Page 27 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

“Duh!”

His eyes crinkled in confusion, and I realized I’d just said “Duh” to the billionaire. My inner child apparently wanted to take over completely today.

I kind of wanted to let her.

“You can even go upside down and backwards,” Ty piped in. “I can show you, Daphne, if you want.”

Chase rounded on him. “I don’t recommend that here. It’s too fast, and we don’t have stop blocks until the bottom.”

Ty scowled. “I’ve done it a zillion times, all over the world. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re getting married in a few days,” Chase reminded him. “Doesn’t seem like a time to be taking chances like that. That last thing we need is a spinal injury or concussion to deal with.”

“Ty,” Veronica said, looking worried. “He’s right.”

Ty glared at her. “I was a guide in Hawaii for a whole summer. I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m sure you do, but it isn’t just about you now. It’s about us. Let’s not take risks today.” She batted her eyes and turned the pout-meter up to a 10.

“It isn’t a risk,” Ty snapped, his voice rising in volume. “Look, I’ll show you.”

“This one’s too steep,” Chase said. “If you insist on it, try run 11 where it’s more level.”

“I’m not waiting that long. You people worry too much, okay? It’s super easy.”

Veronica’s hand grabbed his wrist. “Chase knows this run, and we should trust him. Show me on 11. Okay?”

Ty glared at her, looking frustrated. I could tell he wanted to please her, but this wasn’t about Veronica at all.

This was about me.

“Ty,” Chase said, trying once more. “If you wait till 11, there’s an extra worker there who can capture your run on video. I’ll radio her right now and give her the heads up. I’m sure all of YouTube would love to see that.”

Veronica clapped her gloved hands together. “We can put it on our wedding video!”

Ty grumbled something under his breath and reclaimed his hand, turning back to the run and the worker watching him with wide eyes. The man finally nodded and Ty pushed off, picking up speed by the second as he disappeared into the forest canopy. Veronica followed the second the worker allowed it, barely giving us a glance.

Chase sighed. “Tourists.” He unhooked his cable and stepped in front of me, clipping it back in and adjusting a couple of things.

“Wait,” I said. “You’re still going upside down? I thought it was too steep.”

“Not for me. I could do this course in my sleep and blindfolded. You just have to have an awareness of how close you are to the end, which Ty doesn’t. Now you’ll take off like before, but then you’ll arch your back and let your head hang low. Watch.” He started off the platform. Within seconds, he swung around like a monkey on a branch, his helmet scraping the branches below. Just when I thought he would right himself, he swung his arms wide and let himself pick up speed.

It looked exhilarating.

“Go ahead,” the worker on the platform said. It sounded a lot like “It’s your funeral.”

Then I remembered the concern in Chase’s eyes when he’d pulled me away from the crocodiles. That event had scared him. This one did not. He wouldn’t let me get hurt.

Unlike Ty, who had shattered my heart once and walked away. The thought bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

“Hi, ho, and away!” I shouted, leaping off the platform once again. I spread my arms and reveled in that falling-speeding-flying feeling once again before taking a deep breath and arching my back. It felt like falling for a short second, then the world turned on its head, and the sky was green and the ground blue. The branches whipped past, closer to my face than ever, and the birds chirped their approval.

I felt like letting go would make me fall, so I made myself do it to conquer this last fear. My arms spread, I suddenly felt like a superhero flying through a city of leaves.

“Brake!” a voice called from in front of me.

Oh, right. The platform. I tried to pull myself up but couldn’t.

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