Page 64 of Caught Stealing

His voice comes out strained and anxious. “I wasn’t about to be the party pooper of the group, and by the time Kason started blowing chunks, I was already clipped in.”

Oh, you beautiful fucking fool.

I’m about to respond when the wind lifts us a bit higher and we hit the end of our rope, causing us to jerk slightly. The sudden movement has Phoenix drawing in a deep breath…and looking straight down at the water below.

“Oh, shit,” he says, breathing heavily. “That’s a long drop.”

“Nix,” I murmur, my best attempt to soothe him. “Nix. Hey, look at me.”

I grab his hand from the strap to snap him out of it, and it’s enough to wrench his attention off the water below. Those deep brown eyes look lighter in the setting sun as he gazes at me, more of a rich mahogany than almost black. And it’s the fear in them that has me threading my fingers through his.

“You’re okay,” I tell him earnestly. “You watched all the rest of us do this and come out in one piece, right? Nothing bad is gonna happen.”

“You don’t know that.”

Okay, new tactic.

My thumb traces over the back of his mindlessly. “Then just close your eyes and focus on the wind. How it feels against your skin and whipping through your hair.”

Phoenix visibly swallows before his lids fall closed, listening to my request.

“Okay, now talk to me,” I murmur. “Tell me what’s going through your mind.”

“I can feel my heartbeat all the way in my ass.”

“That’s probably just the way the harness is sitting.”

“Holden—”

“Okay, okay, not helpful.” I pause, wracking my brain some more. “Just think of it like a giant swing, then. That’s where the wind is coming from.”

“We’re five-hundred feet in the air above open water—a drop we would not survive, by the way—and you wanna act like we’re on a goddamn swing set?”

“Why not? It’ll take your mind off it. C’mon, let’s get married.”

His eyes fly open despite the height, and he looks at me like I’ve just grown two extra heads.

“What?”

I arch a brow, giving him a dubious look. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“I can assure you, I don’t.”

“It’s the thing you say when you’re a kid on the swings and someone beside you starts swinging in sync with you.”

A look of relief takes over his face and he starts laughing. Like a real, genuine laugh, and I realize this is the first time I’ve heard it.

And my God, if it isn’t the most incredible sound on this planet.

Even if I have no idea why he’s laughing in the first place.

“You’re in my shower,” he manages to say between chuckles.

My brows shoot up. “I mean, if we’re really talking about this now, then yeah. I remember. Vividly. But I’m not sure what that has to do with—”

“No, no,” he cuts in and laughs some more. “That’s what we would say when that happened. We’d look at the other person and sayyou’re in my shower.”

Now it’s my turn to burst out laughing.“What?”

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