A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 35 - Clarifications

Without warning, Samantha was pushed back into her seat as the ride took off. There was no gradual build up, no warning bell, nothing. Just 0-60 in the blink of an eye. Then the cage flipped sideways. The force was so unexpected that Samantha started to slide into Chad. Her slide accelerated as her seat belt buckle partially unlocked. Chad realized what was happening and wrapped his arm around Samantha's shoulder, pulling her tight against his chest so that she could try to fix her belt. She tried to push it back in and when that failed she tried to pull it out. Neither worked.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe," Chad said into her ear.

Samantha nodded. Her heart was still in her throat. She was really wishing that she had known what type of ride this was so she could have been better prepared. But that wasn't who she was. She loved rides and would go on anything. She found, though, that if she watched the ride while standing in line, she would chicken out. Her solution was to always stand in line with her back to the ride. That way she was always surprised by the ride and it actually made the ride more exciting.

"Hold on," Chad nearly shouted as he wrapped his other arm around her. He held her tightly as the cage shifted again as the swing arm started to lift up into the sky. He knew that as soon as the swing arm became vertical, the cages would start to travel upside down and Chad did not want Samantha to fall onto her head if the seat belt let go any further.

Samantha hooked one of her legs around Chad's leg and then relaxed into his hold. As much as he seemed to be a flirt and possibly even a player, Samantha felt that she could trust him to keep her safe. She also felt that he wouldn't try to take advantage of the situation. She expected him to possibly joke about it, but somehow she just knew that his hands would stay put.

"So, I finally get you all alone and into my arms and it only took a malfunctioning seat belt and some help from the ride attendant," Chad joked as his breath raised goosebumps on her arms. Chad smiled when he saw her body's reaction. "She truly is something," he thought.

Samantha started chuckling as his comment proved her feelings about him. "I bet you never had to work so hard before."

"And hopefully will never have to again," he deadpanned before they both started laughing.

As the ride started to slow down, Chad kept his arms around her to keep her safe as the cage kept changing positions.

Samantha was grateful that her boys were in cages behind them and couldn't see into her cage. She knew that they would not have wanted to see her wrapped up in Chad's arms even if it was to keep her safe because they would not have known about her seatbelt malfunction.

As if he had been reading her mind, Chad said, "It's a good thing that Josh and Jake couldn't see into this cage because you know that they aren't pretending to have a relationship with you."

"I know," she murmured.

"The question is, are you pretending because if you are..." Chad couldn't finish. He wasn't sure how the guys could share her without getting hurt, but he knew that Josh and Jake had a unique friendship. His bigger concern was whether or not Samantha would hurt them by using them. That idea didn't match with what he had seen about her, but she wouldn't have been the first girl to fool him. He knew the types of girls that tended to hang around the rodeos looking for a hookup, but, again, Samantha really didn't seem like the type. He really hoped that his assessment of her was correct.

Samantha realized that it was truth time. As much as she didn't want to and really wasn't ready to, she knew that needed to tell Chad the truth. It may be going against her beliefs about relationships and she may not be ready to make it public, but she needed to say it out loud to someone other than Josh and Jake.