Scoring Wilder(24)

Midway through the course there was a mud pit so narrow that only one person could crawl through at a time. The goal was to crawl beneath barbed wire across the entire field without scratching your back.

When it was my turn, I slid down to my stomach, feeling the cool mud slide between my fingers. I was adjusting into a good pose when a heavy shoe dug into my back and my entire body fell into the mud, face and all. Ew. Ew. Ew.

"What the?!" I coughed.

"Oh my gosh, my bad! I must have tripped," Tara's voice rang out overhead.

I twisted my upper body to stare up at her and she started bursting out laughing. "You have mud all over your face!"

Correction: I had mud everywhere: my mouth, ears, and nose included. Instead of responding to her, I used a clean part of my shirt to wipe my eyes, but it hardly helped. That's when I saw Liam standing behind Tara looking royally pissed. His sharp features were masked in a furious scowl, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was going to tell her off. I didn't bother sticking around to find out. I crawled through the mud pit imagining an elaborate dream sequence that included Tara falling onto barbed wire while Liam carried me off into the sunset. Weird, David Beckham was there too and he also wanted to help carry me, and then for some reason they had to take their shirts off... damn the pit ended before I got to the good part.

After the mud pit, the course wove into a dense forest. Most of the team started to split up even more, but Becca and I stayed close together as the tree canopy darkened over the path. Midway through, I couldn’t see anyone near us other than Liam. For whatever reason, he was holding back and keeping pace with us instead of racing ahead. The path continued through the forest until it was blocked by a giant lattice of rope that spanned a few yards above the ground. There was nowhere to go but up, unless you wanted to just walk around the path… but that was cheating.

"Geez, that's freaking tall," Becca huffed, bending forward and resting her hands on her knees. I followed suit and then twisted around to see Liam eyeing the rope lattice. His shirt was covered in sweat and his dirty blonde hair was slicked back and sinfully sexy. I loved seeing that version of him; it made me imagine him hot, sweaty, and naked above me.

Woah. Slow down there, tiger.

I caught his eye and he narrowed his gaze on me, tilting his head an inch to the side. I whipped my head back toward the rope and tried to control how flustered he made me feel.

"I can't go yet. I need to catch my breath," I said to Becca.

A flash of movement whipped by me as Liam passed us and started spanning the roped web. He made it look effortless, and Becca and I stood there gawking up at him as he climbed foot after foot. The whole process probably took him a minute, tops.

Well. Let’s add that to the list of things he can do.

1. Sex-up ladies

2. Play professional soccer 3. Wear Calvin Klein boxer briefs like it was his life’s calling 4. Climb tall rope things



"Let's go. The longer you stand there, the worse it seems," he shouted down to us.

Becca cast me an exasperated glance.

"I'll go first," I said, feeling more confident as I moved toward the bottom of the lattice.

"Take it easy and make sure you don't lose your footing. There's no net to catch you if you fall," Liam warned.

His words took whatever morsel of confidence I had and shredded it. Why the hell was Coach Davis making us do this? If I fell and broke my leg, I'd be out for the whole season. Oh, but at least I’ll have bonded with my team. No, wait, I haven’t done that either.

I pushed aside the thought and started to climb up the web. It was strange trying to get my bearings because the lattice dipped forward and back as I climbed higher. My heart sank every time it shifted. Once I'd moved past the midway point, I knew there was no going back. I couldn't look down, and when I glanced up, Liam's intimidating gaze stared back at me, so I kept my eyes trained on the rope in front of me.

"C'mon, Kinsley. You're almost there," Liam urged me on. I took a deep breath and kept climbing. I was almost to the top when my foot missed the bottom rung of the rope that I was aiming for. My foot met empty air, and I kicked out, trying to stabilize my weight, but I wasn't quick enough. My right arm slipped from where I was holding the rope above my head.

I gasped.

"Kinsley!" Becca yelled from the ground just as my heart kicked into overdrive.

Holy shit.

"Kinsley, reach up. Give me your arm, you're okay." Liam was soothing me even before he'd caught me. I used my core muscles to stretch my right arm to where his hands were reaching toward me. He scooped me up like he was pulling a little kid out of a pool. One moment I was hanging there, feeling my body freeze in panic, and the next I was standing beside him on the plank of wood, breathing quick, shallow breaths.

"Holy shit," I laughed, resting my hands on my head and bending forward. I knew I was fine. I knew I would have been fine even if Liam hadn't helped me, but I still couldn't calm down.

Then Liam made it worse, ten trillion times worse, when his strong hand came to rest on my lower back. HELLO WARM AND FUZZIES. My heart completely stopped— as in took a vacation from my body— and then it kicked into overdrive.

"You’re okay, Kinsley,” he soothed. “You wouldn't have fallen. I wouldn't have let you fall," he said, soothing his hand back and forth along my back.