“Before you go, tell me something about yourself. I don’t care what it is, just tell me something.”
Slightly taken aback, I thought about what I wanted to say. Something about myself. I never really talked about myself, so thinking of something to share wasn’t the easiest task. Couldn’t he ask me another question? Joe started his count down.
“Three . . .”
Seriously, what did he want to know? I felt like everything was too personal.
“Two . . .”
We just played the question and answer game in the car. Didn’t we share enough? The man eats cereal for a snack for heaven sakes.
“One . . .”
Pressured, I blurted the first thing that came to mind.
“When I was a kid I always wore dresses so the boys could see my underwear when I hung upside down on the monkey bars.” And with that I jumped.
I didn’t wait for his response. I wanted to get away. The only option I had was down. I was fully expecting a free fall. The kind where your tummy drops and you feel like there’s no sense of gravity. That wasn’t the sensation at all. It was more like being on a roller coaster without the drop. The wind was in my hair and the tree line below me whizzed by. I briefly glanced back and saw Turner grinning ear to ear. And did he just fist bump the guide? I caught some serious speed and my mind told me it was time to slow down. I watched the bottom of the line where the next platform was in place. There was a woman there, waiting for me. She started giving me hand signals letting me know I needed to reach up and grip the wire. I did. Even though I wore a leather glove, I could still feel the heat through the material burning my hand. My momentum slowed and there was a wooden block that my harness hit making me slow faster than if I tried to do it on my own. Serenity hollered out to me to put my feet down when I got to the platform. It was all a matter of seconds that everything happened. I planted my feet, and stumbled forward, while Serenity grasped the top of my line and made me come to a complete stop.
Holy adrenaline.
“How was it?” she asked. Serenity was a tall brunette woman, I would guess to be in her early thirties.
“I haven’t decided just yet.” My hands were shaking and my heart was palpitating.
“Just wait ‘til you get to the third line. You’ll have some decisions to make.” She wagged her eye brows like what she said would impress me. All it did was freak me out.
Did she know I was terrified of this stuff? Surely not or she wouldn’t have said what she just did. I didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, I looked at the top of the hill where I’d just come and watched as Turner began his slide down. How did he make this look so graceful? He had his arms out wide and his head back like he was enjoying every second of the ride. I was slightly envious. What it must feel like to let go like that.
When he got to where I was, his smile looked like a permanent fixture on his handsome face.
“God, that felt good.” Serenity unclipped him. “What did you think?”
Did the man realize his harness snuggly fit him and I saw everything he was packing? I did my best not to look, but holy crap I could see where he would be slightly confident in the man whore department. Clearly he had a reason to strut his stuff. Focus Annabelle.
“Uh, I uh . . . ” Clearing my throat and closing my eyes for a brief moment to gather myself, I opened them and met his crystal blue eyes head on. “It was an interesting feeling.”
“Interesting good, or interesting bad?”
“Interesting, and I’ll leave it at that. There are how many more of these things? I’ll let you know when we are done.”
He chuckled. “Okay, fair enough.”
I nodded.
“So you wanted the little boys to see your underwear, huh?”
Oh God, I was so caught up in everything that I forgot I spit that little bit of knowledge out. My cheeks felt warm, and I bit my lip hard, trying to hold my composure. Why must he talk about embarrassing things when I have no place to escape too? Probably part of his plan, the asshole.
“I was under pressure. You asked and it was the first thing I could think of. Don’t judge.” I snapped, trying to hold back an embarrassed smirk.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m not judging. I am just shocked is all. Let me guess, you wore those cute little ‘days of the week’ underwear too.”
My eyes got wide. “What did I say about judging?”
Turner burst out laughing. “It was a wild shot in the dark. I had no clue you really did.”
I slapped at his arm. “Alright, sir, turnabout is fair play. Tell me something about you.”
“Let me think about this one.”
I shook my head. “Oh no. You don’t get to think about it. You made me answer under pressure. Well, here’s your pressure, Mr. Tell Me Something. Three . . . two . . . one.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Annabelle. Okay, I almost joined the Navy before I headed off to college. I wanted to become a Navy SEAL.”
Whoa, I was slightly impressed. “Why didn’t you?”
“Another question, another line. Let’s go, pretty girl, ask me at the bottom.”
Serenity clipped Turner onto the next line of the course. “Ready to go!” she announced.
He took no time flinging himself off the edge. This section seemed a little shorter than the last one. He did this so carelessly and freely. I doubted that by the end of the course, I’d feel confident enough to step off without thinking of every possible way I could die. My brain just didn’t work that way, or allow me to relax. But, at least this time, I knew what I was expecting when I would let myself fall. I saw Turner reach the bottom and give a thumbs up. Guess it was my turn. Getting clipped in, I lowered myself to a seated position and allowed gravity to do its job. No running starts for me.
I heard Turner say a little “whoop” for me when I was near the platform. When I got to him, I was successfully stopped by Joe, and unclipped.
“You’re getting good at this,” Turner commended.
I rolled my eyes. “Did I really have a choice? Seems to be the only way down at this point.”
“You have a point.”
“If I go on another date with you, I swear I’m going to need in writing and possibly a blood fingerprint what you’re plans are. No more of this surprise freaking Annabelle out stuff.”
He laughed. “But you’re doing it aren’t you? Are you enjoying it?”
I thought for a moment. “I think I’ll find it enjoyable after I get home and realize I’m safe and sound from your crazy antics.”
“Oh, Annabelle, these aren’t crazy antics. Unless I take you skydiving or bungee jumping, this is quite tame.”
My eyes got round. “I will never throw myself out of a perfectly good airplane for shits and giggles, Turner Brooks. So count me out.”
“Noted.”
He was amused by me. Joe was standing back allowing our moment and not interrupting our date. I kind of wished he would keep us moving so we could get this over with. Wait a second . . . this was the third platform. Didn’t Serenity say this was the one that would be interesting? Crap. I looked around for anything that was different about this one versus the last two. That’s when I saw it. There was a small wooden bridge that extended outwards about six feet. A cable went across it but it looked just like the ones we’d just traveled on. Maybe we were supposed to walk out and step off. Why in the world would we do that instead of doing it from right here? The bridge looked unsteady.
“Are we going?” I asked, ready to keep moving.
Joe came into my line of sight. “Yep, but here’s where you have two options. You can either go down this one like you have the others, or . . .” his “or” sounded ominous. “You can walk out on this little plank here like a pirate, and take a leap of faith.”
Turner wagged his eye brows at me. “Argh!” He tried to sound like a pirate.
“Not funny.” I glared at him. “What do you mean a leap of faith? As in, just step off? Do you slide down the line still?”