Page 32 of Bumping into You

“You’re okay,” a soft voice says from beside me. I startle but glance over and see it’s Niall.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” I reply. “I won.”

“But you hit the wall after ringing the bell. It looked like it hurt.”

“I’m okay. Might get a little bruise later, but nothing to worry about.”

Niall nods, standing close to me and rubbing my arm.

“Go, Gillian,” Greg yells, as we watch she and her husband start up the wall.

“You got this, Miles,” calls Holly.

All and all, they’re making decent time—not enough to beat my time or Niall’s, but still decent enough. Miles reaches the top first and rings the bell, then he and Gillian rappel down together.

Vivian, Tammy, and Bradley are up next. Unsurprisingly, Bradley scorches them, beating the girls to the top while they barely made it halfway up. He was always great at sports, and Vivian and Tammy don’t seem upset as they chat, slowly makingtheir way down the wall.

“Alright, gang,” says Chadwick, “we have four winners from the first rounds. Niall, Gwen, Miles, and Bradley.”

“I’ll sit out,” says Miles quickly. “While it was fun and all, this is not my kind of sport.”

“Alright,” says Chadwick, clapping his hands together. “Looks like we will have Niall, Gwen, and Bradley racing to the top to see who becomes the final winner.”

Oh no, I wasn’t paying enough attention to the winners to put together that it would be us three competing against each other at the end. This is going to be a disaster.

“Sounds great,” says Bradley.

“Let’s do this,” says Niall, his eyes filling with fierce determination.

“This should be fun,” I mutter.

“You got this, G,” says Holly encouragingly.

Chadwick checks our harnesses, and we line up on the rock wall with Niall to my right and Bradley to my left.What have I done to deserve this torture?

I brace myself and try to clear my head, focusing only on the wall. And we’re off.

“I’ll wave to you from the top,” says Bradley.

“Not a chance,” replies Niall. They take off up the wall quickly. I try to ignore the little quips they’re throwing back and forth. We’re all keeping fairly good pace. The guys are leading ahead of me by just a hair.

Before I know it, the torture is over, and Niall rings his bell.

“The view from up here is great,” he teases Bradley.

Bradley only shakes his head and mutters under his breath.

“Behave,” I scold Niall.

He turns and gives me a sheepish smirk. “Sorry,mo ghrá, I was fighting for your honor.”

I smack his arm as he repels down next to me.

“The best time of the group was Niall,” Chadwick tells our group. “It was close but Niall finished a few seconds before Bradley.”

“Great job, Niall,” I say, giving him a hug.

“Now,” says Holly, “how about we head back toward the lounge for some drinks?”

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