Page 29 of Falling for Fury

“I’m sorry, Ads. I should have intervened sooner,” Ava says quietly, I presume to avoid the guys hearing her.

“It’s fine Ava, really. You aren’t my keeper. I am twenty-five; I can handle myself.” I don’t hide the snark from my tone. I know my jab has hit home, but I refuse to be sorry. Ava is always making excuses for them, hardly ever takes my side, or Riley’s for that matter, when it comes to their belittling or nasty comments. She sits silently and rolls her eyes. If only we all had her ability to let their bullshit roll off our backs.

She purses her lips and nods her head slowly.

“Addy, you’re trying the zipline. You need to live a little,” Riley declares, which reminds me of the similar words Rosie had said to me. Does it really seem like I’m not living?

“Absolutely not,” I assure, but I don’t miss the look Ava and Riley share, and I think this means I am going down the zipline.

“I can’t do this,” I say more to myself, but loud enough for Ava and Riley to hear. Riley is strapping herself in and Ava turns and rests her hands on my shoulders. “Deep breaths, Addy, you got this. I will strap you in myself and go down after you. It is so much fun, and you’ll thank me when it is over.” I swallow deeply and try to take a deep breath as Riley heads down, her scream swallowed up by the view of the lake. As I take a step closer to the edge, the view is even more spectacular than I remember. The green mountain ranges behind the lodge with a valley in between, the lake nestled perfectly in the middle, the sun shining off and reflecting at us. I take an actual big breath then. I can do this. I will. I look at Ava with a smile I hope exudes confidence, and nod. Before I allow her to strap me in, I inch further to the edge and get a good look at the drop to the ground and my throat slowly closes as I try to ignore the fear snaking up my spine. That is a long way down.

“Breathe,” a dark whisper, so close to my ear I can feel Noah’s warm breath against my neck and the heat of his body against my back. So close that if I only leaned back against him, I’d feel the hardness of his body completely pressed against me.

Hardness? Really, Addison?

I snap my spine straight and look over my shoulder at Noah’s deep brown eyes and soft expression.

“You don’t have to do this, you know? You have nothing to prove to anyone. It is okay to be scared.”

“I am not scared,” I retort without hesitation and pull myself from my ridiculous feelings. Who does he think he is, honestly? He has no idea what he is talking about. I am not scared. “Ugh.” I scoff at him as I move a step back from the ledge. “How did you get back up here so quickly, anyway?”

“Raced Matt to the top. Obviously, he lost,” he responds with the most arrogant smile I have ever seen. Just as I peer around his shoulder I see Matt walking, almost crawling back up the hill, puffing, and trying to find the ground with his hands. Ava is heading over to him trying to suppress her laugh. “You. Cheated. You. Prick,” Matt struggles between breaths as he falls to his back and lays flat. Ava bends down to keep him company as she struggles to hold back the laugh. I return my focus to the zip swing and the death drop to the bottom, swallowing my earlier… nausea—not fear—as I prepare myself to strap into the seat. Looking at Noah and all his giant tanned muscle, barely tired, hardly a drop of sweat after his run up the hill, that spark of competitiveness fueled by anger inches its way up my spine.

Pfft. Dumb jock. I could run laps around him in my sleep.

Like he is reading my thoughts and feels my energy changing, he throws me one of his arrogant smiles, taking a step back, letting me do this alone. “Okay then, you’re not scared. Go for it.” And that is a challenge in his eyes. Oh, you think I won’t? I glare at him as I give him my own version of his arrogant smile and take a few big steps back from the zipline, the cauldron of anger inside me builds from his lack of confidence in my ability, his constant foot-in-mouth syndrome causing him to apologize every other time we speak, the frustrating and toe-curling dark chocolate eyes I see every time I try to sleep, it all builds and, taking advantage of my lapse in control, I sprout the most stupidest and spontaneous decision I have ever made.

His head tilting look of confusion morphs, and I relish in the look of death that passes over his face as he realizes what I am doing. He takes a small step forward as if to stop me. I steel myself, anchoring my courage in my rage, and letting it fuel my adrenalin. I don’t give him time to say anything as I make the run up, and launch myself on to the zipline, my hands grabbing firmly to the rope, throwing my legs around to link as my ass hits the seat, and it takes off down the slope, with me not strapped in.

It dawns on me then that this was idiocy. If my hands let go, I will—with certainty—fall to my death, because I have decided to one-up the macho man with my courage and leaped down a fucking hill without being strapped in. I am now soaring down the line at the speed of light, the trees and gorgeous view passing by in a blur. The cold wind hits my eyes, forming tears as they stream past my face. The fresh air hits me and I take a breath. The breath in feels like the first one I’ve taken in years. It smells like spring. Like home. Like fresh grass and pine. The icy edge to it searing the freshness into my nose and lungs as I take in another breath, and I realize the air is passing through my mouth, which is open, in a smile. Adrenaline coursing through me, flooding my veins, I close my eyes and relish in the way it feels, the fresh air lifting my lungs like I could fly, the joy as my stomach drops as the line takes a slightly steeper descent, the ground of the landing approaching rapidly. I never want this to end. I feel alive for the first time in twenty-five years.

I open my eyes just in time to see the landing approaching faster than it is meant to, due to the stupidly fast speed I launched off at, and realize again that I am not strapped in. “SHIT!” I shout as the line hits the rubber tyre stopper at the end post, the line swinging furiously as it swings with momentum against the stopper, throwing me from the seat, flying past the landing strip, landing me in a collection of bushes.

I sit up in a rush and gasp for air, trying to gather my brain enough to work out what the fuck just happened.

“Addison!” Noah is there instantly, probably leaving the tip the moment I left and beating everyone to the bottom with his stupid athleticism. “Fuck! That was so stupid, Addison, are you okay?” His words are pained and laced with fury as his eyes search my body for injury.

“Addison! OH MY GOD! Are you okay?” Ava rushes to her knees in front of me, finally having caught up, and she all but shoves Noah out of the way. With a concerned look on her face, she grabs my cheeks between her hands and scans me for injury.

Riley bursts out into a stomach clenching laugh that has her falling to her knees. I can see Matt attempting to hold his back as he makes his way through the clearing, also, until he receives the no injury report from Ava.

“I… I, uh…” Can’t catch my breath enough to speak.

A loud sound jolts everyone, and they stare at me with a mix of shock and amusement. The sound apparently being me, as a burst of laughter leaves my throat. I wipe my eyes of tears as I double over in a laugh, mimicking Riley. Matt finally relents and Ava stands to join him, giving only a small laugh, with concern still written on her face. Noah stares at me in confusion, a soft smile growing on his face.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he whispers. I reach to rest my hand on top of his that is resting on my shoulder.

“Yep. Surprisingly…” I look myself over and take stock of my limbs, checking if there are any aches and pains that shouldn’t be there. “Uninjured,” I finish. Noah’s eyes haven’t left mine, and the intensity of the stare heats my skin.

The air feels thicker, his grip on my shoulders tightening, and he looks to my lips for a second before finding my eyes again. His lips move like he is about to say something, but Matt coughs, chilling the charge of energy between us and walks to grab on to Noah’s arm.

“Always wondered when we’d see the wild Addy again.” Matt winks at me and casually pulls Noah away, putting some distance between us. Ava and Riley make their way back to me and pull me into an embrace before laughing and chatting casually about my spurt of spontaneity. My eyes still haven’t left Noah. That charge of electricity lingers over my skin. What is that?

I laugh at myself and stand, dusting the dirt and leaves off my pants. Noah hovers nearby and searches my body with his eyes, the look of concern still plastered on his face.

“Addison, why would you do that? You could have slipped. If you had let go… you could have fallen!” Ava’s laugh has now turned to a serious face. Noah looks at me and nods in agreement, his face appearing angrier.

“Want to go again?” Riley squeals as she looks at me with evil in her eyes.

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