Live a Little

“Oh my goodness, look at them!” Katie screamed as she thrust yet another countless picture of those twin actors she was so obsessed with.

“Yeah, yeah they’re gorgeous.” I said not even looking at them and instead focused on my note cards. Knowing Katie, however, that wasn’t going to last long because when she wanted people to pay attention she found ways.

Sure enough she gushed, “Look at his teeth.” My head snapped up to look at the picture.

“Hey!” I whined. “That’s not fair you know my weakness.”

“It’s not my fault you like strange features in a man.”

“Liking men’s teeth is not strange.” I defended myself; I mean everyone loves pearly whites.

“That’s not the problem,” she stated as I took the chance to look at this guy’s teeth and I was slightly disappointed to fine he did not only have beautiful teeth but a knee-weaken smile as well. “The problem is that’s the first thing that attracts you. I mean really you would think an ass or arms would!”

“Katie, I’m a dentist.” I said as if that explained everything.

“Not yet, you aren’t.” she sang.

“You’re right,” I agreed, “At this point I’ll never get any studying time and I’ll fail for sure.”

“Hey, you picked me as a roommate.”

“Yes and what a great idea that was.” I mumbled under my breath.

“One of your best!” she laughed.

“Here.” I handed her back the picture that I had unconsciously snatched from her manicured fingers.

“Thanks!” she said as she brought it closer to her face to observe.

“I don’t think Neil would like you staring at those two like they were a piece of meat.” I told her as I wrote down a vocabulary word on my index card.

“Oh please, he needs to start appreciating me more as a girlfriend. Plus I’m not staring at both of them, only James.” she pointed to the one on the left who smiled with his lips. Katie then pointed to the other, who unlike his brother, smiled with his teeth and declared that he was mine. I simply snorted and went back to my note cards.

“Natalie!” she shouted trying to get my attention but I ignored her and was able to read two sentence before she leaned over and pulled a piece of my long pin-straight chestnut hair.

“What?” I asked with my nose still in my book.

“Don’t die today.” she teased.

“Katie!” I yelled. “Don’t tell me that! I’ll never go then!”

“Sorry.” she squeaked.

“It’s not everyday somebody faces their fear of heights. You should be encouraging me, not scaring me!”

She shrugged, “Even I’m not crazy enough to go jump out of an airplane.”

“It’s the only way.” I said in a small voice.

“You’ll be fin—” a beep interrupted her and she ran to the window. “Neil’s here!”

“Have fun!” I shouted after her as she dashed to get her shoes on. She said thanks before coming back to where I was seated at the table and hugged me.

“I’m sorry I’m not coming today. Be careful and follow every instruction.”

“I will.”

When she was gone I studied a little longer before going into my room to get ready for the scariest day of my life. I had always been afraid of heights since a little girl and in many situations it had prevented me from living my life and I had had enough. Today I was going skydiving and then I would be free of this stupid fear.

Shuffling through my tiny closet I grabbed my favorite dark wash jeans and a regular red t-shirt that hugged me in all the right places. Deciding it was probably best to have my hair out of my way, I put it up in a ponytail. I paused in the bathroom only to apply a coat of mascara, took my wristlet from my night table, and locked the door behind me.

Walking to my car I was rather surprised at how calm I was even though my heart was beating a million times per second. I got in and drove the short ride it took to get to the building and then parked in front. Taking a deep breath I walked slowly towards the door as if facing my death, which let’s be honest could most definitely happen. Ten feet to the door I spun around and marched back to my Jeep. I hesitated and found myself pacing back and forth from the door to my car.

“I can do this!” I whispered to myself as stalked to the revolving door with newly found determination.

This was it; I was finally going to do it! On second thoughts! I chickened out at the last second and passed the opening, running back outside. It’s not like I absolutely had to today anyways, I could always come back another time. But realization daunted on me that I couldn’t really since I had already made an appointment. My face scrunched up in disgust as I braced myself and went through the rotating door again. This time I was able to make it inside.

The building was nicely air conditioned and for a slight second I thought how this wasn’t too bad. Up until I saw the poster, that is. Wide eyed my gaze immediately drew to an enlarge picture of a man on the poster board, while my hand covered my mouth in horror. Standing in front of me the man in the picture had his arms spread out as he was freefalling about 100 feet up in the air. Despite that fact, he had the brightest smile on his face as if, God forbid, he was actually enjoying himself. But his reassuring smile and the two thumbs up he held were not enough and that was all it took to make me dash for the exit.

It was warm outside I noticed now as I looked around, thankfully nobody was there to witness my little show. I started walking to my car when a family of four passed me and I heard the youngest boy screaming about how excited he was to go skydiving. What the hell? If he could go and jump out of a plane, why couldn’t I? Making up my mind for the last time, I pivoted and briskly walked back to the door without thinking about what I was doing or else I knew I was going to flake out. I pushed the rather heavy door and walked in a circle until I saw the opening and ran straight to the chairs off to the left.

Well this was an improvement! I was finally inside the building and this much closer to the counter. I had been so proud of myself on getting this far that I had failed to notice the man on my left, but now that he let out a deep chuckle he was hard to ignore. Trying to look sly I pretended to look around me. My gaze swept from right to left, intending to glance quickly at the stranger who had laughed, but when I saw him my eyes disobeyed me and stuck like glue onto him.

I was dismayed to find that he was quite handsome in a subtle way with short dark brown hair that was styled, making his hair stick up at the top in a cute way. He was leaning back in such a causal way it bothered me how he could be so relaxed in a place like this, while I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. One of his legs was prompt up and the other was extended a few feet in front of him and his right arm was around the back of my chair. He smiled politely not finding the situation the least bit awkward. I fidgeted in my seat, trying to keep the blush rising in my cheeks at bay.

“What are you laughing about?” I asked when I could no longer take the silence. He simply nodded to the outside and I knew at that point that he had seen my embarrassing display.

“There was a bee.” I tried to offer as an excuse. He busted out in laughter, his breathtaking smile widened until I could see every single tooth. In that second he seemed oddly familiar.

“I’m Oliver.” he said in a deep sexy voice, taking his arm off the back of my chair to extend it. I noticed he wore a single band ring on his ring finger and I secretly hoped he wasn’t engaged.

“Natalie.” I said as his hand wrap around mine slowly, prolonging the action.

“Believe me when I say this, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” he grinned and the smile reached his eyes which were as charming as the rest of him. At first glance they looked green, but as he leaned closer towards me I saw they were distinctively light brown.

“Likewise.”

“Are you here to—” he pointed to that dreadful poster with the man skydiving.

“Unfortunately.” I groaned.

“If you’re afraid of heights, why do it?” he looked genuinely confused. I, however, was amazed at how quickly he picked up things.

“It’s about time I got over it.” I turned my body and faced Oliver, “You going too?”

“Yes, but I’m actually going to enjoy it. Not the first time I’ve done it and certainly not the last.”

I couldn’t help it; I nodded to his right hand. “Isn’t your fiancé worried about you?”

He smirked and I knew I wasn’t going to like what was coming next. “Jealous?” Oliver asked but he saved me the embarrassment of answering and went on. “I’m as single as they get. This was a present from my mother on my eighteen birthday.”

Not knowing what else to say, yet feeling slightly relived, I responded with an, “Oh.”

“Are you seeing anyone?” he grinned flashing me his beautiful straight teeth. I tried to calm my blushing red cheeks telling myself that he wasn’t asking because he was interested in me, but rather because it was polite after I had just asked him.

But something stopped me in that in that moment because everything suddenly clicked! He was the man in the picture that Katie had shown me earlier. Oliver was the one that had smiled with his teeth. The one who had the most gorgeous set of teeth I had ever set my eyes on, although the picture hadn’t done him justice. I realized now that Katie hadn’t told me his name, which was why I had not known it was him right away.

Throughout my whole thought process Oliver studied me and now out of nowhere he suddenly became very timid. “I mean I didn’t mean…what I meant to say …”

“Oh, no!” I jumped to stop him because, I mean really, I did want some kind of chance with him no matter how small. “No, I’m single as well.”

With a grin back on his face he leaned ever so closely to me and was about to say something when I happened to glanced over at his watch that he wore on his left wrist. I interrupted him as a sense of panic washed through me, we were late! I, without hesitation, grabbed his wrist and yanked him off the chair.

“We’re late!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it.” came Oliver’s calm reply, but looking at his face even he had some doubts.

“You don’t understand! I can’t miss this!” I bellowed looking franticly all around me.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” he said as he dragged me to the door that lend outside.

“Geez, you’re tall.” I couldn’t help but comment as we ran. My eyes barely made it to his shoulder!

“I know.” he threw over his head as he shifted to grasp my hand in a more comfortable way. Running hand in hand I tried not to think too deeply into it, I mean obviously he had done it so we could run faster together. Whatever the reason, I was enjoying myself. We ran hard to catch up with the group of people a few yards away who were, undoubtedly, the group we were skydiving with. I noticed as we neared everyone was already dressed and doing some type of partner exercise. The young man in front of the class shook his head disapprovingly at Oliver.

“You’re late, Oliver!” he called out.

“I know. I’m sorry!”

“Been a little busy, have we?” his gazed locked on Oliver and mine’s clasp hands. I immediately let go, blushing like mad.

“Shut up.” Oliver said as he and the young man did one of those man hugs. “This is my mate, Tyler.”

“Hello.” Tyler said.

“Natalie.” I waved at him.

“Well you two better hurry, we’ll be leaving soon.” he pointed to a pile where jumpsuits were and told us to get ready.

I walked over there with Oliver in tow and picked out a red jumpsuit that looked to be about my size. He picked out a blue one.

“You’re wearing my favorite color.” we told each other at the same time and then laughed drawing Tyler‘s attention over to us. He gave both of us an expression that told us we weren’t getting ready fast enough and that time was running out. I quickly turned back to the task at hand and tried not to look over at Oliver. Dressing in front of each other was strangely intimate even though we were just putting the jumpsuits over our clothes.

Finally pulling my last arm through the suit I realized that there was a zipper in the back that I couldn’t reach. Looking over at Oliver I couldn’t suppress a giggle as I saw he was having a hard time putting his leg through. He kept hopping on one foot with a cute frustrated look on his face.

“Nice to see someone’s enjoying themselves.” he chuckled as he hopped around some more and presented me with his butt. And what a butt it was! I found myself checking Oliver out, but of course he decided to turn around at that exact time. “You’re not too bad yourself.” he winked.

“Shut up.” I mumbled embarrassed to have been caught. He fumbled around a couple more seconds until he came to the same conclusion as me regarding the zipper.

“Zip me up, would you?” he called over his shoulder.

“Sure.” I stepped closer to him and I noticed how broad his back was. “There you go.” I said stepping aside.

He smirked and twirled his index finger around motioning it was my turn. A moment later I felt his fingers grasp the zipper and pull up. He quickly moved my ponytail out of the way as he was coming closer to my neck. Once done his fingers stayed there a second two long and he slowly caressed my neck before he reached for my hand. I gladly complied and followed Oliver as he led me to the group that was now boarding the plane that would take us. Noting that I was getting nervous again, he squeezed my hand in a reassuring manner. I glanced at him, put on a brave face and got on the plane with his help.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about, people these days make jumping out of an airplane perfectly safe.” Oliver said as a smile tugged at his face. I, however, did not find this amusing at all.

“Oliver!” I smacked him playfully. The airplane shook a little and I grabbed a hold of his hand out of fright. He didn’t seem to mind and instead proceeded to tell me a hilarious story about a prank his brother and him did one time. I found myself laughing and liking his company a little too much.

As we neared our drop zone Tyler thought it would be a good idea to pump us all up so he opened the side door, the one that we would be jumping through in just a couple minutes. Of course I was petrified, clutching the armrest until my hand turned white, while the other was resting happily in Oliver’s. Oliver thought it was rather amusing and had the nerve to make a joke.

“A bit windy up here, don’t you think?” he remarked as his smile grew from ear to ear. I was going to kill him.

One by one people were now starting to exit the door and our turn was getting closer and closer. My thoughts flashed back to this morning and I slapped my head. Here I was sitting next to one of the guys that my roommate was totally a fan of and I hadn’t even asked for his autograph! Shame on me.

“What is it?” Oliver asked when he saw what I did.

“Well it’s just that my friend is a huge fan of yours and she would kill me if I didn’t get your autograph and your brother’s.”

“How did you recognize me? Most people can’t when we don’t have ginger hair.”

“Your teeth.” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

“My teeth?” he said slowly as if he didn’t understand.

“You have nice teeth.”

“Is that a code word for something else?” he asked, wriggling his eyebrows up and down.

“Eww no!” I insisted upon but he had a knowing look on his face. “Look I’m studying to be a dentist—”

“Why the hell did you want to be a dentist for?” he asked cutting me off and scrunching his face up in disgust.

“Excuse me!” I shouted outraged with angered passion. “I happen to love teeth—”

“So I’ve heard.”

I stopped mid-sentence and flushed. Oliver was never going to let that go.

“Alright time to go!” Tyler yelled over the wind. I jumped, startled, and looked around. Oliver and I were the last ones. We walked to the door together and I looked down and instantly regretted it. We were so high up!

“I’ll sign it if...” Oliver said bringing my attention back to his handsome face, “You go out on a date with me.”

I narrowed my eyes, “You’re blackmailing me!” I accused.

“You bet I am.” his paused taking in my shocked expression and looked up at me with a gleam in his eyes, “Come on, Natalie! Live a little.” and then he jumped out, just like that.

I gasped and watched him go, yelling and screaming in enjoyment all the way down. Suddenly the prospect of jumping was more appealing. Oliver had issued a challenge and I was accepting. I jumped before I could dwell on it too long.

Outside the air was cool as I cut through it making my way down. The descend was fast and I found myself falling hard…for Oliver. And that was all I could remember as I drew nearer to the ground. I’m not sure if I opened my eyes or if I even screamed, but what I was sure of was Oliver. As soon as I hit the ground I searched for him and found him a couple of feet away trying to get untangled from his parachute.

I ran at him and he was grinning as usually. He opened his mouth to say something but I let my own mouth do the talking, on top of his of course. Oliver was surprised at first but as soon as I parted my lips he groaned and took control sliding his tongue expertly to meet mine. I ran my fingers through his hair, marveled at how soft it was and caressed the side of his neck where I felt two moles. That seemed to drive him crazy and he ran his hands down my side forcing my body closer to his. I hooked one of my fingers through his belt loop and tilted my head to give him better access to my neck. Oliver moved quickly placing delicious kisses on my collarbone before moving up to my ear. I moaned out loud in pleasure as he whispered in my ear, “Is that a yes?”

“That’s definitely, a yes.” I said. Laughter escaped both of us as I grabbed a handful of his gray t-shirt and brought him back down to me.