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My mouth opened and closed, words failing me. It was such a simple thing to say, yet it shocked me speechless. All I could do was nod and let my hand fall into his.
I hated how much it felt like itshouldbe there.
It wasn’t a long walk over to the bridge. I told myself the whole time that it would be fine and I would be brave.
All of that flew out the window when I got near the edge.
“Holy shit,” I said, grabbing Levi’s hand again. “Okay, remember how I said I hated heights? That was an understatement. A major one, actually. I’mterrifiedof heights.”
“I put that together.” He sounded way too calm for someone who was not only way higher up than any human should be, but also having his hand crushed to death by his wife. “Should we go back?”
I looked down and my heart clenched, but I shook my head. “No. I want to do this.”
“Are you sure?”
I could only nod.
“Okay, then we’re doing this.” He spun on his heel to face me, not the bridge. His other hand moved to mine. “Let’s take the first step.”
“I don’t know if I can move.”
“Look at me. Don’t look down.”
I did as I was told, my eyes meeting his. I took one step. “There’s no one behind me, right?”
“Who cares about other people? This is about you and me.” Levi pulled me to take another step.
I was now fully on the bridge, and I wanted nothing more than to peek over the edge to see the nothingness below.
“No,” Levi said as if he could read my mind. “Only look at me, darling. I’m the only one here.”
Our steps doubled and then tripled. Wind hit my face as Levi guided me further on. When gazing at him, falling to my death didn’t seem so bad.
“And we’re here. We’re in the middle of the bridge. Next is the glass part, but?—”
“I want to go. I want to do the whole thing.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “All right. Then keep looking at me.”
We slowly moved over the transparent ground. It was terrifying, but Levi’s hand was solid.
“I did it,” I said.
“You did.”
I slowly turned, seeing the entire skyline below. I could still feel the fear hitting like a ton of bricks, so I leaned into the one safe person I had.
With him near me, I could finally notice that the bridge was still lit in colorful holiday lights and that people were taking pictures of the scene around us.
“It’s beautiful up here.”
“Yes, it is.”
I glanced over at him and found him looking atme.
“Don’t miss out by making sure I’m okay.”
“Trust me, darling. I’m not missing out on a thing.”