Dawson
Stop grabbing her ass.
The guy working the zipline had a death wish.
The harness he was hooking Mickie up to only had so many buckles and straps to fasten, and most of them were nowhere near her ass.
If he grazed it one more time…
“All right, you’re all set,” the guy said and finally backed off.
She turned to me with a bright smile and excited eyes, and my chest tightened. This girl was doing things to me that nobody had ever been able to.
“You ready for this?” she asked.
Not really.
“I’m always ready,” I replied, refusing to let her see any of my apprehension.
Where I’d gotten the idea to go ziplining for our first official date, I had no fucking clue. Some guys had been talking about it at work, and it sounded like something she’d enjoy. After all, she’d mentioned wanting to try new things.
So, naturally, I’d gone with ziplining.
Off of a damn skyscraper.
I believe they called it “extreme ziplining” or some such shit.
I called it bat-shit crazy.
But Mickie was practically jumping out of her skin, so I kept my mouth shut. It was my idea and as long as she had a good time, I would base-jump off the Empire State Building if she wanted me to. No matter how many lunches I had to lose in the process.
She took in my black jeans, black T-shirt, the harness strapped around my body, and the helmet that was way too small for my head.
“I’d say you were born ready,” she mused.
I pinched her side, making her giggle. “Funny.”
The guy led us to the railing at the edge of the building where we would take off. The wind whipped around us, the busy streets of Baltimore thrived below us, and the glowing city landscape sparkled like a huge beacon against the darkness of the night sky. The whole point of this particular zipline was to do it at night, so you got the full experience. The line ran through downtown Baltimore, right between all the buildings and skyscrapers of the metropolitan area.
Which meant we started out a good three hundred feet in the air and slowly made our way to the ground.
So, I didn’t peek over the edge.
It wasn’t that I was afraid of heights.
I just didn’t think vertigo was particularly fun.
Which begged the question, what the hell had I been thinking?
You were thinking, what would Mickie enjoy most?
It was true. I never took women on dates because I didn’t date women. I slept with them, but that was the extent of my relationships. And I didn’t want Mickie thinking I wasn’t fun or that I didn’t know what I was doing.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what I was doing. Not in the least.
But I couldn’t let her know that.
“Okay, so I’m going to hook you on up here,” the guy explained, gesturing to the twin lines Mickie and I would ride down on together. “Keep your hands away from the line at all times as you’re riding down. Please don’t try to grab onto one another, either. You can extend your legs and spin around all you want. But when you get close to the ground, tuck your legs into your body, and be ready for my guy down at the bottom to catch you. Got it?”
We both nodded and eased our way to the edge where he secured our harnesses to the lines. He hooked me up first, then worked on Mickie.
“Be sure hers is tight.” The words were out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying.
But seeing Mickie dangling from a single line, hundreds of feet in the air, with nothing holding her up except a metal hook, gave me serious anxiety.
She offered me a warm, comforting smile, while the guy smirked at me knowingly. “I got her, boss.”
No, I’ve got her, asshole.
Snap the fuck out of it.
“We’re good,” he announced, stepping away. I tried not to focus on how high up we were. “Whenever you guys are ready, say the word and I’ll release you at the same time.”
I looked over at her, and she looked at me. “Go for it,” I told her.
She let out a short laugh, looked straight ahead, and shouted, “Now!”
Hooooly shit.
We were going faster than I’d thought we would. Lights were flickering past me, an array of sounds filled my ears, and powerful gusts of wind chilled my skin.
Then I looked over at Mickie.
And I couldn’t look away.
Her arms were up, her legs were out, her head was thrown back, and she was bursting with laughter.
I had been white knuckling my harness.
But after seeing her letting go like that, being so free, I eased my grip…and eventually let go.
Because around Mickie, I knew that I could let go.