Body Lock by Kimmie Easley

CHAPTER ONE
    “D akota, you cannot be serious. No one with the sense God gave a piss ant goes throwing themselves out of a perfectly good airplane.”
    I rolled my sea green eyes for the umpteenth time. Megan and I had always been polar opposites. I have light eyes, fair skin, and a head full of strawberry blonde curls. In my opinion, I have too many curves and my size D boobs didn’t match my short frame. Megan was exactly what every girl wished she could look like. Her long, straight, black hair hung down past the middle of her back. Her vibrant, blue eyes danced as she talked, especially since she was a social butterfly, unlike my shy, introverted self. Megan’s beautiful, tan skin was flawless and her make-up was always impeccable. She had so many beauty pageant crowns for winning different Texas titles that her daddy built her a special room just to hold them all.
    The bitch was a size-two for God’s sake.
    How are we even friends ?
    I had wondered that very thought ever since we were ten years old and Megan offered to teach me to ride horses. My father was a self-employed landscaper and worked for the Satterwhite family, of course, only when he had money for the proper equipment. One afternoon, I fell asleep on a hay bale while waiting for my dad to finish a job when Megan came bouncing into the barn, swinging her perfect ponytail and chewing on a wad of pink bubblegum.
    Things were never the same after that. And to Megan’s disbelief, I still can’t ride a horse.
    We remained best friends all through school. There were times when it looked like the death of our friendship, but we survived. Wounded, but survived. I busted my ass and received full academic scholarships allowing us to roommate together during college. I put my head down and focused. The only thing that mattered in life was my business degree.
    All that education and now I’m standing behind a counter as a bank teller.
    Yeah, makes about as much sense as jumping out of a plane.
    Megan struggled with school. She finally dropped out and went on to cosmetology school. Daddy Satterwhite wasn’t thrilled, but she’s building an impressive client list. She loved all things makeup, hair, and fashion, spending all of her time shopping and playing.
    I, however, spent all of my time working or curling up with a good book. If it hadn’t have been for finding myself repulsive in the mirror, I would never have joined a gym.
    The place where my life changed forever... twice.
    Now, looking at my best friend, I stifled a giggle. “Do you have to be so dramatic?” I tossed a couch pillow at Megan. No matter how different we appeared to be, there was one thing we had in common. We would both drop anything and everything to be there for one another, and that’s exactly what Megan was doing. She had stepped in to play mother hen. She even went so far as to move into my less than stellar apartment. And trust me when I say it was a true testament to her love for me, because the shabby apartment was nowhere near Megan Satterwhite approved.
    “Dammit, D. I’m not being dramatic. I’m a hell of a lot crazier than you are and you would never catch me throwing my fine ass out of a plane. There’s no way I’m going to let you kill yourself.” Megan defiantly planted her hands on her hips.
    “Aw, that’s so cute. But you have no say in the matter.” I playfully pinched my friend’s bronze cheeks.
    “This is bullshit! You’re eventually going to get hurt, and I won’t be there to help pick up the pieces.”
    I offered a weak smile. “Yes, you will. You love me too much, and you know it.”
    Megan was only halfway joking. She had made it very clear lately that she didn’t agree with my newfound love as an adrenaline junkie.
    Maybe getting hurt wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
    ***
    “A re you fucking kidding me?” Megan came barreling through the curtain acting as a partition and glowered at me. “The hospital? You gave me a fucking heart attack! Are you