Spoiled by Four Billionaires novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Carousel

The harbor fair smelled of fried dough and diesel.

It stood where it always had, on the wharf behind the aquarium, strings of colored bulbs swaying above the stalls.

Cullen parked the car and came around to open my door.

He hadn't said a word on the drive.

He took my hand without asking, and his palm was cold.

"I don't remember this place," I said.

"You were five."

We walked past the ring toss and the cotton candy and a man selling glow sticks.

A child ran past us, shrieking.

I stopped.

The hair on my arms rose.

"What?" Cullen said.

"Nothing. I just..."

Ahead of us, through the crowd, a carousel turned in a halo of gold light.

The horses rose and fell.

The organ music wheezed out a tune I knew without knowing how.

I stopped walking.

"Nessa."

"I know that song."

He didn't answer.

I pulled him forward.

My feet seemed to know the way, past the ticket booth and the rail, to a spot on the rim of the platform where the boards were worn.

There was a green painted bench.

I sat.

My heart was going so hard I felt it in my ears.

"I sat here," I said. "I was crying. Somebody had a balloon, and I wanted it."

"It was mine," said Cullen, and his voice sounded strange.

The carousel went round.

"We came on a Saturday in June," he said. "Our families always did. The grown-ups were at the lemonade stand. Your nanny had you. I had a red balloon, and you wanted it."

"You cried. She said, Cullen, let her hold it for a minute, be nice."

His throat moved.

"I took your hand. I was nine, and I thought I was a very grown boy. I said, come on, I'll show you the horses."

My hand tingled.

I looked down at it.

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