“Where are we exactly?” The first rays of sunlight were barely visible in the sky when they deplaned. They’d made a fueling stop somewhere, but Divya hardly remembered. She’d been so exhausted that the final descent had barely registered.
The air was hot and humid. An attendant waited with the keys to a Porsche Carrera, the convertible’s top already down. Divya was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved blouse and a sweater and felt very overdressed for the weather.
She looked at Ethan, meeting his eyes for the first time since she’d slid out of bed. He walked to the passenger door of the car and held it open for her. “We’re at a private airport in Key Largo. Let’s get on the road. There’s a sunrise view I don’t want you to miss.”
She lowered herself onto the hard leather seat and took off her sweater. “What about our luggage?” she asked as he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“We’ll be back on the plane by the evening. I have to be in Minnesota tonight. It’s my parents’ wedding anniversary.”
“Oh,” she said. Was she going with him? Did she even want to go with him? She studied his profile as he steered the car out of the private airport. He was objectively the most handsome man she’d ever been with. His jawline was sharp, his nose perfect, his lips utterly kissable. Warmth pooled deep in her belly as she thought about his mouth on her body and in between her legs. Her entire body still tingled from his touch. He was a considerate and giving lover and she knew without a doubt that she’d always compare any man she ever slept with from this point on to Ethan.
What if he’s the last man I sleep with? She pushed the idea firmly to the back of her mind because it was too pleasant a thought. Had she made a mistake by seducing him? He’d been good to her. She didn’t want to break his heart, but there was no way they could be together long-term. He was wrong about their differences being only skin deep. He knew her only as Divya the woman, not Divya the sister or daughter. Would he understand her commitment to her family? How would he deal with her parents? She’d seen how defensive he’d gotten with Rajiv and Gauri. Her mother didn’t mince words and she didn’t let anyone talk back to her. Why am I even thinking this way? It wasn’t as if she was getting serious about Ethan. It was good sex. Okay, amazing sex. But that’s all it was.
Ethan motored south onto US Route 1 just as the first rays of the sun began to brighten the sky. She gasped as she caught sight of the crystal clear water all around her. It seemed like the road was floating on top of the ocean.
“The Atlantic Ocean is to our left and the Gulf of Mexico to our right. This is called the Overseas Highway,” Ethan said.
“Are we even on land?”
He smiled. “If you’re impressed now, wait until we get on the Seven Mile Bridge in a few minutes. You’ll feel like you’re about to fall into the ocean.”
As the sun burst into the sky, the scene in front of her transformed into hues of orange, red and purple. The water changed from a dark blue green to a lighter blue. There was little traffic on the road, so Ethan drove slowly. “This the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen, I wanted to share it with the most spectacular woman I’ve ever met.”
Her chest constricted at the thickness in his voice. She was glad she couldn’t see his face and he couldn’t see the tears that had suddenly sprung in her eyes. Plenty of men had told her how beautiful she was, but Ethan hadn’t just meant her looks. She knew that in her heart, and that made his compliment sting. He was a good man. Had he been a suitable boy who her parents had set her up with, she would’ve been having a very different conversation with herself. But there was no scenario in which her family would accept a gora. Arjun had almost been disowned for wanting to marry an Indian girl who was divorced. Divya’s sister-in-law, Rani, was an amazing person who spoke their language, understood their culture and traditions. Yet Rani struggled with truly fitting into the family. How could Ethan ever become a part of her world? Gauri’s comments about the impersonal nature of their relationship with her white sister-in-law came to her. Ethan would always be an outsider standing next to her.
She saw the sign for the Seven Mile Bridge, and Divya leaned over as far as she could to look out the window. “Oh my God, I can almost see the fish, the water is so clear.”
“We won’t have time to go swimming today, but you should come back and really explore the Keys.”
He’d said you, not we. Somehow, she knew she could never come back here without Ethan. This place, this feeling of pure bliss, would always remind her of him. She lifted her face to the sky and breathed in the warm, salty air. Her home in Rajasthan was a desert, so there was always a grittiness in the atmosphere. She’d been to Miami before with Arjun to check out a potential hotel he was looking to buy, but they’d never taken the time to travel to the Keys. “How did I not know that such a spectacular place existed?”
“You have to get out of your comfort zone to find this kind of paradise.”
This was truly paradise. But it wasn’t real life. It didn’t include the people she loved. It was a momentary escape. She closed her eyes to savor the moment and lock it away in her mind so she wouldn’t forget. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the sunrise, then reached out her arm and leaned close to Ethan for a selfie.
“Are you going to give our social media fans a honeymoon picture?” he said laughingly.
“I want to remember this moment forever.”
“Why?”
What did he mean, why? “It’s an amazing sunrise.”
“Is that the only reason?”
Her stomach clenched. Why couldn’t things just be easy, uncomplicated and temporary between them? “I enjoy being with you, Ethan. I love our time together and I want to remember it for when...” Her throat suddenly went dry.
“For when it ends, and you go back to your regularly scheduled life.”
“It’s not as if it’ll be goodbye forever. We will keep in touch, stay friends.”
He stayed silent, his lips set in a straight line, and her stomach flipped. He knew it could never be serious between them, didn’t he? She’d been upfront with him that she was not the marrying type, and he wanted someone forever. He was done with jetting around and temporary relationships. She was done sitting at home and letting other people make decisions for her. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to sleep together. And yet as she looked at him, all she could think about was running her hands all over him.
Once they got off the Seven Mile Bridge, he took a right turn onto a gravel road. He pulled up to what looked like a log cabin. A hand-painted sign read Skydive Keys. She stared at it.
“You can’t be serious. We’re going skydiving?”
He nodded. “That beautiful view we just saw is even more spectacular from the air.”
“Are you crazy? I don’t know how to skydive.”
“You’re not going to do it alone. We’re going to be strapped together in tandem.”
You are nuts! There was no way she was going to do something like that. She wanted adventure, but this was extreme. What was Ethan thinking?
A man with long blond hair and a scraggly beard appeared from the cabin. “Ethan, my man.”
Ethan exited the car and did some sort of secret handshake with the guy, who looked more like an overweight surfer dude than a lean mean skydiver.
“It’s been a while. Plane’s gassed and I got your gear laid out.” Divya got out of the car and surfer dude turned to her. “Name’s Buck.”
He held out his fist and she gave him an awkward bump with her own. “You guys picked a nice day. Sky is clear, air is warm and you’ve got just enough wind to get a nice ride.”
“Awesome!” Ethan said. “Let’s go! Thanks for opening early. I want to get our run in before the tourists get here.”
“I got you, man.”
As Ethan began walking toward the cabin, Divya grabbed his arm. “Are you really serious about this?”
“Relax. I have a level D skydiving license. I’ve done about six hundred jumps. You’re going to be strapped to me the whole time and I’ll take care of the parachute pulling. All you do is enjoy the experience. It’ll be like taking a roller-coaster ride.”
All she had to do was strap herself to him and enjoy? That did sound good. Except they’d be falling out of the sky. Her mouth went completely dry.
As they turned a corner, she saw two long pieces of cloth on the ground attached to a backpack.
“Is that our parachute? Is that how it’s supposed to be?”
He laughed. “I like to pack my own parachute and make sure it’s done right. There’s two main parachutes, one you’ll be wearing and one that I’ll be wearing. Plus we each have an emergency parachute that someone else inspects and packs. It’s all perfectly safe. We only need one parachute and we’ll have four between the two of us.”
She looked around. There was an airstrip and a plane that looked like it had seen better days. Beyond the airstrip, the Gulf of Mexico shimmered as the sun rose higher. “Is this the only skydiving place around?” Divya asked.
He shook his head. “I know this place looks like a dump, but Buck and I went to high school together. He’s a good guy and he knows what he’s doing. I’ve been jumping here for years.”
Ethan ran his hand down her arm. She turned to face him and he pulled her close. His body felt solid against her and a shiver rose deep from her core. She pressed herself to his body and stood on her toes to whisper into his ear, “You know, sex on the beach is also on my bucket list.” She kissed his ear and felt his reaction push against her belly. He pressed his lips to hers, then disengaged.
“Nice try, but we’re doing this.”
Her eyes widened. “This is madness. I’m not into sports. I don’t even play badminton.”
He stepped closer and cupped her face. “At any point you want to abort, just say, ‘bridesnatcher.’ It’ll be our safe word.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“You trust me?” he asked.
His eyes, the color of sky, sparkled like the shimmering water behind her. It was so easy to get lost in them, to forget all the alarm bells ringing in her mind. She nodded.
Things moved quickly after that. Buck returned with a tablet and made her watch a safety video while Ethan meticulously inspected, folded and packed the parachutes. The video showed her how the gear would work, how to position her body during the dive, how to open her chute and how to land. Buck then did some practice exercises with her.
“What happens if we free-fall too long and don’t open the parachute in time?”
“If you open the chute too late, your descent will be too fast.” Buck slapped his hands together. “You pancake if you land on the road or become shark food if you land in the water.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Stop it, Buck,” Ethan said. “I’ll open the parachute in time. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Things were moving so quickly, Divya couldn’t even process everything that was happening. She was exhilarated as much as she was scared. When else would she ever get to skydive? Her parents thought skiing was too dangerous a sport. She was free to do what she wanted.
They put on their harnesses and chutes, did a final safety check, then climbed into the plane. The interior of the plane was like the inside of a paper towel roll. There were no seats—it was even more basic than the outside. Ethan showed her how to scoot onto the metal floor and sit with her legs in front of her. They could see clear into the cockpit.
Ethan pulled Divya close to him, her back to his chest, his legs beside hers.
“All right, sit tight, flight time is ten minutes.” Buck looked back from the cockpit, and Divya closed her eyes.
As the plane taxied and took off, Divya’s legs stiffened. She was glad she wasn’t sitting near a window to see how far up they were. The noise inside the cockpit was deafening, and the plane bumped around like an old railcar. Her heart raced. What am I doing? She was about to jump out of a plane with a man she’d known for... Had it really just been three days? The plane lurched and her heart went with it. A light at the front of the plane turned yellow, and there were two beeps. That was their signal to get ready to jump.
I can’t do this. She had taken everything too far. In her desperation to escape her wedding and her longing to sing at Café Underground, she’d completely lost her mind. What was she doing thousands of miles away from her family? How had she abandoned all her responsibilities? What was she doing sleeping with Ethan, playing with his emotions and her own? How was she pretending that this was a vacation and when it was done, everything would go back to the way things had been? That she would be the same person?
Ethan had said that if she got to a point where she really didn’t want to do it, all she had to do was say the safe word, bridesnatcher, and they could abort.
Ethan pulled her close and she heard him attaching the harness that would connect them, just as they’d practiced on the ground. His body felt solid against hers. “The first time I did this, I was scared out of my mind, but after this, there’s nothing you’ll be afraid of. It’s time to let go of all the fears you hold inside you.”
She exhaled. “I can’t do this. I can’t!” But the words were stuck inside her throat.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll be with you.” He wrapped his arms around her tightly. Her heart rate slowed. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
The light buzzed green and he pushed her forward until they were at the door.
“Don’t worry. He hasn’t lost one yet,” Buck quipped as Ethan opened the plane door. A rush of air assaulted them, and she was sure she’d get blown right out of the plane. She tried to find something on the floor to grab on to, but her hands were so sweaty that they just slid over the floor. Ethan stood, lifting her up with him. She was unstable on her legs since he was taller than she was and they were now harnessed together. He held on to a strap on the ceiling with one hand and slowly shuffled them along. The cold air slammed her in the face as they got to the edge of the plane.
Her chest exploded. She was pretty sure she was having a heart attack. Oh my God! Wisps of white clouds froze her face and hands. She could barely see the streaks of blue below. She couldn’t breathe. Her legs were so stiff, she couldn’t move them. Ethan pushed her gently and her toes went over the edge of the plane. She screamed, but no sound came out of her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way she could do this. It was time to use the safe word and abort. She’d never been this scared in her life. Her heels were barely on the edge of the plane.
“You ready?” Ethan yelled next to her ear, and yet she could barely hear him over the rush of the wind.
He gently moved them forward, and now her feet weren’t touching anything. All she felt was a tug against her harness where she was connected to Ethan. What if he couldn’t open the parachute in time? She knew what was coming next, and that Ethan was waiting for her to use the safe word. She tried to take a breath, but she’d forgotten how to breathe. Her lungs were burning. Bridesnatcher! Bridesnatcher! Had she said the words out loud?
Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed tightly. “Trust me.” She took a shuddering breath, leaned forward slightly, and he pushed off with his feet. They went over the edge.
The air slapped her face and her skin felt like it would tear away. They were falling, rolling around uncontrollably, and she didn’t know for a second if her heart was even beating. She was supposed to do something, but she couldn’t remember what. She was going to die and kill Ethan with her because she couldn’t remember the body position for the free fall.
Then Ethan grabbed her arms and thrust his body forward to force her to arch, turning them so her belly was facing the earth. Now her body was flat against the wind and she was looking straight down through the clouds. The wind rushed into her face. Her heart was beating so wildly, she could feel it in her throat. Her mouth was open, but she wasn’t sure if she was actually screaming. All she could hear was the deafening sound of the wind in her ears, the sting of cold on her face and Ethan’s solid body on her back.
Everywhere she looked, the color blue stretched before her; she could barely make out where the sky ended and the water began. It felt like they were in free fall forever, even though they’d told her that it would be only a minute. All of a sudden, she felt a sharp tug between her legs as the parachute opened and the harness yanked her into position.
They slowed and she gasped at the sight before her. The glimmering waters of the gulf and Atlantic stretched out endlessly. A tiny line marked US Route 1, connecting the Keys with the rest of Florida. There were tiny specks of green land dotted with what she figured were houses and businesses. It was surreal, like she was having an out-of-body experience. In that moment, nothing mattered, not her family, not the decisions that lay before her, not even her life. The world spread out beneath her, full of possibilities.
“How do you feel?” Ethan said.
She tried to turn and look at him but could see only his hands holding on to the straps of the parachute. “I feel free. Like I can do anything in the world.”
She didn’t need to see his face to feel his smile. “The first time I did this was when I was a senior in high school. Buck’s dad owned a dive shop in Wisconsin right across the Minnesota border. He’d been doing it for years. There was this girl who I’d been in love with since ninth grade. She’d finally noticed me, and we were both headed to the same college. I knew now was the time to finally ask her out, but I was so afraid of rejection. Buck told me that after I did this, I could remember that I’d jumped out of an airplane and nothing seems scary after that.”
She laughed and they both shook in the harness. She had to admit that she’d never felt her heart beat as hard as it was now.
“I hope that the next time you’re afraid to do something, this experience gives you the courage to face your worst fear.” His words hit her deep in her solar plexus.
As they came closer to the ground, Ethan navigated the parachute and they could see the cars on the road and the runway they had used. The plane was lifting off. There was a green field with markings, and she knew that was where they were supposed to land.
“Remember how we practiced the landing? Raise your legs now.” Divya did as she was told, and it felt like the earth rushed up suddenly to meet them. But the landing was surprisingly soft. Ethan got his footing then lifted her slightly so she was also standing. The parachute floated behind them. He disconnected them and she turned and hugged him tightly.
Every cell in her body was alive in a way she’d never experienced. “Oh my God. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
He grinned.
She stood on her toes and kissed him with everything she had. She’d just jumped out of a plane. Ethan was right: after this, there was nothing she couldn’t do. He held her close as he kissed her, and this time it was more than just her body that responded to him. Her soul reached out to touch him, to thank him for giving her this experience, to tell him just how much she cared for him. It felt like they were connected at a cellular level, like he knew her better than she knew herself, and she wanted nothing more than to give herself to him entirely.
Ethan finally broke the kiss. “Divya, there’s something I need to say to you.”
The catch in his voice sent a chill through her. Was this it? Was he going to tell her that they were going to part ways? They hadn’t discussed how long this would last, and he certainly didn’t owe her anything.
He cupped her face. “I know you told me not to go for girls who are unavailable. But I can’t seem to help it. I need you to know that when things end between us, I can’t be friends with you.”
He said when things end between us. Not if. He’d already given up on her.