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"I got this, Parker," I say, adjusting the straps on my shoulders. "Go and put your helmet on."
"All right." He strides over to his seat and I unclasp my necklace because both Thomas and Angela warned me at least twice to take off all jewelry.
Crap. The moon-shaped pendant slides off the necklace and lands on the floor with a thump, rolling under the seats. I crawl on all fours, peeking under the chairs and locate it a few seconds later, not far from Parker's foot.
I freeze in the act of making a grab for it when I hear Ralph saying in a low voice, "Who's the new chick?"
"James's girl," Parker replies.
"Christ, he's gonna start bringing them to our group activities?"
"Shut it," Parker hisses.
Ralph says something I don't understand
. But I do catch Parker's angry retort. "It's his plane. He can bring whoever he wants."
I smuggle back the pendant without either of them seeing me and return to my seat, smiling. I should be mad, but I'm flattered instead.
I'm the first woman he brought to the group.
"You look dashing," James says, reappearing from the cockpit.
"You're not so bad yourself," I say, but unlike him, I really mean it. Somehow, he manages to look hot even in the ridiculous suit.
"Come here." He stands behind me and sets up the belts and straps that connect us with sure hands as everyone comes to the front. "Serena and I will jump first," he announces and the lightness in my chest spreads to my stomach.
There's a metal bar just above the door that goes all the way to the front seats. James and I position ourselves next to the door and grab the bar, the rest lining up behind us.
"Ready?" he calls.
I barely nod when the door opens and James shoves me forward. In the blissful second between the first rush of cold air and my feet leaving the floor of the plane, I recognize what the lightness in my chest means.
Adrenaline. And freedom, in its purest form.
There is nothing except the cold air filling my lungs… my mind… everything… in the free fall. My body is as light as a feather, as quick as a bullet. I hurtle down fast, fast, fast, the clouds appearing in a swirl around me, then disappearing again. A violent pull ends the incredible velocity and starts a smooth descent—James opened the parachute. I gasp involuntarily, as I take my first deep breath.
"You okay?" he screams in my ear.
"Never better," I scream back, my heart still racing so frantically I'm afraid it might jump out of my chest. A twinge of regret weasels itself in—I liked the speed. A lot. But its absence has perks, like being able to finally take in the beauty around me. And it's breathtaking, all of it: the white, porous, unevenly shaped clouds floating around, the unending ocean and the red sun, preparing to sink in the blue waters in the distance, and even the mundane world below us—the highways and the golf club—looks almost perfect from here.
Parker, Thomas, and Ralph float around us, the girls higher. As we descend lower and lower, I find myself wishing we could go even slower.
But we don't, and we land faster than I'd hoped we would, in a rather large patch of sunburned grass right next to the airport. James undoes the connecting belts and straps almost immediately. The first few steps on the solid ground still feel like I’m floating.
"How was it?" James calls. He frees himself from the parachute and unzips his suit a little. We both throw down our helmets at the same time. The conceited smile on his face has an ecstatic air that I know must be apparent on my face as well.
"I loved it," I cry, unable to refrain myself from jumping up and down. "Can we go again?"
"Not today," he says, grinning widely. "It's really dangerous for you to try out new things. You always want more, don't you?"
I blush violently because I know he's not referring only to skydiving.
"Only if it's good," I answer and he bursts out laughing.
He grabs both my hands and pulls me into an embrace. "I was under the impression you found last Saturday more than good."
He entangles his fingers in my hair and pushes me against him for the first real kiss today. Passionate, fierce, almost desperate. It leaves me breathless and wanting more, cursing the suits and where we are.
