My Fresh Air ~ Jeff Wittek

Chapter 27

-- I KNOW I'M LATE, SORRY --

* Aspyn's POV * 

Jeff gets our tickets from the ticket booth and we walk up to one of the games that we thought looked fun, ring-a-bottle. 

" Why, hello! You young folks are a lovely couple " this elderly man compliments us. 

We both look at each other and back at the man, " Oh, we're not - uh. " 

" We aren't dating, we're actually on our first date " I shyly tell him, Jeff rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment.

" Well then, you still look great together," he says, he gives us the rings to throw. I  smile at the sweet man and thank him.

The old man gives us the instructions on what to do, " Ok, this is how the game works. Try to throw 5 rings onto a bottle. If you get all of them, you can get a stuffed animal! " 

" I'm so gonna beat you, " I playfully say, throwing one ring onto a bottle.

We throw the last 4 rings and he wins. I pout in defeat. I've always won these whenever I'm with my friends. 

" Sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't understand because I was too busy winning " he puts his hand next to his ear, smirking. 

" Whateverrrrr, " I laugh, crossing my arms and turning away. 

The old man shows us that the animals we could get, " Which one would you like to have? "

" I'll get the panda, please " 

The man grabs the panda and hands it to Jeff, " The panda it is " 

Jeff hands it to me and I look up to him, giving him the goofiest smile, " Really? " 

" What am I gonna do with a stuffed animal? " he laughs

I shrug, " I don't know, you could be a 29-year-old man who likes stuffed animals " 

" I'm serious, here " he smiles. 

I grab the panda and messed with the arms, " Thank you " 

" I thought you said you were going to beat me, huh? What happened to the talk? " We walk to a ride.

I hug the panda and get out a laugh, " You were just lucky today " 

" Mhmmm, that's what everyone says " Jeff tucks his hands into his pockets. 

I nudge him, " Shhh, don't expose me " 

He laughs and we wait for the people in front of us to finish their turn. 

Jeff faces me while we wait, " Does coming here remind you of your childhood? " 

I turn to face him, " Yes, a lot. My parents would take me to similar places like this. Little things like going to the park or going to my backyard to play with my dad, would always make me really happy. I'm just really happy for the small things. You? " 

He gives me a look, " When I was really young, yeah. I mean you already know how my teenage years went. But my mom used to take me to a lot of carnivals when I was younger and she would ride with me in all those kiddie rides. " He looks up to the sky as if he was reminiscing his past, "I would be mad at my mom at the end because even though I was scared to ride it, I wanted to be a big boy " 

" Same!!! I would tell my mom that I wanted to go by myself and when she put me on the ride, I'd cry for her the whole time. Yup, good times " My lips become into a line, I nod. 

" Your parents sound amazing, " he compliments.

My eyebrows turn into a frown, " You make it sound like your parents aren't " 

" You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, " I quickly added.

" No, it's fine. It's nothing bad, " he takes one hand out of his pocket to comb through his hair, " I am close with my parents. They're really great people. We just went through some really rough patches because of the things I did. I'm just sad that I disappointed them. "

" I'm sure they don't focus on who you were back then. I'm sure you've made spectacular progress. From what I know, I think you're pretty great. " I wink and give him a smile to light up the mood. 

" I appreciate that " he taps my nose, I scrunch my face up. 

" Move up, we're next," We're at boxer glove so that Jeff can see how hard he can hit it.

I cheer on for him, " SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT! " 

He tries to get in a good stance and practices him hitting it. After a few measures, he hits hard and watches the numbers go up for his final score.  

We yell in excitement, " YESSS  BABYYY "

Jeff picks me up and runs through the people. I latch my arms together around his neck to prevent myself from falling. I scream as he carries me throughout the pier. He finally lets me down from his little excitement explosion. 

I laugh as I slide down, pushing my hair back to fix it, " I think you got a bit too excited for that "

" But you saw that? It's because of these guns " he kisses his muscles

" I have guns too, " I flex my muscles and it barely compares to Jeff's. I use my fingers to push it up and he just busts out laughing. 

I smack his arm for laughing at me, " Hey, hey! It's a work in progress! " 

" Oh, it's okay! I'll help you out, " he hugs me. 

We went around the pier to play all the games. As our last ride, we went on the ferris wheel. I waited until we were at the very top.

I pull my phone, " Do you mind? " He shakes his head. I like to capture special moments like this. He scoots closer to me and puts his arm around my shoulders.

 I lean my head in toward his cheek, " Smileeee! " 

I took the picture and quickly put my phone up, " Are you having fun so far? "

" Yeah..yeah I am, " I say, moving my hair to one side.

A big grin comes upon his face, " I'm happy that you are.. because I'm really enjoying this " 

I lay my head down on his shoulders as his arm was still wrapped around me. I look up to give him a smile.

This date has been going so well and I have gotten to know him more. I could tell that he was emotional inside but he knew how to put up a front. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he really likes to be open with me. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but it just makes me tingle knowing that he wasn't afraid to talk to me.  

We both stayed in this position, enjoying each other's presence.