Legend (MxM)

Chapter XX

Coming to the Spring Festival that was held just on the outskirts of town always felt magical. Since there was live music, the whole area was pretty lively. There were several bubble machines in areas I never got around to finding. The parking lot was more or less in the grass with some gravel. They had ropes and people directing traffic on where to park. Naturally, I drove myself, this time with Thom in the passenger seat.

It was just about sunset, so the bubbles that cascaded in many different directions just made this all the more enchanting. There was laughter and a young woman in a low voice went, "Oh...Shit." That must've come from the zipper ride. Both Thom and I laughed about that.

"Are you sure you don't want to try it this year?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"I would throw up all over the place. No thank you." But he smiled at me. Even though I knew him well enough to know when he's being sarcastic. Because before I knew it, we were on the very ride he swore he wouldn't go on.

It was after we got off that nearly the entire line of people still waiting to get on were staring at us. That didn't stop us from getting on every ride possible. Even the ride that made you feel like you were sitting on a swing, but you spun in a big circle with everyone else. It was the perfect right for the right time of day. I spread out my arms to embrace the present.

The live band that was performing, an Irish indie band, it was impossible not to get into the music. They had the whole crowd stamping their feet to the beat of the music. Thom was given the microphone to sing along and damned near stole the show. He politely excused himself just before that could happen.

Thom and I continued to act like kids because we went to a mirror and glass maze next. Which was surprisingly more fun than I thought it would've been. We didn't stop there because we visited a spot that was meant more for kids. It was like some kind of indoor obstacle course which required a lot of crawling in some places and jumping in others. The last part was some kind of moving tunnel that made us have to hold onto the handlebars because it was disorienting.

Surprisingly, we had room in our stomachs for dessert. Thom had to have an elephant ear which was more like fried dough with a ton of white sugar on it. We lingered by the stage where a new band was performing.

There were times throughout all of this, I did meet Maverick's gaze. Sometimes he was with Avery, like when Thom and I were on the swing carousel. I had just let my arms fall back to my sides and head back to its normal level instead of tilted back. The other time was across the crowd when Thom and I were holding hands while stamping our feet to the beat of the music.

I stayed back to let Thom enjoy some of the rides with his husbands on a dark ride. Kyra and Lulu were nowhere to be seen.

"You wanna go?"

I almost yelped in surprise and threw my slushie. Maverick just casually leaned forward on the gate that separated us from the dark ride. His smile was mischievous though I couldn't be sure if he meant to scare me or not.

"I actually love going to haunted houses." He continued.

"Oh yeah? Thom and I worked at one for a year," I don't know why I volunteered this information, "because you know, tuition wasn't cheap. It was fun for a few days until it started to feel like work."

"Is that your way of saying you're not scared?"

"I'm not a robot, of course they still freak me out a little. Even though I initially said that I'd work with Thom at one to get over my fear."

"Is there something in particular that scares you in them?" Why did he smile at me in a way that kept most of us his face hidden from me? Was he laughing at me?