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“No, I’ll be fine. But what if it’s busy?”
“Google says it’s slower than usual.”
Fuck.
“It’s far away.”
“It’s not far at all. But if you don’t want to?—”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No. I love the sky. And I love bridges. It sounds fun!”
It was notfun at all. To get to the SkyBridge, we had to go up the Gatlinburg ski lift. Luckily, there were sturdy safety attachments, or at least theylookedsturdy. I’d never let Gram convince me to go up. Letting my feet dangle above a mountain in the dark was the last thing I wanted to do.
Levi didn’t seem bothered. He took pictures of the town’s skyline, which was lit with color. Meanwhile, I had a death grip on the metal in front of me that kept me in my seat. I hated that I couldn’t see below me.
“Are you okay?” Levi asked.
“Yep. Never better!” My voice came out far too loud, and I knew I sounded the furthest from normal.
His warm hand encased mine. “Amy. We don’t have to do this.”
“I’m fine.”
His grip tightened. “I care more about you than seeing a bridge. We can go back down.”
I didn’t doubt he would, but I wouldn’t ask him to. He’d done so much for me—too much, by my standards—and I wasn’t going to chicken out on theonething he seemed interested in.
“I hate heights,” I said through gritted teeth. “But I’ll be fine.”
“Amy,” he warned.
“We’re almost there. The bridge won’t be worse than this.”
I had no idea what the bridge would be like, but his hand on mine made methinkit would be okay. If he wasn’t worried, then I shouldn’t be either. The lift didn’t stop when we reached the top of the mountain, and my heart was in my throat as we leaped off onto the solid ground below.
“Oh my God,” I said, gulping in breaths of air. “I made it.”
“You did. You were very brave.”
I didn’t realize that I was gripping his arm like a lifeline until that moment, and I let go of him immediately. “Sorry. I’m actually gonna be brave now.”
“No need to on my account.”
I shook my head and my eyes roamed the gift shop. Thankfully, we were in a warm front, so the top of the mountain wasn’t snowy like it could have been any other time of the year. I was able to see the incredible view of the lights of Gatlinburg from the top of the mountain.
“I’m going over the bridge,” he said. “You can wait here.”
“What? I want to go.”
“This is a bridge over a mountain. I don’t think this is something you’ll enjoy.”
“But I want to!” It didn’t make sense that I did. All I knew was that I didn’t want him to see something like this without me. “Can I go?”
“Fine, but if you freak out?—”
“You can make fun of me like I deserve.”
“No, we’ll turn back.” His hand tightened. “Say the word, and we’ll make sure you feel safe.”