Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

"I'm not going on that," Tom said indignantly. I looked over at the entrance to the ride, curious as to why he had such a strong desire to avoid this particular ride. Splash Mountain was currently in front of us, pretty much calling my name. It would be the reprieve from the California heat that I had been waiting for, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"You said we'd go on every ride," I pointed out.

"That...that's not a ride! That's a torture machine," He corrected.

I laughed. He looked so nervous, probably because he knew that I'd get him on the ride no matter what. We'd spent the whole day talking and getting a feel for each other's personalities and I was pleasantly surprised with how well we meshed. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the big drop that awaited him and I giggled with delight. "What if I told you I'd been waiting to go on this ride all day?"

He looked at me, his blue eyes wide. "I'd say you're lying."

I shrugged. "Maybe, but what's the big deal, Tom? Why is this ride so scary to you?"

He ran his slender hands down his face before sighing. "The water, and the five story drop, and the...everything," He mumbled.

I stepped closer to him, sizing him up. Here stood a rather tall gingery Englishman with thirty-one years under his belt and he was afraid of a little roller coaster with some water. "Do you trust me?" I asked him.

It took a lot of confidence for me to ask him that. I couldn't be sure whether he did or not, seeing as we had just met; but I honestly felt like I knew him for years already. He was a good, genuine person. I saw the look in his eyes and I knew he did. "Yes."

"You'll be fine," I assured him, grabbing his hand and pulling him with me through empty corrals until we finally got to where they loaded the ride. I chose the second to first car, knowing that being able to see what's coming next is ideal in this particular situation. He looked at me worriedly, but I just smiled at him. We got in and situated ourselves, waiting patiently for the ride to start. I started to blab about random things until I noticed that he hadn't said anything.

He was sitting straight up, his hands gripped the bar in front of him so hard that his knuckles were white. I took his left hand in my right, giving it a squeeze and resting it where our legs met. He smiled embarrassedly at me, moving his right hand to his far side of the car. "I promise, you'll be okay."

I understood why he was afraid. Sometimes we're afraid of silly things. We know better than to be afraid of them, but that doesn't change anything. It wasn't my right to judge him for being afraid. It was actually really cute, but that's besides the point. I suppose he now had the right to shove a spider in my face to help me "face my fear" of those god-awful eight legged insects. I would never let him know that, or else he would've taken the opportunity as soon as possible.

Once the ride began, he gripped my hand so tightly I feared that I would only have one hand leftover. He began to relax more and not kill my hand so much until we reached the grand finale - the five story plunge. He squeezed my hand again and I bit my lip, trying to hide the pain. "Tom, relax!"

"I hate you for making me do this," He muttered. I could see from the grin on his face that he was having a good time.

"Shut up," I retorted as we finally keeled over the hill. We both started screaming, his a little more manly than mine. A wave of water crashed over us, soaking us to the skin. I started laughing and buried my face in Tom's chest, unaware of what I was even doing. He chuckled, putting his arm around me and pulling me a bit closer into him.

"You're the scared one, now? The ride is over," He said.

"I forgot how soaked you get on this ride," I replied.

He laughed and nodded his head in agreement. We got out of the car and began walking out of the ride. It seemed like we were two different people now that we had gone through that together. "I might as well not be wearing a shirt," He commented, shaking his white v-neck off of his skin in an effort to dry it a bit.

My eyes flickered from his defined pectoral muscles and now obvious nipples, and to his grinning face. I felt like I was violating him, so I looked away. I couldn't deny my attraction to him, but it was unprofessional. He was my co-worker and friend, but nothing more.

"It'll dry soon enough," I said, trying not to be too obvious that I wanted to change the subject. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," He rubbed his stomach in emphasis. "You read my mind."