Twisted Games(Ryeji ver)

YEJI[CHAPTER 18]

WE SPENT FOUR GLORIOUS, PERFECT DAYS IN COSTA RICA.
I woke up late, went to bed late, and spent my days
eating, sunbathing, and reading a romance novel I'd picked
up at the airport. Bucket list number two.

On our third day, Ryujin drove us two hours to Monteverde
for zip lining. She said the company was the best in the area
and she'd zip-lined with them several times herself.

Still, her face was taut with tension as I prepared to go
down the longest zip line. We'd only done the shorter cables
until now, and they were fun, but I was ready for more.
The one I was about to get on stretched high above the
cloud forest, so long I couldn't see the other end of it. A
mixture of excitement and nerves twisted in my stomach.

"Check her again," Ryujin said after our guide gave me the
thumbs up. No one bothered arguing. Ryujin made the guide triple-check my harness before I went down every line, and arguing was futile. "If you get stuck, don't panic," Ryujin said after the guide okayed me-again. "We'll come get you."

"By 'we'll,' she means me," the guide joked. "But yes, we
will come get you. Don't worry, miss."

"I hadn't thought about getting stuck until now, so thank
you for that," I said wryly.
Ryujin's stern expression didn't budge, but all thoughts of
her grumpiness disappeared when I got into position. The
guide gave me a push, and I finally raced down the line. The
wind whipped through my hair, and I couldn't hold back a
huge grin.

Ziplining looked scary from the ground, but once I was in
the air? It was exhilarating.

I closed my eyes, savoring the wind and the feeling of
being away from it all. No worries, no responsibilities, just
me and nature.

When I made it to the next treetop platform, I was still
riding high from the zip line, and I couldn't resist teasing
Ryujin again when she landed shortly after me.

"See? I'm fine," I said. "You didn't have to pick up pieces
of me from the ground."
She did not look amused at all, but I didn't care.
Bucket list number three, check.

For all her overprotectiveness, Ryujin was more relaxed
down here. Not fully relaxed, mind you, but she'd ditched her
all-black outfits for shorts and-gasp-white T-shirts, and
she agreed to most of the activities I wanted to do with
minimal complaint, including parasailing and an ATV tour.

The one thing she refused to do, however, was get in the
pool with me, and on our last night, I made a last-ditch
effort to change her mind.

"I've never heard of a Navy SEAL who doesn't swim." I
stepped onto the terrace, where Ryujin was drawing in her
sketchbook. She hadn't shown me any of her sketches yet, and
I hadn't asked. Art was deeply personal, and I didn't want to
force her to show me anything if she didn't want to. "Come
on. It's our last day, and you haven't taken advantage of this
once." I swept my arm at the gleaming pool.

"It's a pool, princess." Ryujin didn't look up from her book.
"I've been in pools before."

"Prove it."
No answer.
"Fine. I guess I'll swim by myself. Again." I shrugged off
my cover-up and let the filmy white material cascade to the
floor before I walked past Ryujin toward the water.

I may have walked more slowly than normal and added an
extra sway to my hips. I may also have worn my skimpiest, most scandalous bikini. I did, after all, have one more bucket list item to check off.

I'd been drunk when I'd told Ryujin about my bucket list,
but I was sober now, and I still wanted her to help me fulfill
item number four.

I was attracted to her; she was attracted to me. That much
was obvious after what happened in my room post-Borgia.
She wasn't going to be my bodyguard much longer, and no
one would know unless we told them.