I looked up at Landon and realized that Leah was right. I just had to trust. Maybe it would get me burned. Maybe it would hurt so much this time that I wouldn’t survive it. Or maybe we’d fly. Whether or not I wanted to deny it, my heart knew the truth—I was his, so in love with him that my heart fluttered with the sweetness of the emotion.
I was done fighting it.
The knife cut through the rope, and in one instant, I hung above the canyon.
The next…I let go and fell.
When the ride was over, and we were all gathered at the vans, waiting to return to the ship, I made sure the cameras were on and then walked straight up to Landon, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed the hell out of him.
His surprise lasted all of two seconds before he lifted me off my feet and robbed me of every thought. We ignored the catcalls around us as our kiss lasted way longer than publicly acceptable, both reveling in what I’d just done.
Whether we flew or failed, we were public now.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rachel
Fiji
Crystal-clear water stretched out as far as I could see as we walked the white sand beach. This was truly paradise.
Now if only I could get my thoughts on the same page. Since I’d come to the revelation that I was in this relationship to the hilt, that there was nothing I could do about being in love with Landon, I’d been a freak show. My emotions were all over the place, scrambling to think of a way to tell him, or a way to keep it to myself in case he fucked something up and left me again.
“How did your other midterms go?” Landon asked as a wave gently lapped over our feet. I lifted the hem of my purple maxi dress so it didn’t get uncomfortably soaked for the skiff back to the Athena. He looked like he belonged here in Fiji, his white button-up shirt rolled at the elbows over his blue shorts and tanned skin.
“Good, I think. I turned in my outline for my research paper, and I’m still waiting on my grade from Marine Life. What about you?”
“All A’s,” he said with a little grin.
“Of course.”
“Don’t hate me because I’m smart,” he said, lifting me from the sand for a kiss.
Our lips met, sending a torrent of flutters to my stomach.
“Are you all packed?” he asked against my mouth.
“For the most part. I figured I’d finish tomorrow while we’re on our way into port. We should head back, right? The charter boat will be leaving in about an hour.” The day had been perfect. No classes, no stunts, no stress. Just us.
“We have time. Want to explore with me for a second?” His eyes lit up as he lowered me to the sand.
“Sure, but if you make us miss that boat, I’m going to flip,” I warned.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll have you exactly where you want to be.”
His smile was enough to stop my heart as he took my hand, leading me down the beach to where a wide wooden path began. It stretched out over the crystalline water, supporting bungalows on either side.
“Are we supposed to be here?”
He shrugged. “We’re just exploring. Let’s take a peek and see if it’s somewhere you’d want to come back for vacation after you graduate.”
I slipped my flip-flops on so the wood didn’t burn my feet and followed him onto the boardwalk. “How about I just say yes now?” The bungalows were everything I’d ever imagined about a vacation—serene, beautiful, and somehow sensual with the waves gently reaching them.
But saying yes meant I saw a future for us. Of course I did—I wanted to—but the real world wasn’t anything like what we’d been living the last seven weeks.
“So what do we do over Christmas?” I asked as we passed several of the little rooms. The question had been nagging at me. Two weeks apart. Normally I wouldn’t have freaked, but the last time we were in L.A. together we didn’t do so well.
“I’ll be in L.A. for the first few days for the holidays,” Landon said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “I’m hoping you’ll come by and meet my parents, though.”
I paused. “We’re meeting parents?”
“Well, I already know yours,” he said with a mock smile.
“Yeah, they kind of hate you.” I cringed. “Was that a little harsh?”
“Nope, you nailed it. They do hate me.”
“Everything is easier here.” I looked over the water, taking in the exquisite beauty that was like nowhere else on earth. It was hard to believe that we’d seen so many amazing places and people, yet there was still so much more to go. But eventually, it would end. Panic crept in at the edges of my serenity. “I mean, when this is over, we’ll be back in L.A. Well, you will. I still have a year at Dartmouth. And you have competitions and tours. Even if we make it through this program intact, how are we—?”
His mouth covered mine in a deep kiss as his hands framed my face. “We’ll figure it out.”
“But what if we don’t?” I asked, needing a certainty he couldn’t provide me.
He picked me up, carrying me with one of his arms tucked beneath my knees as the other supported my back. “Simple. We agree that we will. We decide not to let it fall apart.”
He walked down the wooden platform without breaking a sweat. His breathing was even and steady, where mine was picking up the more my mind spun. “That’s not how a relationship works.”
“Sure it is.”