Page 96 of The Romance Game

It’s a long minute before I hear the stones hit the ground below. Panicked, thoughts of Luke fill my mind.

“Everything alright up there?” Royal hollers.

CJ meets my gaze. His grasp is firm and his tone low when he says, “Everything is fine.”

No, it’s the opposite. Very not fine. Unfine. Fine inside out and backward.

My heart thunders and perspiration breaks out across every inch of my body, including my wrist where CJ has hold of me.

Not breaking my gaze, he says, “Harley, you were a gymnast. You’re just on the high bar. You’re going to grip the bar to your right with your free hand. I’ve got you.”

I’m afraid to let go of the stone ledge, but my fingers are slipping as the old stone crumbles. Taking a deep breath, I take hold of the remains of the busted bar. It’s rusty yet slick from the salty and humid air.

“We’re going to do this together.” He instructs me to lift myleft leg toward the edge without using momentum at the same time as he slowly draws me upward.

My heart is my throat, but I manage, which has little to do with flexibility from my youth and everything to do with determination. It’s hard not to notice CJ’s steadying presence—the baby of the family, the goofball.

Yet, he seems to know exactly how to handle this situation.

Soon, my back is against the wall of the lighthouse. My chest rises and falls. My limbs shake. Adrenaline makes the stars seem extra bright. I thank my lucky ones and send up a prayer of gratitude.

CJ leans there by my side.

Still catching my breath, I say, “That was close. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Literally, let’s not mention it to Ryan.”

CJ grunts, reminding me of his other brothers.

Leaving me to recover, he finds the sign I referred to and his cellphone camera shutter sounds before we make the slow descent. My legs wobble all the way.

I’ve never been so glad to return to solid ground. I want to curl up in the underbrush and thank those lucky stars again.

Instead, I do my best to act normal and like I didn’t almost fall to my death.

“You got it?” Royal asks.

“We did,” CJ says. “The sign was there just as Harley remembered.”

“That took a while. Was it in rough shape up there?”

“Restoration will be considerable,” CJ answers.

“You’re quiet, Harley, not keen on heights?” Royal teases.

If he dares make chicken noises, I have enough adrenaline left in me to clobber him. He doesn’t and I remain quiet, thankful that I didn’t fall.

We return to the bench as if we hadn’t left, and wait, studying the photos CJ took and speculating until the boat lights come into view.

Unlike the three of us, the seafaring party is nonstop chatter about what they learned. In short order, I find out that Lally was right about the cufflinks.

“Lucky aces,” she says as we walk toward the Driftwood Resort to debrief.

Ryan hangs back and says, “Pretty boring, watching the Dark Seas, huh?”

I bite the inside of my lip. My voice is a little higher than normal when I say, “Actually, CJ and I climbed the lighthouse to see if that old sign was up there.”

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