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SIX
OWEN
He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself when he heard Reika calling after him.
Normally, this kind of stunt was really only reserved for him and his packmates to get into trouble. They’d jumped off this bridge dozens of times in their teen years as a way to rile each other up before heading out for patrol.
But now that he was here with Reika, he kind of wanted to see her reaction to it too. Not many women could stomach it, so he was insanely curious.
Getting up to the top of the hill and climbing onto the bridge, he felt it slightly sway underneath him from all the traffic racing by. He’d never been one to be scared of heights, but there was a limit to how much adrenaline his body could handle before he started to get a little dizzy.
Grabbing the side of the support beam, he moved out onto the ledge and looked at the base of the hill. He could see Reika peering up at him and waved to her, barely making out her shouting at him again.
It made him chuckle once more.
As daring as he felt, it was nothing compared to the feeling of holding Reika’s hand in his own. Shaking his head of the thought, Owen stretched his arms over his head and then brought them down to his sides, taking one last breath before leaping off the side of the bridge.
He hit the cold water within seconds, his body plunging into the dark depths. He let the current take him, pushing him forward while he scooped his arms through the water and followed it.
Thankfully, his lungs were used to being put under stress from him and his packmates doing this far more than they should’ve in their youth. Plus, the fact that they ran around the woods all day hunting and protecting their territory.
Down the way from the bridge, Owen finally surfaced, pulling much-needed air into his lungs as he trod water to the embankment. Behind him in the distance, the bridge glowed from the streetlights.
He pulled himself onto the muddy shore and shook himself dry.
There was one thing that he hadn’t accounted for before jumping, and that was the fact that now he was going to be stuck in wet clothes until he could find suitable replacements. On this side of the city, he didn’t have any clothes stashed anywhere. Maybe he’d need to remedy that in the future.
Owen pulled his shirt off and wrung it out along with his pants and shoes … as best as he could, anyway.
It would have to do for now, and anyone that looked at him funny in the street would hopefully think he was a drunk who had fallen into the water or something else unfortunate had happened along the way that wasn’t any cause for concern.
The last thing he needed was for the cops to be called and to be taken in for questioning when his father was expecting him back relatively soon.
Owen craned his neck to look at how far the moon was in the sky and grimaced. He’d need to hurry to the address he’d plugged into Reika’s phone before she got a chance to grab a cab and beat him there. While he’d been walking her to the bridge, he’d come up with a plan that was either going to freak her right out or do the complete opposite.
Hopefully, it was the latter because if not, this was going to be super embarrassing.
Climbing up the embankment to the side of the road, Owen brushed himself as clean as he could get and started jogging.
His plan would’ve been much easier if he’d had the foresight to figure out a cab situation to the inn where he’d told Reika to meet him. But then again, this entire plan had hinged on him being impulsive in the first place, so he couldn't exactly be that mad at himself over it.
It took him exactly twelve minutes to run to the inn and grab himself a room on the ground floor.
Heading in, he kicked off his shoes and immediately stripped out of his wet clothing and dumped it into the sink in the bathroom. He spotted the robe hanging in the closet and pulled it off the hook along with the guest slippers.
He carried them both to the bathroom and shut the door behind him, setting it all on the counter before climbing into the shower and turning it on.
Sand and salty water drizzled off him and down the drain while he washed with the cheap bar of soap. He couldn’t complain, though. It was better than sitting around smelling like the bay.
Finally getting himself all clean, Owen shut off the water and stepped out, toweling himself off quickly. He wrapped the belt around himself and pulled it tightly around his waist. He opened the door and peeked his head out, no sign of Reika.
He glanced at the clock on the opposite wall, seeing that just about twenty minutes had passed since he’d jumped. If she’d actually followed the address he’d left her, she should be arriving sometime soon.
He called room service and then opened the balcony doors leading out to the vacated pool. Finding a couple of nice loungers, he dragged them closer to his room but far enough out for her to see him.
Owen ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back away from his face.
And … now we wait.
