Page 14 of Stunts and Sparks

When she got to the obstacle course, she took the time to stretch and make sure her shoes were double knotted. Then she pulled the stopwatch out of her pocket and hung it around her neck. The moon wasn’t quite full, but it was large enough to provide some light. Heather positioned herself at the starting line and readied the stopwatch. Then she hit the start button and began.

The course was much more of a challenge at night, but Heather was determined not to let it beat her. When she checked the stopwatch again, she found that her time was even more than before, which was disappointing to say the least. She talked herself out of feeling down by telling herself it was just the dark. The trick was going to be getting used to doing the obstaclecourse in this light. Once she had that down, doing it in broad daylight would be easy as pie.

She took a deep breath and tried the course three more times. Each run, her time got a little shorter, and she got a little more sure-footed. She took a moment to towel the sweat from her face and take a sip from her water bottle, which she’d packed in the bag she’d brought with her. She had come ready to work hard, and she meant to keep on doing so. To motivate herself, she imagined Cole’s face tomorrow when she would beat him easily, despite him getting plenty of sleep and her getting next to none. Let him try to use that as an excuse this time.

The sheer number of times she’d run the course both that day and this evening was starting to make her legs a little wobbly. Partway through the course, she had the thought that she should probably call it a night and head to bed. But she told herself just one more run wouldn’t hurt. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

On the final run, she lagged. She could feel it happening, but she pushed on. And right at the end, when she could practically taste the finish line, her foot caught the edge of a tire and she came down hard. Instinctively she caught herself, and the lightning strike of pain shooting up her arm made her scream.

She had cursed on her way down and again when she hit the ground. Her immediate reaction was to try to leap back up again, but the second she put even the tiniest bit of weight on her wrist, pain shot up her arm. Her delayed reaction was one of pure panic. She was convinced she’d injured herself again. There was no chance pain this intense wasn’t caused by a break or a fracture, at least. And would she ever work again? All her skills were in the realm of the physical. She had nothing to offer an office job. She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid as to riskruining her entire life just because she couldn’t accept the fact that she’dalmostlost a competition to someone she didn’t like.

Heather was alone in the woods, and life as she knew it was as good as over. She felt the tears on her cheeks before she even realized she was crying. She felt so stupid, and in her head, she was berating herself for making an unforgivably stupid decision.

Seconds before she made the even stupider decision to stay on the forest floor and wallow for the rest of the night, someone came out from the edge of the trees and crouched down beside her. Her vision was blurred by tears, but she recognized the voice immediately when Cole said, “What have you gone and done to yourself now?”

She looked up to see the hulking shadow hovering over her. “I… think I broke my wrist.” Just voicing her fear caused her to burst into renewed tears.

“Oh, I doubt that,” Cole said. His hands were on her shoulders, and he was gently pulling her to a sitting position so she wasn’t cradling her wrist anymore. “Come on now. Let me see it.”

Heather sobbed. “It’s over. I’m so stupid, and now it’s all over. I’ll never work again.”

Cole pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. “Let’s take a look.”

“Like you’re a doctor or anything,” she snapped at him, even though he hardly deserved it.

“See?” he said. “You’re not so badly hurt that you can’t harness your famous snark.” He prodded her wrist and she screamed when a new bolt of pain shot up her arm. “I may not be a doctor,but I’ve seen quite a few injuries in my life. Anyway, I don’t see any obvious signs of a break. You can relax.”

“I don’t believe you.” She glared up at him.

Cole shrugged. “You should believe me either way. You’ll heal better if you stay calm. Let’s get some ice on that.” He helped her to her feet and then, to her shock, lifted her into his arms.

“I don’t need to be carried,” she said, secretly grateful regardless. Her standoffishness was all an act at this point.

“Relax, sweetheart. This way you won’t trip and fall on it again. It’s purely for practical reasons. I’m not interested in romance tonight.”

Heather wanted to say something insulting back, but the truth was, she just didn’t have the energy for it. Not only that, but his chest was too warm and comfortable. Something about the pressure of his arms around her and his confidence was actually slowing her heart down. “Are you sure it’s not broken?” she said, shocked at how shaky her voice sounded.

“Like you said, I’m not a doctor, but I’ve seen lots of injuries and suffered some myself, if you can believe it.” He winked down at her, and she felt her cheeks turn red. To hide them, she buried her face in his shirt. “At worst, it’s a fracture, but I saw you fall. I really think it’s just your run-of-the-mill injury. Some pulled tendons and bruises. I’d bet cash on it if that’ll make you feel better.”

From her place against his shirt, she muttered, “How much?”

He chuckled. “Well, I don’t have much cash on me this weekend, but let’s make it a cool hundred.”

“Okay, good. That way if I broke my wrist, I at least got something out of it.” She paused and realized how weird this entire situation was. “Hey, what were you doing in the woods at night anyway?”

There was a moment of silence, and then he asked, “Should I lie or be creepy?”

“Don’t lie,” she said.

“You weren’t in the cabin when I expected you to be, and I suspected you were doing exactly what you were doing.” He laughed a little and Heather couldn’t blame him. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but it’s fascinating to watch you work. If you hadn’t fallen down, I could have crept away like a proper stalker and you never would have known.”

“I guess I should be grateful you’re super creepy, then,” Heather quipped.

“Maybe just tonight,” he said. “You can yell at me for it later. I won’t mind.”

Heather’s wrist still throbbed, but now that her panic was settled, she realized it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d feared. Cole was right, though she hated to admit it. And his arms felt nice around her body, cradling her and making her feel safe. The night was cool and quiet with only the occasional rustling breeze. When they got out of the forest, she saw clouds in wispy strips above them. It was kind of beautiful really.

When they reached the cafeteria, Cole set her back on her feet. “Don’t go running off now,” he said. “I’m going to find a way in.”

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