“I think I will.”
Nineteen
Emi, Jasmine, and Maddie keep waggling their eyebrows suggestively at me, making obvious faces and head gestures toward Jay. They not only saw the kiss but also watched as Jay grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his group of friends like all of this is completely normal, so I can’t blame them for being excited and doing a terrible job of being discreet. To Jay’s credit, he pretends he doesn’t notice, instead continuing his conversation with Caleb and the others.
He leads the group to talk a very safe distance away from the edge of the cliff, comfortable enough for me to let my guard down. He also picked a spot that forces us to face away from the cliff’s edge, which he did on purpose because I have a sick, self-torturing tendency to watch people jump off the ledge and hold my breath until I hear them break the surface.
Emi dramatically mouths something to me from where she sits directly in my line of sight with the girls.
I tune out whatever Caleb’s saying and silently mouth back,What?
She repeats it again, her mouth opening wider with every word she silently enunciates, but I have no idea what she’s saying.
I shake my head and mouth,What?again.
She does the exact same thing, and I blink at her.
She does it once again, more over-the-top and dramatic this time, and I can tell my blank look exasperates her, because she sighs and loudly exclaims, “Isaid, you guys are totally going to bang!”
Jay, Caleb, and the other guys all turn to Emi. Jasmine and Maddie slap their hands over their faces and erupt into giggles. Emi only smiles innocently as I glare at her, then she looks at the guys and says, “What? We were all thinking it!”
My face burns bright red as the guys laugh, and Caleb playfully elbows Jay and joins in the suggestive eyebrow waggling.
Despite being slightly embarrassed, I can’t help but join in with their laughing and good-natured jesting. At least everyone is laughingwithus about this and notatme about the viral video I’m sure they’ve all seen. In fact, no one has even brought up the video or the incident or called me Pukey McBarfface.
I smile up at Jay, who’s laughing as he tells everyone to grow up. I’m sure he has something to do with everyone treating me normally, and I relax when I realize I haven’t thought about the incident at all since getting here.
Jay looks at me as the conversation drifts onto something else.
“I’m sorry about Emi,” I say, “but honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t just say it out loud in the first place.”
“Don’t apologize for her. Itiskind of your fault for not knowing how to read lips. It was only a matter of time before she got fed up,” Jay jokes, and I shove him.God, he is so annoying.
Why do I love it?
Someone takes off at a run and launches themself off the cliff, and I track them with my eyes until they disappear. Jay notices, taking a step to his left to cut off my view of the cliff.
“You’re here, and you’re in your swimsuit.” He gestures to the strap of my bikini top peeking out from my sundress. “Why don’t you jump?”
Jump? Like off thecliff?Like plummet sixty feet down to certain death in merciless water and hope I avoid any rocks? “Are you joking? You know I’m scared of heights.”
“We can jump together. I’ll hold your hand the whole time. Or we can jump from a smaller one. I promise it’s fun.”
Maybe for him, Mr. I-do-backflips-while-jumping-off-a-cliff-with-more-grace-and-agility-than-a-man-should-be-allowed-to-possess.
“Umm, I don’t think so.”
Jay lifts an eyebrow. “You just said you liked me because I pushed you to be yourself.”
I have to hide my smile because it’s so wild to be talking so openly with Jay like this. It’s the same as we’ve always done, being open and honest about everything, but now with the added knowledge that welikeeach other.
“Yeah,” I say, “and myself is someone who’s scared of heights and would never jump off that edge, even if I was wrapped around you like a koala while in a bubble and wearing protective padding while also being supported by a bungee cord.”
He laughs like he didn’t expect anything else. “Okay, then why don’t we walk down the cliff to swim? It’s a lot slower than jumping, but it’s hot out here, and we’ve got a few more hours of sunlight.”
Jay’s already shirtless, so I’ve got a great view, but the two of us splashing around, having fun while I get to watch water rivulets run down his sculpted chest and abs? Yes,please.
A slim arm lands around my shoulders. “Did I hear we’re going swimming?” Emi asks. “Thank fuck, because I did not think through my outfit choice for today. I amsweating.”