Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MOLLY

My hopeful inner teenager answers Blake's question. Heck yes, I'd be interested in dating you, you stupid loser. But outwardly, I counter with, "Why in the world would I be interested in dating you?"

As though defending his honor, Blake says, "Why wouldn't you want to date me? I'm a catch."

Maybe because you don't want to date me? I force myself to swallow my last bite of toast. "You've made it pretty clear I'm not your type, Blake." As such, I can't help but wonder why I think he's my type. I don't make it a habit of liking men who don't like me back. Of course, I haven't liked a guy since Kyle, and that might be the problem. Did I let that bonehead ruin my self-esteem, so I can't crush on someone worthy of me?

Blake doesn't bother denying the truth of my words. "That Thor's pretty cool though, huh?"

"He seems to be. So is Krista."

"Yeah," he says. "She's nice, too." Blake wipes his mouth before pushing his chair back.

After the waiter drops our checks and we both sign for our meals, I stand up and put my coat on. Blake follows suit. He leads the way out of the dining room. Once we get to the lobby, we see Thor and Krista sitting side by side on a sofa, waiting for us. Cozy is the only word that comes to mind.

Blake walks right up to them and puts his hand out to help Krista up. "You kids ready to roll?" he asks.

Thor answers, "We signed up while you were eating. Our group starts in ten minutes." Then he stands up and points toward a sandwich board with an arrow showing us where to go. After walking down two halls, we eventually wind up in a smallish room with several other people.

A man with a clipboard and a beard so full it looks like it could house a hive of bees raises a hand in the air to get our attention. "I'm Kale. I'm going to break you all down into three groups of four." He gestures toward two other guides and adds, "Four of you will go with Kiefer, four of you will go with Shalia, and I'll take the last bunch." He points at Blake, Thor, me, and Krista. "You guys are mine."

After he separates us, he asks, "Who here has never ziplined before?" I'm the only one to raise my hand. The things I'll do for my work surprise even me.

Blake looks surprised. "Why haven't you ziplined?"

I retaliate with, "Have you ever jumped off a skyscraper?"

"No."

"Why not?" I want to know.

"Have you?"

"Obviously not."

"Afraid of heights?" he guesses.

Shaking my head, I assure him, "No, I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of falling from them."

Kale interrupts, "We have you so harnessed up that even if you lost your grip, you wouldn't hit the ground. Also, you aren't really that high up. It's not like we're zipping through the mountains here."

"Which is why I decided this was the perfect place for my maiden voyage," I tell him. If we were jumping off a rocky cliff, I wouldn't have the courage.

Kale leads us out of the building, down a short path and into a yurt full of gear. After handing out harnesses and helmets, he shows us how to put everything on. Krista leans over and tells me, "Relax, you're going to have a great time. Just don't lie about how much you weigh because the person who catches you at the end of the run will need to know when to slow you down." She blows out a breath before adding, "Otherwise, you could knock them over and really hurt them."

She sounds too knowledgeable for this to be secondhand information, so I ask, "Did you do that?"

Her face reddens. "It was just ten pounds, but apparently that's enough to do some real damage."

I giggle nervously before forcing myself to suppress it. "What happened to him?"

"Her," she says. "I knocked into her with such force, she stumbled backward and fell off the landing. She broke her arm in two places."

"Oh my god, that's terrible!" My giggles return. "You must have been mortified."

"I was hoping to pass it off as clumsiness on her part, but the other instructor knew better. He gave us all a lecture on the importance of being truthful about our weight. He stared at me the whole time."

"I would have died," I tell her honestly.

With her head bobbing up and down, she answers, "That was certainly one of the options I entertained."

"What did you do?"

"I went home and lost fifteen pounds."

Looking at her closely, I say, "You could gain fifteen pounds and still look great."

"That's nice of you to say, but the whole episode scarred me."

"Are you ladies ready to go?" Thor interrupts .

We nod our heads in unison which signals Kale to announce, "I just need your weights and we're off."

"Two hundred," Thor says proudly.

"One ninety-seven," Blake says.

Krista and I share an anxious look. Remembering what I told Ellen last night about being sick of constantly worrying about my weight, I boldly announce, "Two hundred."

Blake snorts loudly. "You are not. You're probably no more than one fifty."

"One fifty? That's a horrible thing to say."

"You're the one who claimed to be two hundred."

With my hands on my hips, I tell him, "My point was simply to make sure that no one gets hurt when they help me stop. I didn't want to broadcast my real weight."

"So, one fifty?" Kale wants to know.

"One forty-two," I tell him louder than I'd planned.

Krista, who is several inches taller than me, says, "I'm one fifty." We share a proud look that the world didn't come to an end by our sharing our weight with other people.

As we tromp through the snowy woods toward the first landing, I'm full of excitement and a small amount of dread. I don't start to have second thoughts until we're all on deck staring at the first run. "It seems pretty high up here."

"We'll send the veterans first so you can see how it's done." Our leader gestures for Thor, who steps forward. Once Kale has all his harness clips attached, Thor holds onto the handlebars and jumps from the platform. He lets out a primal shout as he goes.

Krista steps forward next and while her run is a little less noisy, I'm still nervous. Kale tells me, "The lines are meant to hold up to three hundred and fifty pounds, so if you want, I can double with you on the first run."

My first thought is that if the line holds that much heft, why in the world does everyone have to state their weight up front? But before I can ask that, Blake offers, "Or she can do the run with me. "

The thought of being in Blake's arms, flying through the air, fills me with both dread and excitement. For my own peace of mind, I know I should not be that close to him … yet. I consider the possibility for so long that somehow Kale decides this is what I want. He presses the button on his walkie-talkie and tells the guide at the end of the line, "We've got a duo coming in around three forty."

He clips my harness before attaching Blake's behind mine. All the while I'm trying to form the words to tell him I'll be fine on my own. Before I can express this, he instructs, "Hold onto to the handles and Blake will hold onto you."

As soon as I feel Blake behind me, I know I can't go through with this. I try to force my mouth to share this sentiment with Kale, but at the same moment, Blake steps forward and pushes me off my feet.

The feeling of being airborne is both terrifying and exhilarating. I want to shout at the raw sensation of freedom, but I'm too busy trying not to pee my pants. If I let my emotions loose, I might be in real trouble. Maybe next time.

The first run is longer than I thought it would be and I begin to relish the novelty of the experience. But then I focus on the solid wall of Blake behind me. His arms are holding onto me so tightly I almost can't discern where I begin and he ends. It's like we've become one entity flying through the woods, and it's pure magic.

Even so, I'm relieved when I see the next landing come into sight. Blake leans in and shouts, "Keep your feet up and I'll stop for both of us!" This requires more trust in him than I currently have. But what if I don't listen to him and somehow wind up hurting us both? I finally close my eyes, lift my feet, and pray.

Before I know it, Blake is squeezing me tighter, and we come to a jolting stop. The next guide unhooks us and pushes us out of the way so that Kale has a safe place to land.

I'm so hyper-sensitive toward Blake right now that I'm afraid if I talk to him, I'll either declare my undying love or ask him to run away with me. As such, I do my best to ignore him and I walk over to Krista. "That was amazing!" I tell her.

"How was it riding double with Blake?" I can't tell if she's asking out of curiosity or jealousy.

"Oh, him." I turn and give him a passing glance. "That was okay, but the zip-lining was positively thrilling!"

"I told you you'd love it." She smiles at me, but her gaze keeps shifting over my shoulder.

Blake walks up behind me and slips his arm around my waist like it's the most natural thing in the world. "Good job, Molly!" he says. "How do you feel?"

I open my mouth to respond, but nothing but "Uhhhh" comes out. Which is probably a good thing because my instinct is to ask him to keep holding onto me and to never let go.