Tethered Hearts | ✓ | Books 1 & 2

Episode 20| Gray Area

Sophia's P.O.V.

The line to the Ferris Wheel extended meters from the ride and snaked around a concession stand that sold pretzels. My smile fell when I counted the heads ahead of us. We would have to wait up to half an hour before we'd get close to the ride.

Anxiously, I peeked at our interlocked fingers. Skepticism leaked into my thoughts. Would Bryce drop my hand when we got in line? Would I be subjected to awkwardly releasing his hand when we entered the Ferris Wheel?

Fear only dug itself deeper into my mind when Bryce remained at my side, firmly holding my hand with the intent to make me blush at his desire to keep me close. It was fear, not lust, I detected.

I was still Sophia, and he was still Bryce. His reputation was latched on to him like a second skin. I didn't allow the ill-will mindset stay for long. Today was my birthday. Out of all the days in the year to do something reckless, this was the day to do it. If anyone questioned my intentions, I could easily say "it was my birthday" with a careless shrug.

Say something. I thought, staring up at Bryce who was looking elsewhere. Say something witty.

"We're going to be here for a while," I noted. "There's way too many people."

Okay then. Just keep stating the obvious, Sophia. I mentally kicked myself at my failed attempt at starting up a conversation.

Bryce raised his brows. "Who said we were going to wait in this line?"

"We can't cut." I stiffened, pausing a few feet from the line. "We can't do that. You'll piss people off."

"You let me do the talking, alright?" Bryce said. We reached the end of the line and Bryce didn't stop walking. Heads turned when Bryce confidently stalked past the long line, snarling and hissing as we made our way to the front.

Color flushed my cheeks. I hated having eyes on me. Everyone watched in disbelief, not happy with what they saw when the man who controlled the Ferris Wheel nodded in Bryce's direction.

Bryce waved at him. He let go of my hand, leaving my arm limp to my side, and walked up to the operator. My lungs contracted, exhaling the cool fall air while hysteria settled in like an anchor.

What am I doing with him here? I hadn't quite figured out why I was up for a ride in a Ferris Wheel with Bryce, neither did I know why my heart expanded when he had his hand in mine. Static noise coated my ears, lost in a cloud of thought. It was soothing, surprisingly. Comforting.

"We can go next." Bryce said with a slanted smile and came up to where I was.

"How did you do that?" I bit the inside of my cheek, unexplainably annoyed at how he had done that. People were still glaring daggers at us like there was no tomorrow. "Bryce, you didn't have to do th-"

The light buzzing sound in my ears came to a staggering halt and pure silence sunk in as Bryce slipped his fingers back in place, intertwined with mine.

"That," I completed, wobbly. My current stance against his crappy flirting skills weren't in motion tonight. Something had disarmed my guard, and I wasn't fully sure if it was entirely my own doing or if Bryce had demobilized my plan to stay away from him.

He hadn't said much yet. I shouldn't give him that much credit.

Each compartment in the Ferris Wheel housed four seats - two on each side. The operator swung open the first available compartment and allowed the previous passengers to exit out. Bryce took the lead and went to the doors. He sat down on one end, still holding my hand. I let go of his hand and sat across from him, feeling antsy at the idea of sitting so close to him.