Page 4 of All This Love
“Tatum.”
The way he said my name made me shiver, and I prayed to God that he hadn’t noticed it.
“I got you. Come on. Don’t make me beg.”
My God in heaven. Clearing my throat, I sat up straight. “I’ll give you my number. While I wait on your call, I’ll think about it. If my mind doesn’t change, then you’ll have to pick something else.”
“Fair enough.”
Onyx must have had his phone on silent because I didn’t hear it ringing, but he pulled it from his pocket and answered. I was sort of relieved but kind of disappointed at the same time that he remained on the phone for the rest of his service. That didn’t stop him from getting my number before he left. As his scent lingered and tickled my senses, I counted the money he’d given me and realized he’d given me a $35 tip. Shit, if he did call, there was no way I was turning down ziplining with him.
Three days later, I was shitting bricks as the adventure park employee kneeled in front of me, and held out the part of the body harness that I was supposed to stick my left foot into. I wondered if he could tell that I was trembling. Lifting a leg that felt like lead, I placed my left foot inside the hole and then my right foot into the next hole. I could feel Onyx staring at me, and I wanted to throw up. So much for me agreeing to possibly plunge to my death just because he was fine. Fine didn’t meansane, and I had clearly lost a few of my marbles to agree to join his crazy ass.
We climbed seven flights of stairs to get the top of the wooden platform we’d be jumping off of. The moment I looked down and realized how high up we were, I had to close my eyes and fight the urge to vomit.
“You good?” Onyx asked as the man in front of me secured the harness around my body and tightened it.
“No,” I admitted making him chortle. “It’s not funny. I don’t know why I agreed to do this, and I have to throw up.”
“You’ll be fine,” the guide promised as he placed a helmet on my head. I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wasn’t going to argue with him.
“Who wants to go first?” he grinned while taking a step back after my helmet and harness were in place.
“I will.” Onyx volunteered.
I breathed deeply through my nose while trying to calm my racing heart. If I suffered a heart attack before I left the platform that had to be a better way to go than plummeting to my death.
“You’re going to run, jump, then tuck your knees, okay?” the instructor explained to Onyx, and he nodded eagerly. There wasn’t an ounce of fear etched on his handsome face.
Onyx did as he was instructed. A hard swallow hurt my throat as he slid down the line to the platform on the other side. The instructor turned to me wearing a broad grin. “See how easy that was?”
All I could do was roll my eyes. It was about to get real, and I couldn’t talk. Fear gripped my entire body and locked my voice box up. There was nothing I could say. I assumed the instructor had been doing his job long enough to be able to read people. He must have known that I never would have jumped on my own, so he pushed me, and I screamed as my feet left the platform.As I zipped across the line my eyes were closed, and my cheeks puffed out from all the air I was holding in.
When I reached the second platform, the instructor caught me. My heart was pounding so ferociously in my chest that I couldn’t breathe. “Calm down. You’re okay,” he stated in a soothing tone.
“That wasn’t bad, was it?” Onyx asked as I saw yet another line and another platform.
“How many times do we have to do this?” I implored with wide eyes.
“Just four more,” Onyx grinned, and my nostrils flared.
“I so hate you.”
For as scared as I was each and every time my feet left the platform, I made it to the end without dying. I had never in my life been so relieved for something to be over. It was a good thing Onyx did research before he signed us up for the activities because he told me to wear something I could get dirty. When we finished ATV riding, my black shorts, black shirt, arms, and legs were covered with dirt and mud.
“I feel so gross,” I frowned as we sat at the bar waiting for food and drinks. I wore a bandana over most of my face as we rode, and I had just washed my hands in the bathroom, so my hands and face were the only parts of my body that were clean.
“But did you have fun?” he grinned showing off that diamond grill.
“You mean after I died? Yeah, it was cool.” My sarcastic response made him shake his head.
“You did all that whining and crying and look at you. You made it. We have to go horseback riding next.”
“I take it you’re an adventurous person.”
“Very. I love nature and outside too. We can go fishing, hiking, whatever you want.”
Being hot and sweaty and fighting off bugs were a few things that I loathed. Of course, I would run into a man that wanted to do outside dates. “Yayyyyy.” Yet another sarcastic tone and a fake smile made Onyx chortle.
