Page 63 of Caught Stealing

“You’re the one who came up with the idea,” Noah reminds him with agotcha therelook.

“All I said was I wish we would’ve thought about going parasailing sooner in the trip,” he rebuts, raising his hands. “You and Luca were the ones who called the place to book us in for tonight.”

That’s exactly what happened too. Theo saw these guys parasailing off the coast while we were devouring our dinner—the first meal all day, for those of us still a bit hungover—and mentioned something about going out on it. It was all Noah and Luca who pulled up the number on the sail and called to see if they could take us tonight.

“Who’s going with?” one of the crew members asks, arching a sun-bleached brow after he finishes hooking Phoenix in.

Besides Phoenix and Kason, the rest of us have already gone up. However when I glance over at Kason, I know there’s no way he’s making the journey. Not when he’s losing his dinner over the side of the boat.

Wyatt’s nose wrinkles up in disgust, seeing as he’s the closest to Kason while he tosses his cookies. “Told you that alligator was a bad idea, man.”

“He’s probably just hungover still,” Luca concludes, though the slight green tint of his own skin tells me he’s not faring much better.

I’m still in my harness, having just gone on the last run with Harrison, so…shit, I might as well.

“I’ll go,” I offer, hopping back up on the deck.

Phoenix opens his mouth to say something—no doubt to get out of going up there together—but the crew member is already clipping my harness back into the weird horizontal pole contraption used to keep us, along with the sail, connected to the boat.

“Well, I guess I was wrong about one thing,” I say to Phoenix, completely ignoring the guy adjusting all the straps around my body.

Phoenix’s eyes remain staring forward as he mutters, “Oh, I’m gonna love to see where this is going.”

“You don’t have feelings for Kason.”

Between the music and the distance between us and the rest of the group, I sincerely doubt anyone heard what I just said. Well, except maybe the man making sure I don’t plummet into the Gulf from unknown heights. Yet, from how Phoenix’s head snaps to me, I might as well have shouted it through a megaphone.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he hisses. “I told you that a month ago, and you’re just now figuring it out?”

“Nah, I figured it out a while ago. Just didn’t have complete confirmation until last night.”

If possible, the irritation in his eyes flares even hotter. “We’re not talking about that.”

“So you are still pissed at me.” It’s not a question. There’s no doubt in my mind from the way he’s looking at me and the tone of his voice that he’s angry.

Yet something in his eyes tells me I might be wrong. That he’s really just trying to act indifferent—which is a huge step from actuallybeingindifferent.

“I’m notanythingat you,” he mutters, glancing away. “Now, please, just drop it.”

It’s not in my nature to justdrop it,and it’s something he should be well aware of by now. But the crew member chooses that moment to give the boat’s captain a thumbs up.

“Enjoy your ride,” he tells us, before offering me a wink.

The carabiner keeping us clipped to the boat is released, and within half a second, we’re flying backward into the air, slowly floating away from the boat. It’s a spike of adrenaline, the moment solid ground flies out from beneath us with our bodies being pulled back by the wind inflating the sail. But the rush quickly evaporates when I glance over at the horizon, at the colorful glow of the sunset.

“Oh, holy fucking God,” Phoenix mutters, and when I turn his way, I find him white-knuckling the vertical straps like he’s hanging on for dear life.

From the looks of him, that’s exactly what’s happening in his mind.

“You good?”

“I, uh, maybe, but—” He shakes his head slightly, and I notice his skin has gone ghostly white. “No, I don’t think so.”

Well, shit.

“If you’re afraid of heights, why did you agree to do this?”

Phoenix might not be a rocket scientist, but he is smart enough to know what parasailing entails, especially when he watched six of us go before him. So him being up here right now…well, the math ain’t mathin’ for me.

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