Page 19 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

I nodded.

“One, two—”

“Wait! Nick, if I die, I just want you to know that you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And you’re hot and you deserve someone much better than Daisy, so please, don’t go out with her.”

“First of all, don’t talk like that. You’re not going to die. And second… did you just say I’m hot?” He looked at me with a perplexed expression as if he’d just discovered a new galaxy.

“That’s what you got out of that?”

“Well, yeah. And by the way, Jo, Daisy’s got nothing on you.”

I smiled. At least if I died, I knew now that Nick liked me more than he liked Daisy, and while I’d deny that little fact was important to me, it gave me that much more will to survive this jump.

“Ready?” he asked again.

“You get me out of this alive and I promise to kiss you. Please grab my arm once we’re in the water.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. One, two, three!”

We pushed off the cliff together. I crossed my legs and arms, pointed my toes, and took a deep breath. Perpendicular to the river, I went in like a sword, cutting through the water.

I did it!

Well, not quite. There was still the task of getting back up to the surface. I kicked my feet as hard as I could, moving my arms in large circles, looking up, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get closer. A strong current pulled me sideways, and I panicked, opening my mouth. My lungs burned instantly as I took in the water and seconds later, I lost consciousness.

Chapter 5

Water fountainedout of my lungs, and my body was forced to the side so I could spit it out. My lower half was still in the water as I braced myself on my elbows against a rock.

“Thank God,” I heard from beside me, where Nick was holding me by my hips, making sure that I didn’t flip back over, smoothing his hand over my arm. I heaved fresh air in and out, desperate for it to replace the fluids in my lungs, but that only catapulted more water out. I braced my body on my hands, crawling out of the river and slowly got up on my knees, my lungs and veins still desperate for oxygen. After a couple of minutes, my pulse somewhat steadied as I regained control of my breathing.

Nick sat on a rock beside me and wiped what looked like worry off his forehead.

“What happened?”

“You took water on like theTitanic. I had to dive to get you.”

“Thank you. The current… it was strong.” It was still difficult to breathe, and my heart didn’t seem to want to slow down.

“Take your time, Jo. I can’t believe you jumped.”

“You told me to.”

“Yeah, but I still can’t believe you did it. You’re badass.”

“Where’s the bear?”

He pointed to the cliff across the river where the beast was still pacing back and forth.

“Nick, we gotta find help and alert the campground. That thing doesn’t give up, and we weren’t that far off.”

“I know. I know.” He looked around the area, somewhat worried. “But I’m hoping the larger group will scare it off.”

His head was still turning one way, then another.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

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