42

“I don’t know.” I smile lightly. “Did they? You’re free now. You don’t have to play their games anymore, or walk around with the weight of your father’s legacy on your shoulders. You can live your life however you want to now.”

He grins. “I can finally take you to that concert, that band I was telling you about. There’s nothing to worry about anymore but normal stuff like school and college. And us.”

“The concert…sure.” I laugh. “But also Ritzville. The Ferris wheel at Ritzville.”

“What?” He smirks and wrinkles his brow.

“It’s a thing for me.” I shrug. “Just promise me we’ll go.”

“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” he says before pulling my lips to his.

“I don’t know about where I want to go…but I know I need to go home.” I look at the time on my phone. “My parents are going to be worried sick…again.”

He nods and looks at me intently. “I think it’s time to tell them everything, Ophelia.”

I have always known that anyone outside of Jameson would never be able to understand the full