Take the Leap

Chapter 8

eight

After the attempted dinner with Brett, jumping off of a bridge didn’t sound so bad. That didn’t mean I was excited to be standing on a bridge over a lake at eight o’clock on a Friday night. I wrapped my arms around my waist and tried to ignore Ava and Liam standing near the edge of the bridge. They were discussing camera angles. With every other word, Ava glanced at me and forced a smile. She’d had to shove me into the car to get me here, so she wasn’t about to let me out of her sight. I was a flight risk with a fear of falling, to quote the queen herself, Taylor Swift.

“Are you ready?” Tripp asked. He stepped beside me and bumped his shoulder against mine.

“Sure. Totally. Definitely ready for all of this.” I swept my arms in front of me as I chewed my lower lip. “But you know, I wouldn’t be opposed to breaking into the trampoline park and doing a few more baby jumps.” Before Seth dragged me to dinner with Brett and Mel, I’d jumped off the mini platform a grand total of five times. I felt like a pro and ready to take on an actual jump. But that was more than forty-eight hours ago, and I’d had plenty of time to imagine the bungee cord snapping in two and sending me to my death in the frigid waters of Percy Priest Lake.

He chuckled. “You’ve got this, Sadie.” A rush of warmth flowed through me at the way his voice softened when he said my name. I shook it off and glanced down at the harness in his hand. It looked only slightly sturdier than the one I’d worn at the park. He’d already stepped into his, but the collective team decided that getting me into the harness would make for great content. I’d tried to argue, but had been sorely outnumbered. As if the humiliation of being terrified of everything wasn’t enough, now everyone would get a front-row seat to watch me get an ultimate wedgie.

“All right, Sadie,” Ava said as she and Liam stepped into the bubble of warmth Tripp had created around us. I shivered. She handed Tripp and me our helmets. Both were equipped with cameras to help capture every angle. “Fair warning, these are already recording. We don’t want to risk missing anything.”

“Unless you want to jump twice,” Liam said with a laugh.

“Nope. Once is already one too many times.”

“We’ve also got a camera attached to the base over there.” He pointed at the base where we’d be launching to our deaths. “And, Tony, the guy who runs this place, is also wearing a camera. Kyle is down at the base of the lake to capture additional on-the-ground footage, and Ava and I have things covered up here.”

It sounded like a lot of cameras, but again, I didn’t want to do this more than once. “Should we have one more on the ground? Didn’t we discuss someone in a boat or something to get another angle?”

“Right,” Liam said and glanced at Ava, who offered a reassuring smile. “Between the helmet cameras, the one under the bridge, and Tony’s, we should be good. “

Ava said, “Look, we’ve got the content portion under control.”

I asked, “Lighting? Is that good?”

Liam nodded toward Tony, who flipped on two large lights that flooded the area. “Yup. Anything else to ask to delay the inevitable?”

I ignored the annoyance in his voice and shook my head. I’m sure I could come up with a dozen more questions, but he was right. Stalling was pointless.

Liam and Ava stepped back toward the edge of the bridge. I watched them walk until they were both in position. They had their phones trained on me as I slipped the helmet onto my head and tightened the strap. I turned to Tripp and gave what I hoped was a confident smile.

“Let’s get you strapped in,” he said with a smirk. He held the harness out and I stepped into it. I was careful to keep my head angled away from him so we didn’t bump helmets. He slid the straps over my thighs and tightened them. His fingers brushed over the soft material of my leggings sending a flood of heat from my core all the way to my face. I glanced around, suddenly very aware of all the eyes locked on me. Could they tell how my body was reacting?

“Does that feel snug? Too tight? Too loose?”

I cleared my throat. “Um, I think it’s okay.” I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to feel, but it felt like I was being tied into a thigh noose. “Does making it tighter make it safer?”

He smiled at me. I searched his face for a hint of mocking or even frustration but didn’t find any. All I found was a warm and inviting smile that offered reassurance. “You should be able to feel the straps but not feel like they’re cutting into your skin.”

I frowned. “There might be a little cutting going on.” I reached down to loosen one of the belts at the same time he did. Our fingers tangled for a moment. His hands, though rough, felt soothing against my skin. I jerked my hand back and mumbled an apology as he continued adjusting the strap. Once it felt snug, I nodded curtly and took a few steps back.

“It’s good. Thank you,” I said and avoided making direct eye contact with him.

“We don’t have all night here. Some of us have lives to get back to,” Liam said, shouting at us.

“Coming,” I said right as Tripp replied, “We do, actually have all night, Liam. We’re not going to rush Sadie, remember?” His voice carried a stern, warning tone.

Liam shrugged off the warning. “Whatever you say.”

“Liam, do we need to find another member of the team to lead this campaign?” Tripp asked.

“No, sorry, boss,” Liam muttered. I caught him roll his eyes when he turned back to the rest of the crew.

In front of me, Tripp squared his shoulders. The muscles in his jaw tensed. I met Ava’s wide-eyed stare. I’d never heard anyone at Take the Leap speak harshly towards Tripp. They all seemed to love him, but the tension between Liam and Tripp was palpable. Whatever nerves I’d managed to ignore resurfaced as Tripp’s demeanor shifted. I hadn’t realized just how much his positive energy had calmed me.

I took another tentative step toward the jump platform. After five steps, I was at the railing that surrounded the base. I glanced toward the darkness on the other side of the bridge and gasped. My heart raced. My legs felt like Jell-o, and an odd icy feeling radiated from my core.

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I stopped walking; my head shook from side to side as if it were being pulled by an invisible string. Fear wrapped around my entire body and pulled me toward the ground. I braced my hands against the pavement and lowered my forehead to the ground.

My vision blurred with tears I hadn’t been expecting. Not now. I could not cry in front of Tripp or Liam, but especially not in front of the cameras. From the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of blue rush toward me. Ava knelt beside me and placed her hand on my back. On the other side of me, another body hovered. Tripp.

“Sadie?” Ava whispered. “Sweetie?” Her tone was filled with concern.

“I can’t—” My voice trembled as I tried to finish my sentence. “I thought I could do this, but I can’t. I can’t, Ava.”

“Breathe, okay? Just breathe.” Tripp’s deep voice soothed into my ear. “In. Out.” He emphasized each word and paused to breathe with me.

I closed my eyes, squeezing them shut as tight as I could. Tears moistened my cheeks. I swiped my hands across my face to clear them away. Tripp continued to whisper his urges to breathe. After a minute or two, I let my focus shift to his voice. I took a few tentative breaths along with him and felt my pulse slow to a more manageable rate. My legs steadied beneath me, and I pushed myself back to standing. Tripp and Ava flanked me, both keeping their hands on my back to hold me up.

“Okay?” Tripp asked once I was fully upright again.

“No.” I didn’t bother lying. It was pretty obvious that I wasn’t. “I’m sorry, this was a terrible idea.”

A silent conversation seemed to pass between Ava and Tripp as I glanced between them. Tripp gave a quick nod, and Ava gave me a quick squeeze before returning to Liam’s side at the edge of the bridge. Liam’s glare of annoyance shone nearly as bright as the spotlights. My face flushed as I remembered all the cameras recording me. I would not be watching any of this footage.

“What if we did it together?” Tripp asked.

“Together?” I wasn’t sure what he meant. The plan was for him to jump first and for me to follow.

“A tandem jump. We’ll both be harnessed and strapped in, but I’ll carry you. You’ll just be along for the ride.”

He pulled out his phone and showed me a video. The fact that he had it cued up and ready to go on his phone told me he’d anticipated this.

In the video, a man and a woman stood together on a ledge a lot like the one in front of me. She had her legs wrapped around his waist as he held her. They were face-to-face and looked rather intimate. He wanted me to wrap my legs around his waist and let him cradle my butt in his arms as we leaped off a bridge together. Yeah, no. Not going to happen. I glanced up at Tripp and immediately regretted the mental images of my arms and legs entwined with his somewhere other than this blasted bridge that popped into my mind.

I didn’t know which scared me more—jumping alone or jumping while canoodling with Tripp.

“I … I don’t know.” I could feel the heat rising up my neck and face. Tripp took my hand and guided me slowly toward the platform where Tony was waiting patiently.

“I’ve got you, Sadie. Remember?” He said it the exact way he’d said it at the trampoline park. I forced myself to shove any and all thoughts of our bodies touching to the side and instead focused on the task at hand. I had to jump. This was the first challenge of five. I couldn’t chicken out now. I owed it myself and Ava. I glanced over at her. She tossed me a thumbs up, but I could see the questions in her eyes.

I drew in a shallow breath and exhaled through my teeth. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Together?” He moved closer to me and placed his hands on my hips. Tony clipped a bungee cord to each of our harnesses and tugged. My body pulled forward and I fell against Tripp’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist. I buried my head into his shoulder and used every ounce of self-preservation I had remaining to pretend I wasn’t feeling anything other than panic. Because panic was the last thing I was feeling right now. I felt every single inch of him, and it was causing my mind and heart to race. He shifted, nudging me a bit higher with his knee until I rested comfortably in his arms. I stifled a gasp as my hips settled against his. His hold on me tightened as he walked toward the edge. “On three, okay?”

I nodded, not daring to look at him or over the edge. I closed my eyes and braced myself.

“Open your eyes, Sadie, please?” I shook my head. Not going to happen. I felt him sigh but he didn’t push it. I rested my forehead on his shoulder. The cool night air brushed against my skin as we approached the last few inches of the platform.

“On three,” he whispered. “One… Two… Three.”

I pulled myself closer to him when his body twitched to jump. Clenching my jaw, I held in my scream when I felt him lift off the ground and leap into the open air.

I buried my face deeper into his shoulder and inhaled sharply as the rush of air exploded around us. Tripp’s laughter shook his body. Curious, I opened one eye and snuck a look up at him. His head was tilted back, and he had the goofiest grin on his face. I couldn’t help but smile. He glanced down and caught me watching him. His smile widened.

I opened both eyes and watched in horror as we fell closer and closer to the lake. The top of my helmet grazed the top of the water before we were yanked back up. My hold on Tripp loosened a bit, and I let my gaze shift around us. We were at the mercy of the bungee now. It jerked us up and then down. Fast at first, but the pace slowed.

When we stopped bouncing, I let out the breath I’d been holding and mentally scanned my body. It appeared everything was still intact. I was whole. And alive. And wrapped in the very strong arms of Tripp James. With the fear of dying removed, I was reminded once again of just how close to Tripp I was. I could feel every breath he took—his rising chest and the puff of air as he exhaled onto my cheek.

Nervous laughter bubbled out of my mouth and came out in a weak giggle. I let go of Tripp and clamped my hand over my mouth. A small boat appeared beneath us, and the driver guided us in. I wobbled when my feet touched the bottom of the boat, but Tripp helped keep me upright. As soon as the bungee clamp was released, I sank onto the seat and tried to catch my breath. Between the adrenaline and the giggling, I was sure I looked like an insane person. Tripp watched me. The stupid grin plastered on his face remained.

“Holy crap. I did it. We jumped off a bridge,” I said once I calmed down enough to trust my voice. “I didn’t die!”