Harrison and Madison ran up to the balloon tub, hot on our heels.
I was vaguely aware of me and Cade running toward the last station, where a banner right above the edge of the yacht hadTrust Jumppainted in pink letters. A large red ribbon spanned the open space between two railings.
It led straight off the deck.
My excitement to win skidded to an abrupt, screeching halt.
“Wait.” I dug my heels in, pulling Cade to a stop while I blinked at where the railing should be. Only sparkling blue water shone back at us. “Thisis what Dr. Lovejoy meant by a trust jump? I thought it’d be like a trust fall into each other’s arms. Not diving headfirst into shark-infested waters.”
“There aren’t any sharks here,” Cade said calmly, glancing behind us. “It’s safe to jump.”
A fresh rush of adrenaline hit me. I couldn’t swim, and he wanted me to jump into theocean?
Holy moly. A nervous laugh crawled up my throat, and I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Harrison and Madison quickly pop their balloon.
Oh god.
We didn’t have time for me to freak out right now.
Just looking at the drop made my knees knock together, and I clung to Cade’s hand. “Um, I’m gonna need your help. My legs refuse to move.”
It was like my body had some built-in defense mechanism that wouldn’t allow me to do something monumentally stupid.
“I’ve got you.” Cade tugged me closer and lifted me until all I had to do was wrap my legs round his waist and hug his shoulders. “Ready?”
His breath tickled my ear, and my gaze caught on Harrison and Madison running full speed straight toward us.
“Just do it before I throw up!” I cried.
He did it—just jumped straight off the deck with me latched on to him and burying my face in his neck.
I screamed, Cade whooped, and a laugh suspiciously like Mac’s deep one chased us over the ledge.
For a suspended moment, we fell weightlessly through the air before plunging straight into a brick wall of waves and bubbles.
The cold hit first, robbing my lungs of air as we torpedoed deeper in the water. Then the fear came. How deep were we? How far down did it even go?
And what sort of creatures lurked nearby?
I practically strangled Cade in my panic to hold on, which maybe wasn’t the smartest survival choice.
His swimming instincts took over, and he kicked us up to the surface, where his legs treaded water with ease. All I could do was cling to him like a drowned cat, feeling a lot like Whiskey must’ve felt last night as we gasped for air. It took a while for me to loosen my grip, but I pulled far enough back from the safety of Cade’s neck to look at him as he kept us afloat.
He grinned back at me—easily the happiest I’d ever seen him—and I couldn’t blame the whole fake engagement thing for what I did next.
It wasn’t to convince our audience. Or to spin another lie.
I grabbed Cade’s face and planted a big kiss on his lips because I wanted to.
Because it felt good.
Because we’d just jumped into the freaking ocean, and I was giddy with relief that I wasn’t drowning right now.
I was breathless and overwhelmed and so happy that my heart threatened to explode into a million tiny pieces.
In the back of my mind, I knew we had an audience on the yacht and this was all supposed to be an act. But when Cade threw his head back to let out a completely-out-of-character victory shout before pulling me into another long wet kiss, it felt like we were the only two people in the entire ocean.
I eagerly kissed him back, until his arms slipped away to help tread water—prompting me to cling tighter. “Don’t let go!”
