Page 31 of Between Periods

TWELVE

ADAM

Adrenaline zipsin my veins and trots in my stomach. I’m a live wire as my feet touch the ground, and I stumble slightly, trying to regain my balance.

With wobbly legs, I grab the top of my harness and grin. I take my helmet off and run a hand through my matted curls. “Holy shit that’s fun.”

Oakley nods from his spot beside a waist-high, triangular rock. His cheeks are pink, either from the wind or the heat of the sun. If it’s the latter, Ava is going to lose her mind, considering she made him swear to slather himself in sunscreen before we got harnessed up and he didn’t.

“The wind’s picked up, right? That isn’t just me?” he asks, looking up at the sky. He went down first, and the air was still at the time.

A large gust of warm wind knocks into us, blowing through my hair. “Nope. It’s definitely picked up.”

It’s after the next burst of wind that we hear Tyler cry out in alarm. Oakley swivels in my direction, eyes wide.

“You heard that too, right?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah.” With quick steps, I head for the break in the trees the zip-line runs through. Craning my neck, I see a large figure stalled on the line, arms and legs flailing.

“What the fuck! Someone get me the fucking fuck off of here, or I swear to God—”

“No way,” Oakley chokes. He bends forward and starts to laugh, the sound echoing around us. “There’s . . . no way. This . . . this is . . . gold,” he wheezes.

I unzip the pocket in my shorts and pull out my phone, swiping at the screen to open the camera. Turning on a video, I point the camera at Tyler and zoom in.

If I didn’t know better, I would think that he looked a bit green, but he’s too far away to be certain. What I do know for sure is that he’s currently waving at the ground like a madman, as if either myself or Oakley will be able to climb up the zip-line and drag his ass down to the ground.

“This is the most beautiful karma,” Oakley says once he’s collected himself. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Why do you think I’m recording this? I’m sending it to the group chat. Gracie will love it.”

I zoom in to Tyler’s dangling body as far as I can before the picture gets too blurry and catch him throwing up his middle finger. “He knows I’m recording,” I snicker.

“Good.”

I lift my hand and wave at him before turning off the recording. “He’s definitely planning how he’s going to kill us and where he’ll hide our bodies.”

Oakley laughs. “I’m pretty sure he planned my murder last night.”

“How are things going since last night? I thought I was going to have to break up a brawl after you left the table at the restaurant.”

Call me nosy, I don’t care. Their drama is my drama, and I’ve never been a fan of that nasty bitch.

“I think it’s okay. Today helped.”

I hum. “Have you guys talked about it?”

Oakley looks at me, brows lifted. “What are you, our couple’s counsellor?”

“If that’s what you need me to be.”

“We haven’t talked about it. There hasn’t really been time. But I’m not sure there’s really anything to talk about. We usually just move past things like this.” He sounds unsure, nervous.

“But this time is different?”

He looks at me with a seriousness in his eyes that surprises me. “You don’t think there’s anything going on with him and Gray, do you?”

My breath stutters. Damn. What the hell is the right answer here?

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