When she realized I wasn’t about to kiss her, she whispered, “What are we doing?”
“Dancing,” I whispered back, as if telling secrets in a room full of people.
“Oh, yeah? What music are we dancing to?”
“You don’t hear it?” I knew she wouldn’t, because unless you make yourself aware of it, it wasn’t noticeable. Taking the lead, I began to sway our bodies to the beat of the dripping water. The roar of it rushing past us, cascading over the rocks. The crash of it falling into the lagoon below. The hums and groans and howls of the white noise ricocheting off the stones surrounding us, the random dimensions adding depth to each echo before it wrapped around us and trapped us in its rhythm.
Dropping her gaze and lowering her chin, she pressed her cheek against my chest.
Without warning, static filled my ears, replacing the sounds of the water we swayed to. Electricity danced over my skin; the outer edges of my sight dimmed. And a calmness settled over me. My chest became light, my breathing effortless, and as if it were possible, every muscle completely uncoiled, softened, went into a state of rest as if falling asleep. It was as though I wasn’t in charge of my body yet remained in complete control of everything.
Like I was attached to strings, and I was the puppeteer.
I stepped into her, making her match each move in the opposite direction. We didn’t stop until I had her back against the wall of water. After gripping her wrists and dragging her arms away from my neck, I once again linked our fingers together and held them out next to her head, against the back of the waterfall. Cold splatter decorated my arms while I held her in place, trapped between me and the sheet of liquid glass. Her body softened when I lowered my face to hers, and there was no mistaking the moan enveloped in a gasp that came from her.
There wasn’t a force on Earth strong enough to hold me back.
No amount of restraint could’ve kept me from her any longer.
I released her hands and cradled her face. In an instant, my mouth covered hers. Kissing Kenny was unlike anything else. Indescribable. The warmth and softness of her lips. The way her tongue met mine. How she gripped the front of my shirt and deepened our connection, and the short intakes of air through her nose. Before I knew it, I had my arms wrapped around her, holding her to me, breathing her in.
She dropped her head and broke the kiss, leaving me lightheaded and hard as steel. With her forehead resting against my prickly chin, waves of heated, panting air hit my neck, which only added to the inferno building within me.
“You’ve got to stop kissing me like that.” Her breathless words were laden with desire she couldn’t hide.
“Why, does it bother you? Do you want me to stop?” My heart pounded against my ribcage like a drum in a parade as I waited for her response.
Instead of pulling away like I assumed she would, she pulled me into her. With her fingers twisted in the front of my white T-shirt, she dragged me closer until her lips found my neck, where she peppered kisses until her mouth reached mine again. That’s when she wrapped her arms around my torso and held me to her.
“We need to hurry up and jump,” she whispered against my lips with her eyes tightly closed. “Before I climb you like a tree.” If it hadn’t been for the lilt of laughter at the end, I would’ve taken her seriously and laid her out to have my way with her.
Instead, we separated, still facing one another. “You sure you’re ready?”
She twisted her lips to the side and squinted her eyes. “No, but yes.”
“We don’t have to jump right now. We could wait a bit longer.”
With a deep inhale—one I wasn’t sure she’d ever release—she moved to stand at my side and grabbed my hand. “Nope. For both of our sakes, we need to jump now.”
I didn’t want this to end, but Kenny was right. If we stayed behind, even for a minute, we’d find ourselves in a situation that would be very uncomfortable on a rock. “Okay, on the count of three…”
Chapter Nine
Kenny
“Wait, wait, wait,” I shouted and took one step back. “As in…one, two, jump? Or we jump after three?” This was pertinent information to have before leaping off a rock to my potential death.
Drew laughed and shook his head, his shoulders jumping as he tried to contain his amusement. “Whichever one you want, Kenny. You pick.”
“All right…one, two, jump.” I hesitantly stepped forward and readied myself again. “One—”
“Wait.” This time, Drew was the one pulling back. “I forgot to tell you that, once you hit the water, let the current weaken before swimming to the top. And make sure to swim outward, away from the falls. Got it?”
“Anything else you forgot to tell me?”
“No,” he said on a chuckle.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. I needed a second to run through his instructions in my head so I wouldn’t forget. But that only seemed to fuel more questions. “What about my shoes?”
He glanced down at my red Converse Shoreline Slips. “What about them?”
“Won’t they make it hard to swim? Especially if I’m caught in a riptide?”
“There aren’t any riptides, Kenny, but if you’re worried, take them off and hold on to them.” He held up one finger in front of my face. “But don’t do that until after you land. Otherwise, you’ll lose them.”
When he prepared to jump again, I tugged on his arm. “What about my clothes?”
He eyed me up and down and said, “You’re wearing athletic shorts and a tank top over a bathing suit. I’m pretty sure getting wet won’t hurt them.”
“I know, but won’t it make it harder to swim?”
This time, Drew didn’t even try to hide his amusement and just barked out deep, throaty laughter that echoed all around me. “Have you ever been swimming before, Kenny? Like, do you even know how?”
“Of course.”
“Then why do you keep assuming things will make it harder?”
I shrugged, unsure where I’d heard it. Probably the same person who told me I had to wait thirty minutes after eating before going swimming, otherwise I’d drown and die. I should remember to thank my mom for that when I called her later.
“Are you ready now? You’re the one who said you didn’t want to wait, yet you’re stalling.”
He was right…I was the one who had suggested we jump now rather than wait. But that was when his warm body was pressed against mine, and I could feel his excitement against my lower belly. We both needed a cold shower to keep from doing something reckless. However, now that I’d calmed down and stood in front of a waterfall I couldn’t see through—couldn’t see how far I had to go until dying upon impact—I began to think that both of my options were reckless at this point. I just had to choose the lesser of two evils.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I stepped forward and took a deep breath to ease the pressure in my chest. My heart thundered against my sternum, making my bones feel bruised and battered. And my whole body shook like a pebble near the edge of an earthquake.