Before I put on the blindfold, I look to her. She inhales sharply under my gaze.
“I trust you.” And then darkness envelops me.
Moments later, I hear a whistle indicating the challenge has begun. But the second we start, I nearly misstep.
“There are some planks ahead,” Lyla yells to me. “So… yeah.”
I stop. “Little one, I need more information than that.”
“What? You want a play-by-play?”
“Tell me what’s in front of me.”
She huffs out a sigh like I’ve inconvenienced her. “Planks.”
No shit.
“They’re very…planky,” she adds.
I turn in the direction of her voice. “Did you just describe wood as ‘planky’?”
“I’m a wedding planner, not a carpenter. Not that you’d know.”
If only she knew…
I can’t help but smirk. “Keep talking. I need your voice.”
She scoffs. “That’s funny, because you didn’t seem to need it for a decade.”
Despite her lack of guidance, I try to move anyway. With the dragging of my feet across the planks and my hands holding the rope on either side of me, I’m able to move at least five steps from where I started. But each step costs me my balance.
I wobble before finding my footing again. I bite back a curse.
“Oh.” She feigns innocence with sarcasm in her voice. “Was I supposed to help?”
That bratty attitude would sound very different over my knee.
But as much as I’d love to imagine that or make it reality, the chances of that happening are slim to none. At least for now.
I manage to steady myself again before I come across what feels like a gap of open air under my foot.
“Lyla, what’s happening?”
I’m met with silence for a long moment before I hear an extensive sigh.
“There’s a gap under your foot. Stretch out your leg. A little more. Yes. Right there.”
Following her instructions, I feel my foot eventually meet solid wood.
“Okay, couples!” Miranda’s peppy voice reaches my ears. “Time to switch!”
Finally.
I pull off the blindfold and turn to Lyla as she walks through the obstacle course to me. Anticipation coils tight in my chest.
She looks like she’d rather face the obstacle course alone than hand control over to me.
Moments later, I secure the helmet on her head, while someone from the crew releases me from the harness, and straps her in. Despite the producer’s insistence the obstacle course is safe, I test the knots around her—nice and tight. But that doesn’t stop the growing need to get her off of the potential death trap.
