“Yes, I’m good,” I replied. “Can’t believe you said you were scared of heights.”
Luke grinned. “Well ''heights'' was a vague term. It’s mostly just the swings. I just didn’t want to sound like too much of a loser but you’ve exposed me.” He chuckled.
“This is so cool, Luke!” Reagan shrieked, running passed us pulling Shane by the hand.
“We don’t have to jump,” Luke said. “Come sit over here with me.” He pulled the towel from around his neck and set it down on the grassy side of the bridge near the bush. We sat on the towel in silence. It was strange though because the silence wasn’t awkward.
“Hey, Denny. Grandma said we have to be home to help set up for dinner at 4:30.” A little girl with red hair and a tie-dye bathing suit said standing in front of a little boy with white-blonde hair and a Mohawk.
“Okay Lily. We can fit five more jumps in for sure.” He shouted over his shoulder climbing up onto the railing.
He turned around and put his hand out for his sister. She grabbed it and climbed up alongside him. They sat on the edge, swinging their feet. “I wanted to see Willow so bad.” The little boy pouted.
“You just saw her at field day two weeks ago!” Lily slapped him on the arm.
“You’re in love with her.”
“Am not!” Denny shouted back at his sister. Lily rolled her eyes and looked over in our direction.
“Hi, Luke!” She grinned waving excitedly. Luke waved back immediately. “Would you tell Denny he’s in love with Willow? He has been since we were like 4. Am I right?” She yelled over to us.
Luke giggled. “Hey Denny, there’s nothing wrong with having a little crush.” He shouted back. “I can see you guys being class couple in 10 years.”
“Really?” Denny asked, blushing. Luke gave him a thumbs up.
“It’s so weird to me you all actually live here.” I blurted out.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked me, picking the grass while he spoke.
“Haha. Sorry, that probably sounded weird but it’s easy to forget that people actually live here year round like this is your home, this is their home.” I said pointing towards the bridge where Shane and Reagan were jumping for the third time.
“Oh, I get what you mean. Yeah, it’s weird for me too. You should see how dead it is here on the off-seasons; it’s crazy. Kind of depressing actually.”
“I’m surprised you don’t hate the tourists,” I said, raising my eyebrows at him.
“I like to keep busy,” he replied. “They keep me busy.” He smiled in my direction. “I’m sorry this is a bust.” He added, shrugging his shoulders.
“Don’t say that!” I said. “I might get the courage to do it. I’m just nervous.”
“I totally get that,” Luke replied.
“You should go jump,” I said. “Maybe watching you will help me.”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I really wanted to go with you.” I felt my face flush.
“I want to see you do it.” I smiled. “Then I’ll consider going with you.”
“That’s good enough for me!” Luke replied, hopping up. As he walked to the bridge, the girl lying on the towel from earlier seemed to notice. She threw her sunglasses to the side and started to stand up. I suddenly felt sick.
“What a rush!” Shane said as he and Reagan walked over to me. Reagan locked eyes with me and clearly could sense something was wrong. We both watched as the girl hurried over and squeezed in next to Luke who was climbing on the railing.
“Let’s jump together!” She squealed. I tried to swallow the knot in my throat and hold back my tears. Calm down Sutton, you just met the guy. He’s no one to you. Don’t get invested so quickly. Luke looked over in my direction with a worried look on his face as Bianca wrapped her arm around him.
“Sutton, he’s not into it at all. He’s clearly into you,” Reagan said in my ear. I just watched in silence as they plummeted into the water together. When they climbed up on the edge of the beach, they stood there for a minute and Bianca walked away in the other direction. Luke came back and sat next to me on the towel. He was dripping wet and his ringlet curls were completely straightened.
“Our turn?” He asked, smirking at me. I took a deep breath and stood up.
“Okay, it’s now or never.” Luke shot me a huge grin. “Hurry up before I change my mind!” I said scurrying onto the bridge.
Luke climbed up first and carefully helped me climb up to a crouching position. He held my hand the whole time.“Okay, now when you’re ready slowly stand up.”
“I’m never going to be ready.” Luke let go of my hand and put his hands on my hips. My skin tingled as he placed his palms against me, slowly raising me to a standing position. I looked around a little bit. Bianca was glaring at us and Reagan and Shane were watching us, smiling and whispering to each other.
Luke put his hand out and I grabbed it. “Count us down from 3.”
“3. 2. 1.” I said slowly. Luke and I both flew through the air and dropped down into the water.
“You did it!” Luke said after we both came up to the surface pulling me in for a hug. I felt completely warm for the few seconds that his body was against mine. “This victory calls for milkshakes,” Luke said, flashing a cheesy smile at me again.
We climbed back up to the grassy side of the bridge and found ourselves completely alone. “Wow, this place cleared out quickly,” I said looking around. “Where could Shane and Reagan have gone?” I asked, as Luke picked up his
