Yours: A Standalone Contemporary Romance Read Online Free
Author: Jasinda Wilder
long enough that I wonder about the veracity of the story. “Sure. Why not?”
Leanne shoots me a look. “Hang gliding? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“A little, sure. But that’s the fun of it.” I wink at her—why does she care?
She’s watched me do some crazy shit in the months we’ve been sailing together, so she knows my penchant for adrenaline-rush activities. She watched me jump off cliffs, watched me swim with sharks, watched me windsurf in some crazy-ass weather—if it’s crazy and dangerous, I’ve done it. And she’s hated it every single time. She doesn’t get my addiction to the thrill, and I’ve never bothered to explain to her. She’d just try to mother me, worry about me, tell me to take it easy and remind me to take my pills and not drink so much. She’s got the worry-gene, and I don’t need that shit. We do not have an exclusive, committed thing. We’re friends, sometimes with benefits, and nothing more. So I keep her in the dark as much as I can.
She knows something’s up, though, and I let her wonder. I don’t need the pity, don’t need the compassion, and don’t need the added worry.
The next day I talk Carlos into taking me somewhere where they rent hang gliders. We get set up and then it’s a long drive up a fucking massive hill, hang gliders strapped to the roof of the ancient SUV. Lee and Mel are with us in the SUV, but they’re not flying with us. The driver will take them back down the mountain, and we’ll all meet back at the condo Carlos and Lee are renting.
The drive takes a long-ass time, but we finally reach the summit where the hang gliding company has a sort of runway set up on a cliff overlooking the rain forest. The forest is a wide green rolling crescent spreading in every direction, huge hills jutting up around us, the city itself perched on the edge of the beach, inching up into the hills and following the curve of the bay. I’m only half-listening to the safety instructions—I’m fixated on the sights below.
The view is glorious, and that’s what this is all about. It’s what my entire life is about. Take it in. Memorize the beauty, absorb it. Let it fill the spaces in my heart, let it coat the cracks in my soul.
Behind me, Carlos is hemming and hawing at the pointed questioning of the driver.
“You’ve never been hang gliding have you?” I say, not looking at him.
He grins sheepishly. “I did, but it scared me shitless.”
“That’s when you know you’re alive,” I say.
The driver pulls into the parking area and helps us get the gliders off the SUV. He does a credibly thorough safety check and then he gestures to me and Carlos, indicating he’s ready when we are.
We get strapped in and I squeeze the handle hard with both hands. Then I run to the edge of the cliff and jump off like someone with something to prove. I kick off hard and immediately feel the wind catch the wings of the hang glider, lifting me up, up, up. The ground falls away, and I see the forest way down below, hundreds of feet beneath me, and I’m howling at the sky like a fucking wolf, feeling the wind in my face and freedom all around. I push one side of the handle a little to angle downward, and my stomach lurches into my throat as I dip and soar. I bring it around, lift up, catch the wind and rise. Rise. Rise.
The bright sun is blinding, but once in a while I can see people like dots way down below. No one around me up here. No condition. No mountain of pills. No deadlines. Just me, the hang glider, the wind, the sun…freedom. The fear in my veins reminds me I’m alive. Knowing the wind could smash me down into the forest tells me this is crazy, this is dangerous. I could die any second. But fuck it, I’d rather die happy, soaring wild and free like a hawk, like an eagle, soaring above everything.
This is everything to me. The rush. The freedom. Nothing else matters in this moment.
I’m alive , at this moment.
* * *
I
Leanne shoots me a look. “Hang gliding? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“A little, sure. But that’s the fun of it.” I wink at her—why does she care?
She’s watched me do some crazy shit in the months we’ve been sailing together, so she knows my penchant for adrenaline-rush activities. She watched me jump off cliffs, watched me swim with sharks, watched me windsurf in some crazy-ass weather—if it’s crazy and dangerous, I’ve done it. And she’s hated it every single time. She doesn’t get my addiction to the thrill, and I’ve never bothered to explain to her. She’d just try to mother me, worry about me, tell me to take it easy and remind me to take my pills and not drink so much. She’s got the worry-gene, and I don’t need that shit. We do not have an exclusive, committed thing. We’re friends, sometimes with benefits, and nothing more. So I keep her in the dark as much as I can.
She knows something’s up, though, and I let her wonder. I don’t need the pity, don’t need the compassion, and don’t need the added worry.
The next day I talk Carlos into taking me somewhere where they rent hang gliders. We get set up and then it’s a long drive up a fucking massive hill, hang gliders strapped to the roof of the ancient SUV. Lee and Mel are with us in the SUV, but they’re not flying with us. The driver will take them back down the mountain, and we’ll all meet back at the condo Carlos and Lee are renting.
The drive takes a long-ass time, but we finally reach the summit where the hang gliding company has a sort of runway set up on a cliff overlooking the rain forest. The forest is a wide green rolling crescent spreading in every direction, huge hills jutting up around us, the city itself perched on the edge of the beach, inching up into the hills and following the curve of the bay. I’m only half-listening to the safety instructions—I’m fixated on the sights below.
The view is glorious, and that’s what this is all about. It’s what my entire life is about. Take it in. Memorize the beauty, absorb it. Let it fill the spaces in my heart, let it coat the cracks in my soul.
Behind me, Carlos is hemming and hawing at the pointed questioning of the driver.
“You’ve never been hang gliding have you?” I say, not looking at him.
He grins sheepishly. “I did, but it scared me shitless.”
“That’s when you know you’re alive,” I say.
The driver pulls into the parking area and helps us get the gliders off the SUV. He does a credibly thorough safety check and then he gestures to me and Carlos, indicating he’s ready when we are.
We get strapped in and I squeeze the handle hard with both hands. Then I run to the edge of the cliff and jump off like someone with something to prove. I kick off hard and immediately feel the wind catch the wings of the hang glider, lifting me up, up, up. The ground falls away, and I see the forest way down below, hundreds of feet beneath me, and I’m howling at the sky like a fucking wolf, feeling the wind in my face and freedom all around. I push one side of the handle a little to angle downward, and my stomach lurches into my throat as I dip and soar. I bring it around, lift up, catch the wind and rise. Rise. Rise.
The bright sun is blinding, but once in a while I can see people like dots way down below. No one around me up here. No condition. No mountain of pills. No deadlines. Just me, the hang glider, the wind, the sun…freedom. The fear in my veins reminds me I’m alive. Knowing the wind could smash me down into the forest tells me this is crazy, this is dangerous. I could die any second. But fuck it, I’d rather die happy, soaring wild and free like a hawk, like an eagle, soaring above everything.
This is everything to me. The rush. The freedom. Nothing else matters in this moment.
I’m alive , at this moment.
* * *
I
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