Page 23 of Adoring Ink

So instead of falling for him, today she would fall from a bridge. Attached to a bungee cord, of course, but it was still falling from a freaking bridge. Why had she put this on her list? Oh, yeah, because she wanted a little change in her life.

Next time, she might just change the color of her sheets or something. That sounded much safer.

“Want to head back? We can.”

She looked up at him before kissing his jaw. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Brody would never hurt her body. Her soul or her heart? Well, that was on her. She’d just have to stop falling in love with him. He’d made no promises, and she was going to have to do her best to not look too deeply into what they had.

Maybe if she told him more about who she was and where she came from, it would keep her safe. It would build that wall between them so neither of them got hurt.

“Holly?”

“Let’s do it. I don’t want to miss out on anything,” she said quickly.

Bungee jumping would be easier than falling for him or opening herself up anyway. And after that? Well, after that, she’d figure it out.

He tucked her hair behind her head. “If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Maybe. She wasn’t sure of anything else, so she might as well be sure about this.

“Okay, then, let’s go. Remember, you can turn back at any time before we start to tilt forward.”

She elbowed him in the gut, holding back a smile. The darn man sure knew how to get right into the deep places she’d kept hidden for so long. So long, in fact, she’d forgotten she was doing it. No wonder she and Jake—or any of the other men she’d been with—hadn’t worked out.

They hadn’t seen her.

And yet, it seemed as if Brody did.

Again, that was a danger she hadn’t put on her list.

The two of them went through the instructions one more time and listened to the people in charge tell them what they needed to do and explain a little bit about what it would feel like. Of course, no matter what they said, she was pretty sure the only way she would know would be to actually do it.

And though it scared her, she wanted to try it, wanted to feel the wind on her face and know her body was floating, if only for an instant.

The fact that she’d be tied up to Brody along the way only made it that much better—and perhaps scarier.

They were the second couple to go, the first couple veterans of bungee jumping. Holly had on her helmet and gear and pressed herself closely to Brody’s side.

“This is my first time, too,” Brody whispered.

She turned to him. “What? I thought you knew what you were doing.” She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry.

“There are some things on my list, too. But I figured I should mention that I hadn’t done this before. Now I feel like I did the wrong thing.”

She shook her head and hugged him hard. “We can do this. We’ll just make it our first time together.”

He chuckled roughly and whispered in her ear, “We’ll take it nice and slow and lose our virginities. Don’t worry.”

She kissed him hard then sucked in a breath as the instructor called their names. With her shoulders rolled back, she got into position and followed every one of their rules and listened hard for what to do. The people in charge set everything up and triple-checked things before patting them on the shoulders, telling them what to do for the fourth time. With something like this, she’d have taken the fifth time, too.

She and Brody were pressed tightly together, ready to literally take the plunge. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to think about that as a symbol or not, but regardless, she couldn’t think about it right then.

Brody let out a breath. “Ready, Holly?”

She nodded. “Ready.”

For what, she didn’t know.

“I’ve got you,” he said calmly. “Always.”