But if Scarlett meant for me to do the course with Leah Mae, that would mean…
“Hold on there, Scarlett—”
“This will be fun,” Scarlett said.
“I don’t think I’m wearing the right shoes,” Leah Mae said.
“You’ll be fine,” Scarlett said. “Barefoot’s better anyway.”
We got to the edge of the field where everyone was getting ready to begin. Bernie O’Dell stood nearby wearing an American flag t-shirt. He had a megaphone in one hand and lengths of rope draped over his other arm. Bowie, Devlin, and Jonah were all there, along with Cassidy and June. Apparently Gibson was smart enough to stay away. I didn’t see him anywhere.
“Kick off your shoes and empty your pockets,” Scarlett said. “Hey Dev, you got the ropes for everyone?”
“Yep.”
“Ropes?” Leah Mae asked as she stepped out of her sandals.
“Ah, hell.” I took off my shoes and put my phone and keys on top of them. Leah Mae put her things next to mine. “Yeah, ropes.”
“All right, y’all,” Scarlett said, raising her voice. “Devlin’s with me. Jonah, you pair up with June. Bowie, that puts you with Cassidy, and Jameson can team up with Leah Mae. Y’all know how this works. Devlin and I are gonna kick everyone’s asses. Got that?”
Devlin handed out lengths of smooth, braided rope to each pair. I took one and let it drape from my hand, feeling like I couldn’t quite make eye contact with Leah Mae.
Jonah and June stood facing each other and wound the rope around their waists. Bowie looked like he was having a hard time taking the last couple of steps to get close enough to Cassidy. She snatched the rope from his hand with a roll of her eyes and got in front of him.
“Come on, Jame, work with me here,” Scarlett said, shoving me and Leah Mae together. “Can you get it, or do you need me to tie it for you?”
Leah Mae and I stood facing each other, just inches apart. I swallowed hard. Good lord, she smelled like citrus and sunshine. How in the hell was I going to do this?
“I, uh… I think I can…”
“Get in there,” Scarlett said, giving me one final shove. “I gotta get roped in.”
I practically crashed into Leah Mae and had to put my arms around her to keep from knocking her over. “Sorry.”
Her body was up against mine, her face close. She laughed softly, her breath warm against my neck. “That’s okay. We have to tie ourselves together?”
“Yeah.” I wound the rope around our waists. Now that she was pressed against me, I didn’t much want that to end. “You know how it is. Bootleggers can’t do anything normal. Even an obstacle course.”
I tied the rope behind her and tried to think of something—anything—to calm down my raging hard-on. One wrong move and Leah Mae was going to rub up against it and that was liable to kill me dead on the spot. But good lord, she smelled good.
“All y’all listen up,” Bernie O’Dell said into his megaphone. “Here’s the rules, and I mean for you to follow them, so don’t go gettin’ any ideas about cheatin’. Partners must stay tied together at all times. Everybody keeps their feet on the ground. No piggybacks or carryin’ each other. The course begins here and ends at the lake. Y’all gotta jump in, but don’t go drownin’ your partner once you’re in the water. We clear?”
Whoops and hollers sounded from around the field.
“Line up, then,” Bernie said.
Everyone’s first attempts at moving while attached to their partners were halting at best. People stumbled, laughing. Giggled as they fell over and struggled to get up.
“I think the trick to this is walking sideways,” I said.
Leah Mae and I turned our faces toward the start line. My arms hung awkwardly at my sides, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them. We managed to get to the start line doing a kind of side-shuffle. Just walking wasn’t so bad, but I had a feeling the rest of the course wasn’t going to be so kind.
Bernie raised his megaphone again. “On your marks. Get set. And, go!”
Jonah and June fell next to us before they’d hardly gotten started. Cassidy and Bowie got off to a better start, moving down toward the first obstacle just behind Scarlett and Devlin. Those two seemed to have the right idea. They were holding each other tight so they could move fast.