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“You did it!” he says. “I knew you would.”
“Thanks, man. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Huxley goes to release Mack, but Mack doesn’t let go, and Huxley laughs and hugs him again. My throat tightens, and I press my fingers to my mouth.
Our group of friends is pretty close-knit. Huxley and Victoria took the same courses at university, and decided early on that they were going to run a business together, even though it took them a few years to get there. When they were setting it up, we all did what we could to help, but Titus probably worked the hardest as his father is a politician and has a lot of connections in the Auckland business community, and Titus worked his socks off to introduce them to Huxley and get them to visit the club. And of course I’ve known them all since I was nineteen, and I’m as close to them as I am to my own siblings.
But Huxley and Mack have always been the best of friends. Huxley is Mack’s wingman, his confidante, the Robin to Mack’s Batman, although he’d probably say it was the other way around. The two of them know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and they’ve helped each other through all the ups and downs that life brings. Seeing Mack now, so thrilled for his friend, makes tears prick my eyes.
“Jesus, you two,” I say, “are you trying to make me cry?”
They break apart with a laugh. Jamie comes up with a bottle of water, and Huxley unscrews the cap and has a few mouthfuls. “Oh, that’s better.”
“Did you really throw up?” I ask.
“Yep,” he says cheerfully. “Legs like jelly. I’ve never been so fucking scared. I tell you, if I ever talk about doing anything like this again, shoot me.”
“The assistant said he’d never seen anyone turn the color you did,” Mack says. “You went from a whiter shade of pale to the color of that sign.” He points to a sign over a shop—it’s lime green.
I giggle. “And yet you still went ahead and did it.”
“Mack shared a good technique,” he reveals.
I raise my eyebrows. “What was that?”
“Something private,” Mack says, and Huxley grins.
I glance at Mack and Jamie. “Do you think you could give us a minute?”
“We’ll get us all a coffee,” Mack says, and he and Jamie head across to the nearby café.
Huxley watches them go, then looks back at me with a smile.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“I think my soul has finally caught up with my body.”
I chuckle. “You have a bit more color in your cheeks, anyway.”
He gives a rueful smile and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m so glad it’s over. I still can’t believe it.” He looks at the landing area and shakes his head.
“What was the technique?” I tease. “I’m guessing it had something to do with thinking about my boobs.”
He smiles. “Mack told me to think about you. About ruffling up your hair and smudging your lipstick.”
“Seriously?”
“He knows how to incentivize me.” His gaze is warm.
I take a deep breath. “And now I suppose I have to follow through with the bet. Mack didn’t quite manage to make me sign a contract, but it was as near as dammit. He told me he wouldn’t speak to me again if I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain.” I smile.
He doesn’t return it, and studies me thoughtfully. He’s wearing jeans and Converses, and a blue polo shirt that I’m pretty sure I bought him for his birthday last year. He’s so incredibly gorgeous. And the way his biceps stretching the sleeves of his top makes me quiver. How come he’s even more sexy now than he was at nineteen? It makes all this so much more complicated.
“Forget Mack,” he says eventually, putting his hands on his hips exactly the way Mack did about twenty minutes ago when he berated me. “I appreciate his help, but I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I don’t force women to sleep with me.”
My face flushes. “I know.”
“And I don’t want to have to draw up a contract to get you in my bed. I did that—” And he points up at the platform—“one hundred percent for you. I threw myself off a building because I needed to make you understand how I feel about you. It’s called a grand gesture. And if it doesn’t convince you to give me a chance, then, well, I’ll have to deal with the fact that we’re just not meant to be, I guess, even though that will be harder than doing the jump.” He looks up at the platform, then back at me. “Probably.”
