The Bucket List Boyfriend (Boston Love #3)

Chapter 6

Max

THE SCENT of coffee wakes me up. I blink my eyes open slowly, adjusting to the soft morning light filtering through the curtains.

Maya is sitting on the edge of my bed, her legs crossed comfortably, holding a tray.

My heart skips a beat.

She’s in her running clothes with her hair in a high ponytail. Even with no make-up and a slight sheen of perspiration on her skin, she’s lovely.

What a beautiful sight to wake up to. I want to freeze this moment in time.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she says with a smile that makes my insides turn to mush even in my half-asleep state.

This is so much more than a teenage crush. I’m full-on in love with this woman.

“Morning. Did I oversleep?” I reach for my phone and check the time. My alarm is only set to go off in ten minutes.

“No, but I was up early for a run so I thought I’d bring you breakfast in bed. Courtesy of Mabel, of course” she adds, nodding toward the tray with a playful grin.

There is coffee, scrambled eggs, and toast, along with a small fruit salad. Simple, but perfect.

“Thanks,” I mumble, still half-asleep, but fully aware of how close she is.

I sit up and shift myself so my back is leaning against the headboard. As I do so, the sheet drops to my waist.

Maya’s gaze drops to my exposed abs as she places the tray on my lap. I don’t miss the fact that the tray shakes slightly as she puts it down.

She bites her lip as her cheeks pinken before she quickly tears her gaze away and clears her throat.

Well…this is interesting.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Maya blush. Maybe she isn’t quite as unaffected by me as I thought.

“So…big day ahead,” she reminds me. “You ready for ziplining? It’s going to be amazing.” Her eyes are bright with excitement.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply, trying to match her enthusiasm.

I’ve researched this thoroughly, and read through all the safety details on the Treetop Adventure website. Twice.

“Good,” she says, standing up. “Eat up and get dressed. I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”

She leaves the room, giving me a great view of her butt in those workout leggings.

I need to halt that train of thought before I’m tempted to run after her and kiss her until she forgets her name.

As she closes the door softly behind her, I reach for the coffee, smiling to myself. It’s already a great morning.

Just as I’m finishing up my breakfast my phone rings. I give the screen a quick glance before answering.

“Hey James.”

“Hey Max. Just wanted to make sure you were still alive after your hike.”

“Ha ha.” He’s spending too much time with Ethan. Now he thinks he’s a comedian too.

“No, seriously. How was it?”

“Yesterday was a success.” Well, aside from wanting to crawl into a hole never to return when Mabel started talking about engagements and burning loins.

She was getting a bit too close to the truth for comfort.

But James doesn’t need to know anything about that.

“The hiking was good. The route we took was beautiful, and I managed better than I thought I would,” I tell James.

“So is Maya starting to see a whole new side to you?”

My brothers know me too well. I haven’t said a thing about my real motivations for completing the bucket list, but they know I’m head-over-heels for Maya, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots.

“I think she is. At least, I hope she is.” I sigh. “I’m not suddenly going to start joining her on all her extreme adventures, because I’m still me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have any fun. And I actually really did enjoy myself. More than I thought I would.”

Today, however, is a different story.

I’m a bit more skeptical about how this is going to go considering I have a paralyzing fear of heights.

“That’s great, Max.”

“How about you? Have you decided who is going to be Mrs James Fitzgerald? You know you’re on the clock here.”

At that reminder, James makes a frustrated growl on the other side of the phone.

“You and I both know the only person I could put up with for an entire year is Sophie.”

“I think what you mean is, the only person who could put up with you an entire year is Sophie.” I laugh.

“Yeah, well. Same thing.”

“So have you asked her yet?”

“Not in so many words.”

Getting information from James is like trying to draw blood from a stone.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I told her about the condition but I haven’t outright asked her yet. I’m testing the waters,” James explains.

“Well, good luck with that.”

James just grunts in response.

After we say our goodbyes, I shower and get dressed in record time, ready to face my fears.

“Wow. That’s…high,” I say, looking up at the adventure course as the guides are getting us into our safety harnesses.

“It’s not that bad, Max,” Maya replies. “And look! That first zipline is a side-by-side one. I’ll hold your hand as we go.”

That makes me feel marginally better, but I’m still not thrilled about being so high off the ground.

The Treetop Adventure is a three-hour aerial adventure through the forest canopy. It’s not just ziplining.

The aerial route is made up of a combination of rope bridges, swings, and ziplines.

I tried to make a reservation for the low-rider zipline, which isn’t too far off the ground but when Maya found out, she made me change it to the regular zipline adventure course.

We’ve had a role reversal.

She feels it would be breaking the rules because it would defeat the purpose of me going on a zipline, if the goal is for me to conquer my fear of heights.

I pointed out that it was still a zipline and I wouldn’t technically be breaking any rules. Uncle Reggie never explicitly stated what the goal was, only that I had to complete the activities.

Besides, with rock climbing and skydiving still on the list, there’ll be other opportunities for me to conquer that fear.

Maya wasn’t having any of it.

It would be just my luck that the one time she really wants to stick to the rules is when I’m ready to bend them.

Once we’re in our harnesses, we get a safety talk from the guide. Even though I’ve read their safety booklet multiple times, I still pay close attention.

The guide leads us up a ladder built into a tree, next to a sign that reads: Happy Heights Extreme Zipline Course. Happy? Terrible name.

Although the rungs are sturdy and not going to budge, the higher I go, the more nervous I get.

The only thing keeping my mind off the thought of plummeting to my death is the sight of Maya who goes up the ladder ahead of me. In her tight workout clothes, she’s the perfect distraction. At least I’ll die with a good view.

“Are you doing okay, Max?” Maya asks when we reach the first platform.

I’m not about to tell her I’ve already broken out in a sweat, although she can probably tell. I’m supposed to be impressing her with my more adventurous side, not scaring her off by being a baby.

“Just peachy.”

We’re so high up.

I swallow, trying to wet my suddenly very dry mouth. It sounds like a loud gulp to my ears, but I’m too preoccupied with how high we are to worry about whether Maya heard that or not.

Maya laughs.

“Stop looking down! Keep your eyes straight ahead. It will be much better.”

The first part of the course is a long rope bridge that slopes upwards to the next platform. Supposedly, it can bear the weight of two people at once, but I’m skeptical.

Maya clips her carabiner onto the safety wire overhead and strides across the wooden bridge, like it’s not swinging wildly beneath her.

I take one cautious step onto the bridge and feel my stomach drop. Slowly, slowly, I take another step so that both my feet are now on the bridge.

Can you get seasick on these things?

I’m two feet along and frozen.

Why does this thing not have proper railings? It’s just a bunch of ropes holding some pieces of wood together.

And why are those pieces of wood so far apart? I can see the ground below…way, way below.

And how often do they even check these planks for rot?

“Come on Max. You can do it!” Maya shouts from the platform on the other side.

I have no idea how she got there so fast.

“Look at me, Max. Keep your eyes up here. One foot in front of the next.”

Following Maya’s instructions, I take one careful step at a time, keeping my eyes fixed on her waiting for me on the other side.

When I finally make it across the swaying bridge, Maya cheers and gives me a tight hug. And suddenly it’s worth it.

“You guys ready for the tandem zip?”

The guide on the platform checks our harnesses again and clips our carabiners onto the safety lines.

“At least I can see the other end of the zipline.”

This one is fairly short, and it’s just a gentle slope.

“That’s the spirit Max. This is going to be awesome. The wind in our faces. The feeling of flying.”

I don’t share her enthusiasm. Birds belong in the sky. Not me.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m flying. If we were meant to fly, God would have given us wings.”

Maya laughs.

“But you’ve flown in planes before.”

“That’s different. Those were designed by engineers and put through rigorous testing. I’m not quite sure the design and safety protocols for ziplines are the same.”

As we step up to the edge of the platform, Maya reaches out her hand and I grasp it like a lifeline.

I can’t tell if it’s her warm hand in mine or my fear of heights, but my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.

I clutch onto my safety harness with my free hand and look at Maya who has a big grin on her face.

“Together on three. And don’t you dare close your eyes Max.”

Before I know it, we’re sailing through the air. Thankfully not at break-neck pace because I don’t think my heart could handle that.

“This is incredible,” Maya shouts to me, still holding onto my hand as the wind whistles through our hair.

When we reach the next platform, I’m about to tell Maya that it wasn’t actually so bad…until I spot the next zipline.

The platform we’re standing on is located at the edge of the forest where the trees thin before the ground suddenly drops away into a deep valley.

“Maya! I can’t do that.” I’m starting to panic. I can feel my palms sweating.

“Of course you can, Max.” Maya gives my hand a squeeze as the guides unclip us, check our harnesses again, and start the process of clipping us onto the new zipline.

I can’t believe I’m going to trust that thin piece of wire stretching across the valley to carry my weight.

“Maya, it’s a glorified clothesline! You can’t even see the end of it.”

And they want me to step off into the void, trusting this flimsy cable?

Maya sighs.

“Max, people do this all the time. No one has died doing this, right?” Maya directs her question at the two guides helping us.

I don’t miss the glance they exchange before the one quickly answers. “Uh…no. No, it’s completely safe.”

“I saw that!” I point a finger between the two of them and narrow my eyes. “I saw that look and the hesitation. Somebody definitely died doing this.”

Surely they’d have to disclose that fact somewhere?

My chest feels tight and it’s getting harder to breathe.

Maya rubs my back and uses her most soothing voice.

“Max, nobody has died. They just weren’t expecting that question. Hundreds of people do this every month.”

“Well then hundreds of people are idiots!”

Maya laughs and then grabs my face between both of her hands, ensuring my attention is fully on her.

I’m a little disappointed when her hands drop, but I’m still fully focused on her as her voice lowers so only I can hear her.

“Max, do you remember when I was twelve and was cast in the school musical?”

I do remember that. She sang like an angel.

“I was so afraid of singing in public. I could do just about anything I set my mind to, but singing? That was terrifying to me. I was convinced I’d mess up, that everyone would laugh at me, and I’d never be able to show my face again. But you…” She pauses, as if searching for the right words. “You believed in me, Max. You told me I had a great voice and that I could do it. There was no doubt in you. You helped me practice and stood by me through every nerve-wracking moment. You made me believe in myself.”

I feel a tug at my heart, remembering how terrified she’d been back then, and how determined I’d been to help her. Because I truly believed that she could do absolutely anything she set her mind to.

“Yeah, but that was different. You were actually good at singing.”

Maya shakes her head, her expression softening even more. “It wasn’t about being good or bad. It was about having someone who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. You gave me the courage to step on that stage, and when I did, I realized you were right, I could do it. And you know what? I wasn’t just singing for the audience that day—I was singing for you. Because you were the one who got me there. Because you believed in me before I believed in myself.”

She takes my hand again, squeezing it gently.

“And now it’s my turn. I believe in you, Max. I know you’re scared of heights, but you can do this. Just like I sang that day even though I was scared, I know you can zipline. I’ll be right here with you, just like you were for me.”

I look into her eyes, feeling the weight of her words.

The fear is still there, but somehow, it doesn’t seem as overwhelming. If I could help her face her fears all those years ago, maybe… just maybe, I can face mine now.

I close my eyes and breathe deeply, trying to remind myself why I’m doing this.

The money is a bonus but I’m doing this for Maya.

She deserves somebody who will go on adventures with her. She deserves somebody who is brave. I want to be everything she deserves. So I’m going to go against every self-preservation instinct and step off this ledge.

Opening my eyes again, I look at Maya and give her a shaky smile.

“Let’s do this.”