About thirty feet from me, they both dive beneath the water and out of sight, and I hold my breath until Zeke bursts out of the water first, directly in front of me. It looks like he’s getting ready to say something when his eyes widen and he’s yanked under again.
There’s a lot of splashing, grunts, and growls while he and Khalil wrestle for dominance.
Rolling my eyes, I swim over to the rocky outcropping on the side and climb onto the rocks, surprised to find the surface smooth. I sit on the edge and wring my hair out, glad that I at least braided the front last night. Still, I’m not looking forward to wrestling with it later when I wash it, but that’s future me’s problem.
After a few minutes, Thorin swims over while Khalil and Zeke leave the pool.
I watch—but more like drool—as he plants his hands on the rock and hauls himself out of the water.
“Are you hungry?” he asks once he’s standing and dripping water next to me.
“Starving.”
Thorin holds out his hand and pulls me to my feet. We climb down the rocks and skirt the edges of the pool until we reach ourpacks and the fire Khalil is building. It’s too warm for one, so I assume they’re planning to catch our lunch.
Too hungry to wait, I open my pack and peruse the snacks Khalil packed for me.
I do a little happy dance when I spot the Oreos tucked inside. Snatching the pack open, I pluck one from the tray and look around. “Where is Zeke?” I ask when I realize we’re one short. I feel like a thirst bucket, but I’m also feeling too good to care. Thorin wordlessly points, and my heart drops when I spot a figure walking along the exposed rock in the middle like a median dividing opposing lanes of traffic in a street. “What’s he doing?”
“Jumping.”
“What?” The Oreos tumble from my lap when I stand abruptly. “He can’t! What if he hits the side? What if it’s too high?”
“He won’t, and it’s not.”
“You don’t know that. Get him down from there!”
Thorin looks up at the cliff. “Sorry, wolf. No can do.”
I spin around just in time to see Zeke sprinting toward the edge. At the last moment, he leaps in a wide arc that just barely clears the sharp ledges jutting out of the falls and waiting to break his body in half and splatter him in a crimson display of carnage. I watch with my heart in my throat as he speeds toward the pool like a bullet and then tucks his arms and legs at the last moment before plunging beneath the surface.
He made it.
It does nothing to calm the angry beast howling inside of me as Zeke swims for the shore, so I storm to the edge of the water to give him a piece of my mind.
“Easy,” Thorin says as he drops what he’s doing and follows. I ignore him.
Zeke walks out of the water with a grin that drops when I plant my hands on his chest and shove him back. “Are you crazy?”
“What’s your problem, princesa?”
“Don’t you princess me. What the hell was that?”
“What?” He grins again, making his dimples appear as water drips from his dark hair. “You didn’t enjoy that?”
“What do you think, you gigantic ass? Does it look like I enjoyed watching you scare me to death?”
Zeke laughs, and as much as I enjoy the sound, I want to punch him for not taking my worry seriously. “That’s too bad because I’m about to do it again.”
“Oh, no the fuck you’re not.”
Zeke gives Thorin and Khalil a dry look over my shoulder and turns away to head back up the path that takes him to the top of the cliff. I find myself following, cursing him out the whole way. “Zeke, I’m serious. Don’t you dare.”
“Why do you care?” he tosses back without any venom. He sounds like he’s genuinely curious.
“Whydon’tyou care?” I retort. “That was incredibly reckless. And stupid.”
“It was fun.”
