Me: By the Tilt-A-Whirl

Seth. A fast ride. Interesting. I thought you a take it slow, Ferris Wheel date kind of guy.

Me: Ha, ha. I never said I was solely a take it slow, Ferris Wheel kind of guy. I like fast rides, too.

“So, the Tilt-A-Whirl, huh?” Seth suddenly appears by my side.

He looks good in jeans and boots topped with a jacket over a button down shirt, making my grey thermal shirt and jeans that Jenna called my “dressed up look” seem plain and ordinary.

I blatantly check him out for a moment or two before I shove my phone into my pocket and skim the growing crowd. “Where’s your friend? I thought you had to stay with her.”

“Callie? She got on the Zipper with the guy she has a crush on.” He considers something thoughtfully as he rolls his sleeves up. “She’s starting to handle being around guys better than she thinks. I’m more of her security blanket than anything.”

We start walking past the games and food booths, heading nowhere in particular.

“Can I ask why she’s so afraid of guys?” I ask. “Or is that too personal?”

He wavers. “I can’t get into the details, but I’ll say it’s because something really bad happened to her when she was young.”

“Poor girl. You must really care about her, though. To take care of her like that.”

“I feel like she’s the sister I never had.” He swings around the couple making out on the bench and then returns to my side. “Do you have any sisters?”

I shake my head. “I’m an only child.”

“Me, too.” He frowns, appearing unhappy about this. “Doesn’t it suck, having all the attention on you twenty-four seven?”

I shrug, kicking at the dirt. “I really don’t mind it. My parents are actually pretty cool, albeit a little weird and eccentric.”

He angles his head to the side. “What do you mean by weird and eccentric?”

“Well, my mom is a nonpracticing psychic/tarot card reader whose hobbies include making pot brownies on the weekend for her yoga club. And my father is an herbalist who spends a lot of time with my mom, her pot brownies, and the yoga club.”

He snorts a laugh, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “They actually sound pretty fun. I bet you had a blast growing up.”

“It was definitely interesting. I mean, I had access to pot brownies and can even make them myself. I know how to cleanse my aura and what herbs are best to take when you’re sick. But I don’t know,” I pause, stuffing my hands into my back pockets. “Sometimes it felt like I was more of the parent than the child.”

He stares at the sky, looking as if he’s contemplating his next words. When he meets my gaze again, he seems nervous. “Does she… Do your parents know that you’re…”

“That I’m gay?” I finish for him.

Relief washes over his face as he nods. “Yeah.”

“Yeah, I told them when I was fourteen. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.” Stepping around a bench, I make a left toward a ticket booth. “What about you?

“My mom knows,” he says tightly, staring out at the quiet street next to the fairgrounds.

“What about your dad?” I ask as I dig my wallet out of my pocket.

“He’s been out of the picture for a while.”

“Fuck. Sorry, man.” I feel like an ass for bringing it up.

He shrugs me off. “It’s fine. He was kind of an asshole, anyway, so I really don’t care.”

I pull a ten out of my wallet and slide it through the hole at the bottom of the ticket window. “So, your mom. How did she react?”

He scratches his cheek, seeming uneasy. “She’s a very old-fashioned woman so…” He shrugs.

I want to smack myself on the head for opening my mouth. “Fuck, I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. You didn’t know. And besides, that’s in the past. I’ve moved on…” He glances down at his arm and a pucker forms at his brow. “Sort of.” He blows out a breath then smiles up at me, going from night to day in the snap of a finger. “But anyway, let’s talk about something else.” His gaze glides toward the booths. “Like why the hell a girl wearing a poodle skirt is flailing her arms at us.”

I collect the tickets from the cashier, put my wallet back into my pocket, and then track his gaze, finding Jenna waving her hands at us with a grin plastered on her face. “Oh, that’s Jenna.”

“The friend you came here with?” he asks and I nod. “She seems… super happy.” His head tilts to the side as he muses over something before a slow grin spreads across his face. “I think I like her already.”

Jenna comes racing over and without warning, throws her arms around Seth. “Oh, my God! It’s so nice to finally meet Hot Picture Guy.”

Seth cocks a brow at me from over her shoulder and mouths, Hot Picture Guy? Then he laughs when I get a little uncomfortable.

I was so fucking embarrassed when he saw those pictures on my camera and it still makes me feel uncomfortable, even if Seth seemed more flattered than creeped out.

Seth gives Jenna this huge hug back and even bounces up and down with her.

“I love, love your outfit,” he says when they pull back. “It’s very fifties retro.”

Jenna fiddles with the hem of her skirt. “Thanks. I love shopping at vintage stores. You can find so much amazing stuff there.”