How to Destroy a Rich Boy

Chapter Forty-Three

"Come on," Nathan said as he gave my arm another vicious tug. 

Digging my foot into the path, I shook my head. "Nathan, this is ridiculous. This is for kids," I protested, repeating myself for the fifth time in a minute.

Ignoring me, he gave my hand another little gentle tug. "Oh, come on, you act like a kid, half the time, so why not?" he argued, his eyes sparkling cheekily. "And besides, I know you want to go on," he coaxed.

I paused and then rolled my eyes. "Okay, maybe I want to go on a little," I admitted defeatedly.

 "Perfect," he beamed as he dragged me along to the carousel. 

Even though I was perfectly capable of doing so myself, Nathan helped me up onto the platform with a guiding hand on my back. I couldn't help but notice how much more touchy he's been lately. Any opportunity there was to hold my hand, tap me, rest his hand on my back, he'd run for it. It was hard to believe he was the same guy who had yelled at me all those weeks ago for merely touching him.

Once on the disk, I made my way eagerly over to a white plastic horse on the edge before hoisting myself up onto it. The action caused a giddy smile to pull to my face, despite my efforts to try and maintain my cool.

I turned my head to try and figure out where Nathan was, but the action was interrupted by the sensation of someone wrapping their arms around my waist.

"Budge up a little," I heard Nathan mumbled against my ear, the familiar smell of his cologne wafting towards my nose. 

My heart jumped in surprise, and I tried to look over my shoulder. "N-Nathan? W-What are you doing?"

He ignored me, and before long, he had hoisted himself on the horse, causing his warm body to nestle up behind me. This time my heart did more than jump, it was having a full-blown heart attack.

Then without a care in the world, he tightened his hold around my waist.

With my heart still hammering away and my mind a mess, I angled my head back to look at Nathan. When I found his face inches away from mine, the panic I felt further intensified. I made strange shapes with my mouth. 

"I..er...what..but..I... Why the fuck are you on my horse?" I finally stammered out.

"Oh right," he chuckled. "I thought if we shared one, more people could get on the ride," he explained simply. "You don't mind, right?" he asked, his breath causing goosebumps to brush against my bare neck.

I swallowed nervously. "Erm, well, I guess not," I mumbled with a slight squeak to my tone. I closed my eyes in embarrassment, hating this side of myself Nathan seemed to bring out in me. I sounded and felt like an absolute idiot.

Soon enough, the merry-go-ride started up, and the disk started to spin, while the horse we were on started bobbing up and down in a smooth regular fashion. I smiled like a fool as the wind brushed against my face. It wasn't the most heart-dropping of rides, but it filled my childhood fantasies, so I was happy.

"Satisfied?" Nathan whispered against my ear.

 I angled my head his way, and swallowed, finding those gorgeous green eyes of his inches away from me. My eyes drifted over his face, taken in that strong jawline of his and those full gentle lips. I slowly nodded my head.

 He smiled, his eyes twinkling joyfully. "Good," he said. I watched as his eyes drifted tentatively over my face, all the while holding a strange kind of distance to them.

The more I stared at him, the more I felt the burning desire to lean in, but before I could let my mind fall further down that rabbit hole of stupidity, the ride started to slow down before drifting to a halt.