Hailey always teases me about August. Despite ourfriendship drifting apart throughout the years, she’s never let me forget how I’ve submerged my feelings for him so deep that I’ve started gaslighting myself into thinking they don’t exist.
“You know I’m joking.” She shoves me by my shoulder.
“No, you’re not.”
“Yeah, I’m not. But first I told the guys we’d go cliff jumping with them,” Hailey says.
“What? I’m not cliff jumping. Are you crazy?”
“You’re going,” August shouts from behind us.
“No, I’m not!”
“Riley, come on.” Hailey grabs my hand and tugs me off the chair.
“Areyou guys seriously going to do this?” Addie asks James.
Beau walks backward to get a running start, then charges toward the edge of the cliff, jumping into a front flip before heading into the water. A huge splash follows as he hits the water.
James and August yell and clap their hands, then follow suit. They do their own flips and dives. The rock they jump off is at least twenty-five feet or more. I look over the edge, and I feel my stomach fall out of my butt.
“I amnotdoing that.” I point to the water.
Hailey brackets her hips. “Oh, come on. It’s not that scary.”
When the guys get back to the top, Beau and James jump while I stand still. August stands next to me, and I side-eye him.
“What?” I ask.
“Why aren’t you jumping?” He pushes his wet hair back, his glasses missing.
“Because I don’t want to die.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re not going to die.”
“Do you hear that?” I pause, letting him hear the waves crashing hard into the rocks. “That’s the sound of death. This isn’t safe.”
“If it wasn’t safe, the resort wouldn’t let us do this. It’d be blocked off. I’ve seen other people do it all day.”
I cross my arms and look up at the bare blue sky, the sun gleaming down at me. I’m perfectly fine with sitting outside of the water and getting a tan.
“Stop being a chicken.”
“I’m not a chicken.” I lower my arms and ball my fists, close to throwing a tantrum.
“I’ll make it interesting. If you jump into the water, I will attend one of your yoga classes.”
I widen my eyes and gasp. I’ve been trying to get August to take one of my classes foryears.I fell in love with yoga in high school, and sometimes I’d find myself randomly doing poses at Ellie’s house when I’d hang out with her.
I always told him it could help with his ADHD, but he never took me up on the offer. Until now.
“Wait, seriously?” I hold my hands out, making sure he’s not joking with me.
He crosses his arms and cocks his head. “Seriously. You can choose the day and the class. Let’s turn it into a bet, make it worth your while.”
“This is too good to pass up.”
He puts up a finger. “If I can last through your class without breaking a sweat, then you get to take me out to dinner.”
