Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(16)

Caleb let out the pent-up breath he’d been holding, and they walked out together into the bright Harbor City morning.





Chapter Five


The next day, Caleb was waiting for Zara outside of The Adventure Place, which was housed in a huge warehouse down at the harbor’s edge where Bramble had organized an event for matched couples. About twenty people were waiting outside when he got there, each of them pairing off into couples—with the exception of one group of three each wearing “poly proud” T-shirts and looking like they’d all won the Bramble lottery. His date, though, was a no-show.

He checked the Bramble app on his phone for the billionth time. The last message he’d gotten through it informed him that Zara had checked yes for a second date. No updates since then that she’d changed her mind. Shoving his phone in his pocket, he scanned the area, looking for her again.

Finally, just as he was about to give up hope, a small lime-green car turned onto the long drive leading to the warehouse. A Great Dane had his head poking through the open sunroof, the tongue hanging out of its mouth bigger than his mom’s Chihuahua.

As soon as the car came to a stop near the entryway, the passenger door was flung open and Zara scrambled out, her face flush as her gaze darted from one couple to another. When she finally spotted him, she hurried over, making faster time than he thought possible in a pair of sandals that boosted her height by two inches.

“Sorry I’m late.” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail as the fall breeze did its best to whip it around her face. “My dog took one of my shoes again.”

Caleb took a wild guess. “That horse of a dog?”

“Yep.”

A woman opened the glass double doors to the warehouse. “Come on in, Bramble folks. Let’s do this.”

The this in question turned out to be an indoor zip line obstacle course. There were lines that crisscrossed the overhead area of the warehouse with platforms and balance lines along with rolling padded bars that participants had to run across as the bars spun.

The whole thing started with a twenty-foot climbing wall dotted with different-colored holds that stuck out from the surface. The instructor let them know they had to climb up the wall, cross the obstacle course, and then descend the platforms on the other side. As each couple made their way through the course, the leaderboard would show everyone’s time.

“The goal is to get across first?” Zara asked as she exchanged her sandals for a pair of climbing shoes provided by their group leader, Charlotte, who’d spent the last five minutes explaining the equipment to everyone in a lecture that included tips about creating harmony with the universe and achieving balance.

“No, it’s to learn to communicate and work together,” Charlotte said, handing Zara a safety harness. “This is one of those activities that help build connections between couples. You are a team.”

Yeah. That sounded like some BS right there. “Is there a course record?” Caleb asked.

Charlotte shook her head, her serene earth-mama expression not shifting in the slightest. “The Adventure Place is about the journey, not the stats.”

“And no one knows the course record?” Zara asked.

After letting out a sigh that sounded a lot like a whispered plea for serenity now, Charlotte answered, “Six minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Now if we can move the discussion back to setting your personal intentions for the moment.”

Their guide continued on, but Caleb wasn’t listening anymore. He and Zara exchanged a look of understanding as they pulled on their harnesses and tightened the straps around their waists while the rest of the Bramble daters seemed to be hanging on Charlotte’s every word.

Under the guise of adjusting his climbing shoes, Caleb squatted down beside Zara and kept his voice low. “We’re gonna go balls out on this thing, right?”

“Hell yes.”

There was no missing the epic level of kick-ass-or-have-your-ass-kicked competitiveness glimmering in her brown eyes. The woman wasn’t here to play or get in touch with her inner compass. She was here to dominate.

“You know,” he said, grinning at her. “You’re all right.”

She tipped an imaginary hat at him as they followed Charlotte and the rest of the Bramble daters to the wall. “Let’s do this.”

They started up the wall. He set the pace slow, taking it easy and reaching for the different colored holds. Everything in him was screaming to go faster, but he wanted to continue the conversation, and his wingspan was probably as long as Zara’s entire body. Something bright red flashed in his peripheral vision. It took him a second to realize it was Zara ascending the wall like Spider-Man, her ponytail swaying from side to side along with her heart-shaped ass.

He sped up, catching her quickly. “So, what did you think of my ‘already got the hots for her’ answer in the interview?”

“It was something.” She didn’t look his way, just kept her attention focused on picking out the best hold to help leverage her way up. “You were laying it on a little thick, but I suppose you’ve got to fix your fuckup. Really, what were you guys thinking by saying all of that shit? Did you really have to prove the athlete stereotypes true?”

“That’s the thing.” He followed a path upward that was parallel to hers, the movements requiring the kind of concentration that was usually taken up by making sure his mouth wasn’t going off without his brain. “For some of us, it’s not true. I haven’t even slept with that many women. It was just talk for some of the guys.”