My voice rose over the drone of the engine. “I said this better be worth it.”
“It already is. Look how much you’re enjoying snuggling up to me.”
I let go when we entered a quaint little village and we parked the scooter. Alex strapped his backpack on, and we wound our way through the side streets.
Imerovigli. White houses spilling down the edge of a submerged volcano. Panoramic views at every turn.
“Skaros Rock.” Alex pointed to a square-topped rock jutting out into the sea, high above the water.
“Is that where we’re heading?” A path headed toward the looming rock—hundreds of rocky steps descending, then ascending to the peak.
“We don’t have time to make it all the way there, but I know a place where the view is just as spectacular.”
Everything around us was starting to take on a pastel hue as we followed the trail toward Skaros Rock. The contrast of red and black cliffs against the shimmering blue of the Aegean Sea was indescribable.
“Here.” Alex veered off the path and followed a dirt trail to a rocky overhang. We sat there, at the rim of the caldera, our legs swinging over the edge. Before us was a spectacular, unobstructed view of the bay.
“Ready?” he asked, slipping his backpack off.
“For what?”
He grinned. One flash of his dimple and I knew I was in trouble.
He pushed himself off the rock and landed on the ledge below. “Come on.” He held his arms out, waiting for me to jump.
“No way.” I threw his backpack at him instead. “I’m fine up here.” I couldn’t evenseethe ledge, just his cocky face looking up at me. Behind him was a dizzy drop to the sea. Water, water, everywhere. The thought of plummeting into its dark depths and never coming back up terrified me.
“Moti?” Alex tilted his head. Fear has a face, a look, a desperate energy that’s hard to hide.
“You’ll think I’m silly, but when I was born, a fortune-teller told my mother I’d die in the water.”
He clued in and glanced at the waves crashing below us. “It doesn’t matter what I think.” His eyes flickered for a moment. “Is that whatyouthink is going to happen?”
I shrugged. You accept a lot of things as a kid. You accept the things your parents tell you. They’re your first point of contact with the world. You trust them. You base your worth on them. Parts of you remain hardwired when you grow up. Even when you know better, you still feel it.
“Hey.” Alex grasped my hand, pulling me back from my thoughts. “I think what you’re doing is incredibly brave.”
“Clinging to this rock?”
“Learning to swim. Despite being so afraid of the water. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrugged and gazed into the horizon.
“Trust me?”
He’d asked me once before—in the pool, and he’d lost. He was asking again. He took a step back and raised his arms.
“I promise I’ll catch you.”
His words bounced against the rocks and echoed in my ears.
I’ll catch you…
You…
You…
The wind paused and the waves stopped crashing below. My heart stilled at what I saw in his eyes:
