What a Ride

Authors Note: Thanks to my editor, thatsbogus.

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"So what do you want to ride? Hello? Earth to Bella?"

I snapped back to reality after taking in the surroundings and looked blankly at my friend Pam. We just arrived with some other friends at the amusement park and most were already looking at the park map. We all agreed to go to the amusement park for a couple days to hang out before we all left for college, and this was the only time everyone was free was during summer break. Fortunately, everyone in the group turned 18 already so we were able to stay at the park all the way to close.

"I dunno, I guess we should go to the newest one first, since the line will get long later," I replied while I tied my dark brown hair behind me and put it in a ponytail.

It was already getting incredibly hot from the bright sun, even though it was still morning. Good thing I checked the weather ahead of time to make sure I was comfortably dressed. I hoped my tank-top and denim shorts would keep me as cool as possible during the hot afternoon. However, the outfit was a bit more revealing than my usual tastes. I hadn't worn this tank top in a while and I realized it was tighter than I remember and made my perky C-cup breasts quite noticeable. Especially since they already looked kinda big on my petite 5'3" frame. It was so tight that it also highlighted my flat stomach, my small waist, and my wide hips too. The denim shorts I had on were also really short given that they were a few years old and I've sorta outgrown them since I was a Freshman, but they were still my favorite to wear out. Overall, my outfit was a bit more revealing than what I normally go for, but I didn't mind if I turned a head or two now and then.

My friends passed around some suntan lotion, but I only took a little bit. My skin already had a light natural tan to it due to my mixed white and hispanic heritage, so I typically didn't burn too much. I was also on the swim team in school, so I had an added benefit of having some resistance to the sun from swimming outside for practice. Not only was I very proud of how my skin looked, but I was proud of how toned and fit I was as well.

Pam was already on her phone to see if they had an app showing how long the wait was for the different rides. "Ok, let's go to The Dominator then! The app says it's only a 20 minute wait right now," I heard Pam say very excitedly.

Pam was the type of person who always tried to step up and make decisions for the group. Hell, she was even the one who originally planned this trip to the amusement park to begin with now that I'm thinking about it. She had never gone to a roller coaster park before and I knew that as her best friend, she was very excited to go on her first coaster. Myself and a few other of our friends secretly bet whether she would chicken out before getting on one though.

It was a bit of a walk to the other side of the park where The Dominator was and by the time we started to queue in line, I felt like I was already drenched in sweat. My bangs were already sticking to my face and I had to constantly move them aside. Thankfully, the line moved fairly quick and soon we were in the main building and most importantly, finally in some shade. As we shuffled closer and closer, I noticed Pam seemingly getting more and more nervous, especially as she heard the screams of the people currently on the coaster. Our group started to pair off and Pam and I were told to go to spot 1, the very front of the coaster.

As we waited, I heard the speakers crackle as they made an announcement, "Attention, attention, there is an issue with one of the cars. Rides are delayed."

Dammit! So close too. I let out a deep sigh and I felt Pam's fingernails dig into my arm. I looked over at her and realized she didn't seem too confident in riding the coaster knowing that sometimes mechanical issues happen.

Suddenly, I heard a nearby voice say, "Don't worry, it won't be too long. The coaster is new so there are a few kinks to work out. Happens all the time."

I looked over at the voice and realized that it was one of the staff guys talking to me. I was about to respond, but my voice got caught in my throat. My God, this had to be the hottest guy I had ever seen. The staff-issued short sleeve button-up shirt he wore seemed to barely contain his muscular figure. His arms were huge, like Thor huge, and I was shocked that the short sleeves of his shirt were wide enough that they fit through. His chest seemed well defined and powerful as well and it seemed the only thing that kept this shirt on him were a few strained buttons. I was also pretty sure that shirt hid some incredibly toned abs too. What also really impressed me and made me gulp though was his smile and his bright eyes. When I looked at him and took it all in, it seemed like the rest of the world sort of faded away.

"I...uhh...ummm," I stammered as my brain tried to play catch up to what he said before.

I saw him move closer over to me and realized that he was also really tall, definitely over six foot. He stopped to lean his back against a post and crossed his bulging arms in front of him. He seemed to exude confidence. I also noticed that the heat was punishing him as well from the beads of sweat that rolled down his face and arms. It was then that I noticed his scent, a strong musky scent that suddenly made me a little delirious.

"Yeah, it really sucks bad sometimes," I blurted out and instantly winced at my own words. Really Bella? Was this the best you could come up with?

"It's all good, really. Safety first and all that. Besides, not only does it give us a chance to take a break, but also seems to let us meet someone new. Hi, I'm Alex," I saw him uncross his arms and he reached out for a handshake.

I smiled in what I hope was a charming and not a creepy smile, as I reached out my own hand and shook it while I told him, "I'm Isabella, but my friends call me Bella. Oh, and this is my friend Pam."

I saw him reach out his hand to Pam, and her hand trembled as it reached out to shake Alex's hand. I sighed softly and realized that she may chicken out right before we get on after all.

"So Bella, where are you from? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you around before. I don't think I would've forgotten someone like you."

I felt my heart speed up a bit. Was he...flirting with me? I carefully looked at him to discern whether he was just being friendly or not. However, his bright eyes and his charming smile seemed to only make my heart beat faster rather than divulge any further information.

"I don't live too far from here actually; I live right over in Fairmont," I replied, trying to act confident as well. I secretly hoped he couldn't see my heart pounding against my chest.

"You serious? I live in Fairmont too! I'm surprised I haven't seen you around before since we seem to be around the same age. Did you go to Clark High?"

I knew the school he was talking about, Clark Davis High School. It was the main public High School that most of the kids in town went to.

"Actually, I go to - or went to actually - Preston Academy. My friends and I are here as a celebratory graduation sort of thing." God, I hope I didn't sound preppy or anything. I never felt that I was particularly high-class or anything like that before.

"Ahh, that would explain why I haven't seen you around before then. I currently go to Wheaton Community College, and if you just graduated, it would make sense why I haven't seen you around campus either. Well, I hope I will soon though," I heard him reply and saw him smile even wider after he finished talking.

My body was torn with what I should focus on. On the one hand, my brain was pleased that he didn't seem to think I was some preppy high-class bitch or anything. It was also reassuring to hear that he seemed to be a year or two older and going to at least a community college as well. On the other hand, it definitely sounded like he was flirting with me. My heart went from beating fast to doing gymnastics and acrobatics. Good thing I was already sweating due to the heat, otherwise it might've looked like I was already falling for him. But I was falling for him, aren't I?

I wanted to reply to him with something witty and flirty, but my brain was apparently out for lunch, so I just stared at him for a few moments instead. Thankfully any potential awkwardness was interrupted when a roller coaster car rumbled into the station and broke his attention away from me to his job.

What was happening to me? Here I was, recently graduated from High School and I was acting like a silly elementary school kid with her first crush. I couldn't even stop looking at him. As I watched him flex his muscles by unbuckling seat belts and raising safety harnesses, I bit my lip as a deep arousal awakened within me. While I continued to gaze over at him, I wondered how easily he could pick me up and put me where he wanted, all the while I would look up an-

"Bella...I don't think I can do this...," I heard Pam meekly say behind me.

I wondered what Pam thought of me melting in front of Alex, but after I heard her speak, I realized she was far more focused on not completely freaking out. I saw the gates open to allow us to board and I motioned her to come with. She rapidly shook her head and started to turn away.

"I'm sorry! I'll see you outside the ride!" Pam quickly spurted out before she turned around and briskly walked to the exit. I sighed while I got on the ride alone.

As I tried to sit down, I noticed that the seat was curved and awkwardly shaped. The moment I finally sat down, I realized the seat had caused my shorts to ride up higher, showing even more of my tanned and toned legs than before. I was about to readjust to push them back down, but suddenly Alex appeared again to start his safety check and instead I completely froze. Oh God, I wondered what he thought of me exposed like this. He gave me a warm smile and I instinctively smiled back at him as my heart once again started doing somersaults.

I looked up at him as he reached for the safety harness and started lowering it. As the harness clicked into place, I started to panic slightly. Oh no. No, no no no. I realized that the motion of the harness pushed the fabric of my tank-top down as well, giving anyone who looked a pretty good view of my boobs. I tried to see if Alex noticed, and instead, I felt him tightly push the harness firmly into my body.

There I was, stuck and held in place due to Alex. Most of my young and fit body on display for him and trapped underneath his gaze. Whether it was the look he gave me or the feeling of being restrained by this muscular god, I was fully aroused by this point. I felt my nipples harden against my bra and I rubbed my thighs together as I felt my panties getting damp. I was trapped, bound, unable to move. It felt like Alex could do anything he wanted with me and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I had no idea why this feeling of being controlled and helpless turned me on so damn much, but I could barely think straight as it was. Thank God I'm in the front car where none of my other friends could see me and that Pam chickened out. Otherwise she would've been right next to me and judging the shit out of me.

Alex let go of the harness and pulled on the seat belt to make sure it was secure. As his hand left, I felt his fingers brush up against the sweaty skin of my exposed leg. His mere touch in my current state made me want to moan, but I did my best to suppress it. But as much as I tried, I couldn't. A small moan? Or was it a whimper? I'm not sure, but it escaped my lips and Alex leaned back with a big smile.

He raised his arm and gave a thumbs up to the rest of the staff and looked down back at me to give me a sly wink. Almost immediately, the roller coaster car shot out at an intense speed from the station. The ride itself was a haze as my mind was still on Alex and the intense feelings I had from being strapped in. Before I knew it, the roller coaster car glided back into the main station. Once again, I saw Alex smiling at me as we rolled to the very front.

"Welcome back. So, did you enjoy it?" he said while he helped to remove the harness.

"Y-yeah, I did. In fact, I don't think I've ever had that much fun before," I quickly said while I shly looked down and away. I silently kicked myself for acting so timid around him.

I stood up and attempted to step out of the roller coaster car, which seemed a little harder than it should be. Soon, I saw Alex's hand in front of me offering to help me out. I took it and I felt him gently pull me out of the car like I weighed nothing to him.

"Sounds like you're going to have time to come back and ride it again then alright? Since it was pretty obvious how much you enjoyed yourself," I heard him say, with a humorous tone at the end.

I must have turned several colors of red and hoped that the heat hid most of it from my face. It was then that I realized I still held his hand from before and others were starting to look at us. Embarrassed, I removed my hand, nodded my head and gave him a big thumbs up with my hand and an even bigger smile. I turned and quickly started walking away towards the exit to catch up with the rest of my friends.

Stupid Stupid Stupid. What was that Bella? Oh yeah, you know what would look good? A thumbs up! Yeah, that's real sexy and flirty. He was obviously hitting on you and that was the best you got? My God, what was I thinking. Ugh!

After I walked down the exit ramp, I ran into Pam, who seemed to look a lot better than before. I asked her if she was ok and she nodded while apologizing profusely for leaving me. I told her it was ok, and that maybe it was a bit too intense of a roller coaster for her first time. We then walked together to re-join the rest of our friend group and discussed what to do next.

The rest of the day went by much smoother and much less intense. I got to hang out with all of my closest friends, ate a bunch of terribly unhealthy food that tasted absolutely amazing, and of course, enjoyed all of the different amusement park rides. After the incident at The Dominator, I made sure to take Pam to some more 'kiddie' rides. Later, after much pulling and pushing, I convinced her to go on a much smaller roller coaster. She screamed literally the entire time the roller coaster moved, which annoyed me at first, but soon I couldn't stop laughing at her. By the time the ride ended, the entire friend group was laughing hysterically and Pam looked around wondering what was going on.

Towards the end of the day as the sun was getting lower and the heat less intense, we finally did everything in the park at least once. The group decided that we should split up so everyone had a chance to re-ride the coasters that they enjoyed the most. Instantly I thought of Alex and his bright eyes and huge muscles. So I mentioned that I was going to head back to The Dominator. No one else seemed interested in riding it again, but to my surprise Pam said that she would tag along and go with me.

As Pam walked with me away from the group, she told me that she didn't feel like she was confident enough to ride it, but wanted to hang out with me anyway and keep me company. By the time we got back to the ride, the sun was already setting and the heat was really starting to lessen. I was still a bit sweaty, but nowhere near how drenched I was earlier in the day.

To my surprise, the line for The Dominator was pretty short. While we were queued up, I saw Pam looking at me weirdly.

"What is going on with you? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about earlier. I'm guessing the ride isn't the only reason you wanted to come back here, right?" I heard Pam say with a knowing look on her face.

I stammered a little bit as I looked right at her and eventually sighed. I decided that it was probably better to just come clean, "Yes alright? Geez. What's wrong with a little eye candy?"

I saw Pam shake her head as she replied, "Oh, absolutely nothing, but you know...," I saw Pam pause briefly while she looked around before leaning closer to me.

"I know it's been a while since you and John broke up, so I figured you might be a little, how shall we say, eager? He's totally your type too," I heard Pam softly say to me so no one else in line could easily hear.

I blushed and must have given what was an embarrassing smile. I already heard Pam claiming victory about how she was right and I interrupted her by slapping her arm while saying, "Oh shut up. It's not like I'm desperate or anything."

"Uh huh, sure Bella. I read ya, loud and clear," I saw Pam nod and gave me an obvious wink.

I was trying to play it off cool in front of Pam, but I knew she was right. Damn that confidence and those huge muscles of his. He was getting me more excited than I've been in a long time, and at this point, I was totally willing to give in to my desire.

After we stood in line for a little bit, we soon entered the main station building. As we shuffled closer and closer, I felt my heart beat faster and faster in anticipation of hopefully seeing Alex again. When we got to the front of the line, I asked to get position 1 again. I still didn't see him though. Damn, where was he? It's not like he was easy to miss. By the time Pam and I got to the number one position to wait for the next coaster car, I seriously wondered if I was ever going to see him again.

"Oh hey, I was wondering if you were coming back. Bella, right?" I heard from a deep voice behind me.

I turned and saw Alex walk right up to where I met him the first time. My entire body tensed up and tingled when I looked at him.

"Hey Alex! You know that I couldn't stay away from something fun and exciting. Oh, and I guess the roller coaster is cool too." Yes! I finally nailed it! The last thing I wanted was to appear awkward and foolish in front of him again, so I thought about what I could say to him the whole time we were in line.

"Well, I always aim to please, if given the opportunity," he said and gave me another one of his sly winks.

While I was lost in space and time looking at Alex, I finally saw Pam out of the corner of my eye as she looked at me, then at Alex, then back at me.

"Okay, so I think this is my cue to exit stage left. Right Bella? Yes? Ok, see you after the ride!" I heard Pam say while she turned around and quickly headed for the exit.

"I take it she isn't one for roller coasters since she keeps bailing at the last minute and all," I heard Alex say as he watched her leave.

"Yep, this is her first time in an amusement park actually. Our friend group kinda split up so everyone could go on our favorite rides again. I chose to come back here and Pam wanted to tag along. But she made it clear she didn't have the confidence to go all the way. Unlike me," I smiled while looking at him coyly.

As my words still hung in the air, I silently reprimanded myself. What was wrong with me? I was supposed to just be flirting, not acting like a slut.

"Gotcha, gotcha. Makes sense to me. So you said earlier that you didn't come back just for the coaster?"

"Oh, I..." I started in reply before I quickly realized the twinkle in his eye and the mischievous smile on his face. That sly bastard, he tried to get me to play my entire hand early.

Before I could figure out a perfect response back, a coaster car thundered into the station and I once again saw Alex leap over to help clear the car. It wasn't long before he waved me over to take the now open seat. As I sat down, memories of how Alex looked at me while I was exposed and helpless in the harness flooded back to me and made me feel incredibly hot inside.

Almost without thinking, I moved my hands to my thighs and pulled the bottom of my shorts up higher on my legs, making sure to expose as much of my toned legs as possible. They were so high up, I might as well have been wearing a denim thong. After I finished with my shorts, I moved my hands up to pull down my tank-top a little bit so it rested right above my bra, exposing my nicely tanned globes.