Caoilainn

I can hear the merry-go-round music playing in the background as I stand behind Tadhg. He's racing Cian and Fionn in a game of waterguns. Siofra is pulling strings of cotton candy from her white, cardboard cone, laughing as they rile each other up. Cian's blue monster truck is about ¾ of a way up a fake plastic dirt hill, bouncing over sand dunes, neck and neck with Tadhg's red truck. Just as Cian is about to overtake Tadhg's truck, Fionn's green one sneaks up from behind them both and jumps across the finish line.

"No way, Fionn," Tadhg laughs. "Where'd you come from all of a sudden?"

"Yes, way," Fionn grins, turning to high-five Archer, who's standing on his other side. "Kicked your ass fair and square with my mad skills on the guns."

"I want a re-match," Cian taunts him. "This game is rigged."

"What?" Fionn asks in mocked exaggeration. "Yeah, right. Face it, Cian, you suck."

Before I can say a word, Tadhg reaches into his pocket to pull out another $3.00 to lay on the deck of the trailer tray. He sits back down, straddling the stool beneath him, joshing the guys around as they wait for other players to join in.

Around this time, Pete and Courtney bounce up to me. They're full of wet spots, and are wearing matching oversized, neon-green sunglasses and pointy wizard hats. I turn towards them smiling. "Hey! Look at you two. Where've you been?"

Courtney juts against my hip and giggles.

"We were playing darts and riding the log flume over the other side of the park. You know the one with the Tunnel of L-O-V-E?" She asks, deepening her voice on the word 'love'. She steadies her stance and stops moving so she can pull something out of her back pocket. "Look, we got our picture taken and everything."

I take hold of her strip of pictures and snort. Her and Pete are in various stages of making out while wearing the glasses and hats. They look ridiculous. "I love them, Court! These are great!"

Courtney plucks the pictures back from me. "I know, right? I'm going to put them on my mirror when I get home."

I catch Pete's glance as he rolls his eyes, sitting down to play a game of monster trucks with the guys. Archer joins in, too.

"Hey, Caoi, Courtney, come with me," Siofra says. "I want to throw this cone out and grab a bottle of water. My mouth is coated in sugar." I let Tadhg know and we set off.

By the time we return, the guys are standing and talking next to the trailer where the game is. It's clear they've been waiting for us to come back. Tadhg grabs my hand and pulls me in close. "Hey, Caoi," he says.

"Yeah?" I reply quietly.

"What do you say we go for a ride on the log flume?" he asks with a tantilizing look in his eye. "I hear they have a tunnel of love and that it's very dark and very private."

Now it is my turn to roll my eyes. "Oh yeah, what do you have in mind?"

"I figure a couple of rides will do....maybe eight or ten of them. I need some alone time with you before I go back tomorrow."

I lean in and give him a kiss on the cheek, but before I can pull away to turn back to the group, Tadhg pulls me closer and smashes his mouth against mine. I almost melt in his arms. Tadhg's been over the moon all night since our relationship is now out in the open.

"Dude!" I hear Pete yell. "Get a room!"

He's not serious, though. The group laughs as we pull apart and I blush. "OK, I'm game," I say.

"Let's go," he says to me before turning back towards Cian and leaning in close. "We'll catch up with you guys later. I parked my truck out back, so if we don't find you later, Caoilainn has a ride home. We're gonna go hang out a bit together before I have to return."

Cian reaches out a hand to grasp Tadhg. "If I don't see you beforehand, good luck, man. Stay safe," Cian tells him, moving in to reach around and give Tadhg a side, man-hug.

"Will do, Cian," Tadhg replies. "Always safe. See you later."

"Later, Tadhg," they reply.

With all the pleasantries behind us, Tadhg grabs my hand and we race off in the direction of the log flume. I'm so happy to have him with me after all these weeks apart. My happiness is bittersweet, however, because I'm dreading tomorrow when he goes back, not to mention the fact that there are important things I have to tell him in between now and then. I can't fathom ruining our night, however. My anxiety has been growing by the hour. I know what I have to do, but I can't figure out how or when. For just a little while longer I want to have some fun. So I talk myself out of telling Tadhg anything upsetting and give in to the night. It's still so early. I have time, or so I tell myself. The bad news can wait.

I should have known better.

As Tadhg tugs me towards the ticket booth, I smile and reach out to grab onto him. After the sales person hands us our tickets, Tadhg pulls me in front of him, picking me up and swinging me around. "Turn around, Tadhg," I say, "Let me up." He smiles and turns. I climb on, piggie-back-style, and wrap my legs around his waist, squeezing tight.

"I love having your legs wrapped around me, Caoi," he growls before leaning back to catch my bottom lip. I lean forward and almost topple us into a nearby clown who's passing out balloon animals on our side.

"Sorry," I yell as Tadhg moves away from him. On the way to the flume we take a detour and hop onto the ferris wheel first. When our car stops at the top of the ride we make out like a bunch of horny teenagers whom we aren't much older than. I suck on Tadhg's neck and enjoy the purr he makes in the back of his throat as his hand slips up my thigh. With a hitch in my breath, I groan and nip the skin on his ear before pulling back.

Tadhg opens his eyes in a daze and looks at me in confusion. I can tell he was lost in the moment. "Why'd you stop?"

I chuckle. "If I let you, you'd have me right here, wouldn't you, Tadhg?"

"Damn straight."

"Tadhg!" I reprimand him. "There are kids everywhere. We have to cool it before someone sees and reports us for indecent behavior."

"I'd like to get indecent with you, Hellcat."

I lean forward and kiss his mouth, sucking lightly on his bottom lip and then I'm kissing him again. I can't help myself and before I know it, we're right back at it. I needed this so badly. These last few weeks....no, stop, don't think about it, Caoi. Put it on a shelf; deal with it all later.

Later, later, later.

I try to focus on the here and now, but the carnie below has other plans. I feel the ferris wheel turning and soon we're cycling around again before coming to a stop to get off. Tadhg jumps down first and turns back to help me out of the car. I put my hand in his and let him tug me out. Slipping my hand into his back pocket, I lean my head on his shoulder. I inhale deeply, taking in the scent of Tadhg's cologne. There's a hint of his own musky smell mixed with it and I feel aroused at the thought of getting closer so I can sniff some more of it.

"How about that Tunnel of Love ride, Tadhg?"

"Sounds good to me," he replies, and we walk towards it.

As we stand in line to wait our turn it dawns on me that I'm wearing a white t-shirt and bra.

Crap.

I must look troubled because Tadhg puts his hand under my chin and looks me in the eyes before asking, "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, my mind is invaded with other things. Things that I have no room to pay attention to at the moment. I have to bite my tongue not to whimper at the sudden turn my thoughts have taken.

Taking in a deep breath, I smile up at Tadhg. "Fake it, Caoilainn. Fake it 'till you make it", I chant silently to myself.

"I'm wearing white," I respond, looking down.

Tadhg follows my line of sight and smiles. "Yeah? This ride keeps sounding better and better."

I narrow my eyes at Tadhg and place my hands on my hips. "Oh, does it?"

"Yeah, it does," he teases. "Always wanted to go to a wet t-shirt contest. Now I got me my very own contestant. Hurry up, go splash some water on you. Here let me help-" he says, fishing some water out of the nearby stream running alongside the ride.

"TADHG! Don't YOU dare!" I scream, running around him. The couple behind us gives me dirty looks when I back up into them. I apologize. The guys laughs along with Tadhg, but the girl he's with just glares at the both of us. "Sorry," I say again more seriously.

"If you do that again, I'm going to dump a bucket of cold water on your HEAD!" I yelp, as he tries splashing me again.

Before long, we're stepping into our log and bouncing down the plastic tube of water. Arrow-bearing little cupids are on display throughout the ride. As we bump up the incline ahead of us I'm smooshed back against Tadhg's front. "Oomph, watch it, A rúnsearc. We don't want to damage anything," he says while adjusting himself with a smile. "Need them badboys for later."

I let out a weak laugh and try not to frown at the thoughts that try to overtake my good mood yet again. I shake my head and lean close to kiss Tadhg backwards. "I love you, Tadhg," I whisper.

"I love you, too, Caoilainn," he replies. "So much, Hellcat."

As we reach the top, the boat starts to float around the twists and turns of the tubing. Tadhg and I splash each other with the water threatening to spill into our boat. Tadhg leans from side to side and a small wave overtakes the side of our log. I shriek as a small bucket-load of it lands on my shoes.

When we round the last bend, I can see the fast-approaching hill we're going to plunge down. It somehow feels higher from up here than it did when we were standing down on the ground. Butterflies take flight in my stomach and I smile. I love the thrill of these kinds of rides.

When we splash our way down the hill I surprise Tadhg by leaning forward so the incoming water leaps past my head and makes its way right into his lap. When I hear Tadhg hooting behind me, I start to laugh.

"What was THAT?" he hollers happily. "I'm soaked!"

"Looks like I'm the one attending the wet t-shirt contest, Baby."

"Oh, yeah?" He laughs. "Allow me to entertain you, then." When he proceeds to flex his well-honed muscles I shudder in mock wantoness.

"Oh," I coo. "Do it again, Tadhg. DO IT AGAIN, Baby." I laugh, dragging out my words, making sure to lace them with sexual tension. I fan my face with my hand and roll my eyes for good measure.

When we enter the tunnel, it's like a race against the clock. We're all lips and tongue and hands. We're panting in our wet clothes as we exit to the open sky. When we go through the turnstop, the attendant hands me our pictures without making eye contact. I take one look at our pictures and gasp.

Oh my goodness.

Tadhg and I look like we were having WAY too much fun in that tunnel. In one shot, my shirt is hitched up, my bra is hanging out and you can see my pink lace panties from the back of my pants. In another, Tadhg's head is thrown back and with the angle of the camera, you can't make out where I am. I'm not there, thank you very much, but you'd never know it by the pictures. The last two pictures are much of the same and I bite my lip at what the attendant must have thought when he saw them.

"Oh shit, Caoi," Tadhg says. "Is that-"

"Oh, shut up," I answer laughing and cutting him off before he can finish. "I guess I can't hang these on my mirror at home."

"Why not?" he asks.

I raise my eyebrows and look at Tadhg like he's lost his mind. "Uh, hello. My mom. Not to mention your-, I mean Duncan and Ruari."

Shit. I can't believe I just did that. I look at Tadhg to see if he caught my mistake but his eyes are trained on something across the way and he's not paying attention. When he turns back, I let out a sigh of relief.

Tadhg snaps the pictures up and goes to put them in his wallet. "Hey! What are you doing?" I say, indignant.

"If you don't want them, I'll keep them," he explains. "They'll keep me company overseas."

My mood plummets but I smile for Tadhg's benefit. "I never said I didn't want them." I run my hair through my wet hair and squeeze some excess water out.

"But, ok. You keep them, Tadhg," I tell him. "And when you're lonely, you can think about all the devious things we're going to do when you return." I lean up and hold Tadhg's chin in my hands and stare at him. "I love you, Tadhg. Always. Always and forever and ever."

"I love you, too, Caoilainn," he says, returning the sentiment.

"Now come on," he says as he plants an innocent kiss on my head. "We only have a little bit of time left before we have to head over to the club."

"The club?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah, I promised to bring Ruari home some salt water taffies. I have to drop them off before we go back to my place."

"OK," I sigh. "I need my choreography notebook anyway. I can grab that when we're at the club."

"Sounds good. But for now, come on," he comments, tugging me forward. "There's an old time photo booth across the way. You and me are gonna do one together tonight. I'm gonna be Jesse James and you can be my Annie Oakley."

"Annie Oakley?" I ask, laughing. "Ok, cowboy. Let's get you saddled up. I need a good ride."

"Caoilainn!" Tadhg exclaims. "You wanton vixen!" To which I smile at with mischief in my eyes.

I wish this moment could last forever.
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