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“Which only made you want to do it more.” His chuckle warms my freezing limbs.
Pinching my thumb and forefinger in front of my face, I say, “Maybe a little.”
“Well, you can’t be a Braves fanandbe better than me at climbing. I won’t allow it.”
Damon releases the rock he was clinging to, baring his naked chest to my greedy gaze.
My pulse pounds louder than the falls beside us. “That fragile ego of yours surely couldn’t take it.”
That earns me another one of his rumbling laughs.
“I’ll be with you the whole time,” I say, squeezing his shoulder.
Damon’s gaze lingers on my mouth a second longer before he nods.
He keeps a steady pace behind me until the slope we were hiking spreads out to the smooth rocky top of the falls. To his credit, Damon remains a little gray in the face, but he offers me a weak smile.
“You did it.” I beam up at him.
Water flows in a rush from the river beyond the bend and over the crest of the falls. I can see the pebbled bank of the opposite side where we stand, but it’s far too wide to jump across without being swept away by the current.
Damon places his bare feet in the shallow water beside mine. “Somehow I know the worst is yet to come.”
I follow the streaks and splatters of mud that mark his pecs and abdomen. His dark hair is tousled and devastatingly sexy, but all the pretty words I want to give him freeze on the tip of my tongue.
One large hand raises to my cheek, deliciously warm compared to the cool water.
“You’re really going to make me jump, aren’t you?” he asks.
I bob my head, feeling exposed in a way that should make me fearful.
“Do you remember your first love?” I ask. The spray from the falls tickles my calves as he considers me thoughtfully. “More specifically, do you remember the fall?”
“Yeah. I remember,” Damon says softly.
“It’s a lot like that. Terrifying at first, but then… you take the leap, and before you know it, you’re holding on to that rush with everything you’ve got.”
There’s a moment of silence where we’re merely coexisting, and I decide I don’t need to understand thewhyof what’s brought Damon and I together. More than anything, I just want to enjoy it.
“We’ll have to add philosophical to your ongoing list of amazing qualities,” he teases before peering over the brink.
My nipples harden under my bikini top when his hand moves from my face to the dip of my collarbone. I tip my head back, rising on my tippy-toes to reach his lips.
When he eagerly swoops in to claim mine, I flatten my palm across his chest, halting him just before we connect.
“Point your toes when you jump.” I laugh, spinning toward the rushing water with excitement bubbling through my limbs, and then vault myself off the edge in one big leap.
It happens so fast. My stomach drops as white water engulfs my periphery, and every particle inside me seemingly bursts beneath my skin. I welcome the sensation of raw adrenaline just before my pointed feet break the water’s surface.
The current briefly sucks me under the pounding falls above. Bubbles glide over my legs, hips, and arms as I fight for the surface toward precious air.
I shout when I finally make it above water, lungs expanding and utterly exhilarated. Swishing my arms and legs in a frog-like formation, I swim out from the cascading falls with my hair fanning wildly around me.
The sun warms my face and shoulders, through my skin, and all the way to my bones. I smile, gliding forward effortlessly while reveling in the water’s touch.
“Shit,” I mutter. One glance at my chest shows I’m gloriously topless while my bikini top floats on a tiny wave toward the beach.
I search for Damon as I push myself toward it.
