Chapter 10 – Thrill Ride
It was too
easy. Buffy was preoccupied with two teenage boys and Spike couldn’t resist
taking advantage of the situation. With a huge grin he pressed the pedal of his
car all the way down and rammed it into the side of Buffy’s, sending it spinning.
Two seconds later Angel hit her from the other side and she screamed her
outrage before bursting into peals of laughter. Her arms crossed over her sides
because she couldn’t stop the giggles. It was when she snorted that he became
enraptured, totally missing Cordelia gaining on him and ramming into his car.
He ended up facing the other way.
“Oh, lady,
it’s on,” Spike challenged, turning his bumper car to go after the brunette but
Angel slammed into him followed a moment later by a recovered Buffy.
Anyone
watching would have been amazed that they weren’t teenagers from the way they
were acting. After two days of tension and tears, the four were intent on
spending their last afternoon together filled with silly fun. Making Buffy
laugh had become Spike’s goal for the day as he followed her from one ride to
another. There didn’t seem to be anything she feared and seemed to actually
enjoy being tossed around or flipped upside down. It was a source of
consternation that he could barely keep up with the little blonde with endless
energy.
The four
locked their cars, backed up and slammed into each other again. Before they
could plan another attack the bell rang and the cars slowed to a stop. Buffy’s
hand slid back into his as they walked off the ride. Spike sighed, lacing their
fingers together and wished again that he’d just kissed her that first night.
Looking back it had been a totally stupid move because now it couldn’t just be
a kiss. He’d made a big deal about it so their first kiss had to be a big deal
too. He considered taking her to the beach at sunset and let the first time be
while they were knee deep in the surf. But that seemed too hokey and he dismissed
that idea. He didn’t want to leave port again without kissing her but if something
didn’t happen soon it might end up that way.
“Come on,
Spike,” Buffy said, tugging him toward the livestock show. “I want to look at
the cows.”
“You want
to look at cows?” Spike asked, slowing down as he eyed the smelly barn with
disdain. He was a city boy and had never been around farm animals before. Not
that he wanted to for any reason either. “Let’s go ride the Zipper again.”
Buffy
sighed and turned to him. She walked her fingers up his chest to dance along
his jaw. “You said we could do anything I wanted and I want to pet the cows. I
love the cows.”
“They
smell.”
She crossed
her arms and looked up at him through smoky lashes. “Pleeeeease, Spikey.”
“Oh, good
God, woman,” Spike said, giving up and offering her his hand. “Let’s go look at
these animals of yours. But I’m not touching them.”
Spike was
rewarded with a peck on his cheek as she led them inside. He looked behind them
to see where the other couple was but Angel and Cordelia had disappeared again.
They were probably making out somewhere, he thought with jealousy as he watched
Buffy getting friendly with a dairy cow named Molly. She had one arm wrapped
around the animal’s neck while the other petted her nose. He smiled as she made
baby talk and left Molly with a peck to her cheek, too.
This was a
side of Buffy he would never have thought existed. She seemed at ease at the
different animals inside the barn and she made friends with as many as she
could. Cows, horses and goats were all greeted with her bright smile. Drusilla
would have gone running from the carnival period and the barn would have had
her screaming. It took hours for his former girlfriend to get ready to anywhere
because she had to be impeccable groomed for every occasion. It had been a nice
change when Buffy seemed to be comfortable to go casual with minimal makeup.
She reached for his hand and he allowed her to take it. He was so bemused by
her smile that he didn’t realize what she was up to until his hand was petting
the wide snout of a jersey cow. He stepped closer to them, searching for what
Buffy saw in these creatures. The cow gave a low moo and swished her tail at
him.
“She’s
flirting with you,” Buffy pronounced, with one hand resting on his lower back.
“Am I going to have to share you with a cow?”
“No,” Spike
said, glancing at Buffy and then leaned over to look beneath the cow. “But she
does have some really big…”
“Oh, you
are such a pig.”
“I prefer
yours,” Spike said, glancing down the front of her tank top. This time he got a
smack on the arm. And he laughed as he took her hand to pull her to the petting
zoo. Buffy got a handful of feed so the
various animals could take it from her cupped palms. Leaning on the fence he
watched as she moved among the goats. He started to daydream of her surrounded
by children instead, clamoring for their mother to take care of them. And when
he realized what his mind was conjuring he pushed it aside as fast as he could.
He stood up straight, shutting down his emotions and when Buffy glanced at him,
he motioned for them to leave.
Buffy
didn’t say anything. She didn’t even comment when he avoided her hand. They
went down the last aisle without stopping to visit anyone else and stepped back
into the afternoon sun. The mood they had carefully constructed earlier had
been shattered.
Buffy
looked around for a second before turning to him. “Do we go back to the rides
or head for the exhibit booths?”
Her eyes
were defiant as she looked up at him. She wasn’t offering him a choice of
whether to run from her or not. It had already been decided that morning over
bagels and orange juice. No commitment beyond this run and only a friendship
with as little or as much affection as they were both willing to give. So far
that consisted of the hand holding with the intention of kissing soon. It wasn’t
her crowding him. Buffy was playing by the established rules. It was him that
was having problems with this. She arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer
that hadn’t come yet and he smiled down at her.
“Exhibits,”
Spike said, pointing at the long building. He was safe as long as he didn’t let
himself daydream or breathe her in too deep. “And we’ll catch the rides again
after that.”
They
wandered through the booths in a comfortable silence looking at quilts and
other crafts. Their shoulders or hands would touch as they moved through the
crowd but their hands never caught. It wasn’t uncomfortable but rather a
companionable stroll, pointing things out to the other and occasionally a
comment on something that was eye-catching.
Buffy
stopped to look at a display of jewelry while Spike peeked over her shoulder.
“You like
silver?” Spike asked, his fingers stroking her ear. “You don’t seem to wear
much jewelry except for these earrings.”
“I don’t
know,” Buffy said, fingering a braided chain. “It’s pretty.”
“I’ll bring
you back some silver on this run,” Spike whispered in her ear and rested his
hand on her shoulder. “There’s this great open market in
Their eyes
collided in mutual surprise as he unwittingly promised to not only buy her
presents but that there would a next visit. She nodded, turning to slip her arm
around his waist, while he led them away. Spike was busy examining his emotions
and was relieved to find that he wasn’t panicking at the thought that he’d be
expected to see her next time they docked. It was anticipation that was winning
out with a little excitement to know someone might be waiting for him.
“What do I
want?”
“Huh?”
Spike asked, broken from his enjoyment of her body moving in time with his as
they walked. “What do you mean?”
Buffy was
standing in the aisle glancing from the ice cream booth to the pretzel stand.
“Neither,”
Angel said, turning a corner and into their path. Cordelia was right beside him. “Buffy, you’ve
had breakfast, lunch and cotton candy. Enough.”
“Do not
come between me and food,” Buffy said, her nose rising in the air. “If I’m
hungry, I’m going to eat.”
“And
eventually it will settle somewhere,” Cordelia said, glancing down at Buffy’s
hips encased in tight khaki shorts. “But that’s beside the point Angel was
trying to make. We were thinking about grilling some steaks tonight and we were
going to invite you two.”
“No big
party?” Buffy asked, wrinkling her nose. “It would just be the four of us?”
“If I have my way,” Angel said, snaking an arm
around his girlfriend. “So, can you contain that appetite for dinner?”
Spike
laughed when Buffy sighed and agreed with a last lingering look at the ice
cream.
“Come on,”
Spike said, “Let’s go catch a few more rides before we leave.”
“Meet you
at the gate in an hour?” Angel asked. “Cordy and I are going to look around here
for awhile.”
“No
problem,” Buffy said, before taking off for the nearest exit.
Spike
followed her, his eyes drawn to those hips that Cordy had insulted, loving the
curves and softness that was promised by them. He looked up when they stopped
their swaying to find Buffy staring at a photo booth. She looked back at him
cautiously, her lower lip caught between her teeth and he winked his approval.
It was a day to go with the flow and he didn’t want to make her feel rejected
again.
“Get in,”
Spike said, pulling the curtain back.
Buffy
stepped into the booth and scrunched into the corner. “Now you won’t need my
underwear to remember me by. You’ll have pictures.”
“I’m still
keeping the panties,” Spike said, handing her the money to feed into the
machine. He settled next to her on the too little stool. They adjusted the
height so their faces were in the small screen. He still had to scrunch down so
they’d both fit. Buffy leaned forward and fed the bills in.
“Ready?”
She asked as the last bill slid into the machine and turned to him. “Oh,” she
whispered against his lips. His scrunching had left them cheek to cheek and she
was so very close. He swallowed staring into eyes turned jade with passion. It
was too much to resist. The big deal he’d planned on was forgotten as he closed
the gap between them. Their lips met, broke apart for a split second before
they met again. The flash went off and they chuckled without breaking contact.
Spike knew
he’d drown if they ever got this close and he wasn’t wrong. She tasted like
cotton candy and long, lazy summer afternoons. Her tongue darted into his
mouth, taking the initiative and throwing him off balance. The way he’d been
since he met her. All his carefully erected walls were taking a beating from
the girl devouring him as if she was starving. But if she was, so was he, as
they kissed through the last flash and finally stopped when there was loud
hemming and hawing coming from outside the booth.
Feeling a
bit sheepish they stepped out of the booth and retrieved their photos. Joining
hands they quickly walked from the exhibit hall and into the waning afternoon
sun. Halfway to the midway they had to stop. They were both laughing so hard
that they couldn’t breathe. Spike wrapped his arms around her waist and twirled
her around. They had surmounted another obstacle and he was still intact much
to his astonishment.
“Oh, God,
Spike,” Buffy breathed, with her arms looped around his neck. “That is one kiss
I will never forget.” She pressed her lips to his forehead. “It was like going
a hundred miles an hour downhill.”
He slipped
his arm under her knees and continued to hold her close to him.
“Could have
told you that,” Spike whispered, into the softness of her hair. “Baby, I’ve
always been bad for equilibrium.”
Buffy
laughed and flung her head back. It was a moment that he knew he’d never forget
either. She was pushing aside his darkness with the sunshine she seemed to be
made of. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. He set her back on her
feet but kept his arm around her waist because he couldn’t let her go yet. They
were friends, he reminded himself, just friends. And wondered how long he could
keep lying to himself.
to be continued…
