Page 35 of Pity Present

I can’t seem to help myself from asking, “Are you saying that you’d be interested in dating me?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MOLLY

My hopeful inner teenager answers Blake’s question.Heck yes, I’d be interested in dating you, you stupid loser.But outwardly, I counter with,“Why in the world would I be interested in dating you?”

As though defending his honor, Blake says, “Why wouldn’t you want to date me? I’m a catch.”

Maybe because you don’t want to date me?I force myself to swallow my last bite of toast. “You’ve made it pretty clear I’m not your type, Blake.” As such, I can’t help but wonder why I think he’s my type. I don’t make it a habit of liking men who don’t like me back. Of course, I haven’t liked a guy since Kyle, and that might be the problem. Did I let that bonehead ruin my self-esteem, so I can’t crush on someone worthy of me?

Blake doesn’t bother denying the truth of my words. “That Thor’s pretty cool though, huh?”

“He seems to be. So is Krista.”

“Yeah,” he says. “She’s nice, too.” Blake wipes his mouth before pushing his chair back.

After the waiter drops our checks and we both sign for our meals, I stand up and put my coat on. Blake follows suit. He leadsthe way out of the dining room. Once we get to the lobby, we see Thor and Krista sitting side by side on a sofa, waiting for us. Cozy is the only word that comes to mind.

Blake walks right up to them and puts his hand out to help Krista up. “You kids ready to roll?” he asks.

Thor answers, “We signed up while you were eating. Our group starts in ten minutes.” Then he stands up and points toward a sandwich board with an arrow showing us where to go. After walking down two halls, we eventually wind up in a smallish room with several other people.

A man with a clipboard and a beard so full it looks like it could house a hive of bees raises a hand in the air to get our attention. “I’m Kale. I’m going to break you all down into three groups of four.” He gestures toward two other guides and adds, “Four of you will go with Kiefer, four of you will go with Shalia, and I’ll take the last bunch.” He points at Blake, Thor, me, and Krista. “You guys are mine.”

After he separates us, he asks, “Who here has never ziplined before?” I’m the only one to raise my hand. The things I’ll do for my work surprise even me.

Blake looks surprised. “Why haven’t you ziplined?”

I retaliate with, “Have you ever jumped off a skyscraper?”

“No.”

“Why not?” I want to know.

“Have you?”

“Obviously not.”

“Afraid of heights?” he guesses.

Shaking my head, I assure him, “No, I’m not afraid of heights, I’m afraid of falling from them.”

Kale interrupts, “We have you so harnessed up that even if you lost your grip, you wouldn’t hit the ground. Also, you aren’t really that high up. It’s not like we’re zipping through the mountains here.”

“Which is why I decided this was the perfect place for mymaiden voyage,” I tell him. If we were jumping off a rocky cliff, I wouldn’t have the courage.

Kale leads us out of the building, down a short path and into a yurt full of gear. After handing out harnesses and helmets, he shows us how to put everything on. Krista leans over and tells me, “Relax, you’re going to have a great time. Just don’t lie about how much you weigh because the person who catches you at the end of the run will need to know when to slow you down.” She blows out a breath before adding, “Otherwise, you could knock them over and really hurt them.”

She sounds too knowledgeable for this to be secondhand information, so I ask, “Did you do that?”

Her face reddens. “It was just ten pounds, but apparently that’s enough to do some real damage.”

I giggle nervously before forcing myself to suppress it. “What happened to him?”

“Her,” she says. “I knocked into her with such force, she stumbled backward and fell off the landing. She broke her arm in two places.”

“Oh my god, that’s terrible!” My giggles return. “You must have been mortified.”

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