Page 163 of Alpha Mates

Ramon was embarrassed because of his sister and asked her to stop but she just slapped him and walked away.

Ramon was mad and decided to tell her parents, but they died that night in a plane crash.

“What the hell?!” I burst out laughing.

“Let it be!” he insists, waving me on to continue.

As the eldest, Jessica became their guardian and started sleeping with guys and girls all over the house.

Ramon got angry and decided to burn down the house with her inside while his other siblings were out. But Ramon didn’t know that Jessica snuck out the back door and survived.

So one day she—

“We’re here,” I cut him off as I spot the perched platform with its stationed employees. By the way they’re giggling, I’m pretty sure they caught the edges of our story.

“What? No!” Aiden groans, refusing to take another step. “I want to know what happens next!”

“I know you do,” I chuckle. I step in front of him to squeeze his cheeks, stretching his pout out. “We can continue another time.”

He swats my hands away, and I let him so that I can undo the blindfold. When it slips away, Aiden blinks, wincing against the sunlight before squinting up at the large gazebo. Ropes stretch down the mountain’s perch to the base of the hotel below, so far now that it looks like a house.

“Ziplining?!” he shrieks as he starts to dance on his toes. “Goddess, you really are the best!”

He barely gets the words out before he’s on me, lifting me off my feet, I don’t bother trying to quiet my laughter as happiness floods me anew.

By the time he puts me down, Aiden’s beaming bright enough to light the Plains, and he stays that way as he leads us up the rest of the path, hand tightly wrapped around mine.

There are a few others present, some just watching, and another couple goes soaring down as we step up to the post.

“We can go down together?” Aiden asks excitedly as he watches the pair zip down.

“Yeah,” one of the workers confirms before they lift a large harness towards us. “And you’re just in time for your slot—Mr. Heil?” he asks hopefully, and I nod.

I thought I’d be a little nervous once I got here and maybe chicken out, but as I’m discovering the more time I spend with Aiden, I don’t scare nearly as easily as I thought I did. Turns out I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

We’re strapped in before we know it, standing on the edge with matching helmets, mine red and Aiden’s black.

“Whenever you’re ready,” our instructor says with a thumbs up. “Feel free to take a running start.”

“Race you,” I taunt, which is all it takes for Aiden’s eyes to flare at the challenge.

“What’s the point?” he replies confidently. “I’m heavier, so I’ll go faster. I will beat you.”

I cock a brow. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, it is.”

I glance back, making sure to do an exaggerated double-take. “Is that a tiger?!?”

Aiden’s head snaps around, along with the working employees, one of whom shrieks. While they’re all distracted, I grab the rope and launch myself off the ledge.

“Julian!” Aiden booms furiously at my back while I cut through the air like a bullet.

It’s much faster than I expected, but I can’t stop laughing as the wind rushes past me.

Everything is a wonderful blur of greens and blues that my eyes focus on in short, random bursts. I throw my arms out at my sides and let my head fall back—I’m flying. It’s pure exhilaration.

It’s like last night again. I’m free, alive, and experiencing so much in this world. It’s ironic that the very last person I ever wanted is the one showing me how.