She laces our fingers and tugs my hand gently. I follow her on a dirt path flanked by trees. Minutes later, we spill out into a small clearing with a view of the Saco River ahead of us. I’ve never been here before.
Beside me, Grace literally vibrates with energy the closer we get, increasing her pace, so I have to lengthen my strides to keep up with her.
We stop just as a group of guys our age are leaving, their hair and clothing wet. I lean forward, eyeing the water below, then glance at Grace. Her hands grip a rope I hadn’t noticed before, and she’s wearing a wide grin on her face. She kicks off her shoes and shakes her arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Rope swinging.”
I suck in a deep breath, trying to slow my panicking heart. “Wait, it’s almost a thirty-foot drop to the water. And you’re not dressed for swimming.”
She laughs, the sound reminding me of the beginning of spring. “It’s not that high. I’ve done this before. But we could walk farther down this trail and jump off a twenty-foot cliff if you prefer.” She adds the latter in a teasing voice.
“God, no.” I shudder. “What kind of person jumps off a cliff for fun?”
She winks at me. “You have no idea what you’ve been missing.”
She’s crazy.
But she’s also kind of awesome.
I watch anxiously as Grace tightens her hold around the rope with both hands. She looks over her shoulder at me, grinning wide, then looks back into the shimmering water below. She sprints forward, her bare feet gaining momentum as she nears the edge of the cliff. Then she throws her full weight into the jump, the rope swinging with her body. When she’s about thirty feet above the water, she lets go and does a backflip before her body disappears beneath the surface of the water.
Leaning my shoulder on the nearest tree, I watch, hypnotized and slightly light-headed as she repeats the process over and over. Eventually, she stands in front of me, water still dripping down her body and—
“Come on, Sol. Your turn.” She nudges my shoulder with her hand, pointing at the rope.
But my legs seem to have lost the ability to move. I watch her as she squeezes the water from one braid, then the second. She looks really young without makeup. So beautiful.
My eyes veer down, and I groan inwardly. Her white T-shirt is plastered against her body, accentuating the outline of her purple bra. The exposed skin of her midriff looks so soft, my fingers itch to touch it. Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I drop my eyes to her mid-thigh denim shorts, checking out her amazing legs.
Christ, I can’t stop staring at her. My dick seems to have forgotten the little promise I made to myself, and he’s suddenly very interested in being more than friends.
She coughs, and my head snaps up. The look she gives me makes it clear I wasn’t subtle at all. She chooses not to comment on it, thank God. “So? Will you try it?”
I clear my throat to get rid of the tightness holding my voice captive. “No way am I dropping into that river.”
“Oh, come on. It’s fun! Wait, can you swim?”
“Like a fish.” I turn away and eye the long drop down, shuddering. I don’t mind heights, really. But plunging into that water . . . into the unknown—
“Do you want me to jump in too? Together, I mean?”
The thought of my body pressed against hers makes my breath stall. God, I want to jump her.
Uh, I mean, with her.
Jump with her.
“I’d probably crush you once we landed in the water.”
She snorts. “Yeah, you would, you big giant.”
I clutch my chest, pretending to be wounded by her words. “Way to go crushing my fragile ego, Grace.”
This time, her shoulders shake in laughter, but I can’t see her eyes or her mouth because she’s staring at the ground, kicking dust with her foot.
“Fine. I’ll do it.” I give in just so I can see those stunning eyes leveled on me. “But if I die, I’ll come back to haunt you.”
All of a sudden, she leaps up my body and hugs me, arms and legs wrapped around me. Her entire front is plastered to mine. “You’re going to love it!”
My body fires to life, and my brain’s yelling, “Oh my God. Her tits are just so round and soft against my chest. She smells like water and vanilla waffles.”
And dear God. I’m hard again.
I angle my hips to the side and wrap my arms around her, never wanting to let go. She gasps when I tighten my arms, burrowing her tiny body deeper into mine. My nose automatically presses into her hair, breathing her in.
She shivers. Goosebumps spread on her arms as she pulls back and grins. She plants her lips on my cheek in a noisy kiss. “Go get it, tiger.” Her legs uncoil from my waist, and I bend my knees slightly, setting her on the dusty ground. She’s staring at my chest now with a horrified look on her face. I glance down at my shirt and see a wet spot there.
“Uh, sorry. W-water from the river.” She licks her lips, still avoiding meeting my gaze.
“If you say so,” I tease her.
She buries her face into her hands and mutters, “Oh my God, Sol!”
Knowing she’ll get more embarrassed if I laugh, I press my lips tight to stop myself from saying anything else. She’s seriously the cutest chick ever. Two weeks ago, I would’ve never imagined I’d be here with her, laughing and watching her get flustered.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” I say before I lose my bravado. I kick off my shoes, then grab the hem of my T-shirt and pull it over my head. I stretch my arms while eyeing the long drop to the water below, and my heart beats faster.
“Having second thoughts?” Grace asks. My gaze cuts to her, and I catch her taking me in with her lips parted. My muscles flex in response as if she’s actually touching me. When she notices me staring back, she rubs her hands over her cheeks and averts her gaze and mutters. “Okay, let’s see how brave you are.”
I stride forward and grab the rope, trying to shake off the shiver her intense perusal caused. I could easily get addicted to this feeling.
Within seconds, I’m taking deep breaths to calm my nerves. Then I sprint forward like I’ve seen Grace do multiple times, my heart racing and blood roaring in my ears. I’m definitely going to die while trying to impress Grace with my non-existent rope swinging skills.
I kick off the cliff, and then my feet are in the air, and I’m wondering why the hell I agreed to do this.
But as the adrenaline starts rushing through my system, the rope swings me back toward the tree line, and there’s this moment where I feel invincible, free—until I hear Grace yelling for me to let go of the rope.
And I let go, close my eyes, and pray feverishly.
My feet hit the water first, then the rest of my body joins. Then silence. My arms start slicing through the water, and within moments, I’m at the surface, breathing hard. I glance up at the trees and see Grace jumping up and down while clapping her hands.
I swim to the shore and return to her side, grinning wide.
“You did amazing!” she gushes, hugging my waist as soon as I’m within arm’s reach. “Wasn’t that fun?”
My face finds the crook of her neck, hugging her back, smelling her hair. “It was kind of fun.”
She giggles and steps back, hooking her arm around mine. “Want to try again?”