Page 37 of Try Me
He snorted. “Nothing. He just recognized that I’m actually pleasant company.”
“Right.” I studied John as he sat back-to-back doing the Pictionary game with some guy whose name I could never remember. “I don’t get any kind of vibe from John. We just hang out some. He’s cool. So quit trying to pull your mind tricks on me.”
Chet laughed. “To what purpose?”
I considered. “I don’t know. To…to get me all rattled before this stupid ropes course or something.”
Chet snorted, but as he brushed past me, he leaned close and said, “Are you rattled?”
And suddenly I was. But it had more to do with the heat of his breath across the nape of my neck than the looming ropes course.
The attendant on the ground handed Chet the blindfold, and before I could even open my mouth, the bastard was hauling ass up the rungs of the post like a monkey.
I climbed to the platform opposite him. That part wasn’t so bad because the platform was wide and I could hook my harness directly to the post beam.
The triangular course had three major obstacles. The first was a rope net with holes of varying sizes that you had to crawl across to get to the next platform. Then came a series of tires suspended with ropes that led to another platform. The third leg was a tightrope suspended between two platforms with a series of rings you had to step through in order to get to the other side. The final step was two parallel tightropes that had to be crossed in tandem, using your partner for balance.
Chet had no trouble with the rope net. I only had to call out for him to shift his direction a couple of times, and then he was standing on the platform next to me.
I carefully made my way across the next section, proud that I navigated it with ease, proving that timehaddiminished my issue with heights. At least somewhat. Then I turned back to guide Chet through it.
“Stretch out your arms and you should brush the chains on the first tire.”
Chet reached out, grabbed hold, and before I could tell him where the next was, he’d already grabbed it. And then the next. He had perfect balance, an instinctive sense of when to shift his weight, and he moved through the course as naturally as if we were standing on the ground rather than suspended in midair.
He was standing in front of me before I knew it, smug as ever when he tugged the blindfold off.
“All right, you arrogant bastard. Slightly impressive,” I conceded.
Chet held the blindfold out to me on the tip of his finger. “Not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to this.”
“Yeah, yeah, you can watch me bust my ass. How hilarious.” I rolled my eyes.
“I meant the blindfold.” Heat bowled through me at the provocative curve of his mouth. “What, too kinky for you? Would you like it better if it was a paisley tie?”
“I’m sure you’d love that.” I grabbed for the fabric, but he pulled his hand out of reach.
“I wouldn’t hate it. Too many people around though for me to enjoy it to the fullest, though. Be still.” Chet settled the blindfold over my eyes, then reached his arms behind my head to tie it. His exhales puffed over my skin, and the verdant scent of his soap filled my nostrils. When he finished knotting the blindfold, he ran his fingers along the bottom edge, adjusting the fabric near my nose. “That okay?” The lightness of his touch and the care in it caused goose bumps to break over my shoulders and my nipples to harden, hopefully hidden by my tee.
“Okay,” I whispered, then cleared my throat loudly. Fuck, this was definitely giving rise to a new spank bank fantasy. The heat flooding my face trekked down to my groin before I could mentally dam the seductive images of Chet pulling aFifty Shades of Greyon me.
“The fact that you blush is so intriguing,” he mused.
“You’re really enjoying fucking with me today.”
“Almost as much as you enjoyed me fucking with you the other day.” His smug laughter carried as he made his way to the platform across from me. Fuck, he was insufferable sometimes. “Ready?” he called out.
“Ready. Think I’ve got this one.” I dropped to a crouch on the platform and felt around until I reached the rope netting.
“There you go. Straight ahead for a while, and then I’ll tell you when to shift to the left,” Chet instructed.
This part wasn’t so bad because even though my knee kept falling through the holes, I was too big to fall completely through anywhere. After I got going, and with just a few tiny course corrections from Chet, I made quick work of that section, clambering onto the other platform with a triumphant grin—which probably looked pretty silly given the blindfold.
The tires and chains were a little tougher, but ten minutes and a lot of direction from Chet later, I made it to the other side, albeit a little less triumphant this time.
But that wasn’t the section that had fucked me in seventh grade either. No, it was the next one with the looped ropes we had to navigate through.
I clipped my harness onto the guide rope, adjusted the blindfold over my eyes, and then grabbed ahold of the rope above before testing the tension of the tightrope below. “It feels a little loose. Is it supposed to be like that?”