Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1)

by Joanne Efendi

  He continued to release the other straps and helped slide the harness down. Once it was on the ground, he took my hand while I stepped out of it. Much to my continued excitement, he kept a hold of my hand while he led me up the beach toward the waiting shuttle bus. You’ve got to love a hand holder. It wasn’t something I’d done a lot of with guys, except perhaps my brothers, but they didn’t count. Holding Levi’s hand was definitely something I could get used to.

  He playfully swung our arms as we walked. “So, I’m finished for the day. I just have a few things I need to take care of back at the clubhouse first, then you and I are free to do whatever we want to do for the rest of the weekend.”

  “Um.” I was shell-shocked. “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, for starters, let’s go grab some lunch. Then I think we need to finish that drinking competition.” He gave me one of his flirtatious winks.

  “Why not?” I agreed to go, excited that I got to spend the rest of my Saturday with him. “You probably don’t know this about me, but I love a good excuse to party.”

  “That’s something I plan to rectify tonight.” He must have noticed the puzzled look on my face before he made himself clear. “Getting to know you, that is. I never need an excuse to party.”

  “Really? You want to spend more time with me?” My head felt light and giddy with excitement from the jump. Or maybe it was the fact he was still holding my hand and wanted to spend more time with me.

  “Sure. Why wouldn’t I? I can see we’ll be great drinking buddies.”

  My heart dropped. Buddies. Great. But at least I would still get to be his friend. I’d gone from top of the world to rock bottom in less than a minute. In fact, my freefall had lasted longer. I plastered a stupid grin on my face so he wouldn’t see my pain.

  Once we reached the mini bus in the parking lot next to the beach, he dropped my hand. “Jump on board. I’ll be back in a second. I just need to help the boys with the chutes.”

  “Okay, thanks.” And I watched his sexy ass retreat as he ran away from me back to where we had landed to help pack up the gear.

  Chapter Nine

  Andi

  Now that I had dropped back to earth, I could have slapped myself for my stupidity. At no point had Levi ever hinted at us being anything more than friends. Stupid, silly, infatuated girl. I had even head-butted the guy, thinking he was going to kiss me. I groaned out loud.

  “Is something wrong?” someone asked from inside the shuttle bus.

  I turned and peered inside. It was Fran. In my obsession, I had totally forgotten about her.

  “Fran! No nothing’s wrong. Only I’ve got heaps of sand in my shoes and a massive wedgie from the harness. But other than that, I’m great. How about you? How’d your jump go?”

  I was totally lying about something being wrong, although, not about the wedgie and sand. Taking off my shoes, I poured out the sand onto the bitumen to emphasize my point. My underwear, however, was a lost cause. It was so firmly up my ass it gave a whole new meaning to dental floss. There was no way I would be able to dislodge that discreetly.

  “It was amazing. I would do that again in a heartbeat. How about you?” Her cheeks were still flushed and she looked like she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  My excitement from the jump reignited. “I loved it! If it wasn’t for the fact we would have to get in that plane again, I’d totally do it again.”

  She laughed and nodded in agreement with me. “I know what you mean. I don’t know if that cured my fear of flying or not, but I have certainly found a new respect for these guys.”

  I nodded. “To go up in that plane, time after time, certainly takes a special kind of personality.”

  After banging my shoes loudly together to ensure all the offending sand had been expelled, I put them back on and climbed into the bus, sitting on the seat in front of Fran.

  “Your boyfriend certainly has that personality,” she said.

  I held my hands up to stop her and shook my head. “He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends. In fact, we only met last night.”

  She looked at me slyly. “You could have fooled me. I have a psychic ability, and my guides are telling me there is more going on between you and him than just friends.”

  To my surprise, she grabbed one of my hands and started tracing the lines in my palm.

  “Yep,” she mused aloud. “Your life and love line cross paths here. You’d be about twenty?”

  She looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. “Twenty-one.” I was enthralled. I’d always wanted my palm read. “Tell me more,” I encouraged her, looking eagerly at her then my hand. “I have dreams sometimes that come true. In fact, only the night before last, I dreamt about falling and now I know it had to be about this skydive. Do you think I could be psychic too?”

  “Perhaps. Everyone has a psychic ability. It just depends how in-tune you are.” She continued to trace over more of the lines on my palm with her forefinger. Then she turned my hand over, closed her eyes and encapsulated my hand in hers. Suddenly, she dropped my hand like it was on fire. Her pupils were dilated and wide.

  “What is it?” I looked at my hand, half expecting it to be alight with flames. It wasn’t, of course, however, I took a closer look at the lines in my palm hoping that I had suddenly developed a gift for palm reading. All I saw were lines that criss-crossed over each other, and a small scar near my thumb from when I had hit the pavement while attempting to ride Bobby’s skateboard when I was seven. I lifted my eyes to meet hers, waiting for an explanation, only she didn’t reply. Instead, she just looked at me, a mixture of pity and shock on her face.

  I didn’t have the chance to ask her again. Levi and Phil climbed in the back of the shuttle and the driver turned the engine as we prepared to travel back to the clubhouse.

  “Ladies, how are we feeling?” Phil asked as he moved toward the back of the bus and sat down, spreading his frame out along the backseat. Levi chose to sit on the empty seat opposite me.

  “Great, Phil,” Fran replied. “It was definitely a life-changing experience for me.”

  I tuned out their conversation as they relived her jump, laughing and joking with each other. Instead, I looked down at my palm, absentmindedly tracing my finger along the lines, concerned at her reaction. What had she seen?

  “Are you okay?” Levi asked me quietly as he reached over and put his hand on my knee to get my attention. His green eyes were wide and concerned.

  I jumped at his contact and forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t look fine.”

  He moved onto the seat next to me and put his arm around me. Immediately, I relaxed and pushed aside a heavy feeling that had begun to form in the bottom of my gut.

  “Never been better. It’s probably just that I’m coming down from that massive high. I don’t think I’ve been that excited in my life. Ever.”

  “There is no better feeling than jumping from a plane. Other than sex, that is.” He gave my shoulder a tight squeeze and laughed.

  Heat flushed my face and I lightly hit his leg. “I wouldn’t know what you mean.”

  “You’re not serious. Are you?” He sounded so unsure.

  I looked directly into his eyes, and with a deadpan voice said, “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

  He rubbed his chin contemplatively like a vaudeville villain and raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? Well that certainly gives me food for thought.”

  The airstrip and clubhouse was only a five-minute drive from the landing site. Phil monopolized the remainder of the conversation for the ride back, informing Fran and myself this was his last jump indefinitely. He was temporarily moving interstate and had planned a big going away party tonight with the jump crew. He invited Fran and me along. Fran declined. As for me, I looked at Levi for his guidance, unsure if our plans for this evening included his party.

  Levi palmed his forehead. “I totally forgot about the p
arty, Phil. Andi and I have plans for this evening. But we might just come along,” he told Phil as they disembarked from the bus ahead of Fran and me. Once clear, he stopped and turned to me, waiting until I too had stepped out of the bus. “Whatya reckon, Andi?”

  “What?” I asked, puzzled at his question. Levi fell into step with me as we walked the rest of the way to the clubhouse. “All I understood from that was my name.”

  He laughed. “Sorry, it’s Aussie slang. I asked ‘what do you think?’ Do you want to go to Phil’s going away party tonight?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. Keep cool, Andi. “Sure, sounds great. Whatever you want to do.”

  “Great. It’s all set then, Phil. We’ll be there.”

  Phil, who had waited for us at the entrance to the clubhouse, slapped Levi on the back as we walked through the doors. “Wouldn’t be a party without the Aussie there.”

  “Damn straight it wouldn’t.”

  We walked through the main room as a collective. Levi and Phil waved at Frankie as we kept walking through to the jump room.

  “Ladies, please sit down, make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be right back,” Levi told Fran and me. “Phil and I just need to complete some paperwork. I’ll have Frankie bring you both champagne.”

  Fran and I sat down on the couch in front of the TV. And, as promised, moments later, Frankie appeared with a glass of champagne for us both.

  “How’d you girls enjoy your jump?” she asked us both, but was looking more at Fran when she spoke. Fran was the paying customer after all. Although I couldn’t help feel she might be holding a grudge against me for being with Levi. “You ready to watch your GoPro video? The boys will be along shortly, but we can get it started in case you need to rush off.”

  “The jump was amazing. Best experience of my life,” Fran told Frankie and took a sip of her champagne. “I’d love to watch the video now. Andi, will you stay and watch it with me?”

  “Sure,” I agreed excitedly, and put my glass of bubbles on the table in front of me. One thing I didn’t like doing was drinking and driving, even with just one drink. Having a cop in the family makes you rethink those decisions. Especially when he shows photos of drunk driving accidents while you are learning to drive. Tony didn’t do things in halves.

  Frankie set up the video footage before leaving Fran and me to sit back and watch her morning unfold. We both laughed at her green tinge when Phil turned the camera on her in the back of the plane and her grimace instead of a smile. In the background, I spotted Levi and me, his chin on my shoulder blowing in my ear. He was so sexy it hurt. He belonged on television, certainly not with me. And the expression on my face was humiliating. I looked like a lovesick puppy. The only positive was that while this was occurring, he couldn’t see my face. I only hoped he didn’t see this footage, and my stupid expression.

  Fran nudged me. “I told you he liked you.”

  “What?”

  “Look at his face. He can’t take his eyes off you.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, because I just head-butted him. He’s probably glaring at me.”

  “Not true. He is full of adoration for you. I can see it in his eyes.”

  Before I could respond, Levi and Phil entered the room laughing and walked over to us. Thankfully, the camera had changed focus and we were no longer in the shot.

  Levi leaned on the couch behind me, looking over my shoulder. “Oh great, we are just in time for the jump.”

  On the screen, Fran was looking very nervous and forced a smile, giving the camera two thumbs up, before they fell from then plane. We all laughed at Fran’s face as they fell, and then again when Phil pulled the parachute and Fran let out a giant whoop of excitement.

  When it was over, we all stood, and Phil retrieved the DVD for her. “I’ll get this put in a souvenir case for you, Fran. Just meet us at the front counter when you are ready.”

  Levi gave my shoulder a light squeeze “I’ll be out there, too.”

  With both boys gone from the room, Fran gave me a huge hug and whispered in my ear, despite us being alone, “I know you don’t believe in yourself, but you are stronger than what you think. Trust your heart.”

  I was puzzled by her cryptic words. “Can I ask what you saw in my palm?”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I saw. All you need to know is, there are many paths we can take in life. Think carefully when you come to your crossroads. Remember this, some things in life are certain, but you can create and control your own destiny. Your destiny doesn’t control you.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  We both collected our belongings from the lockers and walked to the front counter. I waited beside Levi while Fran said her farewells to all of us, thanking Phil again for the morning. I thought about what she said as I waved her goodbye. “We control our own destiny.” That was hard for me swallow. As much as I wanted to believe that, sometimes we don’t have a choice and just had to deal with what was dealt.

  Chapter Ten

  Levi

  “Is everything okay?” I asked Andi. She had a faraway look on her face. I wouldn’t say troubled, but there was something going on behind that pretty face of hers. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her. Take away her problems.

  She looked at me, and her big, blue innocent eyes sucked me right in again. I couldn’t help but want to take care of her. She smiled, her full lips turning up at the sides. When she smiled, her whole face lit up. I couldn’t help it, I smiled back at her, resisting rubbing my thumb across her lower lip. I wonder what she tasted like. I bet sweet like honey.

  “Everything’s great. Why?” Her big, round eyes battered her lashes at me.

  I shrugged. I couldn’t get in too deep. I was a concerned friend, that was all. “No reason. You still up for lunch?”

  She shrugged back at me. “Sure, I could go for something to eat.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at her. It’s like she was playing my game only better. “Great, wait here. I’ll be quick. Five minutes tops. I’ll just change into some fresh clothes and we’ll go.”

  She hesitated and glanced at Frankie. “I might just wait outside, if that’s okay. Get some fresh air.”

  “Sure thing.” I watched her walk outside. God, but she was a cute. She didn’t realize the effect she was having on me. I could feel myself weakening. The longer she was with me, the less hope I had. I was falling for her, I could feel it. Fuck, what was wrong with me? I didn’t want this. Love was overrated. I’d been there, done that, got the jaded scars to prove it. Now was the time for fun.

  I looked at Frankie, who was smoking hot and hadn’t made it any secret that she wanted to go a round with me. She’d be a tiger, too. A couple of days ago, I had been thinking about taking her home after Phil’s party, and had even alluded to it with her. Dropping a few little hints and winks. But things were different now. Everything had changed when Andi walked into my life last night.

  “So, you still going to Phil’s goodbye tonight?” Frankie asked me, leaning over the front counter bench so her breasts were on display. “Solo?”

  Twenty-four hours ago, that would have turned me on. Now it just turned my stomach. Frankie wasn’t Andi. She was digging for info. I’d even bet my left nut she had said something to intimidate Andi, which would explain Andi’s reaction right now.

  “What did you say to Andi?” I wasn’t into playing games, unless of course I was with Andi, and in the bedroom. Which I totally wouldn’t mind right about now. No! No sex with Andi! Keep it clean, I reminded myself.

  Frankie batted her eyelashes and smiled slyly at me. “Who, me? I’m hurt that you could even think I would be rude to a guest of yours.”

  “I don’t buy it. And yes, I am going tonight, with Andi. She’s a friend, and I don’t take kindly to my friends being insulted.”

  She dropped her flirtatious look and stood up, adjusting her top, obviously realizing it wasn’t going to work anymore. “Oh calm down, lover boy. She’s an adult. Be
sides, I didn’t even say anything to her. She just needs to grow a set.”

  “Like you?”

  She didn’t respond verbally. Instead, she flipped her middle finger at me, ending the conversation. I let her win and went to get changed. She was no doubt seething at me, and one thing I learned from my mom was never to push a pissed off woman over the edge. Frankie knew where I stood now, and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t go there again with me.

  I pulled open my locker to grab my change of clothes and quickly checked my cell phone. A message from Andi she had sent this morning and three missed calls from my old man.

  Fuck. What did he want? I called my voicemail to hear what the asshole had to say.

  “Levi, meet me for lunch at The Wine Bar on the wharf. Be here at one sharp.”

  Who the fuck did he think he was? Just calling and leaving a message demanding that I meet him. He was Derek James, that’s who, and no one said no to him. Well, he better get used to it. I had plans with Andi. Then a genius thought hit me. Why not take Andi? That would be sure to really grind his gears. Perfect.

  Quickly, I changed from my jump gear into my faded denims and black t-shirt, slid on my boots, grabbed my cell phone, wallet, and keys and left to find Andi. She was waiting outside for me, just like she said she would be, sitting on the bottom step of the clubhouse steps. Looking at her from behind reminded me of the dive earlier. I had been about to make a huge mistake with her. Friends, I reminded myself. Thank God for turbulence.

  She stood and turned to me when she heard my boots on the wooden deck. Once I had descended the steps, I took her hand in mine and walked her to her Jeep. I’d never been a touchy-feely kind of guy and have always loved my personal space, even when I was with Taylor. But, with Andi, just the slightest touch from her made me feel grounded. Which was pretty fucking amazing seeing as my job was based in the clouds.

  I turned to her and caught the slightest scent of her perfume. She smelled sweet, like a floral bouquet. The whole flight up, I had to stop myself from rubbing my face in her hair and inhaling. I was turning into a creepy stalker.