Cursed

We finish up the zip lining course pretty fast. It’s only four different runs and we’re done in under an hour.

“Thanks,” I tell Teller and he just nods.

“Have fun!” he calls as Gavin takes my hand and leads me back to the Jeep.

“Where to next?” I ask him, and he grins as we head back toward town.

“Parasailing.”

I shake my head at him as he heads past Destiny Falls and over toward Maple Bend. I watch the beach go by until I see the signs for parasailing.

“This is a bad idea,” I groan as he drags me from the car.

“This is the best idea. Come on.”

I let him lead me over to the little stand and watch as he pays, and then we’re heading over to a small speedboat.

“Hey! I’m Jax,” the guy says as he grabs two harnesses from a box by the boat. “I’ll be the captain today.”

We listen to his instructions as he gets us hooked into our harnesses and then we’re holding on to the metal bar as the boat pulls away from the dock.

My heart is beating hard now. I’m more afraid than when we went zip-lining and I wonder if it’s because we’re going to be a lot higher in the air or if because I had Teller and Sutton and Lyla nearby for the last thing.

Now it’s just Gavin and I and this boat.

“Scared?” Gavin yells over the wind.

“Terrified,” I admit, nodding.

“You’ll be fine!” Jax yells and I want to flip him off, but he tells us to get into position.

We move back slightly to the little stand and my palms feel sweaty on the bar.

“We should not be doing this,” I say, but it’s too late to protest.

The kite takes off, and soon we’re way up in the air.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” I shout and Gavin laughs next to me.

“You’re doing great!” he yells and I’m too afraid to look away from the water way down below us to glare at him.

“I hate you!” I yell back instead, and he reaches over, squeezing my fingers before he grabs hold of the bar once more.

After a while, I start to relax but I never quite unwind like I did with the zip lining. We land back on the little stand and Jax flashes us a smile and a thumbs-up before he turns the boat back to the dock.

Gavin drags me up onto the dock when we get back, and I lean on him. My legs feel like jelly and Jax just smirks.

“Did you have fun?” he asks us and I stare at him until he laughs.

“The next time will be even better,” he promises me, and I look over to Gavin as we turn to leave.

“Never again,” I tell him and he just tugs me closer against him.

I thought that we would get back in the car, but he just leads me farther down the dock to a jet ski rental shack.

“This should be more your speed,” he says as he passes me a life vest and tugs one on himself.

We’re led over to a pair of jet skis and I climb onto one as the rental guy gives me instructions on what to do if we fall off or if it stalls out. Then we’re turning them on and slowly cruising out onto the lake.