Half Wild, Half Yours

Caught In The Current

I heard him before I saw him.

“Blue!”

His voice echoed through the rush of the waterfall, cutting through the roar and the rapid beat of my heart. I didn’t turn right away. I floated beneath the cascade, eyes to the sky, letting the chill of it cool the fire that had threatened to take over completely.

Then I heard the splash—closer this time—and when I finally turned, there he was. Teddy. Soaked, serious, treading water like he was fighting something invisible.

“Why’d you run from me?” he asked, his voice low and edged with something I didn’t want to name.

I blinked water from my lashes and said, “Well, technically, I swam.”

He didn’t smile. Not this time.

“Blue.” Just my name. Steady.

I sighed, kicking gently to stay afloat, not quite ready to close the distance. “I wasn’t trying to be dramatic. I just… needed space for a second.”

His eyes searched mine, that electric blue darkened by shadow and water. “You keep doing that. Pulling away.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, then said quietly, “Because I don’t want to feel stuck.”

His brow furrowed. “You think I’d try to tie you down?”

“I don’t think it’s about you. It’s about me.” I inhaled, the truth rising up like a wave I couldn’t stop. “I like my life. My freedom. I wake up wherever I want. I go where the wind pushes me. That’s not just a phase for me—it’s who I am. And getting close to you… it messes with that.”

He drifted closer, not touching, just watching. “So you’re saying there’s something here.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to.

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his wet hair. “Look, I get it. I’m not trying to trap you or change your plans. But you can’t deny there’s something going on between us. Maybe it doesn’t have to be complicated. Maybe… we just enjoy what this is. While it lasts.”

“A summer fling?” I asked, voice soft.

He gave a small shrug. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

I hesitated for a long moment, heart pounding in my throat. “I leave in a few days.”

That hit him. I saw it in his face, the way something fell in his eyes.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Toronto,” I said. “I think.”

He nodded slowly, like he was chewing on the words. “That soon, huh?”

“I didn’t plan on meeting you,” I said. “None of this was supposed to happen.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

We floated there, caught in the current of everything unsaid. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to swim closer… or let it all drift away.

Teddy was still looking at me like he wasn’t sure whether to swim closer or just disappear beneath the surface altogether. The air between us was too heavy, too loaded with what-ifs and maybe-laters. I needed to shake it off before I said something stupid.

So I broke the tension the only way I knew how.

“You ever gone cliff jumping?”

His brows shot up, expression snapping from stormy to horrified. “What? No. Absolutely not.”

I grinned, teeth flashing as I floated backward a little. “Seriously? Never?”

“No, because I enjoy living,” he said, deadpan. “And also because I have a healthy respect for gravity.”

“Oh, come on,” I teased. “Live a little, rock star. There’s a spot right over there—” I pointed to the ledge just past the falls “—it’s not even that high.”

He shook his head with dramatic finality. “Still a no.”

I tilted my head, mock-pouting. “What if there’s a wager?”

That caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes. “A wager?”

“Yeah,” I said, swimming closer now, unable to stop the smirk from curling my lips. “You cliff jump, and you get something in return.”

He folded his arms across his chest, floating a little higher. “Define ‘something.’”

I gave him a once-over, letting the silence stretch, then met his gaze again. “A kiss.”

His jaw clenched like he was trying to keep his cool, but I saw the way his eyes sparked. “A kiss.”

I nodded slowly. “One kiss. No more.”

Teddy pretended to consider, tapping a finger against his chin. “How long do I have to survive afterward before I get the kiss? Immediately? Or after I’m fished out of the water and resuscitated?”

I laughed. “Immediately. Assuming you don’t chicken out.”

He stared at me, dead serious for a second. Then he said, “You’re on.”

We climbed out of the water, breathless and dripping, the sun warming our skin as we made our way up the rocky path that led to the top of the falls. Tyler shook off beside us, sending a fine mist everywhere. Teddy kept glancing up at the ledge like it might grow teeth and swallow him whole.

“How high do you think this is?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

I shaded my eyes and gave the drop a lazy once-over. “Hmm… twenty-five feet, give or take.”

“That’s not helping,” he muttered.

I grinned. “What, you want me to say it’s only ten? Like, ‘Don’t worry, Teddy, you’re basically just falling off a tall bunk bed?’”

“I’d take it.”

We reached the edge, and I looked out over the glittering pool below. The sound of the water rushing around us was loud, but the thrill building in my chest was louder.

“I’ll go first,” I said, stretching out my arms. “So you can see how it’s done.”

He opened his mouth—maybe to protest, maybe to tell me I was crazy—but I didn’t wait. I backed up a few steps, gave him a wink, and sprinted forward.

The wind rushed around me, then vanished completely as I hit the water with a clean splash. It was a perfect drop, straight and smooth, the kind that sent adrenaline zipping through every cell in your body.

I surfaced and looked up, grinning. “Your turn, rock star!”

He hesitated. Then I saw his jaw clench with determination. A second later, Teddy ran, jumped, and flung himself into the air.

Teddy hit the water at a weird angle, and I winced just watching it. That had to hurt. When he finally surfaced, he didn’t say anything—just swam straight for the edge and pulled himself out, water dripping from his shoulders as he collapsed onto the sand like he’d just fought a sea monster.

I rushed over, hovering, concern bubbling up in my chest. “Are you okay?”

“Stop,” he said, eyes shut, one hand lifting lazily like he was swatting away my worry. “Just—give me a second.”

He was quiet. No jokes. No cocky grin. Just lying there, chest rising and falling. I felt my nerves spike. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I pushed him too far.

Then, after what felt like a full minute, his eyes cracked open and he turned his head toward me. “I believe you owe me something.”

I let out a breath and leaned in to press a quick kiss to his lips. Just a soft brush. A thank-you-for-jumping kiss.

Teddy opened his eyes all the way and gave me a look that said, Seriously?

“That wasn’t a kiss,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. He sat up, eyes locked on mine, his expression unreadable—but intense enough to send a shiver through me.

I swallowed. My heart was hammering. Still, I leaned in again. Slower this time.

The moment our mouths met, the teasing melted away. His hand slid into my damp hair, and the second our lips moved together, heat curled low in my belly. His mouth opened, and mine followed instinctively. It wasn’t soft anymore—it was hungry. Like we’d both been holding this in, waiting for the green light, and now that we had it, we couldn’t get enough.

His lips moved over mine like he already knew me. Like he’d imagined this a dozen times and now that it was real, he didn’t want to waste a second. I tasted lake water and adrenaline and something sweet, like citrus. My hands gripped his shoulders to steady myself, but the truth was, there was no steady. I was spinning.

When we finally broke apart, I didn’t even realize how close we were—his forehead resting against mine, both of us breathing heavy.

And all I could think was: Well, s**t.