Chapter 34: Zip, Drop, and Everything In Between
If you'd asked Lina a few weeks ago whether she'd willingly throw herself off a cliff attached only to a glorified rubber band, the answer would've been a firm no. A laugh, even. Maybe a wine spill.
But here she was—helmet secured, harness tight enough to question her circulation—standing on the edge of a wooden platform with a breathtaking view and a stomach full of butterflies.
Behind her, the rest of their merry gang buzzed with excitement and nerves.
Marc was stretching dramatically, as if preparing for the Olympics.
Mia stood nearby, pretending to be calm but clutching Marc's hand a little too tightly.
Leo was already teasing everyone, especially Alex, who'd gone pale the moment they arrived.
"It's not even that high," Leo said, smirking as he pointed toward the vast canyon below.
"It just looks like death."
"Gee, thanks," Alex muttered. "That really helps."
Jonas, who had insisted on going last "just in case someone panicked and needed saving," winked at Lina. "Ready, lionheart?"
"I was born ready," she lied.
The guide finished checking her harness and gave her a thumbs-up. "Okay, Lina, arms crossed like this, and on my count—three… two…"
She screamed before he said "one."
The world whipped past in a blur of trees, sky, and wind, and for a split second, she was weightless—utterly free.
Then came the slow, stretchy bounce that made her stomach lurch, and the uncontrollable laughter that followed.
She was alive. Absolutely, gloriously alive.
By the time Jonas pulled her into a hug at the bottom, she was breathless and grinning.
"That," she gasped, "was insane."
"And sexy as hell," he whispered in her ear.
The others followed, some more gracefully than others.
Nina shrieked the entire way down the zip-line, while David accidentally dropped his GoPro mid-flight (it landed in a tree and became the group's next mission).
Hanna filmed everyone like a proud documentary director, offering commentary that made everyone double over laughing.
"Notice how Leo flaps his arms like a confused chicken in mid-air," she narrated. "Truly majestic."
They ended the day around a bonfire near the canyon base, wrapped in jackets, sipping spiked hot chocolate, and basking in that unique adrenaline-fueled warmth only true friendship could provide.
Samba and Tango were curled up nearby, thoroughly unimpressed by human antics.
At one point, Lina looked around the circle—faces flushed with laughter, shoulders touching, eyes sparkling—and leaned into Jonas.
"This," she whispered, "is everything."
He nodded, pulling her closer under his arm. "Our pack."
Leo was already planning their next escapade ("Paragliding in spring?"), while Marc suggested a vineyard retreat to balance things out.
"Extreme sports followed by extreme wine," he declared. "It's all about balance."
As the night deepened and the stars spilled across the sky, the world felt just right.
Wild, unpredictable, full of cliffs—but shared with the kind of people who'd always catch you.
Even when you jumped.