Short chapter because I'm on vacation. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I love reading your opinions on the story and I can't wait to post more.

Soon after dinner, Patrick and I found ourselves on the foldable stairs leaning against the trailer door. A little bit of privacy found on the outside of the crowded family trailer. It was well past midnight and we were the only ones left outside, maybe even left awake. My parents went to bed already, so did Danny. The night was cold enough to form clouds out of our breaths and I was huddled close to him, wrapped in my fringed scarf but feet bare because of summer habits. Enough reasons to go to bed, you'd think. But sleep wasn't an option. Not on this night. It felt like squander to pass it sleeping.

We overlooked the abandoned stalls and booths, the Big Top lurking and keeping watch over the fair. A scene, only missing the ominous mist to make it scary. But all I could feel was thrill. The excitement of being with Patrick and the success of our plan. I regained the status quo. The spotlights were mine again. I could almost feel it get to my head.

"Could life get more beautiful than this?" I whispered, my bare feet sunken into the wet grass, feeling the cold softness. Completely grounded in this starry night. "I can't believe it worked."

"I knew it would." Patrick said steadfast.

"Of course you did." My smile was almost unironic.

He stretched his legs and let his hands hang loosely off his thighs. His voice had a funny note of self-irony that was so incredibly endearing about him. "But I could've never foreseen that your dad would invite me to dinner."

"I think that even surprised himself." I giggled and reached for his hand. Lost in his thoughts, he brought my knuckles to his lips.

"I'd love to return the invitation. But my father's not good company."

Now the humor in his voice tipped over into something darker and I bit my lip, hesitant to reply.

"We'll be our own good company." I finally said.

I could barely make out his expression: Just a smile right before he kissed me. His other hand found my cheek and snuck around my hair to pull me closer into his demanding lips. I was so surprised by it that it took my breath away. The thought of our entangled hands on his thigh made my mind twirl. With every breath I could barely take, I wanted to feel more of what he offered me. I freed my hand and rested it on the inside of his thigh, barely enough to support me leaning over him. I couldn't think of why I'd do that, my mind was too empty for reasoning. Intuitively, I just wanted my hand exactly there.

He wrapped his arm around my back, inching under my scarf. The coldness of his hand seeped through my shirt when it came to rest on my ribs and in response I moved closer, my hand moving upwards and finding a new spot to linger on his hip right where his waistband ended.

Oh my god, the hum it elicited.

I unlocked another new sensation of mine: wanting to explore more of the crackling his voice had when he tried to be silent and the richness his hums could reach when he didn't know he made them.

He broke free of the kiss and took a moment to find his steady breath again. "Annie, I'm sorry but I have to go. I still have a promise to fulfill."

I furrowed my brows, trying to think through the haze in my head what promise he had given me, before I remembered the Boss's words.

Unwillingly, I nodded and readied myself to be deprived of his touch.

But he started kissing me again, sitting up and pushing his chest into mine.

"So sorry." He repeated and forced himself to let me go. "I will explain tomorrow."

When he stood up, I pulled him into a kiss once again before he left me, speechless, cold and barely able to breath.