Page 35 of Revival

She looks so concerned I don’t have the heart to actually bail. I swallow the thick saliva in my mouth and ignore my pounding heart.

“Nah.” I chuckle lightly. “I’m just playing around.”

Only two flights of stairs to go.

“I don’t know. I think you’re scared.”

It’s my turn to knock on her helmet. “I don’t get scared.”

“Great! That means you can go first.”

Sweat begins collecting in my palms. “Sorry?”

I don’t realize I stopped walking until Cortney wraps her long fingers around my wrist and tugs me up the final steps. “Yeah. If I go first, I think there’s at least a fifty-fifty chance you chicken out.”

I plant my fists on my hips. “Maybe you’re the one who’s scared.”

The words sound weak.

“I’m not the one who has anything to prove.” There’s a challenge in her eyes that I refuse to back down from.

“Fuck. Fine. I’ll go first.”

“We have a volunteer!” the staff member to my left announces to the group.

Cortney’s giggle reveals her well-timed setup.

Goddamn this woman.

She doesn’t realize I wouldn’t do this for anyone else. Not another soul on this godforsaken planet.

But I’d do anything for her.

The short man wearing a tan fishing hat waves me forward, and within minutes, I’m strapped onto a half-mile-long cable that’s about to ferry me across the fucking jungle.

The harness digs uncomfortably into my ass, and the strip crossed over my right shoulder cuts into my scars. I bite back a wince as I lean back.

The guide hands me a pair of thick leather gloves that remind me of the chopper mitts we used to wear in the winter as kids. I yank them on.

“Are you ready?” the guide asks with an excited grin.

No. Hell no. Fuck me sideways,what did I get myself into?

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. The inside of the gloves grow wet with sweat.

“Yep,” I grunt.

“He needs a kiss goodbye before he goes.” The guide looks pointedly at Cortney. Our fake rings are doing the heavy lifting to convince people we’re supposed to be a couple. Now that we’ve checked-in, the charade is over, but I refuse to take mine off until she does.

I expect Cortney to decline. Come up with an excuse like I’m her brother or something, but she shocks the shit out of me as she skips closer.

Sitting in this harness, our eyes are level as she approaches on the platform. The coconut scent of her shampoo washes over me. She leans closer, and I keep my hands overhead, gripping the line for dear life when all I want to do right now is reach out and hold her.

“Good luck,” she murmurs, her eyes flicking briefly to my lips.

I swipe my tongue across the lower one. “Thanks.”

“Meet you at the bottom?”

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