Chapter 18
NOAH
The morning was filled with a bunch of fairly tame camp games like ring toss, giant Jenga, and croquet, but after lunch a couple of guys from one of the other teams came over to ask if we wanted to go rock climbing.
Skye and I quickly jumped at the opportunity, and to my delight, Minho also agreed to join us. To my irritation, so did Ace.
“What do you guys think of that shit yesterday?” Trent asked as we picked up climbing equipment from the activity shed near the stables. “You believe it was an accident?”
“Not for a fucking second,” Ace replied in a grim tone. “Too many coincidences.”
I hated to agree with him, but I thought the same.
“Yeah, didn’t the guy who attacked you break his neck too?
” The other guy—-Chad—-asked with a quirked brow.
Both guys from the other team were musicians, part of a soft rock band, but that was about all I knew of them.
I had to admit, when I’d researched Team Olympus and all the potential competition, I’d spent a huge chunk of my time drooling over the boys on my team and didn’t get through anywhere near enough of the competition.
“Yup,” I answered with a nod. “Slipped and fell down our cliffside stairs, allegedly.”
Ace shot me a worried frown. “You think that someone pushed him?”
I shrugged, not wanting to meet his gaze. “I think anything is possible. Cat Kay’s killer still hasn’t been caught, has he? And then Misty gets killed with a rogue arrow through her eye? Fishy as fuck, in my opinion, but what would I know?”
A frustrated sound escaped Ace, but before he could say anything, Minho “tripped” and stumbled into Ace, knocking him on his ass in the dirt.
“Oh shit, sorry, Boss!” Minho said with a slight grin, offering his hand. “My bad. Wasn’t watching where my feet were going.”
Ace glowered at Minnie like he knew full fucking well that hadn’t been an accident but wasn’t going to try to prove it.
After catching a black eye from Min just a week ago, relations between the two of them must have still been somewhat strained already.
Then I went and made it all ten times worse by admitting that Ace and I had hooked up—-albeit briefly.
At least I could rest assured that wouldn’t be happening again, so I was technically only seeing two guys at the same time.
Minho’s blatantly claiming kiss in front of Tor this morning had spoken volumes, as had Torin’s score settling when he grabbed me as I was leaving breakfast, dragging me into a hidden corner for a quick make--out like he needed to remind me he was all in.
“Maybe try not to be that clumsy when we’re about to climb a rock face, Min,” Trent laughed, giving him an affectionate shoulder punch. “I sure as hell don’t want to be the next one with a broken neck, thanks.”
The boys all joked around as we headed out for the pre--rigged rock face, and Skye lingered toward the back of the group with me, giving me a curious look.
“Sleep well last night, Twin?” he asked with total innocence.
I shot him a narrow--eyed glance. “Yep. Why do you ask?”
He shrugged. “No reason. You, uh, feeling cold today?” He gestured to my hoodie that I’d worn all day thanks to its bulky hood covering the obvious signs of my midnight escapade with Minho.
I rolled my eyes, giving a short sigh. Of course Skye noticed something suspicious. “Yup, super cold.”
“Uh--huh, I hear that spending an hour out in the pouring rain and wind in the middle of the night will have that effect.” He smirked, and I punched him in the arm.
“Shut up,” I muttered, even as my cheeks heated with a blush of embarrassment.
Skye chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m just teasing. I take it Minho is in the know now?”
I nodded, biting my lip. Skye was my best friend and probably the closest thing to a true soulmate I’d ever experienced, but he was still a guy, and I really didn’t want to tell him about the awkward “where’s your dick” moment that led to Minnie’s enlightenment.
Then again, Skye would find that story hilarious, so maybe I’d tell him another day.
“Good,” he muttered, giving me a nod. “I’m glad. He really cares about you, Noah.”
That affirmation from my bestie filled me with the kind of warmth that not even Ace’s stormy glowers could dampen as we rigged up and started climbing. Thankfully, it was me, Skye, and Chad who went first, with the other three belaying, which gave me a respite from actively avoiding Ace.
“You guys wanna race?” Chad called across to us, making Skye and I exchange a sly smirk.
“To the top?” Skye asked.
“Or to the top and back down again?” I asked, my chest already filling with excitement at the challenge and associated danger.
This was an unfamiliar climb for us, and although it was safe enough, with pre--drilled hooks and safety lines, it would hurt if we fell, even if our belay was quick to lock the rope.
Then again, it’d hurt our egos more than our bodies, so falling was not an option.
“To the ground,” Chad agreed with a laugh. “On three?”
“Three!” Skye yelled, then he and I started flying up the rock face, laughing while Chad spluttered curses and hurried to catch up.
It wasn’t the most challenging climb I’d ever done—-far from it, with dozens of manmade foot- and fingerholds along the way—-but it also wasn’t the easiest, and my arm muscles protested the speed by the time we reached the top.
It didn’t help that I was now sweating under my chunky hoodie, but I was not losing a race to a fucking singer.
So once my feet reached the top ledge only seconds ahead of Skye, I yelled a quick warning down to Minho on my belay, then launched myself backward over the edge.
The race was to the ground? I was taking the fastest way—-free falling. For most of the cliff, anyway. I didn’t have a parachute on, so I controlled my descent somewhat and anchored the ropes a good ten to twenty feet from the ground, so I could land softly and not break my legs in the process.
Minnie spluttered curses as my sneakers reached the grass, then grabbed me in a rib--aching hug with his face buried in my neck. “What the fuck, Chicken? You scared the shit out of me!”
I was too high on adrenaline to wipe the smile off my face, so I just gave a shaking laugh in response. “Wasn’t the first time, Min, and it won’t be the last!”
“I told you he’d do that,” Ace snapped as Skye reached the ground with a dramatic groan of defeat. Chad was only halfway down, making quick but safe progress in his descent.
“Damn it, we should have put money on that race,” I said to Skye when Minho reluctantly released me and we switched positions.
“Somehow I doubt you two need the incentive of money to get competitive,” Chad laughed, touching down on the ground finally. “That was sick. I’m actually a big fan of your content, Noah, so that was awesome to see in person.”
“Only Noah’s content?” Skye pouted. “Rude.”
Chad laughed, shrugging. “Yours too, bro. But Noah has double the follower count for a reason.”
“You can’t even blame it on his pretty face, either,” Trent added with a chuckle, “seeing as no one knew what he looked like before the Games.”
“Are we climbing or fucking what?” Ace huffed, clipping his carabiner onto the rope and checking it was secure. Without waiting for Minho and Trent to be ready, he set off up the rock face.
Trent scratched the back of his neck, watching Ace ascend quickly before wrinkling his nose. “What’s his problem?”
“He’s probably got his period,” I muttered, mostly to myself, but Skye snort--laughed and shook his head at me. Whatever, he was thinking it too.
Minho yanked his hoodie off and tied his hair up before he started climbing, and I needed to subtly wipe my chin to make sure I wasn’t drooling as his lean muscles flexed with each upward reach.
Chad gave a snort of laughter, shaking his head as he let out rope for Trent to start. “Of course the K--pop idol is hooking up at fucking Camp Beaver,” he commented, gesturing to the back of his neck. “Those are hot--sex claw marks for sure.”
I squinted up at Minho, who was above our head height, and winced. I kept my nails pretty short since joining Team Olympus, but I guess they needed trimming. Whoops.
Skye gave me a hard side--eye, and I smiled innocently.
“Any idea who?” Chad continued, mostly to himself. “Probably one of the chicks from GeeGee if I had to guess.”
I rolled my eyes, jealousy flashing through me at the idea of Minho hooking up with Sakura or one of her teammates. Thankfully, Skye was intuitive enough to smoothly shift the conversation away from Minho’s mystery girl, and I could zone out and watch the hottie climbing.
When the three of them returned to the ground, we packed up and headed back toward camp. I waited until Ace was distracted talking to Skye, then subtly reached up to tug the hair tie out of Minho’s hair, smoothing his dark locks over the scratches on his neck.
He gave me a faint look of confusion, then touched his neck and grinned. Apparently we both needed to be more careful, because he tied his hair up way too often and I couldn’t wear a bulky hoodie every day.
Worth it, though.
“You guys coming?” Skye called out, making me realize how far we’d dropped behind the other four guys on the trail. “I’m starving!”
“Yeah, we’re coming!” I called back, resisting the urge to lean into Minho as he walked closer beside me.
He shot me a quick grin. “Not yet but hopefully later.” He said it in a whisper, but the heat in my face let me know I was blushing furiously.
If we made it through another four days of Camp Beaver without getting caught, I’d be shocked. And weirdly, I couldn’t even find it within myself to give a fuck. In fact, I kind of hoped it would be Ace who caught us. Hypocrite.