Chapter 11
TORIN
Raindrops splattered my paper, smudging the pencil sketch I’d been working on into something dramatically different from what I’d originally intended.
I didn’t hate it, though, so I continued drawing without sheltering the paper.
It wasn’t heavy rain yet. Just a few droplets, enough to shift the mood of my art.
Glancing up at my newest muse, I frowned when he wobbled on the suspended cable. Rain wasn’t the end of the world for my drawing, but it was dangerous if the wires were slippery.
“Hey, Short Stack!” I called out to the wiry guy cautiously progressing across a tightwire while blindfolded. “It’s starting to rain. We should go!”
The rest of the guys—except August and me—had returned home hours earlier, but Noah insisted he wanted to stay and practice, so we’d offered to stay with him, which Ace allowed only after delivering a long lecture about being responsible for our newest member’s safety and agreeing to drag him home at the first signs of fatigue.
Unfortunately, we all underestimated the scrappy, little dude’s endurance.
He showed no signs of exhaustion or even boredom after hours of walking the wires course we’d rigged up on our forest property in Yorba Linda.
In fairness, the twist that’d been thrown at us, along with the first challenge announcement, had us all worried.
“It’s not raining,” he replied, still progressing one step at a time, his feet sliding along the wire like a dancer’s. “I want to get through this one more time without falling.”
I rolled my eyes, packing up my sketchbook and pencils. “Water is falling from the sky, Short Stack. That’s usually what I call rain.”
“Can I see what you were working on?” August asked with a yawn as I headed over to the car, where he’d been editing content on his laptop.
Without waiting for my response, he tugged the sketchbook out of my grip and flipped through the pages.
He leveled me a hard look with his tawny gaze.
“I see… New muse really has his hooks in you, huh?”
If I’d had a fairer complexion, I’d have blushed. “Shut up. He’s interesting.”
August’s grin spread wide, teasing. “I don’t disagree. Just pointing out that I haven’t seen you fixate on one subject like this in years.”
I didn’t have a response for that. Although he’d only joined Team Olympus six months ago—specifically for the purpose of the Games, same as Minho—we’d been friends a lot longer. Ever since he’d saved me from a nasty case of alcohol poisoning while on vacation in Miami.
“Is he okay with your little obsession?” August murmured, closing his laptop and glancing over toward the muse in question.
I wet my lips and stashed my drawing supplies safely in my bag. “I don’t believe it’s come up in conversation yet. There’s no harm, though. I don’t think he would be offended…”
My best friend shifted his focus back to me with a worried frown. “That’s not my concern.”
I knew what he meant, and I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck. The last time I’d fixated on a muse, she’d broken my heart so thoroughly I’d nearly destroyed my own career as I spiraled into depression. “It’s not the same thing. Noah’s just a curiosity.”
“If you say so,” he replied softly. “I just worry about you.”
I forced a teasing smile, giving him a shoulder squeeze. “Aw, Augie, you can just tell me you love me. It won’t be weird, I swear.”
He scoffed, shaking off my hand. “You’re a dickhead, Tor, but you already know I love you. Come on. Let’s drag your new favorite home before he gets hurt.”
I grinned, not even trying to deny the accusation. “Drag is probably not an exaggeration. He’ll happily stay here all night if we don’t.”
As if the weather wanted to help out, the sky rumbled and raindrops started falling faster while I headed back across the grassy clearing to the extensive tightwire setup.
Noah hadn’t even seemed to flinch at the rain, still gracefully moving along the wires and obstacles—blindfolded—as he committed the course to memory.
“Come on, Short Stack, it’s home time,” I announced, ducking under a wire to get closer. “If you slip and break a bone, I’ll have to go into witness protection, and I’m not cut out for that life.”
My little muse just chuckled, shaking his head slightly. His blond hair was tied up in a spiky, little ponytail, but loose bits had escaped all over the place around his blindfold, making him look like an anime character. “Dramatic, much? I’ve broken bones before; it’s not the end of the world.”
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see.
“Yeah, well… try offering that logic to Ace if we have to put you in a cast.” I pursed my lips, thinking it over.
“Or Minnie, for that matter. You seen that guy with a sword?” I winced and rubbed my throat as I pictured getting it slit open.
Minho was super attached to Noah already. More than Ace was, even.
Noah’s response to that was just a thoughtful hum, then he sighed. “I suppose it is raining now.” He wobbled on the wire as he tugged the blindfold off and tucked it into the pocket of his baggy sweatpants.
The twist in the challenge that none of us had really anticipated was a sensory deprivation.
Of our team of eight, only two would complete the course unhindered.
Two would be gagged and unable to talk, two would be earmuffed and unable to hear, and the remaining two would be blindfolded.
On a high ropes course. Ten stories above concrete.
Noah’s wobbles didn’t seem to faze him at all as he looked down at me. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Almost five,” I replied, reaching up toward him. “Jump down. I’ll catch you.”
The wire course we’d set up to practice on was only ten feet off the ground, but that was high enough to do some damage.
Everyone had been practicing with harnesses and safety lines but not stubborn little Noah.
Not only had he volunteered for the hardest disadvantage—being blindfolded—he’d also insisted on learning the ropes without a safety line.
He glanced down at me, then stepped off the wire without even the slightest flicker of fear. My heart leaped into my throat for the split-second drop, then I caught his slim frame in my arms and set him safely onto his feet.
“You’re a little bit fucked in the head, aren’t you?” I commented with a chuckle, making sure he knew it wasn’t an insult.
The grin on his face and shine to his eyes couldn’t have been doused with anything, though. Kid was fucking high as a kite off the adrenaline rush. No wonder he didn’t drink or do drugs… substances couldn’t compete with his true addiction.
“You’re cold,” August stated with a frown when we made our way back to the car where he waited. “Here, take my sweater.”
I started to disagree—I was fine—but then I realized he was talking to Noah.
Which made me pause, because a spark of something unfamiliar burned inside my chest. What the fuck even was that?
Noah was visibly cold now that the adrenaline and focus was draining out of him, his skinny arms pebbled with gooseflesh and his pretty face paler than usual, so yeah, he needed a sweater. What was the problem with that?
Frowning, I watched as Noah accepted August’s David Blaine hoodie and almost drowned in all the fabric as he pulled it on.
Then I wet my lips and mentally cursed. What was the problem?
He was wearing August’s clothes…but I couldn’t work out if I was irritated that he wasn’t wearing mine or because I didn’t want anyone wearing Augie’s shit.
Yeah, okay. Maybe my best friend had reason to be worried after all. I needed to…keep an eye on myself. Maybe it was a passing fascination. I’d had those before with people I’d found incredibly beautiful. Once I’d drawn them a couple dozen times, I always moved on.
I didn’t want to admit to myself that I’d already well surpassed that point.
“Thanks, August,” Noah said with a warm smile, and I shot my friend a sharp look.
He wasn’t paying attention to me, though, as he smiled back at my muse. “No problem, dude. Let’s get home and see what Xavier has burned for dinner.”
Noah laughed as he climbed into the back seat, and it brought a smile to my own lips. “He really can’t cook, can he? Is it because he’s never needed to learn?”
August slid into the driver’s seat, and I took the passenger beside him.
“Oh, he’s learned,” I replied with a chuckle.
“He’s just shit at it. No matter how many times we make him try, it always ends in something catching fire.
Do you have any clue how much takeout the three of them used to order?
We’re talking six days a week at least.”
In their defense, both Z and Ace were okay in the kitchen but completely time blind once they got working on a project.
So for the most part, they would order takeout because it’d get to be midnight before any of them even thought about a meal.
If Ace wasn’t sharing a room with Xavier now, he’d probably never sleep either.
“How are you feeling about the obstacle course now?” August asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to give Noah his attention. “We still have loads of time to get it right before we film.”
He was right; each challenge gave us a full month to plan, prepare, film, and submit. To keep it fair, all teams would load their entry at the same time on the same day, so there was plenty of time to practice.
“I know,” Noah agreed, tugging the elastic out of his little ponytail and ruffling his fingers through the wet, blond strands. It was only then that I realized I was staring, so I shifted in my seat to face forward once more.
August clocked it—nothing got past him—and he gave me a sidelong glance with his brow creased.
“The sooner I can learn the course, the sooner I can work out how to get the rest of you clumsy fucks across,” Noah continued with an edge of teasing. “How are you finding it, August? Are you confident in taking the blindfold disadvantage as well?”
Augie shrugged as he drove. “Better me than anyone else. At least I have good balance.”
On the day the challenge twist was announced, we’d all tested out the wires, and aside from Noah, August was the most confident with balance.
Shockingly better than Skye, who’d agreed to swap for the earmuff disadvantage.
Ace and Xavier would have the responsibility of guiding the team, should they need it.
“Good point,” Noah agreed with a sigh. “And so long as you’re harnessed, you’ll be fine.”
“Unlike you,” I pointed out. “If you do the real thing without a harness and fall, you’ll die.” That idea twisted me up inside, burning like acid in my chest. I really didn’t like that idea, but I’d be just as upset if any of the team plunged to their death from ten stories up.
Noah didn’t seem bothered, giving a light laugh. “At least we’d get a shitload of Cliks for that.”
“Jesus,” August whispered in shocked disbelief. “That’s dark, dude.”
He didn’t reply, just hummed a thoughtful sound and shifted in his seat. Maybe I wasn’t staring at him anymore, but my peripheral vision was on high alert for his every movement. It was fucking concerning how fixated I was becoming.
Still…fixated or not, Noah’s attitude toward danger and death had me worried. It was something I needed to raise with Ace sooner rather than later. For all of our sakes, we couldn’t let him do this challenge without a harness.