Read Out of Reach for Free Online Page B

again.
    “I’ll take that as a no.” He chuckled. “You get changed and meet me at the van. I’ll run through the jump, and then you’ll be set. Cool?”
    “Sure. Cool,” I replied as Andy sniggered, his video camera in hand. Yeah, laugh it up, Andy. He was already enjoying this way too much.
    Em and I got changed back over at my car. We both wore our swimsuits under our clothes, so it took literally a few seconds to strip off our clothes and pull on the wetsuits. Mine was too small and felt constricting in places I didn’t want it to be. I glanced at Em, pretending I didn’t notice how sexy she looked in her tight suit.

    “So, you’ll be harnessed to this. It’s all pretty simple, really. The only thing you want to remember is when you jump, jump out—otherwise you run the risk of splattering yourself all over the rocks.” The color drained from Em’s face as her eyes widened. Pete laughed. “Nah, I’m kidding. It’s pretty safe. The key is to pick a jump that allows for deviation.”
    “So there’s no chance of…” Em’s voice trailed off as she looked out over the cliff. If I didn’t feel so sorry for her I would’ve laughed. She looked terrified.
    “Hitting the rock? No. I’ve been doing this for ten years, honey. Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing.”
    Em blushed and took a step closer to me, her hand falling into mine. I squeezed it and gave her a wink. “I’ll go first, okay? I’ll be down there waiting for you.”
    She nodded. “Okay. Let’s just get this over with.”
    Stepping forward, I waited as Pete hooked up my harness and ran through some last minute tips. I felt dizzy as I looked out over the drop. Holy shit, that’s a long way down. If I said I wasn’t shitting myself, I’d be lying.
    “Here we go,” I mumbled under my breath. One, two, three. I sprinted for the edge and jumped. For a split second, it felt like everything stopped, except for the pounding in my chest as I floated down. I hit the water with a massive splash, surfacing a few seconds later.
    Holy fucking shit, that was amazing. I laughed and floated on top of the water, staring up at Em and Pete at the top of the cliff. I can’t believe I just did that.
    “Come on, Em!” I yelled as she stood back from the edge. I laughed, reliving in my mind those few seconds before the leap. And then she jumped. She screamed as she hurtled toward the water, disappearing under the surface below me.
    “Oh my god.” She bounced up from beneath the water, her eyes wide. “Did I really just hurl myself off a cliff?”
    I laughed and began swimming toward the shore. “You did well, Em. How terrifying was it, just standing up there and looking down?”
    “I know,” she laughed, her cheeks flushed with color. “I just can’t believe we did that.”
    We stumbled onto the shore and sat down on the sand. I breathed in heavily, the adrenaline still racing through my veins. I lay back and stared up at the top of the cliff. It looked even more terrifying from down here.
    “That was . . . insane,” I finished. Holy shit, that was up there as being one of the best experiences of my life. Rolling onto my side, I studied her as she lay there with her eyes closed. She had the biggest smile on her face I’d seen in months.
    “I want to do it again.” She grinned. “Do you think we can?”
    I jumped to my feet and reached out for her hand, pulling her up. She stumbled into my arms. I curled them around her waist to stop her from falling. I tried to stop myself from staring at her, but it was hopeless. She looked so beautiful, with her damp, messed hair and a splash of red in her cheeks. Her hold on me didn’t weaken; her eyes didn’t falter. I pulled away, confused by the moment. I could’ve sworn there had been something there.
    I had to have imagined it. There was no way . . . was there?
    “Let’s go find out,” I said with a grin.
    ***
    We reached the top of the cliff, courtesy of Pete’s partner, Lacey, who