I can’t adjust it for her to go easier on her. I don’t think I would even if I could. She can do this. If not today, we’ll get her there.
“We’re going to time you on this. Eventually, I want you to be through everything, without failing, in less than fifteen minutes.”
She blinks at me. “How long does it take you to do it?”
“Eight minutes.”
“Christ.” She shakes her head, and she looks nervous as hell.
“Do you want me to do it first, and you watch?”
“Yes. Hello, eye candy.”
Shaking my head with a laugh, I hand her the stopwatch.
“Go!”
I make it through each obstacle—swinging through hanging rings, climbing over walls, crawling under rope webs, the whole thing—with Lena running beside me, watching raptly.
When I ring the bell at the end, she stops the watch and lifts an eyebrow.
“Seven minutes, fifty-six seconds.”
“Your turn.” I’m out of breath, but damn, it feels good. Sometimes, I come out here and run the course over and over again for exercise.
“I don’t want to.”
“Don’t care.” I cross my arms over my chest, unmoving. “Let’s go. We don’t have all day, Lena.”
Her brows pull together for just a heartbeat, and then she firms her chin and moves to stand in front of the tires.
I hate how nervous she looks.
“Every time you give up, you start back at the beginning.”
“Okay, hard-ass.”
“Just spelling it out for you.”
“How long are we doing this?”
“Until you’re able to get through it all and finish.”
“So for several months, then. You’re going to get tired, Sergeant.”
“That’slieutenant. Stop stalling. Go!”
She runs through the tires without a problem.
“Take your time through those tires.”
She flips me off, and it makes me grin.
She’s so fucking adorable.
But when she gets to the rings, where she has to hang and move hand over hand to the other side, she falls.
“Back to the start.”
