Page 29 of Love Me
Isabelle and I reached the top of the hill at the same time and eyed the next pit. This swamp was longer. Bigger than the guys’ pool in their backyard.
Isabelle and I scaled down into the water as the guys climbed their way out of the first pit. I didn’t bother standing as I climbed my way down. The mud was too slippery, and I knew I’d fall. Instead, I scooted down, coating my butt and thighs in a thick layer of mud. When my shoes touched the water, I dropped down the rest of the way. I was expecting a deep plunge, but the water only went up to my waist. Isabelle dropped in next to me and the two of us moved ahead, wading our way across the pit. The guys caught up to us when we were halfway across.
“I feel like I already have mud in unmentionable places,” Isabelle playfully whined.
I laughed. “Same.”
Just as I said that, my foot sank into a sinkhole, and I almost went under. Colt and Creed dove for me and lifted me up. I had been fine, but was touched they still looked out for me.
Once we were out of The Pits, we were all covered in mud. My arms felt a little weak from having to climb. Not that I cared about any of it, because I was having a blast.
There was a long dirt path that led over a giant desert hill before we reached the next obstacle, which helped our skin warm up and dry a little.
I stared up at the tall, wooden wall we were supposed to scale for the second obstacle. Two guys ahead of us had run toward the wall. They’d both leapt, grabbed the top of the wall, and easily pulled themselves up and over at an impressive speed.
Creed did the same. He ran ahead of us and easily scaled the wall. Instead of jumping down the other side, he stayed on top of the wall and held out his hand. “Get a running start, Shi.”
I did as he said and ran toward the wall. My wet shoes slid down the wall as I tried to run up it. My fingers barely brushed against his before I dropped back down to the ground.
“Try again, Shi,” Isabelle said.
I took a few steps back before running toward the wall again. As soon as I leapt, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. My fingers brushed Creed’s again, but as I dropped back down, hands caught me by my hips. “You got this, babe,” I heard Colt say below me. He hoisted me up until I was able to take Creed’s hand. As Creed pulled me up, Colt’s hands jumped to my butt to lift me higher. Once I was high enough, I threw my leg over the top and pulled myself the rest of the way up.
Creed jumped down from the wall and I reached out my hand to Isabelle. Isabelle ran for the wall and jumped. She was able to get high enough to grab my hand. Then she started to drop back down, pulling me with her. I let out a yelp, not wanting to let go but scared of falling. Creed grabbed my ankle that was dangling on the other side of the wall before I could. Ethan and Colt caught Isabelle and pushed her up.
Isabelle climbed over the top and gave me an apologetic look. “That could have been bad.”
“It seems I have a bad habit of overestimating my upper-body strength,” I said as I threw my other leg over the wall and prepared to jump down.
Creed held his hands out to me, and I dropped into his arms. “If you’re going to act like Wonder Woman and keep catching Isabelle, you’re going to need to start working out with Knox,” he said as he set me on my feet and then reached out to help Isabelle down.
“I know,” I grumbled.
The next obstacle was a giant ice bath.
“Well, at least we’ll get somewhat clean,” Isabelle said.
“Until the next muddy obstacle,” I said and chuckled. “But I like your positivity.”
Smiling, Isabelle looked at me. “Band-Aid?”
I nodded and we jumped in. This time the guys watched us go first and laughed when we yelped and huffed as the biting-cold water swallowed us up to our waists.
We conquered each obstacle after those first three in the same manner. We didn’t rush through them. We took our time and just enjoyed each challenge.
In between the obstacles, though, we raced. We were getting close to the end of the run and the others were lagging behind as I made my way up a pretty big desert hill. Running was where I excelled. Which was why I had no problem running up the final, biggest hill and feeling smug about it.
Laughing, I glanced back at Isabelle and the guys as I was reaching the top. Karma decided to get back at me for being smug at that moment. My foot caught on a rock and my body lurched forward. I heard everyone call out to me as I collided with someone and we both went down. The top of the hill wasn’t level and we—the person I’d taken to the ground and I—rolled down the other side. It had to be nine or ten feet of rolling before my back hit flat ground and the other person, a guy I quickly realized, landed on top of me. I grunted at the impact of his weight.
“Shit,” he cursed into my ear before he pushed up onto his hands to look down at me.
I took in his ginger hair, his wide eyes, and realized I knew him. I had run into, knocked over, and now was lying beneath Derek.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I didn’t get to answer because a tight voice said, “Why don’t you get off our girlfriend so we can find out?” It was Creed’s voice.
Derek quickly pushed off of me and sat on the ground a few feet away, looking like he was still trying to get his bearings.
