“Training equipment” Ty said as he watched me stare wide eyed.
“You train up here?” I followed him to a picnic bench keeping my eye on Eli, who was currently trying to climb the rope but was having no luck.
“Yeah,” Ty nodded and put the bag down.
“Ty, come play wiv me!” Eli shouted.
Ty smiled wide at me, his teeth showing then spun round and ran for Eli.
They spent the next hour using the different equipment. They walked across the wooden beams, climbed the rope wall, ducked under the rope that was low to the ground.
All the while laughing, it was just as much fun to watch them.
Halfway through they tried to get me to have a go on the equipment, but there was no way that I was going to try. I’d end up breaking something, when I said this to Ty he laughed and ran across one of the beams.
“Come on sweetheart, have a go,” Ty nodded to the climbing wall.
“Yeah, please mama!” Eli smiled sweetly his hands together as he fluttered his eyes.
I really didn’t want to fall flat on my face but I wanted to join in the fun. Biting my lip I contemplated it. They looked like they were having so much fun and the whole point of today was to make some new memories.
“Come on then.” I dusted my hands on my jeans and hooked my leg over the bench Eli squealed and ran ahead of me.
They both waited at the bottom of the rope for me, taking a deep breath I planted my foot on the bottom rung. I squealed as it swung with my weight gripping onto one of the squares like my life depended on it.
I waited for the rope to stop moving then scaled it as fast as I could, slow and steady as my leg started to burn. Considering I still wasn’t fully healed I’d say I did it quite well. I swung my leg over the top and sat on the wooden frame to give my body a rest.
Grinning down at them I said “Bet you couldn’t do it that fast.”
Ty tilted his head, his shoulders back. He backed away from the rope and ran at it, making it up to me within a couple of seconds he swung his leg over the top bar pointed at me and said “Oh yeah?”
I rolled my eyes swinging my other leg over to climb down. I was doing okay until Ty started to climb down at the same time as me. The rope started to move in all directions.
My foot slipped, closing my eyes tight I braced for the fall.
It never came, instead a hand grabbed onto me. I hugged the rope
s and breathing a sigh of relief.
That was until I realized that Ty had grabbed my butt to stop me from falling. I opened my eye watching as his were fixated on his where his hand was.
“Ty?” I croaked.
He looked up at me, his eyes full of hunger. My tongue came out to wet my bottom lip his eyes tracking the motion.
“Mama!”
We both pulled back eyes wide. How had I forgotten that Eli was there?
I didn’t know how much longer I could be around Ty without something happening. It was getting harder and harder to be around him and not want to kiss his soft looking lips.
And now I was thinking about his lips. Again.
Chapter Twenty
The big gates loomed over me like a dark cloud reminding me that I still hadn’t stepped foot outside of the compound. Every day when I walked past them they reminded me that the outside world was still there.
That Max was still out there.