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.”
CHAPTER 27
We pulled up to the cabin castle an hour later and the group spilled out of the van, their awe and excitement over Jay’s estate manifesting in excited chatter as we made our way to the back patio.
“It’s even bigger than I remember,” Erica said to Shelby.
“I would kill for a view like this,” Devin said. For a man of few words, it was a pretty long sentence for him to utter.
When we came around the back, Luna was sitting outside on a little bed next to her luxurious doggy house, and she ran up to greet everyone.
“Aw, hey there,” Macey said in a baby voice, kneeling down to cuddle Luna.
Jay went inside to grab the food and returned with burger patties and a package of buns.
“Devin, want to help me?” Jay asked. Devin nodded, and the two of them headed for the grill, conversing asthey began prepping the burgers.
The mouthwatering aroma of grilling meat soon wafted through the air, mingling with the fresh mountain breeze.
I found myself gravitating toward the luxurious fire pit, where Tyler was already sitting. The smokeless fire could be turned on with the flick of a knob, and soon the two of us were in front of a blazing fire, purple, blue, and orange dancing before us.
“Quite the day, huh?” Tyler said, giving me a knowing smile.
“Yeah, it was something else,” I replied, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I didn’t think I’d actually make it through all those zip-lines.”
Tyler chuckled. “You did great, though.”
I laughed. “Yeah, well I couldn’t have done it without you. So thank you.”
“No problem.”
We settled into a comfortable silence that was only interrupted occasionally by the pop of the fire. Around us, the rest of our coworkers were chatting and laughing together. Soon, the adrenaline in my system finally dissipated, and I was able to relax a bit.
Twenty minutes later, everyone began gathering around the large picnic table, where plates, buns, and all the fixings were laid out.
“Food is ready!” Jay called.
Tyler and I got up, grabbed plates, and assembled our burgers with our favorite toppings.
“This looks amazing,” I said, taking a seat back by the fire pit with my loaded burger. I’d worked up quite the appetite and allowed myself a generous portion of tomatoes and grilled onions.
“Yeah, Jay knows how to grill, that’s for sure. I willadmit I actually look forward to our office outings mainly because of the food,” Tyler said, taking a bite of his own burger and nodding in approval.
Macey joined us not long after, a mischievous look on her face.
“So, what do you think?” Macey asked, looking up at the cabin castle with a mischievous glint in her eye.
