Chapter 26 #2
“Tony had to help someone on the previous zip-line,” I explained, just as Jay and Tony came barreling down the line behind us.
I took my spot between Tyler and Macey again, grateful for some protection from the dentist's sarcastic retorts.
We hiked through more dense trees until we reached our last and final zip-line. Tony gathered everyone around for the final run, clapping his hands with a big smile on his face.
“Alright, my friends, we’ve officially made it. This is our final part of the tour!”
Everyone cheered. I gave a half-hearted little whoop, mostly glad that it would be over soon.
“This is a little different than the previous ones. Because it’s such a long stretch and more of our lightweight friends might get stuck in the middle, we are going to go tandem to ensure everyone gets across without a hitch.”
“Tandem?” Erica asked, voicing my immediate thoughts.
“That’s right. Two people will go at a time. Can I get two volunteers to demonstrate? How about Macey and Tyler?”
Tony plucked my life preservers from my sides, and they obediently went over to him.
Tony went on to explain how to hook their harnesses together, then how to hold onto the other person to prevent injuries and safely go down the line.
Basically, from what I gathered from the demonstration, one person would be in front, the other behind, but the two harnesses were clipped together.
My preferred partners were already paired on the platform. Who would I feel comfortable being that close to?
I was beginning to panic, and I felt like a little kid again, back in school, desperately trying to find a partner after the teacher had yelled out to form groups for an activity.
“Okay, now remember, my friends, this is all about getting out of your comfort zone. Trusting your colleagues and doing hard things together,” Tony reminded us as he finished explaining everything.
Then, instead of calling out for us to choose partners like I was expecting, he just started pointing.
I felt the color drain from my face as I heard him start naming off pairs.
“Devin and Shelby. Erica and Jenn. Dr. Jay and Hope.”
It had been chosen. Tony’s stupid finger had pointed right at Jay and me, determining the worst possible scenario.
“I’ll be going down by myself, but that’s because I’m an expert at this one,” Tony winked.
I almost debated begging Tony to let him be my partner, but it was too late. Jay would never let me live it down if he knew I was trying to get out of doing this with him. I had to act like this wasn’t a big deal. Somehow, I had to get through the next three minutes.
I watched all my colleagues laugh and joke with one another as they tandem-rode the last zip-line. Each team that departed had my heart beating faster and faster. Before I could even grasp what was happening, it was already Jay’s and my turn.
“Ready?” Jay’s voice was suddenly right behind me, and I jumped a little in surprise.
“I’m ready,” I barely choked out.
I would just close my eyes and pretend I was going down alone.
But then he touched me.
A million tiny tingles washed over my skin as Jay’s hands reached out to help connect my harness to his.
We were so close, I was mere inches from his body.
Tony was helping us get all the clips secure, and sure, he was standing right there—but all I could focus on was Jay’s hands as they came to lightly rest on the curve of my hips.
He was holding onto the straps at my waist as Tony instructed for safety reasons, but even so, when his hands semi-touched me, something happened.
I couldn’t stop it. It was impossible to halt it in its tracks.
I felt the undeniable rush of goosebumps down my spine, making me shiver.
“Are you—” His hand shifted on my hip, causing me to suck in a sharp breath. “—trembling?” he finished, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice.
My cheeks flamed, an undeniable blush spreading across my face and clear to my ears.
I whipped around to glare at him, but he was already looking down at me with that infuriatingly confident, all-knowing expression—the one that said he was enjoying this way too much.
“I am not trembling,” I hissed.
“Mhm.” He leaned in a little, and I felt the heat of his breath wash over my neck. “If you say so.”
“Jay—”
“Hey,” he murmured. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
My stomach dropped, and we weren’t even going down the zip-line yet.
Tony clapped his hands. “Alright! Last line! You two ready?”
I was, in fact, not ready. But I nodded anyway.
Tony grabbed the handle attached to our harnesses, yanked it hard, and sent us flying down the zip-line.
The sound of the cable zipping across the wire was all I could hear, along with the wind whipping across my skin.
But this was the only line where I wasn’t focused on how high we were, or how fast we were going, or what the scene looked like around me.
Instead, I spent three minutes focused on how Jay’s chest felt pressed against my back.
Gravity made it impossible for us not to touch each other as we went down the line. The few inches of space we’d had before immediately vanished once the momentum set in.
And then, it was over.
We collided with the stopper at the bottom with a little jolt, and with a few snaps and clips, we were no longer connected and both able to stand.
I refused to acknowledge his existence behind me as I unclipped and headed toward the tree circle where we’d begun our tour. Ty and Macey were there with the others, and when they saw me, they both smiled and came over.
“Wasn’t that last run crazy?” Macey said, jumping up and down with excitement.
“Yep. Pretty crazy,” I let out a shaky laugh.
When I sat down on one of the logs to start undoing my harness, Ty came over to sit beside me.
Are you trembling?
“You okay?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah.” I gave him a weak smile, shoving Jay’s words from my mind and banishing thoughts of his hands gripping the harness at my hips. “Just ready to be done.”
He nodded in understanding. “Well, the good news is, it’s over, and we can eat now.”
“I’m starving,” I admitted, and Ty gave me a little nudge.
“Hey, you did good. Seriously.”
I was just about to respond when Tony’s loud tour guide voice interrupted.
“Great job, my friends! You all did exceptionally well! I hope you enjoyed yourselves,” Tony said, clapping his hands as he came to join us, with Jay trailing behind him.
“Thank you, Tony. It was really fun,” Jay said, taking off his helmet and beanie to run a hand through his tousled dark curls. “I’m sure my staff will be requesting I make them do it again.”
“We’d love to have you back. And if I ever need a cavity filled, I know who I’m going to call,” Tony said, shaking Jay’s hand.
The two continued to converse while the rest of us handed our harnesses back to the other staff, and I did my best to hand mine back as quickly as possible.
“You ready?” Tyler asked, coming up beside me as we finished up and started heading back toward the parking lot.
I nodded quickly, desperate to get off the mountain.“Yeah, I’m ready. Let's go.”