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My cheeks heated. “Fine.” I was too short to reach the first rung, so I’d have to jump. I bent my knees when Jax suddenly realized my problem. Bracing his back against the pole, he put his hands on my waist, lifting me up so I could grab the first bar.

“Thanks,” I said. “Short-person problem.”

“Got it.” He repositioned himself by grabbing the second bar and hanging. “Wrap your legs around my waist and wait for my command to move.”

I could see the corded muscles in his neck and arms. “I’m scared,” I admitted.

“Just get on and trust me, okay?”

“Okay.” I wrapped my legs around his waist and said a prayer that I wouldn’t slip off. My hands were already sweaty from nerves.

“Reach for the next bar…now,” he said.

I reached for the next bar. We were a little off in terms of timing, but he moved on. My hands stayed nestled between his, but after just a few bars, my arms were shaking from the effort of hanging on, and I wasn’t even holding half my weight.

He must have felt me shaking. “Take it easy. Red. Just keep your legs tight. I don’t want them in the way. We need to keep moving as one, okay?”

“Okay.” My face rested slightly against the back of his head.

“Keep going,” he urged me. “One bar at a time.”

On and on we went. It seemed never ending, although Kira, Mike, and Hala had crossed in what seemed like seconds. Every bar we moved, the harsher his breathing became. I couldn’t imagine how Bo had fared with Wally. Bo was bigger than Jax, and he had to lift his own body weight in addition to Wally’s, which was heavier than mine.

At some point, I realized Wally and Bo were already across. They’d made it. If they could do it, so could we.

Finally, we were at the last rung. We crossed in sync, Jax getting his feet onto the ladder and letting out a sigh of relief. I unfastened my legs from his waist, and he helped me down. Once on solid ground, I collapsed. It wasn’t pretty, but I’d made it. One obstacle down and who knew how many more to go.

“Good job, Red.”

I shaded my eyes from the sun as I looked up at Jax. “Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you.” He flashed a smile and walked away.

Bo had already gone back across the bars for Frankie, who was waiting on the ladder for him. When he got there, she stopped him.

“I have an idea,” she said. “Can you give me a boost up to the first bar?”

Bo obliged and lifted her up. She hung precariously on the rung before starting to swing her legs. To my surprise, she lifted them and hooked them on the next rung. Before I knew it, she’d pulled herself to the top of the monkey bars and started crawling across.

“I think this way will be faster for me,” she called down to Bo.

“Woohoo!” I shouted. “Great idea, Frankie.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Wally said, lifting his hands.

Bo went across below her, and they made it across at about the same time.

Bo helped her down, and I gave her a hug. “You’re brilliant, Frankie. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

She whispered in my ear, “I actually thought about itbeforeyou went off with Jax, but I bet you enjoyed your way alotmore than mine. You’re welcome.”

I rolled my eyes but was so happy I’d actually made it across that I didn’t say a thing.

“Guys, that ate up seventeen minutes,” Bo said. “Let’s move to the next obstacle.”

We jogged as a group to the next setup.

“It’s called the Zombie Mud Crawl,” Bo read. “The instructions say the wire is live. It won’t shock you if you touch it, but red light and siren will go off and you must crawl out sideways and start over again. We don’t have time to play around, people. Do it right the first time.”

“I’m small, so this should be easy for me,” Hala said. “I’ll go first.” She stopped at the edge of the obstacle. “Whoa, what’s that in the mud?”