Page 51 of The Roommate Remodel

“Look at me,” he commands gently.

I shake my head. “I can’t.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “I feel like I’m about to die.” My breathing is shallow, like I’m being pressed under slabs of concrete.

“If you were about to die, you wouldn’t be answering me,” he reminds me.

True.But who says panic is ever logical?

“Jaz, look at me,” he pleads again, more softly this time. “I promise you will not die.”

“How do you know?” I say, my eyes squeezed shut, the fear threatening to overtake me.

“Because I won’t let you,” he says, softer still. “Reach for my hand.”

I shake my head. “Too afraid to open my eyes.”

“Then put your hand out, and I’ll find it.”

I obey, slowly wrenching one hand from the line, panic blasting through me like a wrecking ball.

I’m such a baby. But Brax doesn’t say a word.

“Now, hold it out,” Brax encourages.

I stretch my fingers wider, reaching into the void.

Fingers brush against mine, causing me to flinch.

“It’s just me,” he whispers, and I try again, stretching my fingers a little farther. His hand finds mine, and I tighten my fingers around it, like I’m drowning and he’s a lifeboat.

If I’m squeezing hard enough to make nail imprints in his flesh, he doesn’t respond. He just calmly says, “I’m going to hold your hand the whole way. I won’t let go until we reach the other platform. And nothing will happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”

My eyes are still closed, and I’m pretty sure I’m cutting off the circulation in his fingers. “Do you swear?”

“Only when I hit my thumb with a hammer,” he answers.

I crack a smile. “You’re infuriating.”

“I solemnlyswearto protect you with my life. Is that enough?” I don’t have to look at him to know he’s watching me, trying to use humor to get me to relax.

My heart slows, and the tightness of my chest recedes.

He uses our linked hands to push a stray wisp from my face, but he never lets go. “I promise, Jaz. Trust the gear. Trust me,” he adds, softer still.

I exhale. “If we fall, we fall together.”

“There’s no one I’d rather fall with,” he answers, a smirk in his tone.

“Are you saying you want us to die together?”

He chuckles. “Of course not. I’m saying that falling together is so much better than doing it alone.”

I get the feeling that we’re not talking about fallingoff the wire anymore. This is about something I’m not ready to discuss right now, even if I am taking my last breath.

“Remember the mantra.” I can hear the smile in his voice that flows through me like a drug, relaxing every nerve in my body. “Don’t think. Close your eyes...”

“And jump, Iknow. Let’s get this over with,” I urge.

“On the count of three,” Brax instructs. “One, two...”

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