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“I’m so sorry, yo!” Beanie said. “But that was fucking cute.”
“It was pretty fuckin’ adorable,” Hightail said.
“I hate you both,” Kalina said.
“You shouldn’t say things like that when I’m about to hold your life in my hands,” Hightail said.
“In that case, I love you,” Kalina said.
“And I want to have your babies,” Rafe joked.
“Cool,” Hightail said. “You’re in good hands.”
Hightail and Beanie both went to work hooking harnesses up to Kalina and Rafe. They stood facing each other, trying not to laugh, as the guys fitted vests over their shoulders and clamped things and clicked other things and wrapped this and pulled on that. Finally, they were ready to go. As instructed, they shimmied their way toward the edge of the platform. Hightail lowered the railing and the wind seemed to kick up stronger at that moment. Beanie held a thumbs up to let them know they were good to go when ready.
Kalina looked up into Rafe’s face once more and breathed deeply. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this. She tore her gaze away from Rafe and peered down over the edge. At the opposite end of the party below, it was all darkness. She could see the ocean out there in the distance, her home, and from so high up it looked like a pool of blackness. Below her, the scorched earth looked much the same. Lights from the steel structure lit up the ground so they’d be able to see it coming their way as they careened toward it.
“Ready?” Rafe asked, bringing her attention back to him.
“No,” she said. “But yes.”
“Want to count to three?” he asked.
“You do it,” she said, afraid that if she counted, she’d stop after two and never make it to the next digit.
Wind blasted Rafe’s hair to the left and he squinted to keep it from his eyes. Like a photographer facing a model at a photo shoot, she snapped a mental picture and tucked it away for later, wanting to remember how perfect he looked right then.
“One…” Rafe said.
A lump formed in her throat.
“Two…”
“Oh God,” she said.
An icy finger stroked the inside of her chest as chills covered her entire body. She couldn’t believe she was about to…
“Three,” he announced and leaned to his left, her right, and they went over the ledge.
A scream sounded off from somewhere within her body, one that must have formed at the tips of her toes because the force at which it jetted up through her body made it rip through her throat. She clutched Rafe tightly and held on for dear life. The fall must have taken no more than a couple of seconds, but time seemed to freeze. She saw such joy mixed with terror on his face that she laughed internally and promised herself she’d relive this moment again and again. She would never forget the sinking feeling, the weightlessness, the inability to prevent herself from falling completely…toward the ground…and toward love.
The cord reached its end and stretched, allowing them to fall a little further before it jerked them back and sent them catapulting up into the air where they laughed and screamed some more before bouncing a few times and finally coming to a stop.
She was aware that her hair was gripped by gravity and dangling toward the ground. She knew she must look a fright with all the blood rushing to her head. She was sure she looked as funny as he did, but she didn’t care. Neither did he, it seemed, as he held her head firmly in his hand and pulled her face to his, locking his lips against hers. Her mouth opened for him and their tongues intertwined, meeting for the first time and relishing in the moment they’d been waiting for. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest and seek out his. It pounded so hard and so fast and she kissed him to the same beat, wishing he’d never remove his lips from hers.
Her first date with Rafe was sweet, it was sexy, and it was perfect.
Chapter 13 - Sylvia
Her first night on the island was so surreal. She’d partied with a group of sharks, watched them fight a group of other sharks, and then made out with a great white shark.
Sharks…
Sharks…
Sharks…
Her mind was reeling when Sylvia woke up the next morning. She wasn’t even sure she’d ever gone to sleep. Faith had offered to spend the night with Kalina, so Sylvia would have a place to sleep, but she’d spent the entire time looking out the slotted window blinds, thinking about Coby out there somewhere in the ocean, sad, seething, and seeking revenge.
