Page 39 of The Bro Pact
I climb the narrow rock stairs, leading me to a ledge near the top of the cliff. I stare below at the rocky swimming hole and the small crowd of people watching.
“Ren!I swear to God, if you?—”
Kyle’s words are cut off by the whooshing in my ears as I free-fall for a blissful second before I hit the chilly water. I pop back through the surface, pumping my fist into the air and shaking my wet hair out of my face. “Hell yeah, bro!”
People are clapping and cheering, and I grin like a fool, eating it up.
That was awesome.
Kyle sighs, shaking his head in exasperation. “Satisfied now? Come back over here. I’m hungry.”
As much as I’m tempted by food, that was a thrill like no other and the adrenaline is still pumping.
I swim over, hanging onto a smaller rock next to the boulder he’s sitting on and kicking my legs behind me. “So, there’s another jump.A higher jump.”
“Ren . . .”
I ignore the concern in his tone, continuing on with what I was saying. “No one really knows about it, so the rocks are mossy and slippery, but other than that, it’s completely safe.” I smile confidently, even though I’m not.
Kyle’s golden hair shines in the sunlight, and his flawless skin is stretched taut over hard muscles. He looks good lounging on the rock like some sort of fitness model.
“I don’t trust the internet, and I don’t trust that high of a jump, Ren.”
I brush him off, chuckling softly as the cool water laps against my shoulders. “Bro, you sound like an old man. It’s a reputable outdoor blog. It’s fine.Seriously.”
“I have a bad feeling,” he counters.
Something twisted inside me gets a sick little thrill out of making him worry.
“I’m going for it.” I swim away, heading toward the cliff again.
“Goddammit, Ren!Why can’t you just stop? Why do you always have to push things further than they need to go?”
Suddenly, I don’t feel like we’re talking about cliff jumping at all anymore, and it annoys the shit out of me. I ignore my best friend, who’s apparently trying to mother me, and continue swimming, searching for the footholds that lead to the higher jump.
Running my fingers along the rough stone, I finally find a divot in the wall and start to climb very, very carefully. When I get to the top, I hoist myself up and stop to catch my breath, staring down at the water below. It seems a lot higher now that I’m up here, but I can’t chicken out after getting Kyle worked up.
Trepidation skitters down my spine, and I question my own resolve when I start to back up, preparing to make a running jump.
I can see the worry on Kyle’s face from all the way up here, while everyone else watches with an excited sort of anticipation.
The whole scenario brings memories to the surface from when we were eight.
If I climb up a few more branches, then I’ll be high enough.
I told all the other kids at camp that I could jump from the top of the tree into the lake.
I’m not even sure why I did that. I just wanted everyone to like me. To like us.
And now they’re all watching.
“Renny! Please don’t go any higher,” Kyle pleads. I don’t think he wants me to do this, but it’ll be fine. It’ll be awesome!
By accident, I glance down as I get even higher.
“Whoa.” Looking down is bad. Very bad.
I close my eyes, feeling dizzy.
