Page 17 of Puck Your Friend

I arch a brow as I watch him climb it with ease. He hooks his leg over at the top and sits on the half wall.

Logan doesn’t wait. He climbs the rungs using strength alone. Ford and Wes stay with me as more campers come up behind us.

Heat crawls into my cheeks. I know they’re staying down here for me. I try to jump high enough to reach the first rung. I know I can pull up my body weight. I’m up to ten chin ups at the gym. The rung must be higher than six feet because I know I can clear at least that much air.

Someone snickers behind us. “She’s too short to grab it.”

“She’s tiny for a fourth year,” another says.

Wes comes up behind me. “I can give you a boost.”

Damn it, I want to prove I can do it, but I’m holding things up. I nod. “Okay.”

I glance over my shoulder to see two Alpha girls waiting for us to get on with it. I give them the middle finger salute.

His surprisingly large hands grip my waist. “On three, jump. One, two.”

I jump as he lifts me. I grip the lowest rung on the first try, and leave his grasp as I pull myself to the next one. Once I get going, I scale the wall quickly and it restores some of my confidence.

Jace reaches out for me as I get to the last one. He takes hold of my wrist and pulls me up. We face each other straddling the half wall. His hand still holds my wrist, and something about it makes warmth spread through my chest.

He swallows hard. This close to him, I can see the tiny freckles he has dotting the corners of his eyes. His lips are full and for the first time ever, I’m contemplating kissing him just to see if they’re as soft as they look.

Ford clears his throat. “Frankie, Jace, get off the wall.”

We flinch at Ford’s voice and glance over the edge. He and Wes are waiting on the platform below us. They can’t head down until we’re off the rope. A line’s forming behind them. Logan already took the second rope to the ground. I grab the one next to us, descend, and drop the last few feet. Jace follows, and we move aside so Ford and Wes can come down after.

My heart still races as I catch Jace’s eye and he rubs the back of his neck.

So did that feeling happen between us, or was it all one sided on my part?

We keep running before the Alpha girls behind us can scale the wall. I push harder, keeping pace, so I don’t slow them down.

The next hill is steep and muddy. We slide more than run. At the base is a pit of water, it looks deep, but the part of the lake we swim in is deeper. We enter it and the murky water comes up to my hips. Not too bad, but Jace dips down in front of us and struggles before he treads water.

He glances over his shoulder at me. “Watch out for that ledge!”

Ford and I hit the cutoff, and my eyes widen as I wade forward. My toes don’t even come close to skimming the bottom. Ford glances over at me. “You good? Shit, this water is cold.”

He’s right, it’s colder than the lake, but we’re a bit in the shade right now, so it’s not too surprising. “I’m fine.”

We swim forward with Logan and Wes behind us. Ford tries to pull himself out of the pit, slipping on the muddy slope. It takes a few tries, but Jace reaches down and gives him a hand.

I try to get myself out, but I can’t find any purchase. It’s slippery as hell and the water is deep. Ford turns and offers me his hand. I take it as Logan comes up from behind me. “Can I help you, too, Kie?”

His breath skims my ear. I freeze for half a second as my stomach flips and my cheeks tingle. Then guilt punches through the brief excitement. I shouldn’t need their help to complete the course, but the others are going to catch up, and I can’t be the one who slows us down. I nod.

Logan’s hands touch my waist where Wes did. As he lifts me, Ford pulls and reaches down with his other arm to brace my elbow and moves me away from the edge as he walks back with me. Wes and Logan help each other out, and we don’t waste timeas we run again, picking up speed. We have to be close to the end.

We round a bend expecting more trail, but a steep slope drops into a stretch of staggered stumps, all coated in mud. They’re spaced unevenly, forcing a hop between each.

Wes groans. “Who planned this leg breaker?”

Logan picks a path. “Left side’s tighter, but the footing looks better.”

We follow, jumping stump to stump. It’s the easiest challenge for me out of all of them. I’m still unsettled by how much they had to help me.

At the final stump, a counselor waves us forward. “Flag’s at the end of the field!”

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