Thrill Ride Read online

  Which left us with very little to talk about. And that sometimes frightened me because I was afraid it would be the same when we were together again in nineteen…no, it was eighteen days. What would we talk about? What had we talked about before?

  Homework, teachers, school, friends. What else? I racked my brain every night trying to grab on to some topic of conversation. Then it never failed. After I hung up with Nick, Parker would call. And we would talk. For more than an hour. About everything and anything: people we knew, favorite movies, actors he’d met, his family, my family. Why did I never seem to run out of topics with Parker, but I had such a hard time talking with Nick?

  Those were my thoughts Tuesday night as I walked back to the dorm. Parker, of course, was walking along beside me. He was telling me about this woman he’d helped get into the first car.

  “She has to be eighty, if she’s a day,” he said. “Uses a walker.”

  “Aren’t there restrictions against frail people riding the roller coasters?” I asked.

  “Hey, we post warnings. Ride at your own risk. She was willing to take the risk. This is the third year that I’ve seen her. She always comes to celebrate her birthday. This year I was ready. Gave her a ‘I survived Magnum Force’ T-shirt.”

  “That was nice of you,” I said.

  “Hey, gotta admire her, you know? I want to be like that when I’m old. Still searching out the thrills.”

  “I’ll ride the carousels,” I said.

  “It’s not an either/or option, you know. You can do both.”

  He was still trying to convince me to ride with him in the morning. Roller coaster fanatics seemed to have a one-track mind, which I figured made sense, since cars usually ran on one track. The thought made me smile.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  But I just shook my head. My cell phone rang. Of course, I answered.

  “Hey!”

  Silence.

  “Hellooo? Nick?”

  “I thought that was you,” he said.

  His tone of voice had a really strange undercurrent to it.

  “What do you mean you ‘thought’? You called me, so who were you expecting?”

  “I’m also watching you.”

  My heart slammed against my ribs, while my gaze darted madly around.

  “How can you be watching me?”

  “I thought about Sarah surprising you with a visit and decided I’d do the same thing.”

  I stopped walking. “You’re here?”

  “Yeah. So who’s the guy?”

  Parker must have sensed my distress because he reached out to touch my face, but I backed up. “Where are you, Nick?”

  Then Parker was looking around as well.

  “Right behind you.”

  I spun around and watched in shock and amazement as Nick stepped out of the shadows.

  “Nick, what are you doing here?” I asked into my cell phone, which I realized was totally ridiculous. He was here! Here! We didn’t need a cell phone to communicate.

  “I wanted to surprise you,” he said, walking toward me, close enough for me to see that he wasn’t happy. Not happy at all.

  I closed my phone. “You did surprise me.”

  “Yeah, I can tell.” He was glaring at Parker while people from the park, heading to the dorm, tried to figure out what was going on.

  Some people tried to be discreet, but most didn’t care if I knew they were trying to get the scoop. It was pretty obvious something worthy of gossip was going on.

  “This is Parker,” I said. “My roommate’s brother.”

  “You work together?”

  “We work at the park.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Parker said. “We were just walking the same way. Look around. Lots of people walking this way.”

  I stepped closer to Nick. I’d fantasized about him showing up. It was always one of those romantic moments: running over the sand, straight into each other’s arms. Shouldn’t I hug him or kiss him or something?

  “How did you get here?” I asked.

  “Drove nonstop.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I miss you.”

  “Oh, Nick.”

  Then my arms were around his neck and I was hugging him tightly and he was hugging me. And all the doubts about us that I’d been having melted away.

  This was Nick. My boyfriend who had driven nonstop to be with me.

  What could be more romantic than that?

  Chapter 20

  I wanted to kiss Nick. I mean I really, really wanted to kiss him. I hadn’t realized exactly how much I missed him until we were hugging. It just felt so good, so familiar, so the way it should be.

  But a crowd of people were still walking to the dorm, and Parker was still standing there looking at us. I felt self-conscious and embarrassed. And relieved and happy and tired. Wound up.

  I stepped out of Nick’s embrace. “I can’t believe you’re here. I mean, I’ll be home in a little over two weeks.”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t wait, Megan, but I can only stay a couple of days. Then I have to get back to Hart’s.”

  “Where are you staying?” I asked.

  “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I need my money for gas to get me back home, so I guess I’ll sleep in my car.”

  “You’d do that for me?” I asked, feeling guilty for not missing him more, for not being willing to drive home to see him. Of course, not having a car could have factored into that decision as well.

  “You can stay at my place,” Parker offered.

  Alarms rang in my head. No way did I want them comparing notes. Not that there was really anything to compare. Neither did I want them sizing each other up, which was sorta what they were doing now, looking at each other the way two dogs did before one decided he could take the bone away from the other.

  “Who are you again, man?” Nick finally asked.

  “Her roommate’s brother. Megan’s like my second kid sister. Just watching out for her, like I do Jordan. I’ve got a house up the way with a couch you can use. If you decide you want the couch, get directions from Megan. I’ll leave the door unlocked. See you around.”

  Just like that, Parker was walking away.

  “See you, Parker. Thanks!” I called after him.

  He waved a hand in the air without looking back.

  “What were you thanking him for?” Nick asked.

  “Offering you a place to sleep, walking me home in the dark.” I shrugged. “Nothing in particular.” Everything in general. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

  We’d been standing on the sidewalk long enough that there weren’t any people around anymore. He looked like he might be embarrassed or was feeling awkward. Like maybe he just realized he was here, too.

  “I missed you, Megan,” he said.

  “So you just got in your car—”

  “Yep. And drove, after scheduling a few days off. Drove nonstop.”

  Territory we’d already covered, but it made me feel special and loved. We weren’t long-distance anymore. We were right in front of each other. I was starting at zero Nick-less days!

  I threw my arms around Nick and kissed him. He kissed me back. It felt right. It felt good. He’d driven all the way up from Texas just to see me for a few days. How cool was that?

  “Don’t guess I can sleep with you,” Nick said.

  We were lying together on one of the lounge chairs that the hotel set out on the sandy beach for the guests.

  “I have a roommate and suitemates,” I explained. “I’d be okay with you sleeping in the room, but I’m not sure they would be. Plus there is the whole sneaking-you-in-without-the-floor-monitor-seeing.”

  Not that I thought Zoe would chase him out or anything. Guys were parading in and out on our floor all the time. But as far as I knew, none stayed the night. Besides, it would be inconsiderate toward the girls I shared the suite with. They were used to walking around in their underwear.

  “I