Read Heartsville 03 - Another Shot (J.H. Knight) for Free Online Page A

looked at Brad as they put on their seat belts. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he went with the obvious. “That sucks.”
    “Basically, yeah,” Brad said on a breathy laugh as he pulled out into traffic. “Truth be told, though, I’d rather have one person who accepts me as I am than ten people who only accept bits and pieces of me.”
    Aaron felt the same way, really. Who had time for anyone who wasn’t willing to take all of you? “Everything in life boils down to quality, not quantity, right?”
    At the stoplight heading out of town, Brad looked at Aaron with a bright grin on his face. “Exactly.”
     
    ****
     
    The Fall Festival was in full swing by the time they got to Brookside. Halloween was still a couple of weeks away, but that didn’t stop the kids from running around in costumes already. There were fortune-tellers, carnival games, a giant roller coaster that was only operational twice a year—now, and again in the summer—and of course, the Ferris wheel.
    Brad and Aaron did a turn on the roller coaster, but Aaron barely managed to hold down his lunch. His knees felt like rubber when he got off. “Okay, never again,” he said, laughing as Brad tried to steady him.
    “If you hate roller coasters, why’d you suggest we go on it?” Brad asked as they stumbled away from the ride.
    “I haven’t been on one since I was a kid. I must’ve blocked it out.” It wasn’t the ups and downs so much as how rickety the old thing felt, like it could fly apart and derail on the next turn, but Aaron didn’t bother to point that out. They’d survived, and that was good enough for him.
    Brad glanced at his phone, apparently checking the time. “It’s almost time for the pumpkin carving. You think you’re up for it?”
    “Is it on a spinning platform? Will I be suspended in the air?”
    With a bark of laughter, Brad said, “No, I think you get to keep your feet on the ground for that one.”
    “Then sure, I’m up for it.”
    Contestants—who paid a ten-dollar fee to enter, all proceeds going to a local pediatric hospital—were judged in three different categories: speed, design, and execution. Brad’s looked pretty good compared to Aaron’s, but that wasn’t saying much. After an hour, their garbage bag ponchos were covered in pumpkin guts and they were laughing so hard they were a serious risk to themselves with those tiny little saws. Neither of them won, but they had fun trying.
    “You’re pretty bad at carving pumpkins,” Brad teased as he picked a pumpkin seed from Aaron’s hair.
    “You weren’t much better,” Aaron said, laughing at himself and Brad at the same time. “And you’ve been practicing all week.”
    “Maybe I just don’t do well in speed carving?”
    “Tell yourself whatever makes you feel better.” Aaron nudged him as they walked toward the vast array of food booths, both of them grinning.
    They decided on Chicago-style gyros for dinner, and they split some Greek fries.
    “I’ve never been,” Aaron said between bites, “but I’m pretty sure this is fake Greek food.”
    Brad nodded in agreement as he got a forkful of feta-covered fries. “You’re probably right, but I can’t care.”
    Their eyes locked across the table, and they both smiled at each other. Aaron suddenly wished he’d suggested something closer to home. If they’d been in Heartsville, he probably would’ve leaned across the small picnic table and kissed Brad right there. But he wasn’t up for any bullshit from the Brookside locals—who, he acknowledged, might or might not have been fine with two men kissing in the middle of their fairgrounds—so he settled for pressing his knee against Brad’s under the table.
    As they finished their dinner, Aaron said, “If we’re gonna get the Ferris wheel in before they shut down for the night, we should probably hurry.”
    Brad collected their trash and tossed it in the can near their table. “I believe we had a deal about that ride,” he