beautifully broken(15)

“The next best thing,” I say with a laugh and she bites her thumb. I hope she stops doing stuff like that. It’s so damn sexy and I’m not going to sleep with her. Fuck, I am going to sleep with her.

“We’re going bungee-jumping,” I tell her reluctantly and her eyes widen.

“What?!” she says, taking her hands from mine. “No. No, I can’t.” She shakes her head, stepping away from me.

“Yes, you can,” I say, taking her hand again.

“Are you, like, one of those people—uhm, what do you call them?—adrenaline junkies?” She starts to laugh, holding her head in her hand.

“Something like that but it’s not that bad. After you do it, you’ll feel like a different person,” I promise her.

She looks at me skeptically then past me. “This, this doesn’t look like an authorized site. Are we supposed to be doing this here?” she says nervously. Shit.

“Okay, so it’s not exactly authorized but Jake, here, is the man. I’ve jumped with him a dozen times. You won’t die. I promise you,” I say, trying to contain my laugh at the horrified look on her face. She lets out a deep sigh, and turns away from me.

She’ not going to do it. Maybe bungee-jumping was a little too much but dinner and a movie? That’s boring as hell.

I walk closer to her and I hear her breath hitch. It’s a turn on like nothing else. “Afraid of trying something new?” I ask her as her eyes find mine and she looks into them like she’s trying to see what’s behind them. It’s unnerving but a thrilling rush all at once.

“Okay, let’s do it,” she says, walking past me towards Jake.

“Really?” I ask, surprised.

“I didn’t ride an hour on the back of that death machine to sit and watch you have all the fun,” she says, nudging me. There’s more to this girl than I thought.

“Only thing is, I get to go first,” she says nervously.

“You’re kind of a boss aren’t you, Lauren?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “I better survive,” she mutters.

“You’re in good hands,” Jake says as we approach him. He turns to me. “C. Scott, and who is this cute little thing?”

“This cute little thing’s name is Lauren,” she answers before I can. I smirk at Jake who throws his hands up.

“Feisty?” he quips.

“So you know what you’re doing right?” she asks as he picks up the restraint.

“I haven’t killed this dude yet,” he answers.

“Who’s going first?” he asks and as Lauren steps closer to the edge of the bridge, her eyes widen.

“She is,” I pipe in and Jake gives me a knowing smile.

“I am,” she says quietly, shooting me a nervous glance.

It only takes Jake a few minutes to suit her up. “You’re awfully quiet, feisty,” he says.

“I’m praying,” she says with a light chuckle.

“It’s funny how religious people get before doing this,” he jokes.

“How many times have you done this?” she asks, after turning to face me.

“Twelve,” I answer and her eyes bug out of her head. “It’s not as fun as skydiving,” I tell her and she looks at me in disbelief.

“The first of the month, he’s usually out here,” Jake chimes in.

“Do you try to scare all your dates half to death?”

“You’re the first, feisty,” Jake says, giving her a pat on the back. I shoot him a warning glare.

“So I’m the lucky one, huh?” she asks, nodding her head and I give her a wink.

“Are you ready?” Jake asks and I watch as the color literally drains from her face.

“No. But let’s do this,” she says as confidently as she can.

“You’ve got this,” I tell her as she walks to her jumping point.

Jake stands behind her. “Hold out your arms and take a deep breath.”

I can feel my heart pounding, remembering my first jump. After that, I felt like I was better than him. That I could do anything. She does as he says, and I can hear how much air she’s sucking in.

“I’m going to count to five and then you’re going to jump okay,” Jake tells her and I can see she’s shaking.

“Kiss for good luck?” I ask her to ease the tension.

“I’m not so sure what type of luck you are for me yet,” she says nervously.

“One two, three, four…any last words?” Jake asks.

“If this goes wrong and I die. I’m haunting both of you,” and with that, she sucks in one last breath, rolls her eyes shut, and jumps.

“I thought she’d be a staller,” Jake says as we watch her soar through the air, her screams echoing.