Page 100 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“Then we’ll make this a pleasant one,” I say with finality in my voice, turning to the landlady. “The fair is in town?”

She gapes. “He can speak in full sentences,” she teases, successfully making Dave burst into laughter.

I’d be pissed, but the fact she made Dave laugh outweighs my annoyance. “So?” I ask.

“It’s an annual town event,” she explains with a smile. “There are a few rides, food stands, and some fun games. The usual. We even have a small roller coaster.”

I can see Dave beam slightly.

“I think it sounds fun,” I say, although I’m not so sure about riding the rollercoaster. I hate it when I’m not standing somewhere on my two feet. “Do you want to go?” I ask Dave.

“Only if you want to,” he says.

“I’d love to,” I exclaim, my heart skipping a beat when he shows me a happy smile.

While I finish my lunch, Dave explains to me over and over again how much he loves amusement parks and how, although a fair is something different, he still enjoys these too. I don’t have the heart to tell him that I hate rollercoasters—and just everything I have to leave the ground for—and find myself agreeing to ride whatever he wants.

Dave dresses in tight dark blue jeans for the afternoon, making his ass look so delicious that I suddenly don’t even mind that I have to ride one of these crazy things.

Apparently, I’m simple-minded like that.

The fair is located right next to the small town, a joint project with the surrounding towns, and bigger than I expected it to be. The food stands look amazing, and both Dave and I try to taste as much of the street food as possible.

“This!” Dave grabs my arm and pulls me towards the only roller coaster they have. Just my luck that they have one at all. “I want to ride this.” He turns to look at me, his beautiful brown eyes looking at me hopefully. “Are you coming too?”

“Sure,” I say without conviction. “Sounds great.”

“You don’t have to,” Dave tries to reassure me.

“No, no, I want to.” I grab his arm and tug him to the stupid roller coaster before I can chicken out for real. “It’s just been a while.”

Dave smiles and follows me. I’m already regretting my decision once we sit down and the handle closes in front of us. Dave beams. “This is going to be so much fun!”

“Yes,” I mutter.

Fortunately, it’s not the wildest ride ever, but I regret having eaten anything before. How do people have fun with these? Dave has his arms reached out and waves them around whenever a particularly scary part comes up. He squeals and laughs while I just grab the handle in front of me and pray to the Goddess that she makes us return to the ground safely.

“Thank Goddess,” I breathe out when we finally come to a stop again.

“You can let go now,” Dave says with a soft chuckle while he peels my hands off the handle. “Come on, big man. Let’s get you something to drink.”

I want to tell him that I’m nowhere near able to eat or drink anything, but my mind is so foggy, and the world still seems to be turning around me. Dave leads me to an empty bench in the shadow of a huge oak tree before hurrying away. He is back soon, holding a cold bottle of coke in his hands.

“Drink this,” he demands while he sits down next to me. “You’ll feel better, I promise.”

I’m not convinced, but I don’t want to look even more pathetic than I already do, so I accept the bottle, taking a few gulps of the cold liquid. Oh fuck, I cough slightly, trying not to throw up on the spot, but eventually the feeling dies down, and the slight cold sensations help to settle my stomach. “Thanks.” I sigh. “It really helped.”

“You know,” Dave says. “You could have just told me a roller coaster isn’t for you. I can always ride alone.”

“I didn’t want you to ride alone,” I tell him.

Dave stays quiet for a while. “Thank you,” he says quietly. He looks torn, his eyes shifting from me to the roller coaster and back to his hands.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him softly.

“I appreciate that you did this for me,” he says. “I really do. I hate being on my own. But I don’t want you to get sick.” He looks at me. “I know how it feels to push yourself to do things you hate or be someone you aren’t. It makes me happy that you joined me at the fair, and we can find activities to do together. I realized it’s enough to have someone cheer for me when I ride the roller coaster.”

“I can cheer for you,” I tell him, reaching out my hand to squeeze his for a moment.