Chapter 29
Wes
Even though I got only four hours of sleep, again, I’m grinning when the alarm goes off in the bunkhouse I’m sharing with a few of the other contestants. “Good morning, boys!” I shout to a chorus of groans. “Isn’t it a great day to be alive?”
I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since I left Nina’s room last night.
All my dreams were happy. Of course they were happy; they were of her.
Nothing much has changed with our situation, not really.
We still have huge obstacles to overcome.
We still have to hide our feelings for each other from everyone else.
But we don’t have to hide them from one another anymore. And I can’t put into words just what a relief that is. With one person, I can be completely and totally honest. With Nina, I can be completely and totally myself.
I’m still grinning as we sit down for breakfast. I must be acting just as obnoxious as I’m feeling right now because Kyle glowers at me from across the table. “Dude. We get it. You had a good date with Harmony. Stop rubbing it in our faces.”
My smile falters, but only for a moment.
Right. The Harmony of it all. If Morrie were here, he’d tell me I should be focused on using our connection on the date to make sure I get extra time with her in our group challenge today.
If I’m going to win her trust enough to get access to her father, I have to use every moment we have together to the fullest.
I know a little something about that. When I first met Nina, we had only brief snippets of time together, little stolen moments.
I took advantage of everything I had—drawings and notes and even Bible verses—to get her attention.
I could use similar strategies with Harmony, I guess, but my gut clenches instinctively at the thought.
It would feel like a betrayal to those memories with Nina.
No. I won’t do it. There has to be another way.
But Kyle’s words have had the desired effect. I’m no longer grinning as I shovel down my breakfast.
We’re driven out to what appears to be the local high school’s football field. Various stations have been set up around the grassy area, including what looks like a wood-chopping station, a rope course, and . . . holy Gandalf the Grey, is that an archery station?
My grin is back in full force as Morrie crosses the field to join me. He’s already shaking his head before he’s even reached me. “Get that dorky grin off your face, Ackerman.”
“Are we doing an obstacle course?” I ask. “Is it full of nerd-tastic challenges that I, as a certified nerd, am uniquely prepared to conquer?”
It feels like the universe is finally shifting in my favor.
Nina and I are on the same page. There’s no coonskin cap in sight.
And I can hit a bullseye in my sleep. Unless today’s surprise twist is that I have compete in a banana hammock, this might be the first day of filming that I actually enjoy.
Morrie just continues shaking his head. “Don’t pretend like you’ve been training for this stuff on purpose. You’re just a dweeb who happened to luck out on a dumb TV show.”
I ignore him. “I’ve been preparing my whole life for this,” I whisper to myself, surveying the stations.
“Oh, brother,” Morrie mutters behind me.
My good luck streak continues as the wardrobe ladies arrive and Nina is sent over to help out the guys on Team Harmony.
Thankfully, our outfits are nothing too special today—flannel and jeans, the classic lumberjack look.
Nina and the other wardrobe staff are basically just supervising and making sure we button and unbutton the right amount to achieve optimal sexiness.
I tell myself to play it cool as Nina approaches.
There are too many people around who could overhear us for me to do otherwise.
But I can’t help myself from grinning ear to ear as her gaze slides shyly up to mine for the first time today.
She tugs at the buttons on her cardigan like she needs something to do with her hands.
“Do you have any questions about your costume?” she asks.
I glance over at the other guys in my group to make sure they aren’t paying too close attention.
They all seem more interested in studying the obstacle course and grousing about how difficult it’s going to be.
Still, I lower my voice as I look back at Nina.
“Actually, I do have a really important question.” I hold up my forearm to her, pointing to where the sleeve ends.
“Is this sleeve length the sexiest showcase for my forearm, or should I roll it down one more time?” I turn down the cuff one rotation to demonstrate her options.
Nina presses her lips together to fight her smile. She does her best to match my serious tone. “Let me see it the other way again.”
Silently, making my expression as stone-faced as possible, I roll the cuff back up.
Nina can’t stop her giggles, and that makes me grin. She shakes her head at me, mildly reproving. “Definitely that length,” she says. “Show off as much forearm as you can.”
I arch my eyebrows suggestively. “So you think I should use my masculine wiles to try to win?”
Nina shrugs. “Sex sells,” she tells me, completely straight-faced.
It’s my turn to not quite catch my laughter. There is something wildly indecent about sweet, reserved Nina looking me dead in the eye and saying the word sex. My blood starts to thrum in my veins.
But, no, I remind myself. We are surrounded by people, and I am Nate R.
right now. I clear my throat, deciding to steer the conversation into safer waters.
“Well, luckily I won’t need to rely on my slutty forearms alone today.
” I lean in closer, lowering my voice. “I happen to be pretty good at this stuff.”
Nina’s expression suggests she doesn’t quite know how to react. “This stuff?” she echoes.
I motion toward the obstacle course. “Archery. Rope courses.”
For the first time, it strikes me that Nina doesn’t know anything about this side of me.
It wasn’t exactly the type of conversation that would’ve come up in prison.
I realize I have no idea how she’ll react—if, like Morrie, she’ll think I’m a big loser and my obsession with escaping into fantasy worlds gives her the ick.
But after last night, I can’t go back to putting up any kinds of walls with Nina.
I need honesty and openness between us. So instead of downplaying my interest, like Morrie would no doubt beg me to do, I draw in a deep breath and take the plunge.
“This is what I do in my free time. When I’m not filming reality shows.
” Or going undercover for the FBI, is the implied part of that statement that I hope she’ll pick up on. “I’m sorta super into fantasy.”
Nina’s eyebrows lift in surprise. I can’t read if it’s good or bad surprise, but she’s still smiling, so hopefully that’s a positive sign. “Really?”
“Yeah. Basically, if it has swords or magic or elves, I’m down.” But I realize that’s underplaying it, so I admit, “I’m more than down. It’s my favorite thing to do, to get lost inside another world.”
Nina nods. I can tell she’s really listening, really trying to understand. “What is it you like so much?”
I consider the question. “I think it’s because the rules are so clear-cut? Right and wrong. Good and evil. And how good almost always overcomes evil in the end. The good people get what they deserve.” I can’t help adding, with a wink, “Plus, swords!”
Laughing quietly, Nina nods in understanding. “I haven’t read too much fantasy,” she tells me, “but I think I’d like that.”
Feeling emboldened by my confessions and her openness to it, I decide to share one more thing that no one, except for Morrie, knows about me. Brutal honesty, right? “There’s this channel on TikTok,” I tell her. “GeekOut. You should check out some of the videos. See if you like them.”
GeekOut is my channel, of course. Hopefully Nina can piece this together if she looks it up, despite the filters I use to disguise my face.
Nina nods, like she’s taking what I’m saying super seriously. “GeekOut,” she echoes. Maybe it’s only my imagination, but it seems like she can tell I’m trying to share something important with her.
I grin again, for only the fiftieth time this morning, I think. “Yeah. Tell me what you think, when you get a chance.”
Not long after, the contestants are called to the center of the field, where they film us receiving the obstacle course instructions from Chet Hodgkins.
I’m only half paying attention, though. My eyes keep wandering, trying to spot Nina among the crew standing on the outskirts of the field, if she’s still there.
Instead, my gaze snags on Harmony, standing only a few feet away from me with the other Mountainettes. While I’ve been looking for Nina, it’s obvious she’s been watching me. When my gaze meets hers, she grins and wiggles her fingers in a subtle wave.
Shit. I feel my own smile falter as the ice-cold bucket of reality is dumped back onto me. Right. Harmony. I recover quickly and smile back at her with a wink. Frankly, the gesture makes me feel gross, but Nate R. is a winker, so what can you do?
Luckily, if Chet Hodgkins’s instructions are anything to go by, today will be more about the competition and less about flirting and conversing with the women.
I’ll just have to make Harmony think I’m doing well at the obstacle course for her benefit, and hopefully that will make her feel closer to me.
(Gross. Gross. Gross. I hate it.)
I push the thought from my mind as we gather for the first part of the competition—the rope course. From here, we’ll go on to the wood-chopping station, where we’ll have to successfully split a log in half before we can move on to the final station, archery. Whoever can land a bullseye first wins.
It’ll be like taking candy from a baby. A hungry, angry baby. (Name that reference!)
What any of this has to do with being a mountain man or falling in love, I have no idea, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I focus all my attention on the task ahead as we line up to begin the rope course. “On your marks,” Chet Hodgkins calls out. “Get set—go!”
As has been established, the other guys are bigger and stronger than me. But that isn’t necessarily an advantage on a rope course. My lightness and agility mean I can move faster to grab onto the first rope, and that my body isn’t as heavy as I pull myself up.
By the time I reach the top of the rope-climbing tower, I’m already a few seconds ahead of the guy behind me, Everett. I tune him out, going to my happy mental place—the score from the BBC’s Robin Hood by Andy Price (a criminally underrated action/adventure soundtrack, if I may be so bold).
The wood-chopping obstacle is more difficult for two reasons: The first is, although I’m adept enough with an axe, I don’t have the same strength as some of the other guys to split a log cleanly in half.
The second is, it takes all of my willpower not to scream, And my axe!
the entire time I’m hacking away at my log.
Thus, Everett and a guy named Will both gain some ground on me there.
But I more than make up for it once we get to archery. This is my moment. This is the thing I was put on this earth to do. As the other guys scramble to notch their arrows, I easily slide mine into position, take aim, and shoot it at the target.
Bullseye.
That’s right, ladies. I might not be the biggest guy here. I might not have to shop in the Big and Tall section, and okay, I might be five eleven and three-quarters, not a clean six feet, but I can notch an arrow like nobody’s business.
I hope Nina saw my moment of victory. As dorky as my skill set might be, I hope wherever she is, she’s proud that I’m her man. I resist the urge to search for Nina in the crowd, aware that the cameras are on me and everyone’s watching.
Instead, I seek out a safer option in the sea of faces—Morrie. I grin at him ecstatically. He just shakes his head at me. Loser, he mouths, but I know he’s proud of me, somewhere deep, deep, deep down inside.