Chapter 7

"The two of you make an adorable couple," I gushed as I helped them into the capsule of the Ferris wheel. The teenagers blushed and thanked me, their hands clasped as they squeezed together tightly on one side of the bench.

This was the part of the job I would never get tired of. I love seeing love, and there was nothing more romantic than couples riding together on the Ferris wheel.

Especially at this time, with the sun painting the sky a rosy pink and shining its soft light until the entire world glowed. At the top, they'd pledge their love with a kiss, and maybe, if the universe was listening, their relationship would be as stable and eternal as the sun.

A happy sigh escaped me when I looked up and saw the teenagers from earlier close their lips and take part in the long-standing Ferris wheel tradition. I wasn't kidding when I said they made a cute couple, and I hoped their love was heard by the world.

When things got a little too heated between them, my gaze quickly flicked away. I was all about witnessing love and all that jazz, but even I had my limits. They had a couple more minutes before it was their turn to get off, so I hoped things calmed down between them by then for all of our sakes.

I continued helping direct couples on and off the ride, and thankfully, the lovey-dovey teenagers were at least fully clothed when it was their turn to exit,albeit blushing like crazy.

It was better than some of the other couples I'd seen. I had to call security once for a couple who wanted to make the capsule their bedroom, and while I got that something as romantic as the Ferris wheel heightened emotions, people still needed to think about time and place.

I helped a few more couples and just enjoyed being around all the love and happiness they exuded. I had another thirty minutes before a coworker was scheduled to take over for me while I spent a couple of hours drawingportraits for the circus guests.

A few minutes before my shift was over, Aisha wandered over with her hands stuffed in her pockets. Herfeatures looked sharper than usual, hard like she was pissed at the world and was warning everyone to stay far away, but they softened when she stopped beside me.

"Hey," she said, sounding casual, but I noticed her eyes focused on my expression. I hadn't seen her since this morning, and honestly, my morning nap made me forget why I'd been so angry to begin with.

"Hey," I chirped with a smile. "I didn't know you were the one taking over. You don't usually work the Ferris wheel." Aisha and love didn't really mix, and with herperpetual scowl, I think it worked out for the best that she manned the other game booths.

"I'm not. I came by to see if maybe you'd want to get something to eat together? Before you start drawing for the night?" she asked, sounding unsure of herself. It was so unlike Aisha that a giggle escaped me, which only made her scowldeepen.

I hooked my arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. "That sounds great! We can go after my cover gets here."

"So, we're good?" she asked, less hesitant now as she moved to return my hug.

"Yeah, we're good," I said and squeezed her tight.

I was never mad at her. It was my insecurities flaring up and getting the better of me again, and that wasn't on her.

"Hey, I really am sorry about this morning. I never want to hurt you," she whispered.

I rested my chin on her body and looked up at her. "I know."

With how close we were, we'd heard countless times in the past that the two of us should just get together. But, first of all, I was gay, and second, ew, because Aisha was like my sister.

She was family, and nothing would ever change that.

My replacement came a few minutes later. Kain was another wolf shifter on the operations team with us.

"Hey, you left this behind," he said, handing me a fist-sized object. I hadn't realized I left anything, but reached out to accept it onautopilot.

"You coming?" Aisha called out, and before I could even question what the object was, I pocketed it, threw a quick ‘thanks' over my shoulder, and ran toward my friend.

Aisha listened to me ramble on about the cute couples I helped today and the teenage couple who were obviously so in love that they forgot their surroundings. She nodded and did her snort-laugh at the appropriate moments as we stuffed ourselves with corn dogs and deep-fried Oreos.

"Why is everything good so bad for you?" I whined and patted mybulging middle.

Aisha flicked her gaze to my stomach. "You look cute. Like that cute lizard with the belly," she snickered, and I pouted. I knew exactly which meme she was talking about, and the annoying thing was I couldn't refute it because it was true.

I appraised my friend. She was all hard muscles without a single ounce of fat on her body, probably from all the weight training she did to keep in shape.

Clicking mytongue, I stuffed another Oreo in my mouth. Maybe I needed to start working out. If I wanted to attract a boyfriend, I needed to be handsome, not cute.

I was thin enough to fit the twink aesthetic but too tall to be a true twink, and it wasn't like I wanted to be one either. I'd never had sex before, but I was curious about both bottoming and topping.

Aisha walked me to the little area designed for me to do the charcoalportraits before heading off to her own shift. It didn't take long to set up, now that I'd built up muscle memory.

When I first started doing portraits, it was nerve-racking. I'd always drawn for myself, so I worried that my art wouldn't meet the guests' expectations. But with every compliment and praise for my drawings, it got easier. And honestly, it was a lot of fun drawing people and immortalizing a happy memory for them.

August and Alyx were the first to request a drawing. They strolled over, hands clasped together and looking so very much in love.

August had beenhesitant about the human finding out he was acentaur, but even an outsider like me could tell Alyx was in love with the man and wouldn't care about something like that.

I settled down, ready to draw them, when a figure zoomed over in between the couple. Aaron hung his arm around their necks and enthused, "Familyportrait? Nice! Ready when you are, Conall."

Alyx rolled his eyes but didn't move to push his brother off. August just shook his head and smiled.

August and Aaron had been called the Balance Brothers—though not actual brothers, that was Aaron and Alyx—before Aaron injured himself and asked Alyx to fill in his spot.

Nobody expected August to fall in love with his partner's brother, but they had, and it was so obvious that they were meant to be together. And when Aaron recovered, the duo turned into a trio.

"You're clinging. Too close," Alyx grumbled. His words backfired and made Aaron squeeze even closer to his brother.

I laughed as I finished their drawing and blushed at their praises when I handed it to them. They left quickly, leaving me to take the next person in the already long line.

An hour later, the line was gone, and I'd just finished drawing a family of three. The carnival grounds had emptiedsignificantly, as most people had probably gone to the main tent to enjoy the big circus show we had every night we were open.

I usually closed up shop around this time since traffic was low, so I grabbed my work cloth and started scrubbing my hands. The downside of working withcharcoal was that my hands were usually stained by the end of the night, which meant I was hunched over and focused on my task.

"Are you done for the day?" amagnetizing,vaguely familiar voice said from above me. I froze, half-thinking I'd imagined it. But when I looked up, I saw the very man who still decorated the floor of my RV.

He stood there with his hands tucked into his designer jeans and a lazy smile that had me wanting to melt. I didn't know if it was even possible, but he was even more handsome than I'd remembered.

Now I knew why I hadn't beensatisfied, no matter how many times I'd tried to draw him. My drawings were merely poorimitations of the real thing.