Page 53 of One Night in Paris

HARPER

What the fuck had I been thinking? There was no way in hell I was going to be able to do this. What kind of a fucking moron hurled themselves out of a perfectly good airplane, strapped to a stranger, because he was probably a pro who wasn’t going to shave a few inches off my legs or several years off my life?

Gasping for air, I burst out into the bright sunshine, heaving, with one hand pressed to my chest. All of the things that Logan had said on the drive over mixed with Kylee’s horror story, as well as what the instructor had been saying and the other jumpers had been joking around about. This was no laughing matter.

“Harper!” Logan’s voice startled me. I should’ve known he’d come after me, but I was in fight or flight mode, and flight was winning—only not the kind of flight that involved plummeting out of an airplane toward certain doom.

Turning toward him, I looked at him with wide, wild eyes, wishing I could calm myself down. But I had a long way to go toward being chill.

“Hey!” He walked over to me cautiously, as if I were standing on the edge of a building, threatening to jump, as opposed to hanging onto gravity with every fiber of my being. “Harper, baby, it’s okay.”

“Are you shitting me?” I exclaimed, running a hand through my hair and feeling a bit rip out. “I’m gonna die, Logan! And I can’t do that right now. I’ve got too much going on. My mom—she would—she would—well, I don’t know what she would do if I died!”

“Harper, you’re not going to die. I promise you, it’ll be fine. In fact, it won’t just be fine. It will be fun. Remember how it felt standing on the edge of that bridge? We were all scared, but you were more excited than petrified, whereas I let my nerves get the better of me, right? Well, now our roles are reversed. I’ve done this before—with these people. And I know it’s safe. Listen, there’s an instructor I want you to meet. His name is Jeff, and he’s the best. He’s working today, and I know you’ll feel relaxed with him.”

“Logan, I know you’re trying to help, but I really feel like I can’t do this.” Tears began to fill my eyes again. I brushed them aside.

He reached out and took my hand. “Harper, baby, if you don’t want to do it, and you really feel like you can’t, I’ll understand. I’ll even stay here with you if you want.”

“You’d do that for me?” I couldn’t believe he would give up skydiving with his best friend just for me, because I was too scared to do it. That said a lot to me about Logan.

I couldn’t ask him to do that, though. He’d been planning this trip with Trevor for months, since before we’d even gone on our second date. No, if I ruined it for him, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

And if I didn’t go with him but insisted that he go, he would be worried about me the entire time. That wouldn’t be fair either.

I needed to suck it up and find the strength to just fucking do this already. I hadn’t been afraid to jump off the bridge—and that could’ve just as easily killed me. But I hadn’t been scared at all to do that.

I’d even talked Logan into it. He’d ended up enjoying it. Maybe I would enjoy this, too. The way that he was looking at me now, with hope and concern in his eyes, made my heart skip a beat.

“I’ll be there with you every step of the way, Harper. Especially that really big step,” he joked, making me giggle.

“Yeah, that’s the step I’m worried about,” I reminded him. “That step where you can’t quite reach the ground below your foot.”

His laughter increased. “Yep. It’s a doozie, but that’s the fun part.” Growing serious, Logan reached over and smoothed his thumb over my cheek. “Harper, I promise you, you’ll be just fine. I will never, ever do anything that might hurt you in any way. I promise.”

Taking a deep breath, I thought about what he was saying. I was going to be so scared, I was probably going to pee my pants at some point, but if I didn’t do it, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. Looking into Logan’s eyes, I said, “I’ll try anything once.”

With that, he broke into a wide grin and then pulled me to his chest. “All right! Thank you, Harper. I know you’ll love it.”

“I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll do it. Now take me to yourleaper.”

“You are hilariously silly today,” he noted. He was right. When I got into this kind of mood, my sense of humor changed. I started saying ridiculous things and trying to be funny—and maybe a little punny.

We went back inside, and Logan introduced me to Jeff. He was a nice guy, probably old enough to be my dad, and his calm attitude immediately set me at ease. Some of the other instructors were hopping around, being loud and obnoxious, like Trevor on steroids. But Jeff was always cool and collected.

I went through the part of the training I’d missed with him, and then he showed me all of the equipment. “I packed the chute myself,” he assured me. “I’ve done that over fifteen thousand times in my life for myself and others, and never once has there been any kind of problem. I always pack them so they rip away smoothly without hanging or catching. Trust me, young lady. You’re in good hands.”

With a nod, I returned his gaze and said, “I trust you, Jeff.”

Trusting him and feeling excited were two different things. I was still unbelievably scared, but I held Logan’s hand as much as I could. We got suited up and marched out to the airplane, Logan whispering reassurances to me the whole way.

Once we got on the plane, it would be so loud, we wouldn’t be able to hear one another well. Before we stepped on, he pulled me close to him and kissed my cheek. “You’re going to do amazing, Harper. When it’s over, I’ll see you on the ground.”

“Or in it,” I deadpanned. He shook his head at me, and then I chuckled. I didn’t really think I was going to die now, but I wasn’t thrilled like everyone else.

The instructors told us what order we’d jump in. Thankfully, they put Trevor right in front of me and Logan right behind me. So I’d see Trevor and know it was safe and then have the knowledge that Logan was right behind me. Kylee would jump before Trevor. She was so excited, she was practically vibrating.

The roar of the engine shook my soul as I took my position with Jeff literally right behind me. The door was open, and the wind gushed through. Though I was never much for prayer, I was busy chanting, “Please don’t let me die,” over and overagain to whoever might be listening. My mother was a devout Christian, so I definitely believed He was up there. I just didn’t know if I’d done anything to have Him hear me. I hoped my mother’s good deeds would be enough to rub off on me. I certainly hadn’t told her about this or else she’d be nervous as hell all day. Thankfully, my mother had a habit of praying for me all day long anyway, so she must be praying for me now.