Julia nodded, smiling to herself. It was exactly what she’d been thinking, too. Small and insignificant, but also desperately, wondrously alive.
It was hard to remember that they were still in the world. Streams of tourists buzzed around them, the rise and fall of voices and snap of cameras and phones adding its own cacophony to the sound of the surge. Blake lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“Should we catch up to them?” Julia asked. Blake looked ahead to where Chris and Jamie were taking pictures against a railing overlooking the edge of the falls. Jamie waved for them to come over and Blake sighed.
“I guess so,” he said, and they weaved their way through the crowds until they rejoined everyone else, busy taking photographs and marveling at the sights. Lukas, laden with camera bags, kept switching lenses as he tried to capture the perfect shot.
“So you guys want to walk around?” Jamie was asking as they walked up.
“I want to get on that river,” Chris said.
“Your wish is my command,” Lukas declared as he produced a brochure from his back pocket.
Chris squealed in astonishment as she flipped through. “Boat tours! Come on, Jamie, let’s do this.” She passed the brochure to him.
“Are you sure you want to—”
“They give you ponchos and you go right up under the fall,” Lukas interrupted.
“Awesome,” Chris exhaled, her eyes shining with excitement. “You want to do it?”
“I’m game if you are,” Lukas said with a grin. “I have to keep my equipment dry, but can you imagine the shots?”
“So it’s settled!” Chris said.
Blake looked over at Julia, and she shrugged. A boat tour sounded fine to her, and she was happy doing whatever everyone else wanted to do.
But Blake leaned over and whispered in her ear, his voice drowned out by the roar of the falls, “If you’d rather…”
She knew exactly what he was saying. His arm was around her in a gesture that seemed not only affectionate but possessive, and she moved closer to feel the heat of his body against her bare skin. She didn’t have to say anything—just a blush she couldn’t control, and then the slightest nod.
When Blake looked in her eyes, it was like they didn’t need to speak to know what the other was thinking. If she was going to get one more day before her fantasy ended, why shouldn’t she take advantage of all that she could?
“The boat ride is great,” Blake said to everyone. “You guys should definitely do it. I’ve already been on one, though, so I think Julia and I will go for a hike. But if you haven’t done it, you should. Getting up under the falls is terrific.”
“Terrifically terrifying?” Jamie asked with a queasy grin.
“You’ll be fine!” Blake clapped him on the back. “Chris will protect you.”
“Unless I push you overboard.” She stuck out her tongue.
“Not if I get to you first.”
Chris laughed. Jamie was such a nice guy that nothing he said could sound mean. They had the kind of relationship where they joked about everything, Julia realized. She wondered if that ever made it hard to know when one of them was being serious.
“You’re sure you don’t want to come, Julia?” Chris asked, eyeing both of them like she was perfectly capable of taking the hint but simply chose not to.
“I get horribly seasick,” Julia said quickly, the lie popping effortlessly out. She loved boats and had plenty of experience sailing on Lake Michigan. But time alone with Blake sounded much more appealing. Somehow she was certain that no matter where they were along the endless stretch of cascades, the view would still be spectacular. Not to mention the time together.
She didn’t care today if everyone else at the hostel knew what was going on between them—she was never going to see them again. And wasn’t that the whole point? She was a completely different person out here, assured that none of her actions would follow her back to her real life.
“I guess that’s not a good idea then,” Chris said reluctantly, as though sad for Julia that she’d be missing out. Julia smiled like it was a real shame but reassured everyone that she was fine with staying on land. For a second she was afraid that Jamie would elect to join them and their whole escape plan would be ruined, but at the end of the day he wasn’t going to take off without Chris.
It took a little bit of acting from both her and Blake to convince everyone that it was fine to leave them behind. By the time they were heading off on their own, they were buckled over laughing at the performance that had gotten them away.
“You really get seasick?” he asked, concerned.
Julia laughed and shook her head. “Could you think of anything else that would have convinced Chris not to drag me on that boat?”
“Quick thinking,” he said. “Poor Jamie should have thought of that first. You’re sure you don’t want to go?”
Julia might have surprised herself by not waiting for him to make the first move, but she already knew that this Julia, the one who bought tickets to Brazil and traveled by herself and climbed out of bed to fuck gorgeous Australians in a pool was hardly shy about getting her way. She pressed him back against the railing and kissed him as the water from the thundering falls coated them in mist.
“Pretty sure,” she said, pulling away. But his hands clasped her arms tightly, holding her close, preventing her from stepping back. His kiss was rough and fierce and made her feel like she was hurtling over the edge of the cliff, nothing but spray and water and the sweet, terrifying fall.
For a moment, lost in his touch, she knew how it felt to not worry about the crash.
But there were too many people around. Kids ran screaming as parents snapped pictures and groups pressed in heated throngs against the railings over the falls.
“Come on, let’s get away from here,” Blake said in her ear. “Some place quiet. I want you alone.”
Julia felt a shudder rise up her body and pulse between her legs. How could one little word do this to her? Alone certainly sounded different when it was just her on a plane, on a bus, heading for the unknown. Alone with Blake was turning out to be an entirely different story.
He took her hand and led her away from the masses at the top of the falls, following a trail that snaked away from the impressive Garganta do Diablo, the Devil’s Throat, and pushed toward the hundreds of smaller waterfalls tumbling over the cliffs.
As soon as they were away from the center the crowds started to thin. The path began winding downhill, cutting under the cliffs to the water below. The shade from the trees offered relief from the beating sun, and they stopped to enjoy the newfound quiet. Julia took a drink from Blake’s water bottle and after she handed it back to him she could only watch, transfixed, as he tilted his head back and drank, Adam’s apple moving with each glug. The stubble on his chin was blond and light brown, and she wanted to feel it against her cheek, her breasts. The thought rose from somewhere unbidden: the scratch of it against her thigh.
He caught her shameless appraisal and grinned. “Happy?” he asked, planting a kiss on her nose.
“This is better,” she admitted, her hands resting on his chest. “Did you come down here before?”
“No, but doesn’t it seem like there are all these trails that keep going?” Blake looked to where the path turned and disappeared.
“Let’s find out.” Julia bound ahead of him, delighted to have uncovered something he hadn’t experienced before. When she turned off the paved, main path and crept into a smaller dirt opening, she finally slowed down. “What do you think is down here?” she asked as she peeked through the overgrown foliage.
“Looks like another path, but not one that’s really used. Most people probably stick to the paved route.”
“If they even come here. Do you see anyone else around?”
Blake flashed her a grin that could only be described as naughty. “Not a soul,” he breathed, running a finger across her bare collarbone and hooking it around the strap to her dress.