Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(74)

“What about Phoebe and Dev?” Eliana grabbed my and Dev’s hands and started pulling us forward. “I think they should demonstrate for us.”

“No, that’s okay.” I shot a death glare at Eliana. “These exercises are for you guys. We already did this back when we were going into sixth grade.” I looked over at Dev for help, but he just shrugged.

“Which is why you’ll be perfect demonstrators,” Diana said, reaching over to poke her partner’s arm until he nodded in reluctant agreement. “See? Even Mark agrees.”

Mr. Hamm nodded thoughtfully and gestured for Dev and me to come to the front with him. “That’s actually a great idea.”

Ms. Forrester gestured at us to get moving towards the narrow end of the rope V. “Don’t worry, Mr. Hamm and I will talk you through the whole thing. And you’ll have spotters.” She nodded at the four kids Mr. Hamm was organizing around the ropes.

“Why don’t you say anything to try and get us out of this?” I whispered to Dev as we made our way to the tree. “You’re good at convincing teachers about anything.”

“It sounds like fun.” Dev looked over at me with an amused grin. “Or don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t trust trust exercises that involve being off the ground, even if it’s only a little bit off the ground.”

“You’re not instilling confidence in the campers,” Dev pointed out, nodding over at my cabin and how they were watching us with wide eyes and huge grins. Little stinking mini-Em wannabes.

“Believe me, my campers don’t need help when it comes to confidence.”

Eliana made a whooping sound and Dev snorted. He nodded at me, conceding how right I was.

“Ready?”

“Not really.” Maeve would hop onto the rope like it was nothing—heck, she’d probably find a way to do this whole ropes course on her own in a way that would make Aedan marvel yet again at her skills. But Maeve was actually athletic. Meanwhile, there was a massive chance I’d break my ankle. I climbed up onto the rope, hugging the tree with my left arm to keep my balance. “Remember, you’re the coordinated one.” Forget that fear exists.

“You’re the one with insane hand-eye coordination.” Dev jumped onto his rope and took my right hand like he was pulling me into a dance. My chest pressed against his and it really was like we were dancing. “It’s okay. I got you,” he said, and his breath tickled my cheek in a way that made a shiver run through my whole body.

Suddenly, breaking my leg or trying to be like Maeve flew to the back of my mind and I had to work on breathing, instead.

“On three, let go of the tree, grab my hand, and start shuffling down the rope.” He tested his balance and wobbled, swinging his body as he tried to balance. “Whoa.” He let go of my hand and tumbled off the rope, but thanks to my death-grip on the trunk and his instinctive grab at my waist to keep me upright, I stayed on my rope. “Sorry, lost my balance,” he said, sounding out of breath. He brushed up close against me, setting every one of my nerves on fire as he stepped back onto his rope and got back into position.

One of the campers let off a wolf-whistle as he took my hand again, and I heard Diana say, “I think he just touched her butt.”

That made me look up at Dev, whose face was growing redder by the second. “I didn’t, um, did I?” he asked, haltingly.

I wanted the ground under us to turn into quicksand so I could jump in and disappear. “No…no, you didn’t.” Ms. Forrester was saying something about balance and planks and working together but neither of us was paying her any attention.

His entire body shifted with a relieved exhale. “Good. Because…” he broke off and cleared his throat before putting on his serious game-face. “Okay, let’s get this over with. On three? One, two,” and with his three, I let go of the tree and fumbled for his other hand as we wobbled like we were trying to balance on jelly.

“Lean into each other,” Mr. Hamm called out.

I choked back a laugh. If we leaned any closer, the kids would have even more stuff to giggle about.

“Lock your arms and keep moving,” Ms. Forrester added as she joined Mr. Hamm in the center of the V to catch us in case we fell.

I fought the urge to lean back and away from the buzz that ran across my skin he closer I came to Dev and forced myself to lean into him while pushing against his hands. Dev kept his eyes trained on the ground while I split my attention between his face and his feet.

The thirty seconds of moving down the rope took a lifetime. Before we got to the point where we were leaning at over forty-five degree angles to each other, Dev stepped off his rope. He held his grip steady until I was back on solid ground, then quickly let go of my hands. “Let’s stop while we’re ahead,” he said.

“Good idea.”

“See? Easy, right?” Ms. Forrester didn’t seem to notice our awkward shuffling and, without waiting for a response, turned to the campers. “Now, it’s your turn. Any volunteers?”

Mr. Hamm clapped Dev on the shoulder and nodded at me as he passed us. “Good job. Take a break, you two. We’ve got them from here.”

“Thanks.” I picked my way over to a fallen log behind the rope tree and sat, trying to ignore the possibility of crawly things on it. The log was the perfect spot to watch my campers without getting sucked into another demonstration.