Page 82 of Forgiven

20Dylan

Apparently, Dylan was a screamer. Not that he cared. They managed to snag the front seats on the first rollercoaster they went on. Their legs dangled freely, but he was okay with that, until the moment the rollercoaster shot forward and started twisting, turning, and looping through leafy terrain that felt far too close to his unprotected legs. He gripped the padded harness and Callum’s hand as tightly as he could and screamed for all he was worth for the minute or so the ride lasted. Wind whipped in his face, and he must have swallowed at least a couple of flies—not that he wanted to think about that.

When they got off, his legs were shaking, and he was laughing uncontrollably.

“That was amazing!” He clutched onto Callum to steady himself. “Utterly terrifying, but amazing.”

Callum chuckled. “I’m just going to go with terrifying.”

“We have to look at our photos,” Dylan said, tugging Callum towards the photo booth.

“They’ll be awful.”

“Don’t be boring.”

Callum was right. The photo was awful. It had been taken right at the bottom of a particularly steep and fast drop, when everyone was screaming and looking like they were about to shit themselves. Dylan bought it anyway.

“Let’s go find another ride,” he said, dragging Callum by the hand.

“Have you ever been to a theme park before?” Callum asked.

“I came here on a school trip when I was in year eight. Why?”

“Because you’re acting like a kid in a candy shop.” Callum pulled him back, into a hug. “It’s really cute.”

They kissed one another softly and then Dylan rubbed his nose against Callum’s. “You’rethe cute one in this relationship, baby.”

“Not today I’m not.”

It was so nice being together. Dylan couldn’t feel any tension in Callum’s body and the open, loving way he was behaving was a good indicator that he was feeling relaxed with being public about their relationship. It was wonderful.

“We’re on a time limit,” Dylan reminded him. “And the queues are huge.” Even on a school day the park was busy. “I want to get as many of the big rides in as we can. So, come on! We can cuddle in the queue.”

They walked through the park at a swift pace until they found the next ride on Dylan’s bucket list. The back of the queue was at the thirty-minute marker, which wasn’ttoobad; it definitely could have been longer. There was a metal rail, so Dylan pushed Callum against it and held him by the hips. He slipped his forefingers beneath Callum’s black T-shirt so he could stroke his boyfriend’s soft skin.

“Is this why you suggested a theme park?” Callum asked. “Plenty of cuddling time?”

“Guilty as charged.” Dylan squinted at him. “Are you complaining?”

Callum smiled. “Nope. No complaints here.”

They shuffled along as the queue moved and then went back to cuddling and kissing.

“I think you should let me teach you how to dance,” Dylan said after they’d moved along a second time.

“You already did.”

Dylan laughed. “How to pole dance.”

Callum’s eyes went wide. “Umm…I don’t think I’d be any good at it.”

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

“You really love it, don’t you?”

Dylan grinned. “Fuck, yes. It’s amazing being up on stage, having all those guys staring at me. And the cash from the stripteases isverynice.”

Callum dipped his chin. “You don’t mind them seeing you naked?”