Page 85 of Wishing for La Luna
“…But I want to jump…with you.”
His eyes go round, and his head shakes. “Luna, it’s dangerous. I…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I’m scared, but you’ll be there. You won’t let anything happen to me.” I take his face in my hands. “I want to see what you see. Experience what you do down there. Share it with me.”
He starts to shake his head, but lets a couple of breaths pass, then finally nods. “Okay.”
Ten minutes later, I question everything—my choices, the power of my intestines, my sanity, and his.What the fuck are we doing?
“We’re going to jump together. When the man says go, we push at the same time from our knees. Do not lean forward. We want to go straight down. Point your feet. When you hit the water, don’t flail, just go with it and let yourself sink. And then open your eyes. We will swim up.”
I swallow and nod, not trusting myself to speak because my heart is pounding in my ears. If I don’t die from the fall, I may croak before I jump. But I’m determined to do this.
We remove our clothes and stay in our bathing suits. One of our security collects everything. As we are walking to the ledge, Sel screams my name.
“What the fuck are you doing? Come back. Both of you.”
I wave at her like I’m brave and fun and not about to lose my breakfast. “I’ll be back, Sel.”
“You’re fucking insane. Did you convince her to do this shit?” she asks Rio.
“Nope. My idea. Hey, if I die, you can have my clothes, my room, and all the custom jewelry.”
“That’s not fucking funny,” she yells.
“It’s really not,” Rio agrees.
“Come on,” I tell him, like the panic is not climbing the walls of my chest the closer we get.
He squeezes my hand so tightly and lets go as we take our places on the edge. One look down at the drop, the water so far away like a galaxy, and my stomach turns. My heart punches my chest, and my throat is closing by the second.What if I die?I’ve never jumped this high. He’s done it a lot.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod. And I suddenly need to say something to him.
The other man is going to do the countdown.
“One…two…”
Before he says three, I turn to Rio. “I love you.”
“…three.”
I push off hard from my knees. It feels like an eternity, yet at the same time, like a blink of an eye. I experience everything: the wind coursing through my body, the water rushing toward me, and the inability to open my mouth. I want to scream, but the words don’t come out. One second, gravity is dragging me down violently and my eyes are closed as I slide into the water. I count two seconds and open my eyes, expecting full darkness. Instead, I’m surrounded by the bluest, most beautiful silence I’ve ever known. It’s an empty turquoise canvas, and I’m getting propelled up. Just like Rio said.
My heart drops because I don’t see him. I whip my head around and he’s right there, behind me. His eyes are clear with a smile on his face. He stops in front of my face and brings his hand behind my neck. Bubbles float around us as he pulls me in for a kiss. I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around him, and we float up with my face on his neck and our bodies entwined.
When we break the surface, I blink against the salt burn, but he’s there, and I can’t stop staring into his eyes.
“You did that,Mami.”
With my heart hammering in my chest, I pant, “With you.”
“And you said you love me.”
“I do.”
He exhales and steals my breath with his kiss.
