Aran groaned and dropped onto a flat rock, tipping his face to the sky. I followed slowly and sank into the grass beside him. He glanced at Will, and I saw the look pass between them.
“What now?” Will asked, exhaling like he already regretted asking. Aran was staring at the cliff’s edge.
“Nothing. You probably wouldn’t dare anyway.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Dare what?”
“Jump.” Aran tilted his head toward the drop. “From there.”
“Seriously? Are we ten again?”
“No. Ten-year-old you was way less boring,” Aran said with a grin. “At least he knew how to have fun.”
Will scoffed. “Yeah, and ten-year-old me also almost drowned. Remember? You were there. And it was your fault.”
Aran didn’t blink. Didn’t even flinch. Just kept going like Will hadn’t spoken at all.
“You know what? I think she’d do it.” He cocked his head toward me, that familiar smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “She probably has more balls than you.”
“We can’t just go swimming,” Will said, exasperated. “What if someone shows up?”
Aran spread his arms wide, gesturing to the vast, silent world around us. “There’s no one out here.” His voice was all mock-soothing now. “Just grass, sky, and us. And even if someonedidshow up…” He pointed at me again, smug. “We’ve got her. She incinerated a man. A man who was about to kill you, by the way.” He leaned back on his elbows, completely unbothered. “I think we’re good.”
“Fine,” Will said, nudging a small rock with his boot until it tumbled into the pool of water. “I’ll do it. If she does.”
“Wait, what?” I blinked at him. “Are you serious? Cliff diving? Now?”
The roar of the waterfall filled the air, mist curling around us like breath. I tilted my head back, eyes tracing the cliff above. The ledge jutted out high over the water, sharp and jagged.
“Come on. It’ll be fun. Ineedfun.” Aran pleaded.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe something stupid and reckless was exactly what we needed.
“Fine,” I said.
Aran whooped, throwing his arms in the air like he’d just won. “That’s what I’m talking about,” he crowed. Then he turned toward Will, grinning like a menace. “See, Will? Way more balls than you.”
“It’s crazy,” I said under my breath.
“Exactly,” Aran called over his shoulder, already tugging off his shirt as he started up the slope toward the cliff. “It’s perfect.”
I regretted my decision the moment my feet reached the cliff’s edge. My stomach dropped and I stepped back, heart pounding, staring down at the dark pool below.
It didn’t look like fun.
It looked like a grave.
And all I could think about was falling.
Will stepped beside me, his hand brushed mine. The panic was still there, rising in my throat, but his smile cut through it. He lifted his hand and held it out. Palm open.
“Together?”
I stared at it. At him. At those impossibly blue eyes. Before I could overthink it, I reached out and closed my fingers around his.
“Together.” I said.
