The Girl I Was Before (Falling #3)(77)

“You climb,” I say, leading the way, hoping like hell she’s following. I don’t turn around to check, instead, setting her jacket on the ground by the entrance and grabbing a bar and starting my ascent up the three platforms to the start of the slide. I catch a glimpse of her behind me somewhere in the middle of my climb, and I start to take the steps and bars faster, looping my body over and under each obstacle.

“Houston Orr you are not going down that slide first. Not if you brought me here,” she shouts. It’s funny how competitive she is over this all of a sudden, and it’s adorable, too. She said my entire name, and it was like she’s known me for years—the syllables so comfortable falling from her lips.

“You are going to have to earn it, woman,” I tease, pulling and climbing. It’s dark near the top, so I slow down a little to make sure I’m gripping the right bars. Paige doesn’t break at all, and she gains on me, her hands at my feet for the last few steps. I get to the bridge before her, and I can hear her heavy boots pounding on the wobbling wood and metal, so I stop and lift my body up with my arms on both railings, then bring my feet down with force to really make the bridge shake. It trips Paige up, and it also pisses her off.

“You were that kid on the playground, weren’t you? Oh, that’s it,” she says, standing facing me on the opposite side of the bridge. In two swift motions, she reaches for each foot and pulls her boots from her feet, tossing them over the side into the woodchips below. I watch them fall into the darkness.

“You better remember where you threw those, ‘cause I’m not helping your ass find them,” I joke.

“You better start running, because my twin’s fast as hell, and I got some of those genes,” she says, darting in my direction, holding the skirt of her dress in her hand. As dark as it is out, the smile on her face is unmistakable. It’s also incredibly distracting, and before I can get my feet moving, she’s equal with me, pushing and shoving against me as we work our way up the last few steps to the top of the slide.

“Houston, don’t you dare!” she shouts through the most beautiful fit of laughter. My arms are on the bars to swing my feet down the slide, and her hands are fighting to loosen my grip. This stupid game, this small moment, has brought more happiness than I can remember in years.

Without letting her pass, I spin quickly so my back is against the tunnel entry to the slide. My hands find her cheeks, and I bring her mouth to mine without giving either of us a chance to think, to breathe. I kiss her two stories up, under a perfectly clear Oklahoma sky, on a slide made for those who think kissing is gross. It’s the best kiss of my life. Her lips are just as needy as mine, her hands finding my chest, gripping my sweater as she lifts to the tops of her bare toes to reach more of me.

The softness of her tongue sweeps against mine, making me moan against her mouth. My hands react, one cradling the back of her head while the other finds the small of her back, pulling her closer to me. Her hands do the same, fighting for something to grab, any part of me to touch. I want to stand up here forever, doing this. But then there’s the thought of more than this, and f*ck…

Needing air, I lean my forehead into hers, our lips coming apart as we both inhale as if waking up from being put under. This close, I can see all of her, the moonlight reflecting off the white lace of her dress, the cream of her skin almost glowing like an angel, her golden hair blowing loosely behind her in the breeze. I honestly never believed I would be so lucky to find someone who made me feel again, let alone who made me feel more.

“I used to steal your order tickets, and then I’d wait for you to show up. And when I knew you were coming, I’d get nervous,” I confess, thinking back to the beginning of the year, to the time when she was just the pretty girl who came into the store. I shut my eyes when I catch her smiling. “I’m super lame. Ahhhh, I can’t believe I told you that.”

“I used to order sandwiches, then throw them away, because I don’t eat sandwiches,” she says. I crack open one eyelid to see the right side of her lip raise while her eyelashes flutter as she looks down at our feet. “Every time I did it, I told myself that I wouldn’t do it again. But then I’d miss you…”

My hands cup her face, and I let my thumbs caress her cheeks, my eyes loving the way she looks when she’s honest, when she’s humbled.

“That’s terribly wasteful,” I joke. She lets out a breathy laugh as her palm slaps against my chest. I catch it and hold it there; I like how it feels, and I want her to feel my heart pick up with every second we stand here together. “Casey would be so mad at you. Don’t ever let him know you did that; he lives for my sandwiches,” I keep joking. She rolls her eyes, but pauses when they meet mine.

Beautiful.

I let my lungs fill, and she does the same. We just stand there and look at each other, two paths that missed their mark and somehow ended up connected. We both turn when we hear the sound of a train’s whistle in the distance, I think both worried that someone was coming into our sanctuary. We’re not ready to give up being alone. I watch her for a few long seconds before she turns back to look at me, and I can tell she knows I’m watching. It’s like I can see her think.

“Last one down buys lunch at Nate’s game tomorrow,” she says urgently, then in a flash, she pulls herself down into the darkness of the tunneled slide. I follow quickly, my ears filled with her laughter and the hissing sound of our bodies rubbing along the hard plastic of the winding slide. We’re both pushing with our hands, and I laugh because there’s literally no way for me to pass her. I don’t even know why she’s rushing. I’m rushing, because all I want in the world is to touch her again. I’m racing to it.