Page 72 of Accidentally Forever
Aria faced the bridge, her gaze darting between me and Travis. I saw fear on her face, etched in the lines beside her eyes, the furrowed brows. But there was nothing I could do other than try to talk him down. If he moved too quickly, he could pull her down with him. With the way that he was holding her, unless she kicked out and released his grip for him to fall, she was stuck where she was.
In Travis’s hold.
Or beneath the bridge itself.
“I just want it to stop,” Travis said, tears streaming down his face. “Why can’t it just stop?”
“Let’s just get you both to safety and then we can talk it out. Find a way to make it stop.” I swallowed hard, one hand outstretched, the other holding the railing as I continued to move toward them. I hadn’t bothered getting on the safe side of the bridge, instead walking on the minuscule piece of metal that they were standing on. I wouldn’t be able to help Aria if I had to climb over the damn railing as well. Travis hadn’t moved with each ofmy steps, so I kept going, hoping I could reach Aria in time.
“I don’t want your help. I just wanted her to do what she promised.”
Aria cleared her throat. “I’m here, Travis. Please, let’s just talk. I’ll do it. All of my promises.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” Travis whispered, and everything went in slow motion.
The finality in his tone ripped through me, and I moved quickly, my feet nearly tripping over themselves as I grabbed for Aria.
She had one arm on the railing, the other pulled back as Travis tried to tug her down. She clamped onto his arm, trying to keep him up, even as her feet began to slide off the railing. I angled forward, one hand on the railing next to Aria’s, the other wrapping around her hip.
In that moment, Travis met my gaze, eyes wide as he let go of the railing, still holding on to Aria.
“No!” I tugged on Aria, pulling her to me even as she reached for Travis.
But everything happened at once. I pushed Aria into the side of the bridge, her grip firm, but then Travis reached for me. I didn’t know if he had second thoughts, or if he wanted me to be hurt right beside him, but he gripped my leg, and I slipped.
The water from the previous night’s rain beneath my shoe couldn’t keep me steady. I slid back, Travis’s weight pulling me down. For some reason the water felt as if it were much farther down than it had been when I had been looking at it.
Or maybe, it all happened in a split second.
Because as Travis hit the water first, I followed right behind, a sharp pain slicing up my arm, and then there was only shadow.
Darkness, and Aria’s voice, screaming.
“Crew!”
Chapter Sixteen
Aria
Travis’s body hit the water first, and Crew followed him. There was a curse, a shout. And I didn’t know if it was them or me. But they sank underneath the water below, and neither one came up.
People were shouting, bystanders making noises I couldn’t decipher in my panic, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Noah.
But I couldn’t focus on them. I could only focus on the river below.
On the fact that Crew wasn’t coming up.
“Crew! Crew!”
I knew I was screaming, and it wasn’t helping anything. If he had hit his head, or worse, he wouldn’t be able to come up.
“Crew!”
And standing on this bridge screaming for him wouldn’t help.
So I did the one thing I could do. Most likely the most idiotic thing I could ever do, and I jumped.
This time it was Noah screaming my name as I jumped into the ice-cold water. The jump wasn’t as far as I thought it was going to be, and the impact slammed into my feet then my knees, but thankfully the river was deep enough. Just the day before I had seen people jump in and be perfectly fine. And the river was deeper than it had been yesterday thanks to the rain. I knew the fall wouldn’t have killed me, but I was damn lucky I hadn’t hit anything beneath the surface. Only I was so fucking terrified that Crew had since he hadn’t surfaced yet. I dove down, holding my breath, and reached out for anyone.
