Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(39)

“Pretty nice, huh, Annie?” Kyle asked.

“Uh-huh.” He’d stuck by my side for the entire hike, helping me when my steps faltered, telling me a few crude jokes and yelling so many obscenities at his friends Brian had to threaten him twice. Jake led the group with Brian while Hannah walked behind us. Jake had never looked back at me.

Not even once.

All the girls from my cabin had shot me knowing looks throughout the hike, with the exception of Kelsey and Gwen. They both looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. Those two were too smart for their own good. They had me all figured out.

The megaphone clicked on, the whiny feedback sharp in the otherwise still night. “Who’s ready to make the jump?”

Lots of squeals filled the air as dozens of campers ran toward Fozzie. He had them form two lines, and I watched as pretty much every single person from our group started heading for the line.

Kyle paused and turned to face me. “You coming, Annie?”

I shook my head and smiled weakly. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” He frowned.

“I don’t like the idea of jumping into water when I can’t really see it,” I said.

“Me, either,” Kelsey chimed in.

Kyle’s frown deepened. “Seriously? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is to us,” Kelsey mumbled.

“What are you guys? A couple of chickens?” Kyle practically sneered.

“Leave them alone.”

I glanced over my shoulder to see Jake fast approaching us, a determined—and angry—look on his face. Relief flooded me. My knight in shining armor had run to my rescue yet again.

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong—” Kyle started to say, but Jake cut him off with a shake of his head.

“Go get in line if you want to jump,” he suggested, and Kyle took off to do exactly that.

“You two okay?” Jake asked once Kyle left. “Sorry if he was pushing you too hard.”

“Don’t apologize for him,” Kelsey said. “It’s not your fault he’s such a jerk.”

Jake smiled. “I like you.”

Kelsey laughed, her cheeks turning pink. “Glad I earned your approval.”

“Are you going to jump?” I asked Jake.

He shrugged, and my gaze dropped to his broad shoulders. He had really great ones. “Brian and Hannah said they’d hike back down if I wanted to, but I don’t know.”

I watched the line start to move, heard the first set of screams as someone jumped into the water.

“They let two people go at a time,” Jake said. “Usually friends or couples or whatever.”

“Maybe we should go watch for a little bit? Before we start to hike back down?” Kelsey suggested.

I nodded and started nibbling on my thumbnail, trying to calm my nerves. “Okay.”

“I’ll take you two over there,” Jake suggested, his smile warm as his gaze met mine. “Stand guard and make sure no one tries to give you crap for not jumping.”

I returned his smile, the butterflies warring big-time in my stomach at the way he was watching me. “Thanks, Jake.”

“Anytime,” he murmured.

…

JAKE

I led the girls over so we stood close to the edge, but not too close. The roar of the water falling into the pond far below was loud, drowning out most everyone’s conversations, but I didn’t care what anyone else was saying.

I only cared about Annie.

“It’s so far down,” she said, her friend making a distressed sound of agreement.

“The pond is super deep so it’s never dangerous,” I reassured her, smiling when another group of two jumped off the edge, their screams loud as they went plunging down.

“There is just no possible way I could ever want to do this,” Kelsey said, wrinkling her nose as she shook her head.

“Have you done it before?” Annie asked, turning those big blue eyes on me. She didn’t look that scared, more curious than anything. I sort of wished she would jump, though really, she didn’t know how to swim, and I wouldn’t want her to totally freak out…

I nodded slowly. “I’ve done it a few times. My first time was when I was a camper here.”

Her eyes went even wider. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. It was fun. Did it again earlier today when we were cleaning up the place.” It had been a total rush. Like every other time I’d jumped off that cliff, I’d screamed all the way down like a little girl, making Brian laugh hysterically. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever really experienced before.”

“Were you ever scared?”

I decided to be completely honest with her. “Pretty much every time. It’s like you step out into nothing and I can’t lie, that’s terrifying. But then gravity sucks you down and you’re hurtling through the air. All the breath leaving you, yet you’ve never felt so…alive.”

“And when you hit the water?”

“Cold.” I smiled. “But totally worth it.”

Her gaze never leaving mine, her expression awfully solemn, she murmured, “I think I want to do it.”

Kelsey gasped. “You’re kidding.”

Annie shook her head. “I’m not.”