Page 26 of Riverside Reverie

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.

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