8. Jumping In
8
JUMPING IN
L ux
“You want to do it, I know you do,” Jasmine’s voice startled me, almost making me lose my footing on the edge of the cliff. I whirled to face her, my heart pounding, and placed my hand over it to try and steady its uneasy beats.
“Jesus, don’t do that,” I laughed.
She smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but I’m right—aren’t I? You want to jump.”
I bit my lip, looking back over the edge of the cliff. Talia and Theo were still down there, but they had swum towards Baz and Rhiannon’s canoe. Theo’s arms rested on the edge of the canoe while Talia floated on her back.
“I mean, a little bit.”
“What’s holding you back?” Jasmine cocked her head, her eyes daring me.
“The height,” I pointed out, arching a brow. Jasmine knew I wasn’t a fan of heights.
“So, close your eyes!” she grinned. “I’ll jump with you, we’ll hold hands the whole way down if you want.”
“I don’t know…” my heart still hadn’t settled, but the urge to let go and do something reckless was growing.
“Think of it as crossing something off your bucket list of things you’ve never done before.” Jasmine challenged me. She knew I had several lists: things I wanted to do, things I’d never done. Although I’d never thought to add “jump off a cliff” to the list, it would be fun to do so.
“Alright, fine.”
“Really?” Jasmine seemed surprised, her eyes brightening.
“I’ll jump—if you tell me what’s going on with you and Desmond,” I tilted my chin towards the fire pit where Desmond had joined Kai and Zoey. He was immersed in conversation with them, his back to us, and couldn’t hear us.
Jasmine glanced over her shoulder, her brow furrowing as she considered my wager. “Fine, deal. Now, do you want to run and jump, or just jump?” She grinned like she didn’t think I would go through with it.
“Run and jump.” My heart sped up at the prospect, but for some reason, I felt empowered to do it.
Jasmine took my hand and we walked back several feet. My palm started to sweat, but Jasmine didn’t seem to care.
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be…” I swallowed hard, already regretting my decision. Still, it felt too late to turn back now.
She squeezed my hand in comfort. “You’ve got this. You’re going to love it, trust me. It feels so freeing.”
I nodded, unable to say another word, and we started running toward the edge of the cliff.
The thing about me was, once I set my mind to doing something, I did it. Even if it terrified me. And I was terrified. My heart was pounding as we launched ourselves off the edge of the cliff.
For a second, we really were weightless.
For a suspended moment in time, all the worries of my life, all the pain my sister caused, left me.
Jasmine let out a holler of elation, and I closed my eyes tight, focusing on the feeling of the wind whipping through my hair, rather than the water’s surface getting closer and closer.
I couldn’t even scream, not in fear or elation. It was like my voice was trapped in my throat, the rush of the fall exploding in my ear drums. It was over before I knew it, the whole thing taking less than thirty seconds before my feet hit the cool water and I was submerged completely.
Theo
“She’s doing it!” Talia said gleefully, “Lux is jumping.”
Rhiannon grinned, picking up her camera and aiming it at the cliff. I turned to watch, catching Lux and Jasmine mid-jump. They were holding hands, Lux’s long hair flowing out behind her in the breeze. I couldn’t make out their expressions from where we were, but I could hear Jasmine’s excited hollers.
They disappeared underwater, and a moment later their heads broke the surface. I could hear Lux’s laughter mixing with Jasmine’s as they high-fived each other.
“You did it! I knew you could!” Jasmine cheered, her voice carrying across the water as they swam toward the rocks. I started swimming to join them, lured in by the elation rolling off the two of them.
They had already climbed out by the time I reached the rock, and Lux was ringing out her hair, a triumphant smile making her glow from within.
“See? That wasn’t so bad, huh?” I grinned, pulling myself up onto the rock. I couldn’t help but notice the way Lux’s eyes lingered on my forearms. She drew in her bottom lip, her eyes sparking with the same desire thrumming in me.
Jasmine gently elbowed her, and Lux shook her head, her cheeks burning.
“It was okay,” she managed.
“Planning on doing it again?” Talia asked. She’d swum up behind me. “I’ll hold your hand this time.”
Lux laughed lightly, tucking a strand of wayward hair behind her ear. “I might later. I think I need to hydrate and rest a little. My legs feel funny,” she admitted.
“We should all eat something,” Jasmine said. “I bet Desmond and Zoey have food ready up there.”
“Let’s go see what mom and pop made for us,” Talia grinned. The four of us made our trek back up the cliff. True to Jasmine’s prediction, Desmond and Zoey had prepared a bit of a meal for us—hotdogs with buns. No condiments, they were back at the campsite, but it hit the spot.
We sat around the makeshift fire, drinking bottles of water and eating and talking about life. Lux was quiet, listening, but she looked more relaxed than she had when she first showed up. The tension was gone from her shoulders, and her expression was peaceful as she leaned her head back, basking in the sunshine.
Jasmine caught my eye, and arched a knowing brow, a secretive smile playing on her lips. I grinned and shook my head, rolling my eyes. But her words from last night crept back into my mind.
“I give you my permission to ravage her and show her what multiple orgasms are all about, because I’m not all that sure she’s had that experience before.”
I took a swig of water, trying to push her words out of my mind and ignore the pull I felt to do that.
After we all finished eating, we cleaned up and put the fire out using Moose’s collapsible water bowl. We stuck around a while longer to make sure the fire didn’t start again.
“Will we be coming back here?” Lux asked, eyeing the edge of the cliff like she was debating on jumping again. Kai, Zoey, Baz and Rhiannon had already started walking down the pathway with Moose, leaving the rest of us at the top of the cliff. I’d planned on jumping once more, so did Talia. Desmond was waiting to make sure everyone got back down safely…or maybe he was waiting for Jasmine.
“It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so we’ll stick around the campsite,” Jasmine answered. “If you want to jump again, I’d do it now, who knows if we’ll be back.”
Lux nodded, considering Jasmine’s words.
“It’s the fastest way down,” Talia remarked, launching herself over the edge of the cliff with an excited yip.
Lux took a breath, stealing herself. “Alright, one more time. Just to say I did it twice.” She grinned at Jasmine.
Jasmine was already pulling her cellphone out of her bag. “I’ll record it, so you’ve got proof,” she smiled back.
“I don’t want to do it alone,” Lux said, her brows creasing with concern.
“Theo, want to jump with her?” Jasmine asked, arching a brow at me.
“I could if you want me to, Lux.”
Lux looked at me, biting on her lower lip. “I guess you’re a safe option to jump with, what with your diploma in nature.”
I chuckled. “I don’t have a diploma in nature, but close enough.” I held my hand out to her, and I was surprised when she took it. Jasmine was recording, but Lux didn’t pay a lick of attention to Jasmine, her eyes were on our connected hands. “Ready?” I asked, hearing how affected I was by her in my own voice.
“Yes,” she said, looking at me. Her eyes sparkled like the ancient crystalline rocks of the exposed Precambrian rock around us.
We ran towards the cliff and jumped, the air rushing loud in my ears and around us as we fell. We kept holding hands, even when we hit the water and swam back up to the surface. I came up first, seconds before Lux re-emerged, water cascading down her face. We treaded in place, still holding hands.
Lux let go so she could push her wet hair out of her eyes. She was breathing heavily, like she was trying to catch her breath, her eyes finding mine as we coasted closer together.
“You alright?” I asked, and she nodded, a smile gracing her lips.
“It was more fun this time, less scary,” she admitted.
“You knew you’d be okay,” I grinned. “It gets easier every time. Soon, you’ll be an expert.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” she laughed. But despite her doubt, she seemed to bloom.
“I don’t.” I said, sincerely. For a moment, she stared unblinking at me. Those gorgeous eyes full of endless possibilities. We were so close to one another now, a mere inch separating us. All I had to do was move my head forward a little more, and I could capture her lips with mine.
“You guys coming?!” Talia called out. She’d already untied her kayak and was waiting for the rest of us with Baz and Rhiannon in their canoe and Kai and Zoey in theirs. The five of them wore similar grins, like they’d been watching us and were entertained by what they saw.
Lux blushed, swimming away. I shot an unimpressed look at Talia and then swam after her.
By the time we reached the kayaks and canoes, Desmond and Jasmine were headed down the trail. I climbed out first, then turned to find Lux struggling a little to pull herself out of the water. “My whole body feels like Jello,” she giggled. I held out my hand, but she managed to pull herself up without taking it.
Then she lost her footing, tripping a little into me, a surprise sound escaped her lips when my arms went around her to catch her at the same time her hand splayed out across my chest.
“If you wanted to touch each other, you could have done so without the dramatics,” Talia teased from her kayak. Lux’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t immediately pull away. Her hand flexed over my chest.
“Shut up, Tal,” I said, not breaking eye contact with Lux. She felt right in my arms, like she belonged there, and having her hands on me was enough to stun me.
“What’s going on here?” Jasmine asked with an amused lilt. Lux pulled away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks still pink with embarrassment.
“I tripped,” she shrugged, reaching for her bag that Jasmine had carried down for her.
“Hmm,” Jasmine said thoughtfully, glancing between the two of us with that secretive look on her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lux insisted as Desmond set our stuff down and hopped into the water. He swam over to where we’d tied off our kayaks and Jasmine’s canoe, grabbed the rope, and swam back over to the ledge. He untied our kayaks and handed me the rope to Jasmine’s canoe so I could hold it in place for the girls to climb in.
Lux’s gaze went to me briefly, the smallest of smiles gracing her lips before she climbed into the front of the canoe and set her bag down in between her legs.
Jasmine didn’t really need my assistance, but I held the rope anyway until she was settled. Then I tossed the rope into the canoe with them. Jasmine used her paddle to push away from the rock.