“What are you doing?” I asked her.
I reached for her but she couldn’t seem to let go of the flimsy metal walls.
“I’m showing you that I’m not afraid. I’m grand-gesturing you.”
Despite how terrified she looked, I couldn’t help my smile. “I didn’t think you were the type,” I said coyly.
“And I didn’t think you would ever paint yourself into leather pants,” she teased despite her quaking.
“Roxy, trust me, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes. I do. I am tired of being afraid all the time. I want to show you that I’m literally and figuratively ready to leap. This would have been far more dramatic if you showed up like you were supposed to. Instead of on a motorcycle.” She shook her head with a laugh. “What were you even thinking?”
Pushing forward, I finally managed to grab her hands. They were ice cold and clammy. “I wanted to show you that I could be what you need me to be. I wanted to show you that I could be a biker. I dunno. It was Jack’s idea. He could be fucking with me, now that I think about it.” I shook my head to stay focused. “I’m serious about us. I’m not running anymore either. You can run and I will chase you. That sounded a lot more stalker-like than I meant it to.”
She huffed out a nervous laugh.
“I can be here and provide for you. I can give you whatever you need,” I said. I’d have to figure out the logistics but I never wanted her to feel alone.
“I don’t want you to do that. I just want you. You’re the one that I want.”
“You’re the one that I want,” I repeated back to her.
“Alright, now or never,” the bungee jump operator said stepping in between us and starting to close the door. “Going up with her or not?”
“Yes,” I said and jumped in before they could close the door. There was another ride operator in the cage, checking his phone, not at all listening to us.
“Here we go,” the first operator said, showing no emotion as he locked us in. Apparently our personal drama wasn’t unique. He signaled something to the second man and the whole box lurched.
“Why am I up here. Oh my God, why am I up here?” Roxy chanted to herself.
The cage stuttered as it slowly started to rise. A familiar rush of adrenaline hit me as the ground moved further away.
“You don’t have to do this. I don’t want you to do something that scares you.”
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she said. She looked down as we lifted slowly before tightly shutting her eyes. The higher we climbed, the fainter the sounds of the carnival became.
“It’s okay, Roxxo. You don’t have to do it. We can go back down. Hey, man, how do we take it back down?” I asked the guy on his phone.
He glanced to Roxy in question.
Roxy said, “No. I’m doing this. I want to.” The cart came to a stop and swayed lightly in the wind. “Oh my God.”
The operator checked her harness and opened a door that transformed into a little plank for her to jump from.
He brushed past me to illustrate how she needed to keep her arms crossed in front of her chest. “Make sure you keep your hands tight to your body when you jump. Try not to flail,” the guy said not caring at all that she was freaking out.
“Jesus,” I mumbled.
Roxy was stone silent. Her eyes were wide open now and her whole body shook.
“When you’re ready, walk forward and jump,” he said and slunk back to the corner. Apparently, he was used to customers taking some time.
I shuffled to the edge to look over as Roxy mumbled to herself. Down below I saw our friends waving.
“Just jump!” Gretchen yelled, her voice barely carrying all the way up to us.
“Not helping,” I yelled back down. Turning to Roxy, I said, “Let’s just go down and talk. I know you have no reason to trust me—”
Roxy finally looked at me. “I trust you more than anyone.” She shook her head. “It makes no sense. From day one, I’ve felt like I’ve known exactly who you are.”
“There is no one else for me,” I said, all silliness dissipated.
She watched me closely.
“The moment we met, I knew you were the one. I knew that every stupid, impulsive choice, every bad thing that had ever happened, had led me to that moment so I could meet you.”
“So grandiose,” she said but her eyelashes fluttered.
“Tell me you didn’t feel it too. Tell me that when we talked, you didn’t feel a connection unlike you have ever felt with someone. Because the more time I spent with you, the more I realized that what we have is the real thing. It was not fleeting. It was everything. These weeks apart have made me understand that I don’t want to waste another minute.” I brought her to me, trying to get as close as possible with a giant green harness in the way. “Life is too short to waste this. I love you, Roxy Kincaid.”
Something smoothed the fear from her face. She leaned into me and kissed me softly. “I love you too,” she said.
When I leaned in to deepen the kiss, I found only air. I opened my eyes to find her turning away. My hand shot out but it was too late. Without another word, she took two steps forward and tumbled over the side.
She screamed the entire time. People on the ground watched in mixed humor and horror. I covered my smile.
“Damn, I love that woman,” I said.
By the time the operator and I came back down, everyone had gathered around Roxy. Her face was flushed and her friends complimented her bravery.
“You’re gonna lose your street rep if you
