AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After that he stuck to smaller venues, too terrified of the same thing happening. While a smaller crowd was intimate, he missed the buzz from hundreds of fans screaming for him, the energy the crowd gave him back was like a shot of heroin to the veins. He missed performing. A lot.
“Together?” Kayleigh asked, peering up at the highest platform.
“No way,” Ben shook his head. He wasn’t even going to try and style out his fear. No way could he get up that high. She was lucky he had gotten as far up these rocks as he had, and that was only because he had let her drag him there.
Kayleigh frowned at him. “You don’t like heights?”
“It’s not the fear of heights, it’s the fear of falling. The weightless, flailing plummet that can only end in pain,” he rasped. Was the air thinner up here? He was struggling to catch a breath all of a sudden.
“Okay, so not the top platform, but what about this one? It’s only gonna be about fifteen feet? That’s not too bad, think about all that cool water ready to catch you,” she soothed, stroking her hand down his arm. She led him towards the edge and he let her, amazed he had even gotten as close as this. It was only because of her. He peeked over and shook his head, dropping her hand and retreating.
“Immediately no.”
He hadn’t meant to be funny but she laughed, the sound bubbling from her and he decided he needed to hear it all the time.
“Just hear me out,” she said, catching his hand once again. “It’s the falling you don’t like but this is falling withpurpose. That’s different, right? This is deciding to fall for the sheer fun of falling. The thrill. The adrenaline rush that comes with being reckless, being arebel. Don’t you crave that? Can’t you hear it calling out to you, begging you?” Her passion emanated from her and at that moment he could swear he did feel it calling to him, that adrenaline rush he was missing by not performing anymore was singing in his blood. Or was it her? Had she snuck her way inside, coursing through him? Her eyes bewitched him, her skin covered in delicious goosebumps he just wanted to lick away. His eyes dropped to her breasts, her nipples hard behind the cherry covered fabric and he forced himself to look away.
“Do you trust me?” she asked, holding out her hand.
He snorted. “Okay,Aladdin.”
She giggled. “I’m being serious! Do you?”
He looked between her outstretched hand and the edge. Really it wasn’t that far at all, he was being ridiculous. But he also wanted that feeling she mentioned, that was the feeling he got when he was on stage, and it had been so long that he craved it, like a part of his soul was missing. He also wanted to please her. He had always been a little bit of a people pleaser but to see that smile on her face and know he put it there? Hell yes.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” she said, echoing his words from earlier.
He stepped towards the edge, took her hand and together, they leapt.
He screamed all the way down.
The rush filled his brain, sent him high and when he resurfaced to find her giggling beside him, he whooped.
“Again!”
*
Chapter 8
“Hang out with me?”
Kayleigh looked up from the dishwasher to find Ben leaning over the bar, smiling at her. That smile she couldn’t stop staring at during their non-date date where he hadn’t kissed her despite all her signals. She could have been wearing a neon sign on her forehead that saidkiss me please, Ben!and he wouldn’t have noticed it.
She knew she should have made the first move, but she didn’t have the guts to go for it. She nearly unleashed Kayleigh 2.0 but then thought that maybe he hadn’t made a move because they worked together and he didn’t want to make things awkward. Either way, she’d had more fun with him than she’d had in what felt like forever.
“Kayleigh?” He interrupted her thoughts.
She nodded to the dishwasher she was nearly finished stacking. “I need to finish this.”
“Okay, after then? It’ll take like two seconds, and I’ve cleaned up everywhere else so we’re done for the night,” he said. Kayleigh glanced around seeing that he was in fact correct: everything was done. Taylor had left earlier. She was doing that more now, taking time back for herself. Kayleigh was really proud of her for that, even if it meant they spent less time together. Although maybe the time apart was helping, Kayleigh noticed she wasn’t pining for the sassy redhead as bad as usual.
“Taylor said we could hang out here tonight,” Ben sing-songed, arching a fuzzy brow and gesturing to the pool table.
“Fine,” she conceded and nodded at the pool table. “Rack ‘em.”
She finished stacking the dishwasher in record time and came out from behind the bar carrying two bottles of beer to find Ben waiting for her, cue in hand.
“I figured you’d want the smaller one, because, ya know, you’re teeny,” he teased.
