Peter’s crow echoed loudly.
“Holy sh—”
“Told you it was cold!” Peter said, swimming to Wendy’s side. There was a wild, excited look in his eyes. “See! That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he teased.
No, it wasn’t so bad. It was thrilling. Wendy couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt a surge of adrenaline like that—the good kind that made your stomach flip and your heart flutter.
Water lapped at Peter’s grin as he watched her expectantly.
Maybe she could.
“Well?” Peter asked.
Wendy reached out and held Peter’s shoulders. Confusion flickered across his face, then quickly jumped to surprise when Wendy shoved him underwater.
He resurfaced, spluttering and wiping water from his face.
Wendy laughed, the loud sort that came right from the belly. “Come on, I’ll race you to the top!” she called to him. Wendy dove forward, arms slicing through the water as she swam for shore.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Peter called after her.
The water tasted cold and sweet through her smile.
They raced each other over the edge of the rock and through the water. Sometimes with the rope, sometimes without. Wendy stuck to the safety of a pencil dive, but gradually she leapt with less trepidation and more speed. Peter tried different tricks, from backflipping off the edge of the rock to hanging from the rope upside down. About half the time, he either landed flat on his back or ended up belly flopping. Wendy laughed hard and loud every time. After a while, she wondered if he was doing it on purpose.
Exhausted and content, Wendy floated on her back, staring up at the blue sky framed by the green canopy. White clouds drifted by. Her blue tank top billowed around her, tickling her waist and wrists. Under the water, the rhythmic thundering of the waterfall filled her ears. Wendy inhaled a deep breath, reveling in the sensations.
When she opened them again, Peter was there, a curious expression on his face. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what he said.
Wendy shifted, lifting her head out of the water. “What?” she asked.
A strange little chuckle quaked Peter’s shoulders as he shook his head. “Nothing.”
Wendy flicked water in his face.
In return, Peter scooped her up, hooking his arms under the back of her knees and across her mid-back. He twisted, dragging Wendy through the water as he rotated.
Water rushed over Wendy’s shoulders and tickled her neck. She let her fingers drag through the surface of the water. Laughs bubbled through her lips.
Peter laughed along with her, eyes crinkled, droplets clinging to his lashes. When he stopped, Wendy still felt like they were spinning. “Whoa,” he chuckled, blinking his eyes hard. “Dizzy.”
Wendy looked up into his face. He hadn’t let go. “Yeah.” Dizzy and lightheaded. “Me too,” she said.
Peter grinned down at her, his soft chuckles gently reverberating in his chest pressed against her arm. Light sparkled in his wet auburn hair. A drip of water glinted from the tip of his nose. Peter wet his lips. She saw his Adam’s apple bob. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words seemed to die in his throat, followed by a loud, uneven laugh.
Wendy felt like she was swinging out over the cliff again, weightless and short of breath. She couldn’t even feel the water anymore.
Brow furrowed, Wendy glanced down. They weren’t in the water anymore. Instead, they hovered in mid-air above it. Drops of water fell from their wet clothes into the pool several feet below.
Wendy gasped and latched on to Peter’s shoulders. “Peter!”
“It’s okay,” he said, calm and steady. The words tickled her ear. His skin was warm and reassuring under her cold hands. Wendy tore her eyes away from the water below and looked at Peter. He grinned. “I’ve got you.”
Sunlight lit up and sparked in his brilliant blue eyes as he stared into hers. Her arms looped around his neck, holding on tight. Wendy thought she wouldn’t mind gazing into the cosmos of his eyes forever, searching for hidden answers in their stars and coming up with her own constellations like the ancient Greeks.
“Shouldn’t you be saving your magic?” she asked, nearly whispering.
Peter’s dimples came out to play. “Probably.”
They were almost nose to nose. Water dripped from his hair onto Wendy’s cheek.
Was he holding his breath, too?
In the distance, a shotgun boomed.
Wendy’s chest bucked. A violent jolt ripped through her. She jerked back from Peter, knocking him off-balance and sending them both crashing back into the water.