Page 90 of Company Ink

Kitty traipses away, tossing her empty cup into the garbage can before disappearing inside.

"So, how's it going, Blake? Enjoying the view?" I ask as he joins me by my side.

"It's going well," he answers, grinning. "Clearly, I'm not having as much fun asyouare though. Do you often find yourself hanging off the front of moving vessels?"

"Does it freak you out?" I tease, lifting my right foot up onto the railing. "Are you worried I'll fall?" My left foot follows.

Instantly, Blake wraps his hand around my waist. "Get down, Cassandra. This isn't safe."

"Do you plan on letting go?" I ask quietly, Blake's fingers digging into my side, causing my body to flush.

Blake shakes his head. "No, I'm not," he says in a low tone.

"Then I guess I'm pretty safe," I breathe, acutely aware that our faces are mere inches apart.

"I'd rather not risk it," he swallows, gripping my body with both hands and tugging me back to the safety of the ground. "Much better." He takes a step away from me, adjusting his aviators.

"We're docking," I note quietly, missing the comfort of his touch. Fuck. What is happening right now?

"Yes, we are," he says in a hum, looking around. "I need to go and help Nadine with the headcount."

"Right." I nod and follow him inside, my mind spinning. Something about Blake's arms around me felt so right. This isn't good. Especially not when Adrian is living rent-free in my heart.

I find Kitty standing next to our luggage at the disembarking zone. "I'm sorry about earlier, Cass," she says quietly. "I'm just a little tipsy right now."

"Same, girl,same." I take my sunglasses off and toss them into my purse. Maybe natural light will make me feel less fucked up. "And don't be sorry, it's not like he heard you. I just don't want to make things awkward."

"Incoming," she murmurs, nodding to the side. "Romeo, three o'clock." I guess we have code names now. Lovely.

"Ladies," Adrian smiles. "Ready to get the weekend started?"

The ferry gates open and everyone begins walking off the boat. I scramble around to grab both of my giant suitcases. "Can't wait."

"Me too." Adrian grabs one of my suitcases and rolls it behind him. "Don't argue," he mutters just as I'm about to open my mouth and tell him I've got it.

I roll my eyes and follow him up to the resort.

The termresortis a bit of a stretch to describe the little lodge we're all staying in. After checking in, we’re given our room keys. As Kitty mentioned, we're bunking together. I was worried there would beactualbunk beds, but luckily, every room has two queen size beds, plus a fireplace, a bathroom, and a little seating area with a TV. We only have twenty minutes to get ourselves situated before the first team-building activity.

Kitty and I chug two glasses of water before running out to the meeting area behind the lodge. I hoped we'd be able to flush the vodka out of our systems, but our little Russian friend is more stubborn than we thought. We're both currently trapped in the uncomfortable phase between hungover and drunk. Fucking great.

"Alrighty, hello everyone! My name is Erica and I'm your activity coordinator!" A perky brunette in a polo shirt exclaims. "First off, welcome to Sun Ridge! We are so happy to be able to host you. As you can see, we've already broken up your team into five groups who will rotate activities over the next two days."

I loop my arm through Kitty's, trying to keep myself upright. The sun is beaming down on us, birds are chirping, and the air is fresh and clean. All of these things are annoying the living shit out of me right now. I subtly scan around 'our group'. Nadine must have requested that all the senior staff and assistants be grouped together. Standing in a semi-circle around Erica is Blake, Adrian, Manpreet, Vivian, David, Matilda, Kitty, and me.

"If you will all follow me, we can get started, and trust me, this might be the funnest activity we have!" Erica exclaims, leading us further down the field. Funnest? Girl... That's not a word.

As soon as we pass two willow trees, the 'activity' comes into view. Oh, my fuck. Laid out before us, is the most insane obstacle course I've ever seen. Okay, it's theonlyone I've ever seen in person, I guess watching Wipe Out doesn't count.

"This is an exercise in trust and communication," Erica begins, pointing to the course. "You will be paired up into groups of two. One person will don a protective suit and be blindfolded, the other person on your team will then guide you through the obstacle course. To make things a little bit more interesting, we're going to time each group. The fastest team will win a ride on one of our speed boats. Makes sense?"

Everyone nods except me and Kitty. How in the world are we supposed to do this in our current condition, let alone blindfolded?! "I think the pink drinks were a bad idea," I mutter.

"Yup," Kitty whimpers. "I fucked up."

"Okay, so the pairings are David and Vivian, Kitty and Manpreet, Adrian and Cassie, Blake and Matilda. Please decide on which role you'll take on, and quickly slip into the suits," Erica says, gesturing towards her coworker who is holding up a tanned colored blow up sumo suit. Oh no. No! This is hell. I'm in hell.

Tilly puts her hand up. "Um...Erica? Hi, I'm Matilda, I was just wondering, is this activity safe for pregnant women? I'm a little over three months."

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