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But despite the grin on his face, there’s an earnestness in his eyes that wasn’t there seconds ago. He holds out his hand, palm up, in invitation. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that big, bad Charlie McManus needs his best bro to hold his hand on a wittle roller coaster.”

I scowl at his mocking tone. Okay, so maybe he’s fucking with me a little, but I’d be lying if I said his offer wasn’t tempting.

Before I can second-guess myself, I slap his palm. “Fine. But if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it until my dying day.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

And then, because he’s an absolute menace, he delivers a firm smack to my ass.

I yelp, jumping nearly a foot into the air as a fiery blush rises to my cheeks. He cackles gleefully, clearly pleased with himself for catching me off guard.

Blinking rapidly, I try to process what just happened.

The ghost of Daniel’s meaty paw still tingles on my right ass cheek as we shuffle forward in line.

He’s smacked my ass countless times before, during games or when we’re goofing around.

But now, with all these confusing emotions swirling inside me, it feels… different. Charged with new meaning.

A few minutes later, we’re climbing into the front car of the coaster. Daniel’s thick thighs press against my leaner ones as we squeeze into the tiny space. The proximity sends my heart rate skyrocketing before we even take off.

As the attendant comes by to check that the lap bar is locked, Daniel holds out his hand, wiggling his fingers. “Last chance to back out, McManus.”

I scowl at him but quickly latch onto his offered hand as the car lurches forward with a mechanical groan. My fingers immediately tighten into a death grip as we climb up the eighty-five-foot hill with a steady clack-clack-clack .

“Oh, dear God,” I mutter as the only thing I can see now is the clear blue sky. “This is it. This is how I meet my maker.”

Daniel chuckles beside me. “It’s gonna be fine, you big baby. I got you.”

Easy for him to say. He’s not the one whose life is flashing before his eyes as we near the peak. I chance a glance at him and instantly regret it. While I’m sitting here rigid with terror, he’s completely at ease, a boyish grin on his face as he takes in the view of the park below us.

God, since when did Daniel become so…attractive? The way the sun highlights the angles of his jaw, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes, the flex of his forearm as I crush his hand in mine.

I’m so preoccupied with studying my best friend that I don’t even register that we’ve reached the top until suddenly, we plummet straight down at warp speed.

A blood-curdling scream rips from my throat as my stomach shoots into my mouth. Beside me, Daniel lets out an exhilarated whoop, his free hand thrust into the air. I don’t know whether to squeeze my eyes shut or scream myself hoarse as the wind whips against my face.

Just when I think we’re about to crash into the track below, the car swoops back up, pressing me into the hard plastic seat.

We come extremely close to the wooden beams above that I swear my hair grazes them.

Naturally, I shriek, thinking about how close I was to decapitation.

Why isn’t there a height restriction on this death trap?

Suddenly, the track banks sharply to the left in a high-speed U-turn, and the centrifugal force threatens to send me flying right out of the car. “Oh, God!” I howl.

We rise again, climbing another steep incline toward a towering U-turn banking to the right.

I risk another peek at Daniel. His face has split into an even wider grin as pure joy radiates from him.

I don’t understand how he can be having the time of his life while I’m seconds away from revisiting my breakfast.

The coaster teeters at the pinnacle for a breathless moment before diving down the other side. This time, a strangled yelp escapes me as we hurtle down toward a camelback hill.

Weightlessness steals the air from my lungs, and for a second, it’s euphoric. My eyes roll back, and a small smile appears on my face, that is, until we swoop under the high-speed curve from before.

Daniel whoops some more as the coaster rockets over several jarring hills that bounce my body like a rag doll. “J-J-Jesus!”

Each time we crest a hump, I’m convinced the car will derail and send us off to our doom. I squeeze Daniel’s hand hard enough to cut off his circulation. He doesn’t seem to mind, though.

After one final sharp curve to the right, we rattle our way up into a dark tunnel where I end up disoriented by the sudden dimness.

The car sways to the left, and I think this is surely the end.

We’re going to slam into the tunnel wall in a fiery blaze, and that’ll be all she wrote for Charles Wade McManus.

But then daylight appears, and with a screech of the brakes, the car reenters the station, rolling to a merciful stop. It takes my brain a minute to catch up and realize we’re no longer moving. My legs are trembling, and for once, it’s not because of an epic release of endorphins following a nut.

The lap bar releases with a clunk, and I practically fall out of the car on numb, rubbery legs.

“Dude, that was insane!” Daniel hops out of the car behind me—with far too much energy for someone who just stared death in the face, might I add.

He vibrates with residual adrenaline as he helps me walk away from what will surely haunt my dreams for years to come.

“Wasn’t that a rush? And the airtime on those bunny hops?

Unreal! Want to go on the carousel to cool off? ”

The sound of people screaming as they descend the first drop reaches my ears, reminding me of what I endured. It’s not a good sound, and I end up hurling up my cotton candy in a nearby trash can as Daniel rubs his hand in soothing circles on my back.

“I hate Roy,” I mumble between dry heaves.