Page 63 of The Quiet After The Fall

She wraps her fingers around my cock through my shorts and jerks once, base to head, and my vision whites out at the edges. “Shit,” I pant. “Sawyer⁠—”

She does it again. Slower and tighter this time, like she’s trying to torture me.

With her hand wrapped around me and her strawberry scent filling every breath I take, I come so hard my whole body shudders. My forehead drops to her shoulder, and I make a choked sound against her bare skin.

“Holy fuck,” I pant, and plant kisses along her shoulder. “Did I just⁠—”

The words escape me. I’m too wrecked to speak. I came in my fucking pants and it was one of the most intense orgasms of my life. I’d be embarrassed if I could think about anything other than her.

By the time the car levels out, we’re both still shaking. Sawyer’s breath comes in slow pulls, and I love that I did that. I love that she let me. I ease my hand back and smooth her dress down, trying to ignore the warm stickiness coating my boxers.

She laughs softly, shaking her head, and it’s the best sound I’ve heard in a long time.

The car rolls into the platform and slows to a stop. The lap bar releases, slowly raising, but neither of us rushes to get up. I don’t know if my legs even work right.

Sawyer looks down at her lap. Then she laughs again, quiet and a little bit frenzied, and presses the back of her hand to her mouth.

“We did it,” she says.

I don’t know if she’s talking about the ride or the orgasms but I guess it doesn’t matter. “We did.”

She turns to look at me and her eyes are bright blue in the ride’s light. Her hair is a mess from the wind, and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

I push a stray piece of hair back from her face. “You okay?”

“I don’t know what I am.” There’s a small smile on her face as she says it. “Are you?”

“Yeah. Better than okay.”

Our eyes lock and stay like that until the attendant comes to hurry us off. I climb out first and hold my hand out for her, hoping she won’t pull back. When she takes it, letting me help her up, I feel like I’ve won a million bucks.

She’s not pushing me away. Not pretending that didn’t happen. Her hand in mine means something I don’t want to name yet. Naming it, saying it, means so much more than just a simple act—makes it fragile, something that can break as quickly as it started. So I just hold it and help her down from the platform and we walk out through the exit gate into the midway and neither of us lets go.

The park is quieter than it was when we first walked in. Or maybe it feels softer, less like something we need to survive and more like something we want.

There’s a few stragglers coming off rides, people getting in their funnel cakes and ice cream cones before closing time.

“Want to walk?” I ask, not ready to leave just yet despite the warm wetness in my shorts.

We drift without direction, past the game booths with their stuffed animals hanging in rows, past a cart selling frozen lemonade that’s pulling its shutters down for the night. Sawyer stops in front of the ring toss booth, her body tensing beside me.

“Do you want to try?” I ask.

She studies the prizes, her gaze focusing on this huge stuffed unicorn. Her throat moves, and she rubs at her eyes with her free hand. “No. Let’s go.”

We keep walking. I want to ask what she’s thinking about. I’m sure it has something to do with Owen. I remember them near the ring toss that afternoon.

“Are you hungry?” She points to the funnel cake stand. I shake my head. Getting food means I’d have to let go of her hand, and that’s the last thing I want.

This, walking with her, is the most normal I’ve felt in a long time. We meander for another ten minutes, passing the carousel and the Tilt-O-Whirl. She doesn’t indicate wanting to go on any more rides, so I don’t push. I’m happy being next to her.

“Remember when Owen convinced us the haunted house was actually haunted,” she says, nodding toward the dark facade as we pass it.

“Us?” I laugh. “I knew he was full of shit.”

“His evidence was pretty solid.”

“You mean the blurry photo he took with that disposable camera?”