24. Caroline

The second day of wedding games looks like it will have an even bigger turnout than the first. After my gentle suggestion, Paisley appears to be more sober today.

Mia insisted on keeping as many of the games a secret from me as possible–a fact I'm still struggling with.

Today, we're all gathered by the harbor. It's not cold enough yet to be frozen over, but the waters here never really get warm. The game is set up on the long, gentle slope that leads to the water. It's a beautiful place for the event, and I can tell everybody is enjoying the atmosphere as much as I am–at least I'm enjoying it when I'm not being a control freak and stressing over not being in charge of the event today.

"Relax," Mia says, laughing a little. Her red hair is done up in twin braids that run down either side of her head. "I've got it all set up just like you would. Yesterday went great, didn't it?"

"It did," I admit.

"Then trust me to nail this, Cannonball."

I slap her arm. "Stop calling me that."

"Never. Now, get lined up with the other couples so I can give instructions."

The townspeople take a break from snacking on free food and gather around us. We're all positioned near the harbor, and obstacles like soft foam shapes and cardboard boxes are scattered around the field. I'm studying it all as I try to guess what the challenge is going to be.

Jake leans down to my side. "Any guesses?"

"Looks like an obstacle course."

He nods, face adorably serious. "We'll crush it. Just gotta watch out for Nolan and Jesse. But they both went out drinking last night. Probably hungover."

I grin. "Competitive, much?"

"We're already ahead. And I'll be damned if we don't prove to the whole town that we're the best couple."

"I'm not sure that's the point of the games."

"Of course it is."

I roll my eyes, smiling as Mia gets in front of us. "Okay! Here's the game. One couple goes at a time. You both close your eyes, and we move the obstacles around randomly. One partner gets ten seconds to look, and then you both get blindfolded. The blindfolded partner has to walk the course. The only navigation they get is from their partner, who had ten seconds to memorize the course."

There's a collective groan and some laughter from our fellow couples.

"That's sadistic!" somebody calls out.

"More like hilarious," Mia corrects, not missing a beat. "The couple who crosses the finish line fastest wins. If nobody makes it to the finish line, then the person who gets closest to the harbor wins."

There's probably fifty yards of downward slope between us and the harbor. The finish line is set up suspiciously close to the water. So close, in fact, that I suspect Mia is hoping somebody will wind up taking a plunge.

The water is shallow, and the entrance is beach-like, so she'd be lucky if anybody did more than plant one wrong foot in the icy water, which is probably what she's hoping will happen. Mia, you devil.

"I can run this. You navigate?" Jake says. He's technically asking, but he's got his competitive pants on today and I can tell he wants to be the one to run.

"Okay. Sounds good. But don't get yourself hurt."

"On what? Foam and cardboard boxes? I'm a finely tuned athlete, Caroline. I'm pretty sure I can handle this."

I pat his arm. He's not wrong about the finely tuned part, but I don't know how much muscle and coordination help when you're blindfolded.

We're near the back of the line, so we get to watch the other couples go first. They both turn around while Paisley and some other townspeople help her scramble up the obstacles. The course is relatively narrow, so there's no way to pick a straight line without hitting any obstacles.

Mia navigates for Nolan, who does surprisingly well. He moves at a steady jogging pace, adjusting to Mia's shouted directions like they're sharing a brain. He finishes in thirty seconds. He also seems to judge the distance well enough to slow down just a few steps short of the harbor, keeping himself completely dry.

Andi and Jesse do even better. Andi navigates, and their strategy is for Jesse to run straight and Andi to tell him what's in front of him. We all laugh when we realize he's just bulldozing his way through, kicking obstacles aside, and throwing cardboard boxes instead of trying to move around them. It earns him an even better time than Mia and Nolan.

The rest of the couples try to imitate Andi and Jesse's strategy, but it doesn't go quite as well for anybody else.

We're last. Andi and Jesse's time is still the time to beat. Jake grips my shoulders. "I have a plan."

"Okay. What's the plan?" I ask.

"They all jogged. If I sprint, I can make it from here to the finish in probably ten or fifteen seconds, I think."

"If you don't eat shit," I add.

"That's where my lovely navigator comes in."

I take a deep breath. "That's a lot of trust. Promise me you won't get hurt."

"I'm made of steel, Caroline. Do I ever get hurt?"

I give the number of visible scars on his arms, face, and legs a once over. He brushes me off. "Flesh wounds," he says.

"Alright, Superman. Let's do this."

Paisley gives the signal that it's time for me to look. I turn around and try to memorize the location of all the obstacles. It's harder than I thought it would be, and my ten seconds feel like they're over in two. I turn around, already feeling the visual I had of the course jumbling up in my brain. Oh, no.

"They're all over the place," I say as I'm blindfolded, along with Jake, who didn't get to look at the course.

"That's kind of the point, isn't it?"

"I don't know if I can remember it all. Just kinda start right and then go left a little after that, I guess?"

"I got this."

"Go!" Paisley shouts.

My brain goes blank, and panic fills me at the sound of Jake's huge body taking off at full speed. I can feel the ground shake and hear the rapid thumping of his shoes on the grass.

"Watch out for the first one!" I shout unhelpfully.

I hear an ooh from the crowd and the sound of Jake grunting and falling. He's back up again, though, feet pounding.

I give up any hope of navigating and lift my blindfold to watch.

Paisley points. "Navigator has her blindfold off! If she speaks now, the team is disqualified!"

Jake is hauling ass. Obstacles occasionally trip him up or send him rolling, but he gets back to his feet with impressive speed and keeps a sense of which way is forward. After tripping a few times, he's got a clear patch of grass ahead with nothing but the finish line and the icy harbor ahead.

Oh, no.

Jake doesn't slow down. In fact, he's picking up speed.

I put my hands over my mouth to stop from shouting out and warning him. I don't want to get us disqualified.

Jake crosses the finish line and then takes two long strides before he's shin-deep in the harbor. He loses his balance, his arms pinwheeling as he flies forward, his fists clenched, and his body straight like an arrow.

He really does look like Superman.

He lands with a huge splash.

I run over to help him, but he's already getting out, clothes clinging to his v-shaped torso and thickly muscled legs as he pulls himself from the water. He flicks his hair back, pulling up the blindfold with a triumphant smile. "How was my time?"

I laugh. "Pretty sure we won. Resoundingly."

"Hell yeah." Jake fist-bumps me. "You're a terrible navigator, by the way."