Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (30 page)

“Krista, I can smell the alcohol,” Dean said
with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s coming out of my pores.”

They shakily moved closer to the ropes. It
was a slow, worrying procession—for the ref included. Krista
ardently wished she hadn’t drank so much last night!

“Okay,” Sean said, with his hands firmly on
Krista’s thighs. The ref moved in another step, apparently
intending to catch her when she plummeted to her death. Little did
he know it would be a welcome relief from the pain in her head.

“Krista, you are going to have to stand up on
my shoulders. Can you do that while leaning down to grab Don and
Dean’s hands?”

“Yeah. Slowly.” Sean braced himself and she
stood up into a sorta crouch. “Is this a good time to mention I
don’t love heights?”

“No,” Donald and Dean said together.

“Okay, then I won’t mention it.”

Krista had a kinda-crouch going, shakily,
while Sean reached up her leg to grab the tops of her thighs where
they attached to her hip. There was nothing sexual about this. If
she fell it would be head first.

“Okay Krista, we are going to walk you
closer. When you get there, we’ll have to walk you through it. When
you get fatigued, let us know,” Sean instructed.

“I’m fatigued.”

“When you are about to pass-out, then.”

“Oh. Damn.”

Everyone was on point for the dangerous
stunt. Krista got right up next to the hole and nearly put her head
through when she sounded the alarm.

“This isn’t going to work.” She grunted more
than spoke.

“What’s up?” Sean grunted back. They were
like two cavemen.

“I need to get my hands through first.
Donald, can you reach through without touching the ropes? Georgie,
you’ll need to grab my other one from that side. Bob, get ready to
grab my shoulders as they come through and down. Please don’t drop
me.”

There were yeses and grunts. They continued
with their slow progress. Nearly too slow. Krista and Sean only had
so much strength. Krista put her hands through the hole, balancing,
grasping offered hands, legs shaking with the strain. She was
walked closer, her body going through slowly.

“Where the hell did that white rabbit go?”
Krista grunted.

Georgie snorted again. “Don’t make me laugh
right now, this is serious.”

“See, Sean? I’m hilarious.”

“And heavy. Hurry up.”

“You’re going to give…me…a complex. Loosen
your grip, Sean, I need to straighten out!”

Krista’s forehead was beading in sweat. Her
underarms and back were, too. Sean was no better off, articulating
her weight with only his arms to navigate it. The rest of the guys
had gone a step beyond, not exercising much over the years, and
were outright panting.

Except Bob who was a lazy sack of poop and
not helping at all.

Sean put his hands lower on Krista’s legs.
Krista’s hands were being held, as were her upper-calves, but the
rest of her was a bridge; nothing but air, a worried ref talking on
his walkie-talkie about backup, and ropes. Usually a person would
use a knee to brace themselves and hold their body up, but that
wasn’t possible. All Krista’s muscles were taut. If she hadn’t been
doing yoga regularly, she probably wouldn’t have been able to stick
it. As it was, she looked like she had cerebral palsy.

“Do I need to hold you by the crotch? Can you
support your body?” Sean asked seriously.

Krista laughed, she couldn’t help it, making
her whole body sway. “Romantic gesture, but no. Just…let’s get a
move on.”

Sean crept forward and Krista straightened,
getting more of her body through the ropes. Now the lion’s share of
her weight was being supported on her hands. The guys on the
winning side were starting to have a hard time holding her.

“Okay, Bob.” Krista’s voice was as strained
as her body. “I am going to dip my head down. Come grab my
shoulders. Sean, can you lift my feet and put them through when I
have most of my weight on Bob?”

Krista felt Sean’s hands slide down to her
ankles and grab tightly.

“Ready?” Sean called. Apparently that was a
yes.

“Yup.”

Krista bent her head and saw Bob reach for
her shoulders in distaste. At least he did it. Her legs lifted as
Sean started to pass her through.

“Wait!” Krista yelled.

Sean froze, his arms shaking as bad as
Krista’s whole body.

“How does this end? I am not going to climb
down Bob.”

“I’ll grab your legs as they come through,”
Georgie grunted.

“Then what? Drop me?”

“Krista, gotta do something, you’re looking a
little fragile,” Sean said.

“So are you, Mable. Okay, go with it. If I
fall, hopefully it won’t be on my head.”

The progression continued. Donald had to let
go because Krista was too far away, so Georgie reached up and
grabbed her hip bones.

“Krista, I’m not getting fresh, alright?
Please don’t kick me in the balls,” Georgie said as he struggled
with her weight.

“Georgio-buddy-o, you need to do some
weights. You’re making me feel fat,” Krista said through the
strain.

“Are you sure it’s me?” He answered with a
wheezing laugh.

“Okay, Krista,” Sean said, “I’m putting you
through now. Get ready.”

Krista had her forearms on Bob, making her
much too close to his gross, straining face. Georgie was awkwardly
trying to grab her lower stomach to hold her up. Sean wasn’t
letting go because he knew she would topple to the ground. In
short, it was a mess.

“Sean, just let go!” Krista yelled.

“You’re going to fall!” he retorted.

“Let go!” Krista yelled again.

“I got her…kinda!” Georgie exclaimed.

The ref moved in closer, followed by three
more guys he’d called in.

“Don’t let the refs touch me!” Krista
screamed. “I will not let all this go to waste!”

“We’re just here in case something goes
wrong,” The head ref said, hands out.

“Something did—I showed up. Sean
let
go.”

Sean let go. No one was ready for it even
though they were expecting it. Krista went down like a sack of
potatoes. Georgie tried to help, but ended up falling with her. She
skidded down Bob’s fat stomach and hit the dirt with a loud grunt.
A ref fell on top of her, followed by Georgie, followed by another
ref.

“Great job, guys,” Krista wheezed to the
refs, flattened against the ground. “Good looking out.”

“Are you okay?” Sean asked too loudly.

“I’m fine. It could’ve been worse. I could
have rocks in my mouth instead of dirt. Dirt doesn’t chip
teeth.”

The whole progression was quickly helped to
their feet. Georgie was dusted off, and Krista thankfully wasn’t
touched.

“Okay,” she said, looking everyone over.
“Dean, you think you can follow my lead? Your hole isn’t as high,
but you’ll have to do much the same thing I did.”

Dean looked like a cornered rabbit. “Sean,
probably best if you do it.”

Sean smiled and hung his head. “I was afraid
you would say that. Alright, how are these two guys going to get me
up five feet in the air?”

“Lift you?” Krista asked with candor.

Donald and Dean had a hell of a time trying
to get Sean through the ropes. Sean tried to keep it together, and
barely did so using all his strength. His whole body was taut, the
sun glinting off his straining shoulders. He came through the
ropes, looking for someone to hold him on the other side. It was
slim pickings. Bob backed away like the coward he is, so Georgie
and Krista stepped up with hands out.

“Krista, your arms haven’t a hope of holding
me!” Sean yelled, his shirt coming up and exposing his exerted,
rippled abs.

“Put your hand on my shoulder,” she said
back, trying to get her mind off of him naked. “Me strong like
bull—except my arms.”

He did so with both Georgie and her. The
difference was, Krista didn’t bother holding his arm like Georgie
was—Georgie was a lot stronger. Instead, she put her hands on her
thighs and did a wide, half squat. She hoped it would be stable
enough. Georgie followed suit.

Sean’s muscular arms held him as Donald and
Dean staggered him forward.

“How does a skinny, six-foot guy weigh so
much?” Dean asked while the veins were popping out in his neck.

“Muscle is much heavier than fat,” Donald
rasped. “Made of denser material.”

It took everything they had to lift him
enough to get him through the rope, then they unceremoniously
shoved him the rest of the way. The refs ran in again. They did
exactly as bad a job with Sean as they had with Krista.

“Bob, make sure his feet don’t hit the
ropes!” Krista yelled as the guys were pushing.

Bob didn’t move all that fast, and didn’t get
there in time. Luckily, it didn’t matter. Sean came hurtling toward
them, the refs panicking, Krista and Georgie accepting their fate,
and Sean curling his feet as he fell so they missed the
rope—
barely
!

Georgie held his ground pretty well, having a
good 200 lbs to anchor. Krista didn’t. For the second time in a
half hour, she went down like a sack of potatoes, followed by Sean.
Followed by two refs.

Rather than get up right away, unlike the
refs, Sean just laid there, face buried in her neck, upper body
sprawled over her. It felt good. It felt like old times when they
laid in random spots in the house after sex. She felt his body on
her, his heartbeat racing hers, and again thought
home
.

The bad news was that they weren’t alone.

“Ouch,” Krista said with her arms spread out
in the dirt.

Sean slowly got up, then pulled her up after.
The way his eyes bored into her said he had exactly the same
thought she did. He wanted her. Really, really badly.

“Next,” Georgie said out of breath.

Everyone groaned.

They got Dean through the next highest one,
which was only about four feet in the air, then Donald through one
in the side that was small, but doable at about three feet. They
were all through. Desperately tired, dirty and disgruntled, but
through.

No one talked as they followed the ref to an
area that had a big rope ladder with lunch awaiting on the other
side. All they had to do was climb over. The catch—because there
always was one—the rope wasn’t stationary. They swiveled all over
the place as they climbed. It took balance. Donald fell off twice.
Dean once. Georgie did okay, but cursed the whole weekend after.
Sean was like a monkey and Krista did just fine, being that the
rope wasn’t high off the ground to incite Krista’s fear of heights.
And Bob…well, Bob didn’t fare so well. He did eventually make it,
pushed on by Dean, but it took five attempts.

All the attempts, combined with Krista’s
acceptance and success, grated on his last nerve. He was about to
crack. Krista saw it a mile away. He would not join the team. Of
that, she was certain. And because of that fact, if she ever hoped
to remain with the company, he had to be pushed out. He had to be
humiliated. And she was happy to do so—but the timing had to be
right.

Chapter Twenty

After a break and some sandwiches, they
charged forward to the next challenge. It wasn’t their idea; they
would have stayed on a break for another three hours, but the ref
was keeping them to a schedule. Apparently not many of the other
regions tackled as many obstacles as L.A. did. Well, actually, they
showed up to the same number of obstacles, but not as many actually
went through with it. Imagine lifting Perry…

Because of that, L.A. was behind on time.

They went on to puzzle after puzzle, the
challenges thankfully getting easier physically, but harder to
solve. There were blocks that had to be fit together. There were
word puzzles and riddles. All of it intended for the team to work
together. And it did, for the most part. Everyone had a say if they
wanted it. And most gave input when it was something they were good
at.

It was through those challenges that a few
things started showing through. The first was those who were
melding as a team, and those who were getting farther apart. Donald
and Georgie had thoroughly joined team Krista, and had always been
with team Sean. Bob was not comfortable with team Sean, and still
loathed the sound of Krista’s voice. It was Dean who was the
surprising element. He was not drifting with Bob, as he once did.
Instead, he tried to participate as much as possible, excited with
the challenge and working together. He was also turning a blind eye
to the girl. He obviously still didn’t love her, but he didn’t hate
her, either. His mind was opening.

This further enraged Bob.

The next thing to come to light was who
really led. Sean was the boss. In that, there was no question. But
he always looked to Krista for input.
Always.
Sean would
strategize the issue, figuring out what would be best, then turn to
Krista. Krista would almost always agree, then come up with the
shortest path to that goal. It was Krista who looked to everyone
around her for input, and fed it back to Sean for the final
approval. When they were on par with each other, they were
yin-and-yang—everyone else enhanced an already cohesive team.

The last issue was how irritated the ref was
getting that everyone tried everything. Bob didn’t want to, that
was clear, but he was pushed and prodded to do so. At one point,
Krista thanked the man-code. Otherwise, Bob would have walked off
ages ago. It was from the ref they learned their only competition
was New York, who was also still at it, and who also had most, if
not all, of its members doing all the challenges.

“No way they got through the top hole,
though,” Georgie said as they walked to the final challenge.

“Your team should really not listen to me
when I am speaking into the walkie-talkie,” the solemn ref said in
front of them.