Page 24

TREVOR

Andy’s all ready when I knock on his door at the end of my shift. He’s even got sunglasses and a hat.

“Ready to experience Happy Time?” I ask.

“I always have a happy time when I’m with you.” He grabs me and spins me around the hallway, making me giggle.

“Prepare to be amazed!” I skip down the hall when he lets me go, making him chase me.

Today isn’t as hot as it has been, which is a blessing. The clouds cover the sun and the wind brings a nice breeze. It’s a perfect day for the carnival. Plus, we can always cool down in the ocean if we need to.

“Come on, we’re almost there!” You can’t miss it with the Ferris wheel high in the sky. Andy laughs behind me.

I skid to a stop at the ticket booth, taking the carnival in like I never have before.

It’s bright colors and mom always keeps everything in tiptop shape.

No one that doesn’t know its generations old would ever have a clue.

There’s a welcome arch that lights up at night.

The noise from the rides and games are loud enough to hear them from the front gate, but instead of irritating me like usual, they fill me with joy.

“Two tickets, please,” I say to Kim as I pull out my wallet.

Andy stops my hand.

Kim shakes her head. “Lisa said if you come around to give you the VIP treatment.” She hands over two gold wristbands.

“You don’t need?—”

Kim holds up her hand. “Lisa insisted. She said treat you and your beau like princes.” She glances over to Andy and a twinge of jealousy stirs in my chest.

“Thank you.” I take the wristbands and we step out of the way.

“Let me help you,” Andy says, and I present my wrist to him. He makes sure the band isn’t too tight before snapping it closed.

“And I can help you.” I do the same for him, loving how he lets me. I love his hands. They’re bigger than mine, not much, but enough.

“Thank you, sweetheart. What should we start with? Wait, what do the gold bands mean?” He looks it over a few times.

“Means we can play any game for half off and ride any ride for free. Plus, food and souvenirs are half off too. And we can get a complimentary balloon for free.”

My stomach growls. “Let’s start with food, though. I need a funnel cake.” I bat my lashes and he takes my hand again.

We get to the concessions, and Liam greets us with a grin. “What’ll be? You get all the perks of being the boss’s kid today, so you gotta milk it for all it’s worth.”

My shoulders drop and I want to hide. There’s nowhere to run, though. Every place has someone that knows me and probably thinks the same way. Only Andy’s soothing hand on the small of my back keeps me from leaving.

Liam’s face drops. “I’m just joking, Trev. You work your ass off. You deserve to play around every once in a while. What’ll it be?”

Daddy steps in. “Let’s get a funnel cake with the powder sugar, but I want a cup of chocolate and a cup of strawberry syrup. And a lemon shake-up. Extra sweet. And…” His eyes dart around the menu. “A pretzel with cheese sauce to counter all the sugar.”

My mouth waters and my stomach grumbles again.

“Sweetheart, how about you grab us a table?”

I nod and find a clean place to eat. Thankfully, it’s got an umbrella to keep the little sun that’s out from beating on us.

Daddy has a tray of all our yummy foods, and I wiggle in my seat, waiting for him to join me.

“I love funnel cakes. Haven’t had one in decades,” he says. “I hope you don’t mind just splitting everything. I didn’t want to start out with too much.”

“It’s perfect.” He’s perfect.

Daddy pulls a bit of funnel cake off and offers it to me.

I don’t even look around before nibbling it from his fingers.

I want to sit next to him on the picnic table, but I think we need to keep things balanced.

He offers me the lemon shake-up. Little Trevor slides out without me realizing it until Daddy laughs when I sing a made-up song about happy birds chirping in the trees.

“You’re adorable, sweetheart.” He reaches out and brushes his thumb across my cheek.

“You’re too far away,” I whine and push to my feet. “Time to play!” I grab his hand, but he stops me.

“We gotta clean up after ourselves first, baby.”

I gather the plates back on the tray and skip to the empty trash bin. Thankfully, someone is taking care of the trash, otherwise I’m sure my brain would ruin the moment.

“Now, we play!”

Daddy follows me as I weave around people to get to the games. There are so many I don’t know where I want to start. Daddy points to the darts. “How about we start there? I’m pretty good with darts.”

“Me too, Daddy. I’m good!” I lick my lips and Little Trevor falters the closer we get to the game. I can’t be Little here, it’s too much. I know too many people.

Daddy squeezes my hand. He leans over and whispers, “Whatever you need to do is good with me, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Trev!” Josh says as he holds out three darts. “On the house.” He hands Daddy three darts, too.

I turn to Daddy. “You gotta get three balloons in a row to win a prize. Your color determines your prize.” I glance around and zone in on the giant bat stuffie.

“That one.” I point. “I name him Midnight.” I have to take out three of the smallest balloons.

They’re white and high up, but I know I can get them.

“Let me,” Daddy says and holds his dart ready to throw.

“I wanna do it myself,” I say.

“Alrighty, sweetheart, show me what you got.” He kisses the side of my head before stepping away.

I aim, hold my breath, and shoot.

POP!

Again.

POP!

Last one.

POP!

“You got him!” Josh says. We bounce together and Daddy stares at the board.

“If I’m honest, I probably couldn’t have done that.” He gives me a lopsided grin. “You’re damn talented.”

Josh laughs. “Yeah, before we can run a game we have to show we can win at the highest level. It’s some rule Lisa has. This guy’s been running circles around us for years when it comes to darts.”

“Doesn’t matter how tiny the balloon, I pop it.” I make grabbie hands as Josh gets the bat down. “So cute.” I rub my face all over the stuffie.

“What else do you have planned?” Josh asks. “I can hold on to Midnight until you come back for him. That way, you don’t have to lug him around. Or I guess?—”

“Andy.”

“Andy doesn’t have to lug him around.”

Daddy scrubs a hand through my hair. “I don’t mind.”

“You still need to play.” I nudge him with my shoulder. “But you’re right, Joshy. Please hold on to Midnight. But I’ll be back!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll put a sign on him so no one snags him. I’ll keep him safe.”

“Tank you.” I nod, letting Little Trevor out. “Your turn, your turn.” I bounce on my toes waiting for Daddy to play.

“I’m going to aim smaller. I think that cute little sheep over there.” He points to the fluffy stuffie in the corner.

“Baaaaaaaaaa.”

Josh snorts. Daddy just has to hit three orange balloons in a row and they aren’t too tiny.

POP! POP! POP!

“Yay!!” I hop in a circle while Josh gets the sheep down.

“How about I keep these two together until you’re heading out?” Josh asks.

“That would be great, thank you,” Daddy says as he drops a hand around my shoulders and pulls me close.

We play all the games and win a few prizes, but we hand these prizes over to kids. I’m just interested in my giant stuffie. We ride some rides, eat a few more snacks. The day is the most perfect.

I’m starting to drag when the sun sets. But we can’t go yet.

Daddy looks to the Ferris wheel. “What about we take a ride on the Ferris wheel? Then we can head back to the hotel, or your place. Someplace we can relax.”

“You’re the bestest.” I hop and kiss his cheek before skipping to the line.

Our Ferris wheel has enclosed gondolas which used to freak me out, but now I realize how nice they are since it gives us a bit of privacy.

There aren’t a bunch of people ahead of us or behind us, but I still request a carriage just Andy and me. Fran gives me a knowing smile, but I shrug her off. She doesn’t need to know I want to kiss Daddy all the way to the top.

We get settled and Daddy relaxes into his seat. We’ve been going all day and he must be exhausted. Maybe I shouldn’t execute my kissing plan.

“Sweetheart?”

“Yes, Daddy?” I bat my lashes, but stay in my seat across from him.

“I really want you in my lap. Do you think?—”

I’m in his lap in seconds, making him laugh and the gondola rock just a little.

“I wanna kiss you all the wat to the top.” I straddle his legs, one knee on either side of his thighs making me taller than him.

Andy pulls me down. The kiss is frantic compared to usual, and I drown in it.

His hands roam my body, but never delving to places I might find uncomfortable.

He smells of sweat and sunscreen, carnival food, sweet sugary treats.

I want to devour him. He kisses along my jaw, my throat.

I can’t help the moan. I don’t notice my actions, sliding my cock against him, feeling so good, until Andy’s hands squeeze my hips.

Andy breathes heavily. He’s hard against me. “Sweetheart.” He swallows.

My cheeks burn, and I climb off him. “Sorry.”

“No. No. Don’t be sorry. I didn’t want you doing something you didn’t mean to.”

I nod, covering my face with my hands. “It felt good.” And Andy feels safe. I didn’t even have a second thought about not rubbing against him like a cat begging for pets.

“It did. But we probably don’t want to get off the Ferris wheel with hard-ons.” It’s his turn to be red.

“We do not.” I agree.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

I bob my head. “I’ve never…” I wave my hand between us. “Never got that into making out before. I’ve gotten hard before, but never…” It’s kind of a big deal to me, but I don’t want to freak Andy out.

“Would you like to explore things?” Andy swallows again. “No pressure, I promise.”

“No,” I whisper. “Not tonight. But some day, yes.”

He kisses the side of my head and pulls me closer to him. “I’m good with that.”

I thread my hand in his as our gondola makes it to the top of the wheel. Fireworks erupt across the ocean.

“I forgot they did fireworks every couple of weeks during the summer!”

Andy watches me as I watch the colors burst over the horizon. He makes me calm when my brain wants to panic. He doesn’t make me feel like something is wired wrong. He lets me exist as I am without questioning me if I know myself or not.