Broken (Broken #1) (25 page)

“
Does she
know that?”

“
Yes.”

“
She walked
all the way from the village.”

His frown deepens, “Where was
her car?”

Shrug, “I asked her the same
thing. She didn’t give me an explanation.” I eye him warily for a
moment, “Girls only do something like that if they feel more for
you than whatever it is you think she feels.”

“
She’s just
a… we just… she’s not my girlfriend.”

“
If you say
so.”

“
I insist
it,” he responds, his tone clipped. “Can we stop talking about her
now? How was your day?”

“
It was
uneventful. We need to go shopping. There is zero food
in.”

He sighs and glances at me,
“Have you eaten?”

“
Yes.”

He chews on his lip for a
moment, his eyes nervous, “Does this mean you’re staying?”

Does it? “I… do you want me
to?”

His head turns towards me, his
eyes determined and set on mine, “Yes.”

“
I can’t…” I
look away an exhale a long breath. “I can’t keep dealing with your
mood swings. Things are…”

“
I know.
I’ll… do my best to stop being the way I’m being. I’m just not used
to this.” He gives me a sad smile before looking back to the road.
“I’m glad you’re staying.”

Melting a little, I smile to
myself. Fingers crossed things get better and stay that way.
“Although I don’t know how much longer I’ll last without food.”

“
Okay, I’ll
do the shopping in the morning.”

Now’s my chance, “Can I come?
I’d like to start cooking and baking again. If that’s okay?”

“
Sure. But if
I say no to something, don’t argue with me on it.”

“
Whatever,”
my mood just soared a little. “Thank you.”

“
How’s the
baby? I’m sorry I missed your appointment.”

“
I’m not
diabetic or anything. The baby is just big.”

“
That’s good
then,” he reaches over and places his hand on my bump, shocking the
hell out of me. “Does it kick yet?”

“
With any
limb closest to my ribs,” I stare down at his hand, it feels weird.
It’s not like Nathan to just casually touch me like he’s done it a
million times. He pulls back, sensing my discomfort most
likely.

“
If he starts
again tell me,” he clears his throat and rubs his hand on his
thigh. “If that’s okay?”

“
Sure.” It’s
weird but I don’t have a problem with it. “Have your parents been
in touch?”

“
No and I
don’t want you to worry about them. They’re my problem not yours,”
he says this softly, regret evident in his features. “I’m sorry,
for everything that happened yesterday. I should have protected
you. They weren’t supposed to be back for another week.”

I blink in shock at his
apology. He’s already apologized. Is that what this is about? “It’s
okay, I get it. We all do shitty things when we’re mad.”

His body tenses, “I hate it
when you swear.”

Oops. “Sorry,” I mumble and
look out of the window. “I didn’t realise until I’d already said
it.”

“
Try to. It
doesn’t suit you.”

Okay then. “Where have you been
today? You didn’t respond to my text.”

“
Out,” he
says and that’s all he says. Why does he have to be so cryptic and
closed off? It only makes me even more curious as to what he’s
thinking and doing and everything else he could possibly hide in
that closed off mind of his.

“
Out?”

“
As in not in
the house.”

“
As in the
location known as…”

He chuckles, his eyes sparkle
in the dark, “Out.”

“
You’re so
weird.”

His smile widens, “Yes.
Probably.”

“
Where are we
going?”

“
Out.”

“
Grr,” I
growl wanting to nipple twist him. “You’re so
frustrating.”

“
As are
you.”

“
I am
not.”

He quirks a brow at me, his
eyes still twinkling in a way they never have before, “Are
too.”

“
Are we
seriously doing this?” I giggle, my body shaking with it. “Let’s
just agree to disagree.”

“
I’m not
agreeing to anything until you agree that you’re
frustrating.”

“
Tell me
where we’re going and I’ll agree.”

He throws his head back and
laughs loudly, “That’s the same as agreeing.”

“
See?” I prod
him in the chest. “You’re frustrating.”

“
I never
denied it,” good point.

Still… “You’re really not going
to tell me where we’re going?”

“
No.”

“
Not even a
clue?” I stick out my lower lip and clasp my hands under my
chin.

“
Not the
puppy dog eyes, anything but the puppy dog eyes,” He jokes,
pretending to shield his face with his hand.

“
Is it
working?”

He instantly sobers, “No.”

“
Damn.”

“
Nice
try.”

“
I thought
so.”

We’ve been driving now for the
better part of an hour and I have no idea where we are. Too many
trees guarding the roads. It’s when we reach a clearing that my
heart starts beating with excitement.

“
No way,” I
grin and press my face against the glass. “A theme
park?”

“
It’s a night
festival, only here for two weeks,” he says as I take in the lit up
Ferris Wheel in the distance and a few other rides I can just
barely make out. “I can’t go on any of the rides.”

“
I know, but
there’s more than just rides.”

“
This is
great,” seriously and utterly great. “I want candy
floss.”

He opens his mouth and I know
it’s to protest but he soon relaxes and instead he says, “You can
have whatever you want.”

“
Brilliant.
You rock.”

It takes another ten minutes
before we finally find the car park, which is mostly just a field
with lots of cars. The place is packed and people are still
arriving. At least I won’t have to queue for rides, definite
bonus.

There’s a huge archway of
flashing lights and balloons as we enter, I look up at it smiling,
Nathan seems unimpressed but I don’t care. He leads me to the side
and exchanges money for tokens. I get to keep the tokens.

We soon realise that the tokens
are for the rides and not the games. The games cost even more
money.

Nathan doesn’t seem to mind
though and lets me drag him to a game where you have to throw a
ball in a bucket which rests on its side. It looks so easy. It’s
not. I fail every time.

“
Let me try,”
Nathan laughs and hands the man behind the counter a note. He
throws and fails the first time but the second time the ball stays
put. On the final try the ball bounces off the ball already in the
tub and onto the ground. “Huh.”

“
Next time,”
I shrug and pull him towards the candy floss stall. He doesn’t want
to budge, instead he quietly hands me a note and waves me away.
Laughing, I head over to get candy floss and donuts on my own.
Nathan is clearly occupied. He won’t win, I’ll let him figure that
out on his own.

As the donuts flip in the fryer
something soft brushes my cheek. I turn and blink in shock at the
brown teddy dressed as Superman. “You won.”

Nathan grins, clearly proud,
“Of course I did.”

“
Is that for
me?” I go to take the bear but he tugs it back.

“
No.”

My mouth drops open, “What
happened to being a gentleman?” The sugared donuts are placed on
the counter in a paper bag. I scoop them up and follow the man who
won’t give me the bear that looks like Superman.

“
I never
claimed to be a gentleman,” he says haughtily.

“
I want the
bear.”

“
You got
candy floss.”

I pout like a petulant child,
“It’s not the same.”

His smile comes back, it almost
blinds me. “You can have the bear.” I reach for it but again he
snatches it back. “When you’ve finished your food.”

“
Want some?”
I wave the floss near his face. He shudders and shakes his head.
“More for me.” Then I hold the bag open that contains the donuts.
“Donut?”

The look that flashes over his
eyes shows me that he does want the donuts but I’m guessing they’re
too messy for him to want to hold.

“
Take this
for a second.” I hold the candyfloss out to him. He holds the stick
with the tips of his fingers, shuddering once more. My fingers grip
the sugary snack and pull it from the bag. “Here.”

“
You’re
touching it,” he says with a small shake of his head.

Sigh. “I haven’t touched that
side,” I move it close to his face. “Come on. You know you want
to.”

He leans forward and wraps his
teeth and lips around one side, sighing slightly, “I forgot how
good they were.”

“
More?” I
bite into the one he’s already broken into and groan in delight.
“Best donuts ever.”

“
More,” he
says so I hold the same one up to his mouth. He bites the half of
the broken ring that I haven’t bitten. “Definitely the best donuts
ever.”

I cluck my tongue and shake my
head, “Wait until you try mine.”

“
You make
donuts?”

“
Sure, it’s
actually really easy,” I say but my attention immediately becomes
distracted. “Oooh, look!”

“
It’s a ring
toss.”

“
I’m aware of
what it is Sherlock. Come on.”

“
I hate ring
toss.”

“
That’s
because you suck at it.”

He pretends to be insulted, “I
do not.” Determination comes across his features. “I guarantee I’ll
beat you.”

“
You couldn’t
beat a rug.”

“
Why would I
want to?”

Good point. “Ring toss.”

“
Dispose of
the cloud of sugar,” he holds the pink candyfloss out to me. I take
it, have another bite and throw the rest into a nearby rubbish bin.
“Donut.”

“
I’m not
throwing away the donuts,” I gasp in feigned horror that he could
even think about doing that. Donuts are the king food of carnivals.
Well, it’s either donuts or hotdogs.

“
No,” he taps
his mouth.

“
Oh,” I pick
another from the bag and hold it to his mouth. He takes a bite, his
eyes on mine.

“
Thanks.”

“
No problem.”
I close the bag after giving him two more bites and popping the
last piece into my mouth. He seems to shudder so I give him a
pointed look. “What?”

“
My mouth has
touched that, yet you still eat it.”

I shrug and tuck the bag of
donuts into my jacket pocket, “Do you have some kind of horrific
virus I might contract?”

“
No,” he
pulls a face to show how genuinely disgusted he is at the
thought.

“
Then I’m
sure I’ll survive. Now stop delaying the inevitable and watch me
kick your arse at ring toss.”

He lets out a snort that makes
me snort and to the ring toss we go.

******

“
I had the
disadvantage,” I grumble, glaring at the ground as I
walk.

“
Oh yeah?
What’s that?” Nathan smiles looking far too proud of
himself.

“
The belly,”
I pat my swollen stomach. “I can’t swing my hips during the toss
like I used to.”

“
Excuses.”

My mouth drops open, I refuse
to take that, “It is a legitimate excuse.”

“
In your
world I believe it is,” he slides his hand down my arm, his hand
stopping to circle my wrist. That’s weird. Not uncomfortable, but
definitely weird. Is this his version of holding hands? Or is his
arm aching from the ring toss, meaning he can’t be bothered to hold
onto my bicep? “Ferris Wheel?”

“
Will I be
allowed?”

He shrugs, “Only one way to
find out.”

We stand in the queue for
fifteen minutes before we make it to the front. The guy looks at
me, looks at my belly and opens the chain to let me through.
Yay.

We sit in the not too sturdy
looking metal seat and click the bar in place. I laugh when Nathan
wipes at it with a napkin after squirting the metal with his hand
sanitizer.

With us both in one car the fit
is tight, or at least this is how I rationalise his arm around my
shoulder. We start ascending slowly, the chill gets cooler the
higher we get but I don’t mind. The arm around my shoulders is
serving a purpose other than making me feel uncomfortable.

“
I like the
direction they’ve faced this. It’s beautiful, even in the dark,” I
comment, looking out over the large fields that curve on the
horizon. It’s not amazingly high, only sixty feet at best but it’s
high enough for me to truly appreciate everything within viewing
distance.

“
I feel like
a child up here,” he doesn’t say this with disdain, more like
awe.

“
Me too.
Everything just vanished.”

“
What
vanished?” He turns to look at me as we finally reach the
top.