Page 28 of It Started with a Sunset
“Just a few troubles,” Elle said, grunting each word as they tried to force their unruly pool noodles into a big arch. “Nothing we can’t handle.”
The four of them barely got both obstacle courses finished before the first of the teams came back from the scavenger hunts, and then all four of them were busy checking off the winners’ findings and, once everyone had returned, awarding the winners with LBSU swag.
Then Summer and Brock showed the obstacle courses to the students and explained that each group of six needed to choose one person from their team to go through the course blindfolded. Everyone else on the team could shout out instructions, but they couldn’t touch the person going through the course. And then they started the contests, timing each person as they went, Brock and Summer manning one course and Elle and Everett on the other.
They were on opposite sides of the course—Summer on one side, tying the blindfold on the person competing, and Brock at the other end, timing each competitor. Yet they still caught each other’s eye a lot of times, and it made Brock’s heart leap, just like the student jumping over the jumprope obstacles. There were plenty of times when they were closer, too, and just happened to brush hands or shoulders. A little subtle touch that sent thrills through him.
Once each team had a chance to compete, they were about to award swag to the teams with the top times, but then someone called out, “Wait! We want Summer and Brock to go through it!”
And then the entire group started chanting “Summer and Brock.” Even the ambassadors were joining in.
He looked at Summer. “Do you want to do this?”
She nodded. “I’m all in.” And he suddenly wondered if she was talking about the course.
Elle tied the blindfold on Summer, and then took her hand to lead her to the starting line. Then Everett, who had been holding a timer, said, “Go!”
Brock stood right next to her, just far enough away that they weren’t touching, and said, “Okay, we’re at the jump ropes. Move forward the length of your foot. Okay, now step up. A little higher. Okay, you’re over. Take a big step. A little shuffle. Okay, you’re at the next one.”
On and on, under the arches, between the vertical pool noodles, in and out and in and out of the water jug mines, stepping into the middle of each of the pool noodle rings, and across the wooden plank, he kept his voice calm and quiet amid the chaos of the cheering students, letting her know that he wouldn’t lead her astray.
“You’re at the last obstacle—the hula hoop. Reach your hands out, yeah, right there.”
“Make it in ten seconds and you have the top time!” Everett called out.
“Okay, lift one leg. A little higher. Okay, now put it through the hoop.”
The crowd was counting down now as one. “Five, four...”
“Okay, you’ve almost got that foot to the ground. Got it. Okay, now—”
He could tell the moment she stopped listening to him and listened to the crowd stressing the time because she sped up, catching her foot on the bottom of the hula hoop, causing her to face plant in the grass instead of finishing with what he was sure would’ve been a graceful motion.
The moment she hit the ground, she started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop, which made him start laughing, too. She reached up and pulled the blindfold off her eyes and grinned up at him as he offered her a hand up. She took it and pulled herself up, then bowed to the crowd. “Okay, winners, I think your record time is safe. Let’s get them some swag!”
They finished up the event, giving the prospective students final words and instructions on how to they could waive the application fee since they came to Aquamoose Tracks, reminded them to take home everything they’d brought, told them to email if they had any questions, then told them that they couldn’t wait to see them next fall.
Once all the students had dispersed, the ambassadors helped them to clean everything up and haul it back to the staging room in the Welcome Center before heading back to their dorms.
Exhausted, Brock walked Summer to her car. “So do you typically go home after Aquamoose Tracks and crash for the rest of the day?”
Summer laughed. “Yes, but only for an hour, because there’s just too much to fit into a Saturday to sleep long. Later, I’ll go with Valeria to the tri-town meet-up at Lake Baldwin, like I do every Saturday night. And this time Avery is going with us.”
That sounded so tiring after all they’d done in the previous day and a half. He leaned against Summer’s car and nudged his glasses up, trying not to stare at how beautiful Summer was. Then he decided he didn’t want to keep from staring and just took her in.
A smile tugged at her lips, and she looked down for a moment, possibly embarrassed. But then she looked back up and met his eyes, so he took the moment to ask a question he’d been dying to ask. “Do you want to go on a real date with me?”
“A real date?”
“You know, something traditionally date-ish. Like going to a movie or dinner or bowling.”
“If we go bowling, can we eat bowling alley food?”
Brock tipped his head to the side. “Bowling alley food?”
“Yeah. You know—low-quality burgers, fantastic fries with ranch, soda.”
He smiled. “Then yes, we can.”
