by K. J. Lewis
“Why don’t we head to the site?” Owen corrals everyone into the waiting transportation. It takes about thirty minutes to get to our location where there is—surprise—an obstacle course set up. God help me.
“We really are doing this kind of shit?” I ask Theo, who merely laughs at my contempt.
“Yes. Blame Elise. She thinks it shows who people really are. I have to admit, when I take a step back, I find she’s usually right. It really has taught me some things about my team and how to better utilize them. I walk away understanding how their minds work. It seems lame, but I am always shocked how useful the insight is.”
Everyone piles out of the SUVs, and we are joined by Elise and Ryan who are deep in conversation about a CEO’s son gone astray. She updates the team on the new client and fires off some directives before pulling everyone’s focus back to the present.
“Welcome to ‘O’ day, as I affectionately call it,” she begins. Several of the team members sing the letter O in various notes, and everyone laughs and begins stretching. I assume it’s a joke from past obstacle torture days.
“I know you all are as excited as I am. Owen has created a little something different for us this year.” She turns their attention to Owen, but I’m still watching her. This girl is not like any girl I usually find attractive. For starters, she is all curves and I usually fuck twig girls, size 0 models with fake breasts. I swear my IQ points dropped just admitting that.
She laughs at something someone says. She has a great laugh. A goofy laugh. She’s replaced my t-shirt with a fitted exercise tank to match the leggings she is wearing. Her long hair is braided down each side of her head into pigtails. She has on no makeup. I have never been with a girl like this. I am thankful my dick appears to be napping, and I am able to control my body’s response as I watch her.
“So, normally our focus is to have you solve problems as one team,” Owen explains. “This year you will be working on your own. Theo, Reid, and I will be observing. The course is timed but there is no prize for finishing first. Just do your best.”
Owen sounds a horn and everyone takes off. The first obstacle is to walk on a rope over a muddy pond of water. The girls prove more efficient at this task and finish ahead of the guys. The next obstacle is an upper body strength challenge where the guys catch up and overtake the girls.
Theo is right. This is telling. Without anyone making this a competition, they have turned it into one. There are two things going on: the women are competing against the men and everyone is competing to be better than someone else. They are about halfway through the course with Elise and Blake leading the charge. Damn, this girl is competitive. And vocal. She’s encouraging her team while she plows ahead trying to beat them. Even though Blake appears to totally be in his element and will easily leave everyone behind, I would put my money on Elise before I would him.
There’s a ten-foot wall climb in the middle of the course with two ropes knotted in different increments. Elise makes a quick move that trips Blake up. It would be hard to catch if you weren’t looking for it. Almost like tipping the elbow of your opponent about to shoot a basket. Unfortunately, Blake grabs her to balance himself, which is against the rules, and takes them both down. Hard. Elise lets out a whimper when she hits the ground, and Blake lands on top of her knocking the air out of her lungs. I reach out to stop Theo from going to check on her. Surprisingly, he stays put. Blake hops up and keeps going leaving Elise lying on the ground.
It takes a minute for Elise to get her bearings. Damn, that was a hard fall. This has created an opening for Fran to pass them both. I watch as they regain their positions and overtake Fran at the wall, easily moving on to the next obstacle. Once over the wall, Elise heads towards the next course that requires more mental maneuvering than brawn, and instinctively I know this is where she will overtake Blake.
This is where things get interesting. Elise, seeing that Fran is having some problems getting over the wall, stops and calls to Blake, who is so focused he doesn’t hear her. Or he ignores her and keeps going, I’m not sure which. Climbing back up the wall, Elise leans over to offer a hand down to Fran. It’s no use, they are too far apart. By now, several others have mastered the wall and are well on their way through the rest of the course.
“Let’s go, Fran.” Elise picks up the rope and shows her how to walk the wall. Fran tries but is not able to accomplish the task. Her frustration has gotten the better of her, and she is now begging Elise to let her just go around.
“You got this, Fran. Turn off everything else and climb the wall. Focus.”
“Just go, Elise.” Fran’s exhaustion and frustration is visible.
“No. We all finish.” They make another attempt. She has Fran move up the rope ahead of her, and then Elise follows on her trail in hopes it will force Fran to keep going. Fran makes it about seven feet off the ground before losing her footing. She tumbles into Elise who has to choose to hang onto the rope and let Fran fall on her own, or to let go of the rope and fall together. Elise lets go of the rope and cushions the fall of the smaller Fran. It’s Theo who holds me back this time. For reasons no man will probably understand, the girls are laughing. It takes them a minute to gather themselves and then Elise yells for Ryan who is now several obstacles ahead. He stops and backtracks to Elise. It’s telling. She didn’t yell for Blake. She knew who on her team she needed and figured out a new way to get Fran over the wall. I gotta say, she’s not giving up. What’s just as informative is that without hesitation, Ryan came to Elise when she called.
Elise explains to Ryan that she is going to lift Fran to him so he can pull her up the remainder of the way. Owen steps in and reminds Elise that Fran has to actually climb the wall for it to count. They engage in a heated exchange, but then a light bulb goes off for Elise and she leaves Owen mid-sentence.
“What the hell is she trying now?” Theo says with a smile full of respect for his friend. Elise takes one rope and has Fran take the other. Calling out when to step, Elise walks Fran up the rope with Ryan directly behind her. When Fran hits her proverbial wall at the seven-foot mark, Elise has Ryan support Fran’s body against his, and Fran climbs the wall with her back plastered to Ryan’s front. His arms have to be screaming. Elise beams with a look of pure elation when her friend makes it to the top. You would have thought someone handed her a million dollars. Elise finishes the course, pushing Fran over the line just before she crosses. Both women embrace and celebrate like they’ve just won the Olympics.
The team talks animatedly about the differences in this year’s obstacles. Elise laughs, but is holding her side. She looks exhausted.
“Would Gabby have gone back for Fran?” I ask Owen and Theo.
“My guess is no. Not because she wouldn’t have, but because she knew there was nothing she could offer. Gabby is even. Steady. She wasn’t competing against anyone. She was just in her lane. It wouldn’t have occurred to her that she could go back. She wouldn’t have felt there was a reason to,” Owen says.
“So, if Elise wasn’t out there, who would have gone back for Fran?”
“I think it would have been Ryan. He may not have noticed until the end that Fran wasn’t there, but he would still have gone back. Blake is strong and he’s going to get it done, but he’s got blinders on. He can’t see what’s going on around him. He’s been trained to lead the way, finish the job and then come back to make sure no man is left behind.”
“I agree,” Theo says before dismissing Owen and turning to me. “Elise sees it differently. She understands Blake on a different level than I do. We had an incident a couple of months ago where Blake had to do a couple of questionable things to handle a problem for our client. I wasn’t happy with the means he chose and felt like it endangered Elise. He just plows ahead with a fuck-all mind-set.”
“Add it to our list of things to discuss,” I tell him.
When we join the group, Elise is showing them her side. She is going to have a nasty bruise from one or both of the fall
s she took.
Owen talks to the team about some of the things he observed and what he wants each person to think about then gives them homework for tomorrow. Dinner is being served at the camp hall tonight. Until then, we are on our own.
Nova and I lay on a chaise on the balcony. I don’t know what is going on with me this week, but I find that I don’t want to work. I haven’t not worked since I started my company. Working has always been my balance.
I’ve been attempting to read, but after reading the same paragraph several times over, I give up and settle for something else completely foreign to me—a nap. Tipping the brim of my ball cap low over my sunglass-covered eyes, I enjoy a rare moment of silence. It last about two minutes.
“Is he asleep?” Gabby asks, walking up to the four-top table near me.
Fran flaps her arms in front of my face like a crazy bird, and it takes true talent on my part to not laugh or change my facial expression.
She leans in and I close my eyes.
“He’s asleep,” she surmises and sets a deck of cards on the table. Blake joins them. This should be interesting.
“Will we bother him if we play cards out here?” Blake asks.
“Not if we don’t get too loud. It’s too pretty to sit inside,” Gabby says and pulls out a pad of paper. From my angle, I have a visual on everyone except Fran. She has her back partially to me.
“Okay. I’m ready.” Elise sets a drink on the table and takes a seat. “Oops. Is he asleep?” she asks in the worst whisper voice ever. Thankfully, no one notices my lip twitching. I roll my eyes when Nova leaves the spot next to me and goes to lay at Elise’s feet, happy when she rewards him with a pat to his head.
“He’s asleep. If I were reading,” Fran leans over to look at the book lying open over my crotch, “a book on the state of our economy, I’d be asleep too.”
“You look different, Frannie. What’s going on with you?” Gabby asks.
“I know. I noticed it too Gabs,” Blake interjects.
“She’s poppin’,” Elise grins.
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” Fran says, shuffling the cards.
“You are bomb baby, and you know it.” Elise pops some peanuts into her mouth. “What’s the score?”
“Fran and I have 1038,” Gabby replies. “You and Blake have 1122.”
“We need to step it up,” Elise tells Blake. They make their bids.
“Really? On the first hand, you’re going Nil.” Gabby shakes her head in disbelief.
“How long have you guys been playing this game of spades?” Ryan straddles a seat between Gabby and Elise. “We started it our first retreat. We play to 5000.”
“I’ve decided who we need to go as for Halloween this year,” Gabby announces. “The Spice Girls.”
“There were five of them,” Elise says, laughing when Blake thwarts Gabby’s attempt to make Elise take a trick.
“So, we’ll snag two more girls.” Gabby shrugs her shoulders like the problem is solved.
I wonder when Elise plans to tell them she will be in New York for Halloween, I think.
“I have a couple of friends who would do it with you,” Blake offers. “They just had babies, so they should be ready to show off their post-pregnancy bods by October.”
“What is it about Halloween that makes all the moms want to turn it out? It’s like they all have a secret desire to be sluts and Halloween is the only time they can show off.”
“You know what tomorrow night is,” Ryan says with his head propped up by his arms resting on the back of his chair.
“I’m not doing it this time,” Elise says, throwing a card.
“You have to,” Blake says. “You spit rhymes better than anyone.”
Elise doesn’t respond and they move on. The song changes to Celine Dion.
“I cannot stand this song. The reason she is all by herself is because she is singing that song.” Elise laughs at her own joke. It’s endearing.
“How’s it going with Susie?” Gabby asks Blake.
“I had to break it off with her.”
“’Cause her name is Susie?” Elise deadpans. I swear I almost give myself away.
“’Cause she makes porn star noises,” he says.
Everyone stops for a beat and looks at him. Then, as if choreographed, they all move again at the same time.
“What about Joel,” Blake asks Gabby.
“I had to break it off with him.”
“Why?”
“He made ugly sex faces.” She lays her card down, never missing a step.
Elise lets her hand fall to the table. “You broke up with him because of ugly sex faces?”
“Yes. It’s a deal breaker.”
“I don’t understand,” Elise says.
“Well, Elise.” Gabby thrums her fingers over her lips. “How can I make you understand?” She pauses. “When he comes, he makes this face.” Gabby makes the most awful face, and I bite the inside of my lip to keep from blowing my cover.
“I once fucked a girl who called me ‘Daddy’ when she came.” Blake lays the last card. He and Elise high-five that she was able to take zero tricks.
“I have issues with any girl who wants to call me ‘Daddy,’” Ryan says. “I don’t like the visual or implication.”
“Agreed,” Elise says and leans down to pet Nova while Blake shuffles and deals. They make their next predictions and start another game.
“What about Aaron?” they ask Fran.
“I broke it off.”
“How long was I gone for?” Elise asks indignantly. “I leave for six weeks and you all lose your significant others.”
“We don’t make sense without you, Yoda.” Gabby says.
“So why no Aaron?” Elise asks.
“He didn’t want to invest in me.”
“So, you broke up with him because he wouldn’t spend money on you?” Blake asks. Elise throws a peanut at him. Hard. She lands it right between his eyes.
“It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye,” Blake says, narrowing his at Elise.
“I don’t need him to spend money on me. I wouldn’t care if he took me to McDonald’s if that was the best he could do. It was like he didn’t want to be seen with me in public.”
“You know what they say,” Gabby chimes in. “The most expensive meal you’ll eat is my pussy.” She lays down the queen of spades. This disgruntles Fran.
“What do you mean he didn’t want to be seen with you in public?”
“I mean…oh no you don’t, Elise. I ended it. It’s fine.”
“I was just asking.”
“No, you were fixing. I don’t need you to avenge a bad date for me.”
“He wasn’t just a bad date. You liked him. If he treated you badly, I want to know.”
“I swear, Donovan. If I find out you did something.”
Elise shrugs and continues with her cards.
“So, no run-in with Robert?” Fran asks as if she has just deployed her secret weapon.
“Nope.”
“Good. I hated that guy,” Ryan says.
“Ditto,” all the others say at once.
“It wasn’t his fault,” Elise says.
“Whose was it?” Ryan asks. “And I swear to God, I will lose my shit, Elise, if you say it was yours.”
“It was mine.” She places a hand on Ryan’s to stop him before he starts. “It’s my fault for not demanding he be worthy.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” Blake asks.
“It means the person I end up with will know they are the most amazing man on this planet, for he has my heart.” Fuck, did I find myself wanting more and more to be that man.
“You’re not the only one who can make phone calls.” Blake tilts his beer to Elise.
“Trust me,” she soothes him. “I handled it.”
They play cards for about 45 minutes before Theo comes out and shoves my shoulder. I pretend to wake.
“I need to talk to you.”
He starts into the house. “Elise,” he calls out. Instead of holding the game for her, they decide to call it and head back to their cabins, leaving just the three of us.
“Jackson Hollingsworth just called. He needs me in New York tomorrow.”
“Need me to come with you?” Elise asks.
“Any other time I would say yes, but I’m not really sure why they need me. Emme Taylor has handled this beautifully. I see why people say she’s so good.”
“It must be going negative for Blaine Moore for Jackson to call you in,” says Elise, who has transitioned into work mode in the blink of an eye. Maybe she never truly turns it off. “Why don’t you take Ryan?”
“I’ll be fine. I should be back the day after tomorrow, in time for the wrap-up and to make the announcement to the team. I had planned on taking you to dinner tonight since the team is going into town. Either join them or Reid can take you.”
“I think I can manage a dinner on my own,” Elise retorts. “Need me to help you pack?”
“No, I have my go bag with me,” he says, giving her a kiss on her temple. He shakes my hand before leaving. Elise follows him out.
I watch from the window as she waves when he drives away. I’m as patient as I can be, but as soon as she turns to close the door behind her, I reach out and lock it before turning her to me and laying claim to her mouth.
Reid devours my mouth the minute I walk into the chalet. His lips bruise mine as he pours himself into me. This. Man. Can. Kiss.
He roughly turns me toward the door with my back to him, pulls my shirt over my head, and unhooks my bra, pushing the straps down my shoulders but not all the way off. His hand fists my hair, turning my face to him, capturing my mouth again.
“Do you want me to fuck you?” I can feel his hot breath against my ear.
“Please.”