“Close your eyes,” he said.
I froze. “Why?”
“Because I want to try something.”
There was something so vulnerable about closing your eyes for a person. I wanted to fight it, but I was already here, sopping wet, in Duke’s clothes, attempting a lift from a movie. He’d get me to cave eventually.
I closed my eyes.
“First time I asked? I’m shocked.”
“Don’t let it go to your he—”
My words slowed when I felt his body before me, the water between us lapping farther up my sides at his movement.
“What are you doing?” My words came out in a breathless whisper.
“I need you to trust me,” he said. “I’m not going to let you fall—at least, not without me.”
A small gasp escaped my lips as his hands found their way to my hair, his palms lightly gripping the sides of my head. They didn’t stay for long but traveled softly down the side of my neck and stopped on my shoulders, his fingers twirling the strands of hair that had escaped my ponytail. Each touch heightened without sight. Ever so slowly, I felt his hands on my arms, moving them back past my waist.
“We’re going to bypass my shoulders,” Duke whispered, his breath a puff of heat next to my ear. “Keep them back here.”
Ever so slowly, his hands were back on my arms, making their way back up to my neck. A sigh escaped me just before Duke’s mouth landed on my cheek, as soft as a whisper, before making his way down my jawline.
“I’m calling in your debt,” he whispered.
I was too far gone to resist—not that resistance was anywhere near my thoughts. My breath hitched as I felt his lips on the corner of my mouth, taking his time, teasing me. But I didn’t want to be teased anymore. I was antsy and restless. When his mouth finally found my bottom lip, tugging and tasting, I closed the gap, kissing him with a sigh.
In the foggy recesses of mind outside of Duke’s kiss, I felt the slide of his hands down the side of my body, stopping at my hips. I didn’t have time to miss the loss of them from my hair because before I could blink or protest the absence of his lips, I was being lifted into the air. With my eyes still closed, my hands reached out for balance as my body tightened, falling into the movement. After a second or two of intense concentration of stillness, I opened my eyes in wonder.
The feeling of flying was similar to what I felt whenever I was with Duke, the absence of gravity creating a moment without limit. Endless possibilities. A weightlessness when I should have been grounded. But I was grounded. I had always been grounded. Duke held me up—the gravity to my flight. We held the position for a record-breaking seven seconds before we started to fall.
We came out of the water laughing and spitting out water. Cresting the wave of our high. We had finally done it. My body felt as light as air. Physically, gravity had done its job bringing me back down to earth, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually, I was somewhere else. My soul was in the clouds. The pounding of my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest. A part of me hated that we were back down to earth, our moment gone. Or was it?
Duke was wiping the water from his eyes when his low chuckle met my ears. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet and I couldn’t look away.
Live in the moment, he'd said.
It did sound dreamy. My own slice of heaven. Because in this moment was a world where Duke wasn’t my boss and there was no HR. There was no competition for a job or my need for a career. In this moment, there were no thoughts of ex-girlfriends of three years taking up space in my brain. It was just us. The Nora and Duke of the basketball game. Impulsive and free. And we had finally checked off the most obnoxious bucket list item known to man. Surely that was cause for…celebration.
Right?
I didn’t let myself think. Instead my body took over. Ever so slowly, I made my way toward him. Duke’s eyes were open now. His hair had been brushed impatiently off of his forehead and his face was covered in drops of water. The laughter so ready in his eyes and on his lips faded as my hands found their way to his cheeks. And before I could over-think, I rose up to meet his lips.
His mouth was hot against mine, dipping and taking everything I offered. The splash of water between us was the only sound as his arms wound their way against my waist, pulling me closer. The light bristles from his face marked my skin, causing my breath to catch and my footing to stumble. This moment felt like coming home in a way that didn’t quite make sense. He held me with such sweetness and care it almost made me ache.
I was beginning to think Duke was a liar.
I won’t let you fall.
This felt very much like falling. My seven seconds being airborne couldn’t hold a candle to the ecstasy I was feeling now.
Not without me.
Was he falling too?
It felt risky…this living in the moment business.
