Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1) (8 page)

Frankie smiled coyly and obliged, pushing a couple of forms over the counter in my direction. I took the forms and started filling them out.

“Andi, I’ll meet you in the jump room. I’ve got to go prep and run through a safety check. We’ll be landing on the beach today, so you’re in for a great view of the bay. You’re going to love it.”

His green eyes twinkled and explored mine briefly like he wanted to say something else. Instead, he flashed me a megawatt smile and, as he turned away, accidentally brushed his hand lightly across my butt, causing tiny shivers to run through my body.

Like me, Frankie watched Levi walk away into the next room. Once he was gone, she turned her attention back to me. “So, Andi, after you fill out your personal details, you need to read the disclaimer and sign down the bottom.” She pointed where I needed to sign. “When you’re done, I’ll need you to get on the scales. We need an accurate weight so LJ can calculate when he needs to open the chute. The heavier you are, the quicker the freefall.”

“He’ll see my weight?” I blurted out before I could filter my comment. One thing I didn’t want him to know was how heavy I was.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the most overweight we’ve had here before. I’m sure he’ll get his calculations right.”

I frowned, unsure whether she was having a dig at me. I chose to brush it off. “I have full faith in him. I’m not worried about his calculations,” I mumbled while I signed the forms and handed it back to her.

The weigh-in wasn’t as painful as I had thought. Either their scales were wrong, or I had actually dropped two and a half pounds this week. And here I was thinking my staple diet of vodka and stale pizza wasn’t good for me.

She handed me a laminated color A4 poster. There were photos of tandem skydivers, all of them looking totally unglamorous with their faces contorted by the force of the freefall. “So, I’m supposed to ask if you want the photo and video package. This is an optional extra, not included in the price of the dive. I know you’re here as LJ’s guest, but I still have to ask. It’s part of my job. I also have to inform you, if you decide not to get the package, he won’t take any footage. In other words if you want footage, you have to decide now.”

I looked at the price of the package and knew there was no way I could afford it. Even though I didn’t want a photo of me looking like that, I so desperately wanted a photo of Levi. Something to remember him by. If things between us went like I thought they would, I wouldn’t see him again after this morning.

I sighed. “I can’t afford it.”

“Okay, no problem.” She swiftly took away the brochure and pointed to the room Levi had walked into just now. “Just head through that door to the jump room and wait for LJ. You will need to give him your forms. There is also a locker in there to store your purse and belongings.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her as I took the forms with my recorded weight on it and made my way to the next room.

I poked my head cautiously through the doorway, not knowing what to expect. The room looked like it could be a family room in any average American household, with a rug on the floor, comfortable couch, and a big screen TV, except to the side of the room there were several unfurled parachutes hanging from the wall instead of works of art or family photos. Levi was in the middle of the room, standing with his back toward me, surrounded by skydiving gear.

Like a perverted stalker, I watched quietly as he bent down to pull up his skydiving harness, his tight ass straining against the light material of the black skydiving jumpsuit he had changed into. His shoulders and biceps tensed when he hoisted the straps of the parachute backpack harness onto his back. I had an insane urge to run my hand along those biceps down his back and finish up with cupping those ass cheeks. Closing my eyes, I remembered how good he smelled and memories of my little sex fantasy flashed through my head. What I wouldn’t give to see him naked. I had to know whether the fantasy was as good as the real thing. Who was I kidding? Of course it was, but this was my reality, and my fantasy was the best it was ever going to get. Girls like Frankie got guys like Levi, not inexperienced basket cases like me.

I could have watched him all day, but my stalker guilt got the better of me. Alerting him to my presence, I cleared my throat lightly as I walked toward him. He turned to me just as he was adjusting his package between his legs. The harness sat snug up against his crotch and only accentuated what I had already suspected. The man was huge. I was guessing it was even better and bigger than what I had fantasized. Shame I’d never get to experience it, even though I wouldn’t even know what to do with something that size. It wasn’t like my one previous experience prepared me for it.

“Perfect timing.” He smiled, oblivious to the fact I had been standing there for the past minute drooling over his shoulders and ass. “Come here and let’s try on your harness and get you fitted. But first, let’s lock away your purse. You won’t need that for the rest of the day.”

My mind quickly changed from thinking about his huge cock into full-blown panic. My stomach turned. This was really happening.

“Okay.” My voice squeaked.

“How you feeling?” he asked as he led me to a small row of lockers and helped me lock away my purse using a combination lock.

“Nervous,” I squeaked again, sounding similar to the church mouse.

“It’s to be expected. I was shitting bricks my first time, but then the moment I jumped, I knew this had to be my job.” 

“Glad I’m not alone.” I slammed the door closed on the locker, turned the knob, and followed him back to where he had been standing when I first walked in.

He threw a blue harness down on the floor, similar to the one he had on, although unlike his, there was no backpack attached.

“Put your feet in there.” He pointed to obvious leg straps. I did as he asked and stood still in the harness while, from behind me, he hoisted it up and then helped me thread my arms through the shoulder straps.

Once all the straps were in place, he turned me around to face him and loosely buckled the strap across my chest and tightened the thigh straps. He stood close to me, our bodies only inches apart. I couldn’t breathe, and even though I was nearly puking with nerves, the fact his hands were so close to my intimate parts didn’t escape me. I stood unable to move as his fingers brushed lightly against the inside of my thighs, adjusting the thigh straps so they were sitting snug and tight against my crotch.

Although he didn’t verbalize it, I’m sure he knew exactly the effect he had on me. I was one hundred percent sure he wasn’t inexperienced like I was in the sex department, after all, he was sex on legs.

“There we go. Now you’re all ready.” His voice was an octave lower than normal.

Like before at the check-in counter, he looked at me like he wanted to say something else. He opened his mouth, but closed it again, his eyes reflecting conflicting emotions. We stood toe to toe, silence between us. I could hear my heart beating. He was so sexy it hurt.

I couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “I’m supposed to give you these.” Just as he had begun to reach a hand toward me, I thrust the insurance forms into his hand.

“Thanks.” He fisted the forms without even bothering to look at them and glanced at his watch. “It’s almost time to go.”

“Do I need to watch an instructional video first?” I blurted out, stalling for time. I felt my question was justified, though. In all the movies I had watched with skydivers, I was sure people viewed videos first.

“Nope, no need to. You got me.” His self assured cheeky smile was back in place. “Come on, let’s go wait outside. We have another tandem with us, Phil, my supervisor, and a paying customer. I’m not sure where they are, but they’ll need to get her prepared and they’ll want this room. I also need to sign your forms and give them back to Frankie at the front counter.”

“She said you need to read them first.” I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek.

“Usually, yes,” he agreed. “But it’s only really if you have any health problems. You don’t, do you?”

“No, nothing wrong with me.” I forced enthusiasm. I took a couple of panicked deep breaths in quick succession. “Frankie said something about needing to know my weight for the freefall calculations.”
Don’t look, don’t look.

“Only if the person jumping looks like they might be too overweight too jump. Then we need to make sure the parachute will hold their weight. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re perfect,” he said. “Now stop stalling. Let’s go wait outside.”

“Okay.” Relief flooded through me, glad my mantra worked. I followed him with a little spring in my step. He didn’t need to know exactly how much I weighed, plus, he said I was perfect. Whatever that meant, although I was sure it was all just part of the service.

Chapter Eight

Andi

When Levi said outside, I thought he meant on the porch of the clubhouse. Instead, he led me off the porch, through the parking lot, past my Jeep, and kept walking toward the actual runway. To say I was crapping in my pants was an understatement. This was it. No backing out now.

There weren’t a lot of aircraft to choose from on the edge of the runway. I scoured for what I thought might be our plane and froze, pointing at what was clearly waiting for us on the tarmac.

“We’re going up in that?” My voice shook with fear while my right hand clamped down hard on Levi’s arm.

It wasn’t what I had envisioned. Quite the opposite. The white-and-rust-colored decrepit plane was no bigger than my Jeep, the only difference being it had wings and a propeller attached. The name of the skydiving school was faded on the side while the fuselage of the plane had a few dings, and there were numerous scratches in the paint work. It had clearly seen a few years. The overall look did very little to calm my fear of flying.

Levi laughed loudly, grabbed me playfully around the waist, and kept me moving forward toward the death trap. “You’ll be perfectly safe. Haven’t you ever been told to not judge a book by its cover? This Cessna has been turbocharged, and has done hundreds of flights before ours today.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” I muttered under my breath.

I just had to keep reassuring myself that Santa Cruz Skydivers had the best safety record in the bay, rust bucket plane or not. Swallowing my fear, I let him grab my hand and lead the way. I’m sure he must have known if he wasn’t holding my hand I would have run the opposite direction. We reached the plane and I looked inside the open side door, noticing there was only one seat for the pilot up front, and a small carpeted cramped space to the rear.

“Where are we sitting?” My voice came out in a near whisper.

He pointed to the cramped space directly behind the pilot seat. “We will sit behind the pilot, just there. The other tandem jumping will be sitting here by the door. Phil will open the door and jump first. We will follow him out about thirty seconds after.”

My stomach lurched. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I was almost hyperventilating. “How is this old rust bucket going to get five people up in the air? And are you sure there is even enough room?” The pitch of my voice almost reached crescendo.

“Relax, Andi.” He spoke calmly. “Do you seriously think I would endanger our lives? I do this nearly every day, sometimes up to four times a day, and nothing has ever happened. I could do this in my sleep.”

Breathing deeply, I calmed and replied, “Well, sooner or later, the odds have to catch up with you.”

“Andi, look at me.” He grabbed me by the tops of my shoulders, forcing me to look into his green eyes. “Do you trust me?”

I nodded at him. “Yes.”

“I always pack the chutes myself, that way I know it’s done properly. Nothing will happen, except that we are going to have an awesome time. Now, answer me again. Do you honestly think I will let anything happen to you?”

I nodded emphatically, but replied, “No.” Damn him and those eyes, and that sexy mouth.

He smiled, clearly enjoying my reactions. I tried to return his enthusiasm, but couldn’t get out a smile. Instead, I managed to lift one of the corners of my mouth in a grimace and wrinkled my forehead, giving the overall look of what I was sure was someone straining in constipation. This only made Levi laugh and pull me into an embrace. If I hadn’t felt like being physically ill from nerves at that exact moment, I’m sure my heart would have leapt out of my chest at his contact.

He turned serious, letting me go, and switched into instructor mode. “All right, just a few last minute instructions before we get in the plane.”

I was impressed at the way he could turn from the Aussie jokester into the professional skydive instructor. He immediately set me at ease. Well, not entirely, I still felt like throwing up.

“When we jump, as I mentioned, Phil will go first with his client and we will go last. Because you will be harnessed onto the front of me, you will have to be sitting right here on the edge on the plane with your legs hanging over the side to the rear of the wheels here.” He patted the metal casing covering the wheels of the plane.

“Don’t the wheels retract?” I asked, trying to get my head around where I had to sit, hanging out of a plane in mid-air. There was no way I could do this.

“Not on this plane. These are fixed wheels, so it’s important that your legs swing that way…” He pointed to the rear of the wheels. “Away from the plane. Got it?”

“Yep.” For the second time that morning, I swallowed down the lump that was sitting in the back of my throat. I was positive it wouldn’t be the last time either. I could feel the blood rushing from my face and only hoped I could remember all this when it was time for me to jump.

A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, threatening to destroy his professional facade. He quickly recovered and continued on with instructions.

“When we fall, I will need you to put your head back on my shoulder and lift your feet up behind me. We are going to flip backwards away from the plane and I will need you to stay like that until I tap you on the shoulder. Then you can extend your arms and legs. Got it?”

His instructions were tumbling around inside my head. I didn’t dare ask him what would happen if I got something wrong.

“Legs out, head back, legs back, tap shoulder, arms out, legs out,” I replied mechanically.

“And don’t forget to have fun.” A laugh began to quiver in his voice.

“Have fun,” I replied automatically, which finally set him off into fits of laughter.

I stood still, my hands clenched by my sides, repeating his instructions over in my head. Today was not going to be the day I died.

“Here comes Phil,” he announced once he had finished laughing at my terror. “This is it. Climb on in. You’ll need to face the rear of the plane and get down as far to the back window as possible so I can fit behind you.”

I had officially lost all forms of verbal communication, so I nodded at him and climbed on in, thanking God I had stopped drinking last night and went home to bed after he texted. I couldn’t imagine doing this with a hangover. Unable to stand upright in the small, confined space, I crawled to the back of the plane, squished myself as far down as I could, and sat facing the rear with my legs crossed. The space was tight and cramped. I had to ensure I left enough room for Levi. His large frame would be taking up most of the available room.

With my feet and knees resting on the metal frame of the plane, I looked directly out of the rear window at the tail of the plane and the airport runway. Levi climbed in behind me and attempted to stretch his long legs out on either side of me, but was forced to bend his legs at the knee. We were so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.

My harness began to cut into my thighs due to my awkward sitting position. I wriggled my butt a little to help dislodge it, but only succeeded in giving myself a wedgie.

“Are you comfortable?” Levi asked, his mouth right next to my left ear.

Unable to turn around to face him, I spoke to him over my shoulder. “Mostly. It’s just this harness is a little tight around my legs. It’s fine.”

“Here, sit back up here a bit more and try to stretch your legs.” Assisting me, he grabbed me by the back of my harness and lifted me back toward him, instantly freeing up my legs from the tightness of the harness, but placing me almost right up against his crotch. “Is that better?”

“Much. Are you going to strap me onto your harness now?”

“Not yet. I’ll wait until about five minutes before we hit the drop zone. It’s about a twenty minute flight up to hit fifteen thousand feet.”

Phil appeared at the open door, and held onto the top of the metal doorframe with one arm, reaching in with the other looking for a high five. “Hey, guys, y’all ready? I’m pumped. It’s an awesome day for a jump!”

“Yay,” I replied weakly, reaching over and slapping his hand in a high-five. Luckily, I had only had a protein bar for breakfast. I was positive right about now, something heavier would have made a reappearance. It was time for me to put on a brave face, after all I was getting this for free. I certainly didn’t want to look ungrateful.

“That’s the spirit. Guys, this here is Fran. It’s her first jump, too. Nothing like a couple of virgins, isn’t that right, Levi?”

The boys both laughed at his lame joke, obviously high on adrenaline. A lady in her late 30s climbed in the plane next to me, her face as pale as mine felt. We greeted each other with short “hi’s,” clearly both of us too nervous to talk. Phil climbed in right behind her, but because he and Fran weren’t cramped up behind the pilot’s seat like Levi and I were, they were both able to sit with their legs stretched out somewhat. Plus, she didn’t have to practically sit on her instructor’s crotch. Not that I viewed that as a con, far from it. It was definitely a pro. I just wish it were under a different scenario I was sitting pushed up against Levi’s ample package. That scenario being we were both naked.

Phil slammed the plane door closed, crashing me back to reality, and instructed the pilot, who I hadn’t even noticed climb in, to start the engine.

The plane’s single propeller came to life with a roar, vibrating the whole fuselage of the light aircraft. I reached for Levi’s hand that was resting on his leg next to mine and clenched it tightly.

“You’ll be fine.” He spoke into my ear so only I could hear. “I promise.”

I believed him. It was just that my nerves hadn’t died any yet. The plane began to taxi down the runway. The pilot maneuvered it into position, increased the engine speed, and then we were off, bumping down the runway, accelerating gradually until the ground buildings were blurring past and, finally, we had enough speed to take off. I shut my eyes, unable to watch as the bitumen rushed away beneath us.

Levi squeezed my hand reassuringly as the plane lifted off the ground with a dip. No one spoke as we climbed higher. I cracked a lid and snuck a quick glance over at Fran and Phil. Fran looked exactly how I felt, frozen in fear, but Phil was clearly so at ease it appeared he had gone to sleep. Once we had cleared the take off, much to my disappointment, Levi let go of my hand.

After a while, my nerves started to die away and I opened my eyes and began to relax, looking out the side window at the scenery below me.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Levi spoke to me from over my shoulder, his voice raised so I could here him over the propeller noise. “I never grow tired of this job.”

“It’s beautiful,” I replied back over my shoulder in agreement with him, using the same elevated voice. “When are we going to jump?”

“We are still about ten thousand feet away from the drop zone.”

Suddenly, the light aircraft hit an air pocket and the plane began to shudder. I let out a little scream in surprise. He reached for my hand again and gently squeezed. This time, he didn’t let go.

“It’s okay, just a bit of turbulence. Once we get higher away from the warm air pockets, it’ll be smoother flying.”

I looked over at Fran, whose face now had a slight green tinge to it. She looked back at me, her eyes wide with fear. She obviously had a greater fear than I did, but I couldn’t work out why she would willingly pay for this, unlike me, who was getting a free ride thanks to Levi.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, leaning over so she could hear me. I was really more concerned for my own well being. She was first at the door. If she didn’t jump, neither did I. And now that I was up here, the only way I was leaving this plane was by jumping out the door.

“I’ll be fine,” she replied over the noise, her voice tinged with fear. “In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve got a real fear of flying and heights. According to my shrink, this will help me conquer my fears.”

“Nothing like facing something head-on to get over it,” I agreed.

“What brings you up here?” she asked, clearly looking for a conversation to help keep her mind off the flight. She looked down at my hand that was still clutching Levi’s tightly. I quickly let it go, not wanting to let on that I had a free jump. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be common knowledge or not.

“Levi’s a friend. He convinced me to do it. Said it was an experience I should have at least once in my life.”

Fran nodded in reply. “I’m sure we will be fine when we get out that door.”

Suddenly, the pilot yelled over the noise of the propeller. “Ten thousand feet. We are clear to jump.”

Both Fran and I widened our eyes in realization that this was going to happen. Very soon. Phil’s eyes snapped open and he began talking into Fran's left ear. The sounds in the plane were too loud for me to hear what he was saying. Fran could hear him loud and clear and was nodding her head in agreement with whatever he was saying.

“Should we be talking, too?” I asked Levi loudly over my shoulder. “Are we jumping now?”

“Nope, the pilot is just letting us know that we are at a safe distance to jump.” He spoke in my ear. “We still have another five thousand feet to climb. You got this, Andi. Remember what I told you?”

I thought back to the instructions he had told me earlier.