But I guess just walking up a little closer is fine, just to kill time.
We’re at the edge of the pool of water taking pictures until Cassie is satisfied. We start walking back to the car, but instead of going all the way to the parking lot, she makes a turn for the stairs that will take us all the way up to the top of the cliff.
“Cassie,” I say.
“Come on!” she says, stopping just long enough to stick her tongue out at me. “Bet you can’t catch me!” She starts taking the steps two at a time.
“We have to wait for Harper.”
“We’ll go up again when she gets here.”
She takes off up the steps. Where this girl gets her energy from, I have no idea. She’s at least one flight of stairs ahead of me when I start making my way up.
Turns out I’m really out of shape. After about a minute of taking the steps two at a time, trying to keep up with Cassie, I start huffing and puffing. Every now and then, she stops just long enough to make sure I’m following.
I have no idea how long it takes to get up, but eventually we reach the top after what feels like dozens of flights of stairs, though I’m sure the actual number isn’t that impressive.
Cassie beats me, though not by much. We’re both so breathless when we get to the top that we both start laughing, perhaps a little giddy.
I lean on the railing, my heart rate all over the place, the laughter making it harder to catch my breath.
“Beat you,” Cassie says, coming up to whisper in my ear, her own breathing still heavy.
I reach out for her, wrapping my arms around her so she can’t run off again. Maybe Cassie reads it as romantic, but I’m mostly doing it to keep her in one spot.
“We weren’t supposed to come up here without Harper,” I tell her. I mean the words seriously, but my breathlessness doesn’t make it sound that way.
“And what are you going to do about that?” she teases. She arches an eyebrow, shamelessly flirting.
I could kiss her. It could be as simple as leaning down and letting myself have a fun fling while on vacation. She kissed me once already. Wes, I know, would probably be disappointedthat the girl in my arms isn’t Harper, but he doesn’t know the extent to which Harper just doesn’t feel that way for me.
When in Rome, I tell myself.
I let a second or two pass, both of us just staring at each other, our breathing slowing but our heart rates still high. When I close the distance between us, I feel Cassie’s hands come up behind my neck, pulling me closer to her.
When our lips meet, she stretches up to get closer. I loosen my grip on her, but she uses it as an opportunity to kiss me again, deeper. The kiss feels off, like my hands are in the wrong place, or I’m standing wrong. I try to force the thoughts away and just enjoy the kiss.
I feel her smile against my lips, pulling away just enough to look at me.
“Been trying to do that all day,” Cassie murmurs.
I force a smile back at her and lead us to the end of the path to see the waterfall.
It’s even more impressive being level with it, looking down at the water as it crashes to the earth. Dozens of birds are flying below us and landing on the rock faces angled around the waterfall.
We don’t linger too long before turning around and making our way back down. This time we don’t race. That is, until I look up and notice Harper has pulled into the lot. She’s standing at Cassie’s van, knocking at the door.
“Shoot,” I say.
“What?”
“Harper’s waiting for us.” I pick up my speed again, trying to get down the stairs as quickly as possible. I have no idea ifCassie’s following me, or if she’s taking her time to get down. Either way, guilt weighs me, thinking about how we went to the top of the waterfall without Harper.
When I finally get back to the parking lot, Harper’s back in our rental car eating her sandwich for lunch. She doesn’t look up until I open the passenger door and sit down. As soon as I’m sitting, I glance quickly back at the stairs where Cassie is still making her way down, one slow and agonizing step at a time.
I don’t know Cassie well enough at this point to be able to predict her emotions, but I imagine running away to another girl won’t put her in good spirits.
“So you want to just meet up at the airport next time?” Harper asks, so stone-faced I’m not sure if she’s joking or furious.
