Chapter Three
Sam
If I ended up wandering Disneyland with Kate alone today, I wouldn’t mind.
There was no guarantee of hangout time this summer. We’d both have temp jobs before leaving for college and duty to our parents, and then would be in different cities.
Every summer would require a job, but I knew that since I became old enough for a work permit at fifteen. One was at a feed store, and Kate frequently came in when I was bored out of my mind under the guise of visiting the puppies or kittens advertised for adoption.
Our town started rural, but by our high-school years it was thoroughly suburban and the feed store sold more dog food and garden implements than stuff for horses and cows now.
Mom took advantage of my employee discount for seed packets and fertilizer.
When I worked fast food, I gave Kate freebies. She was a French fry connoisseur.
But this summer, I’d be a lifeguard.
Kate in a bikini…
Nope, can’t go there.
I didn’t need to walk around the Mouse House with a semi.
But damn, I’d thought she was beautiful since eighth grade. Then hotter every year. It killed me to watch her date other guys, but our friendship meant too much to me, and teenagers mess up their relationships every week. If we dated, then had to part for school and lost that connection, it’d tear me up in ways I didn’t want to face, so I kept silent.
Her best friend.
The guy who still took any chance he got to touch her.
The guy who agreed to wait for the buses to arrive so one of her besties wouldn’t be sitting here alone even though this was one of the safest places for miles.
Because it made my girl smile.
Kate was busy chatting with Melinda, so it gave me a moment to study her without her noticing. The simple tank top and denim shorts she wore today did nothing to lessen her beauty. Brown hair like silk down to her waist, green eyes like summer grass in light, pretty skin that looked good with both a tan and the fairness of winter, and full lips I spent way too much time thinking about—and that was just her gorgeous head. She’d blossomed with curves earlier than most girls and yeah, my junior-high eyes noticed, but at eighteen, she moved her body with confidence. Her career goal was Broadway and with those looks and her voice, I had no doubt she’d make it there, and I’d be in the front row of her opening night.
We heard diesel engines approach and come to a stop over in the parking lot. “Thanks, guys.” Melinda hurried away from us to get her hand stamped.
Kate chuckled. “Well, I guess we know where she wants to be.”
“Shall we?” I offered my arm.
“We shall, good sir.”
We started to the left of the floral Mickey to pass under the train bridge. “What do you like to ride first?”
“With my siblings, the train. Pete loves the dioramas.” She glanced back at the Main Street station. “Honestly, there isn’t a part of the park I don’t like.”
“Then we’ll try to do it all.”
Her brows rose. “Even the ‘boring’ stuff?”
“Pfft, I’m never bored with you.”
She smiled. “I do sing along with all the songs.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Having a light bulb moment, I pulled her into a shop for…ah!
“Perfect.” I grabbed a disposable camera.
“Really?”
“We only get today once. You don’t want to document it?”
The smile reached her eyes. “Sure.”
Disneyland opened the gates before they opened the park, so we browsed the shops to pass the time. When we reached the end of Main Street, we made a natural veer right into Tomorrowland. Star Tours always racked up a long line in summer. It was best to hit the most popular rides when the park had just opened, then circle back the rest of the day.
What did I learn about Kate in this moment? That she could recite every part of this ride from beginning to end—I’m talking entering-the-building-and-still-in-line beginning.
She kept her recitation of Captain Rex’s dialogue quiet, but I watched her lips move as Star Tours rocked us this way and that. The grin on her face when it was over was infectious.
“Space Mountain next?” she asked. Then tugged me east.
She really had a system down for getting to the good stuff fast. After the futuristic coaster, we headed onto The Matterhorn, then Pirates of the Caribbean. After that came Indiana Jones Adventure, the newest thrill in the park, and the ride we’d ridden the least, then Big Thunder. Then she wanted to head to Splash Mountain.
“Won’t that feel better when it’s warmer?
“That’s exactly when you don’t want to go. Everyone’s trying to cool off!”
At the end of that ride, visitors had a chance to see their photo taken during the big ending slide with an option to purchase it. I’d thrust my hands in the air.
Kate had hidden.
“What’s with that?” I asked, pointing at us.
“You never know how wet you’ll get and I didn’t want to take a face full.”
I glanced sideways. “Since when do you not wear waterproof mascara?”
Part of her stagecraft for years.
“I am.” She started for the path out.
“Kate.”
She stopped and her head moved along with what I knew was her rolling her eyes. “Do I have to say I’m wearing a white shirt?” she replied through gritted teeth.
My gaze dropped to her breasts. Instinctual. Did my primitive lower head want to know what she looked like in a wet tee contest? Yup.
But Best-Friend-Sam shouldn’t notice these things.
“They don’t blast that much water,” I said.
“You never know.” She resumed course.
Great, now my teen brain was stuck thinking about Kate’s boobs, which were not the biggest by far, but also not small. Maybe it was her trim waist making them…prominent, but…
Hell, I don’t know how to guess a bra size!
They were just…perfect.
Like the rest of her.
Currently, with her ahead of me, her silky hair swished back and forth with her gait right above her firm ass, which looked perfectly tempting in those shorts. Once the crowd thickened, I’d be keeping track of the top of her head. Today was going to be torture unless I got my head back firmly in the Friend Zone. I hurried to catch up.
“What do you want to ride next?”
She glanced my way. “Hm…Small World? You either have to do it early or late, or all the fams with small kids make the line like an hour long.”
“You’re the expert.”
Long ago, I’d learned I couldn’t help wanting to please her. Her smile made me warm inside before I understood what the feeling meant. Now, I tried to savor our minutes together before we’d go to separate universities—and yes, we had applied to at least one same place.
But the best acceptance letters didn’t keep us together, so…