to. I‟m a mind reader.”

“Really? So what am I thinking?”

Cooper gazed down at Ava. He stared into her blue eyes, glittering in the darkness.

It would be so easy to kiss her. All he had to do was lean forward and press his lips against hers. But he couldn‟t. He‟d promised.

But he
really
wanted to kiss her!

“That I‟m a nice guy,” he said, tearing his eyes away so he would no longer be tempted. “And maybe, just maybe, we‟ll kiss again before spring break ends. Am I right?” Ava nestled herself against Cooper‟s chest and he placed an arm around her, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

“Maybe,” Ava whispered. “Maybe.”

Cooper smiled in the darkness. Yes! It was exactly the answer he had been hoping for.

Mindy couldn‟t remember the last time she had been to an amusement park. Maybe junior high? She‟d forgotten how much fun they could be! Since they‟d arrived, she had gone on a ton of rides, eaten a lot of junk food, and was now playing the ringtoss, trying to win a stuffed pink rabbit. Unfortunately, her rings weren‟t getting anywhere near the top of the milk bottle they had to fall over. It was frustrating! She really wanted to win that stuffed rabbit. It was so cute!

“I‟ll take another three,” she told the guy in the booth, handing him her money.

“Need a little help?”

Mindy whirled around. “Damian! What are you doing here?” She was surprised to see him all alone. When they‟d first arrived at the park, Wanda had instantly slipped her arm through his, steering him in the direction she wanted to go, while Lacey and Vivienne trailed behind. Mindy had started to follow after them, but then remembered Wanda‟s orders from yesterday afternoon and decided to explore the park on her own.

When they‟d gotten back from the spa, Damian had still been at the house. At the sight of him, Mindy had panicked.
What was he still doing there?
Wanda wasn‟t supposed to know that he‟d been spending time with Vivienne! At the sight of Damian, Wanda had smiled, but then her smile had turned into a frown when she realized Damian and Vivienne had been alone. Of course, she didn‟t know
how long
—three hours and forty-five minutes, to be precise!—and that bugged her. Luckily, Damian had waved the amusement park passes he‟d brought over. And Vivienne had kept her mouth shut. Crisis averted!

“My brother, Steve, got these from a friend,” he said. “I thought you might want to come with us tomorrow.”

“I‟d love to,” Wanda instantly answered, snatching the passes out of Damian‟s hand as she gave him a sweet smile.

“We‟d
all
love to,” Lacey said as she removed three passes from Wanda‟s hand, keeping one for herself and handing one to Vivienne and one to Mindy. Obviously, Lacey did
not
trust Wanda to distribute the rest of the passes! “That was so sweet of you to think of us.”

“Great! We‟ll touch base tomorrow morning.”

After Damian left, Wanda tried to convince Lacey and Vivienne that they should stay home, but they refused to change their minds. Wanda didn‟t say anything to Mindy, but maybe that was because she knew Mindy didn‟t dare cross her. If Wanda wanted her to stay home, she‟d stay home!

“Why would he have brought four passes if he was
only
inviting you?” Lacey asked. “That doesn‟t make sense.”

“He was being nice. He didn‟t
expect
you to take them!” Wanda pointed out.

“But we did,” Vivienne said. “And he didn‟t say anything. That means he‟s cool with us coming along. If it was a problem, he would have said something. Right, Mindy?” Mindy suddenly felt like a huge spotlight had been aimed at her.
Don’t drag me into
this!
she wanted to scream. But they had. And now she needed not only to show that she was loyal to Wanda, but at the same time not piss off Lacey and Vivienne.

“He probably figured we‟d do it like a class trip,” she said. “You know, everyone arrives together but goes off on their own once we get to the park. Then we all meet up at the end of the day.”

“Exactly,” Wanda agreed. “Damian will spend the day with
me
while everyone else goes off on their own.”

And that was exactly what Mindy had done.

Until now.

“Where‟s Wanda?” she asked, searching behind Damian for a glimpse of her. If she was headed this way, Mindy did
not
want to be alone with Damian.

“I don‟t know and I don‟t care! We got separated after we got off the roller coaster and I decided to take a break from her.”

Mindy decided to tease Damian for a little bit. “Maybe she went off to reapply her lip gloss. Or buy another one. I hear you helped her go through one the other night.”

“Huh?”

“Should we start calling you the Kissing Bandit? The name kind of fits.” Damian stared at Mindy in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Don‟t play dumb! Wanda told us all about her excessive lip-gloss use during your first date. She had to keep reapplying because you kept kissing it off.”

“What?!” Damian exclaimed, outrage on his face. “That‟s a lie! I never kissed her.

Not once!”

“You didn‟t?” Mindy didn‟t know why, but the fact that Damian
hadn’t
kissed Wanda made her feel…happy. “That‟s not what she says.”

“Do you believe everything that girl tells you?”

“Usually. Why else would she lie?”

Damian gave Mindy a
duh
expression. “To make the rest of you jealous?”

“That is Wanda‟s style,” Mindy admitted.

“My kisses are reserved for one girl and one girl only,” Damian said. “You!” Hearing those words, Mindy felt a thrill.

Until she remembered how dangerous they were.

Even though they‟d made a deal for a kiss, Damian wasn‟t supposed to be kissing her.

She looked around in panic. “Shhh! Don‟t say that!”

“Why not?”

“It will make Wanda mad! The only girl you‟re supposed to be interested in is her.”

“Yeah, well, she makes that a little difficult. She‟s too clingy. Too possessive.

Vivienne‟s kind of cool. We spent most of yesterday afternoon playing with your Wii.” Damian nodded at the ringtoss. “What are you up to?”

“Trying to win a stuffed rabbit.” Mindy tossed her remaining rings. And missed.

“Shoot!”

“Try again?” the guy in the booth asked.

Mindy shook her head. “Based on how much I‟ve already spent, I could buy my own rabbit. Looks like it‟s game over for me.”

“Let me try,” Damian offered. “I bet I could do it.”

“It‟s not that easy.”

“We‟ll see,” Damian said, handing the guy some money and getting ready to toss his first ring.

Mindy‟s mouth dropped open as she watched Damian toss all three rings over the milk bottle.

“We have a winner!” the guy in the booth announced.

“Which rabbit did you want?” Damian asked.

“The pink one.”

The guy in the booth handed the pink rabbit to Damian, who gave it to Mindy. “All yours.”

“Thanks.”

“What are you going to name it?”

“B.W.”

“B.W.?”

“Short for Bunny Wabbit.”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Why do girls always resort to baby talk? Why can‟t his name be Bunny Rabbit?”

“Because he doesn‟t look like a Bunny Rabbit. He looks like a Bunny Wabbit!”

“Uh-oh!” Damian yelped, grabbing Mindy by the arm and pulling her behind him.

“Wanda is headed our way.”

“Did she see us together?” Mindy gasped.

“No, but it‟s only a matter of time. Come on,” he said, pushing her toward the line for the Ferris wheel. “We‟re going for a ride!”

Within minutes, Mindy and Damian were in an enclosed car heading for the top of the Ferris wheel.

“We can‟t hide up here all day,” Mindy said when the car stopped, swinging in the breeze.

“Why not? It‟s so quiet up here. Peaceful. It‟s like we‟re the only two people in the world.”

“Bite your tongue!”

“You wouldn‟t want to be all alone with me?” Damian moved closer to Mindy, pressing her into the corner of the car. “What‟s the matter? Afraid you wouldn‟t be able to control yourself?”

Mindy wondered if Damian was about to collect the kiss that she owed him. Her heart began racing as she imagined what it would be like to kiss him. He was probably a very good kisser.

But she wasn‟t ready to be kissed! She was all hot and sweaty from going from ride to ride. She looked a mess! Damian couldn‟t kiss her now! She had to stop him!