Page 33 of Rule Number One
CHAPTER SEVEN
ETHAN
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Itugged Ivy alongbehind me until we got to the ticket booth. After getting us all set up and our day passes organized, I dragged my reluctant partner inside the park like some kid all hopped up on sugar and soda. And in some ways, I was. I’d been dreaming of doing these rides since I was a kid, and fate had sent me on a path that had led me straight here.
And I was here with a girl who had completely and inexplicably captivated me in a way that felt as new and exciting as the rollercoasters we were about to ride. Ivy wasn’t my typical type. I was usually attracted to the kinds of wild girls that lived for one-night stands ... the exact opposite of her. With Ivy, I felt a different part of me awakening every time our eyes connected. Something came alive with her every smile. Her every laugh. The sweet innocence of a woman with a good heart smoothed over my roughness. Something inside me seemed to recognize something in her, and to hell if I could put my finger on it other than she felt like the yin to my yang.
“Maybe I should start with these,” Ivy said as we passed the kiddie rides. “Work my way up. I do really love the teacups.”
“Nope.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me. “Go big or go home, Ivy. Let’s go right to the granddaddy of roller coasters.”
“In that case, home. Then I choose home. I really like being at home.”
I stopped and spun to face her, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do you want to go home, Ivy?”
She shrunk a little but didn’t answer.
“I’m asking for real. I’m not forcing you to do this. In fact, I have a very strong beliefagainstforcing people to do things they don’t want. I believe that everyone should be free to live the life they want. So, if you’re really the girl who hates taking risks and wants to sit at home watching Netflix, then be that girl and don’t apologize for her. Own it. Live it. Love it.” I leaned a little closer. “But don’t be that girl because you’rescaredto try something else. Then it’s not a choice you’re making. You’re simply living to avoid fear. You can’t figure out who you really are until you embrace the fear and push yourself outside the box. You know what they say.”
“No. What do they say? And who’s they?” She crossed her arms to match mine.
“Well, I don’t know who they are specifically, but the proverbial ‘they’ say that the best things in life happen outside your comfort zone. And I agree with them completely. You can’t know who you truly are until you try a bunch of shit and figure it out. Step outside the box and see what’s out there. I think you should try this, see if you’re the girl who loves rollercoasters and taking risks. Maybe you will be. Maybe you won’t.” I shrugged. “At the end of the day, if you hate it, then you’ll at least know for sure because you’ve tried it. But you won’t know until you do. But this is your choice, Ivy, and I hope that you choose to step out of the box and give rollercoasters a chance.”
She held my gaze for a few long moments then breathed out a sigh. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I don’t know if I’m really the girl who loves Netflix or if I’m the girl who loves rollercoasters and other crazy things. And I want to find out. So, okay. I’m back in.”
“Yeah? You’re in?”
She glanced at the rollercoaster. “Well, for a few more minutes, I’m in until you need to give me that speech again.”
“Deal. I’ll give it to you as many times as you need. Now let’s do this thing!” I grabbed her hand, tugging her along until we got to the line of the biggest roller coaster there. “Here she is. Millennium Force. One of the tallest roller coasters in the world.” I bit my fist and slung my arm around my shoulder. “This is the one I have been dying to ride.”
A long gulp slid down her throat as we watched the car leave and start its crawl up to the top. When it reached the apex, she held her breath until it careened over the other side, the shrieks and screams from the riders turning her face to stone.
“I can’t do this, Ethan. I’m sorry. I want to, I do, but this is just too much for me. I have a career in risk management, for Pete’s sake, and this? This is an unnecessary and stupid risk. I think I should try something a little less dangerous.”
“Suit yourself, but don’t you want to know what it feels like to conquer one of your greatest fears? To stand with our middle finger up and tell fear to go fuck itself? Because trust me, there isn’t a better feeling in the world.”
“I do want to feel that, but at the same time, I want to bealiveafterward. What’s the point of conquering my fears if they kill me and I don’t get to tell my grandkids about this someday?”
“Rollercoasters are incredibly safe. If they weren’t, amusement parks would be shut down. Don’t you have some safety numbers you can rattle off about how safe they are?”
“Not off the top of my head since I’ve never once contemplated doing this, so there was no need to crunch the numbers.”
Her completely honest answer to my joke of a question made me swallow down a huge laugh. “Well, even though you don’t have the actual statistics, I can assure you, nothing is going to happen to you. Trust me, Ivy. You can do this.”
“Ugh. You and your ‘trust me’ shit. Okay. Fine. I’ll do it.”
“That a girl. You’ve got this.”
We stepped up in line, and she pulled out her phone and took a picture of the roller coaster.
“Is that for Iris?”
“Yeah. She’s never going to believe I’m doing this.”
“Oh! Let’s get a picture of the two of us with the coaster in the background. Here, give me your phone. I’ve got long arms.”