Page 35 of Side Trip

“Well, which is it?”

“I want to jump, but I can’t ...” She wiped her soaked hands on her exercise pants.

“Superman,” Ben announced.

“What?”

Ben gestured to Matt and Dylan, and before Joy could understand what was happening, they had her up in the air like a bodysurfer at a rock concert but facedown.

“Put your arms out,” Matt instructed.

It hit Joy what they intended to do with her.

“Hell no!”

“You’re Superman. Put your arms out,” Griff said with force.

Joy thrust out her arms. “Supergirl,” she corrected.

Dylan laughed. “Damn straight.”

“Give us the word, Joy. Guys can’t hold you all day.”

Shit, shit, shit.

The horizon spun. Her stomach rolled. She squeezed her eyes shut.

She counted down in her head.

Three ... two ... one.

For Judy.

“G—go!”

They hurled her over the side. She soared. She flew. She dived. She screamed the whole way down until the cord fully extended and yanked her back up, then down, and up, and down, until she was just hanging upside down several hundred feet above the Colorado River, gently spinning.

She stopped screaming and started crying. Tears and snot dripped up her forehead. The jump had been insane and scary as hell.

“I didn’t die! I didn’t die!”

Joy gently bobbled and arched her back to look past her feet. The guys were reeling her in. She cleaned her face with her shirt and cry-laughed. She’d gone over the edge and survived. Nobody got hurt. No one had died.

But the best part of all? The fall had been exhilarating. She’d had fun and she’d taken a risk. Only this time, everyone lived to tell about it. She didn’t have anything to feel guilty about. Maybe she could do spontaneous without hives, take some risks like she used to.

Ben and Matt helped her over the rail. They couldn’t get her out of the gear fast enough. She launched herself at Dylan, wrapping her arms and legs around him, octopus-like. “I can’t believe you threw me off a bridge!” She laughed, and he spun her around. Then he gently let her down.

“Well? What did you think?” he asked.

“That was amazing! Truly.” She bounced on her toes and shook her arms. She couldn’t stand still. She was jacked up.

“Didn’t I tell you it would be?”

“Best side trip ever.”

Dylan smiled proudly.

Griff returned the wallet and keys he’d been holding for them. Dylan slipped Griff some Ben Franklins. They exchanged goodbyes and Joy ran to her car. She could hear Dylan on her heels. When they reached the car, she tossed him the keys. She was buzzing, so high on adrenaline that she knew she wouldn’t be able to focus on the road. She wanted him to drive fast, and she wanted to eat. Hamburger, shake, fries, and a whole freaking apple pie. She was starving.

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