The Resurrection of Aubrey Mill

Chapter Six

The curses against Linda are mounting today, which will be my fifth time attending the Elements of Trust class.
The classes started off harmless enough. Eye contact exercises, proximity awareness, trust leans as a group, but today…today is no simple task for me.
Rappelling.
Are you kidding me?
And with Kaeleb as my anchor?
Dr. Palmer has f*cking lost his mind.
Oh, Dr. Martin Palmer. Plump and bearded Palmer. He seems to be genuinely caring as he guides me through the various activities. His kind blue eyes are always watching my interactions with the students, and it almost seems as though he’s monitoring me for some reason. Maybe I’m paranoid, but it feels as if he shows more interest in me than the others.
Or maybe it’s my freakish appearance that he’s drawn to.
Or the neon yellow contacts I’ve been sporting this past week.
Who knows? For whatever reason, it doesn’t really seem to bother me.
But today, I’m seriously questioning his sanity.
“Come on, Raven! Open your eyes! You need to see your progress!” Palmer shouts from about five-hundred feet below. Okay, not really. I don’t know how high I am because my eyes are sealed shut and my breathing is panicked as I hesitantly take a step and lower myself down the wall.
“Yeah, Raven!” Kaeleb yells. “I’m sure you can see the mountains from up there!”
My voice is shaky as I rappel a little further. “Shut up, Kaeleb.”
His laughter bellows from below me. “Just wait until we do the Leap of Faith!”
My body shivers with the thought of standing on a f*cking telephone pole and jumping off with nothing other than a cable and the people holding onto that cable to provide me safety. I can’t believe I let Linda talk me into this shit.
“Am I almost done?” I ask, sliding the rope between my hands and pushing off. I think I just flew down about ten feet.
My feet land hard, sending me spinning, and I don’t stop until my body bounces off the wall. All with my eyes still closed.
“Not even close! I’m surprised you can even breathe with how thin the air is up there!” Kaeleb’s mocking tone furthers my aggravation.
After taking a deep breath—thankfully, the air is just fine—I push off again, unsteady with jerky movements. “Shut. Up.”
And just when I think Kaeleb can’t possibly irritate me further…
“That harness is giving me a great view of your ass by the way. Your cargos are usually way too baggy.”
A loud gasp escapes me and I quickly let go of the rope to cover said ass with my hands, the release catapulting me further down the wall until I’m practically upside down, all the while subjected to heinous cackling from below. At least Kaeleb somehow managed to stop my freefall during his fit of laughter.
“Kaeleb, enough,” Palmer reprimands. “Raven, you’re going to have to open your eyes and right your body. You can do this.”
With his tone full of encouragement, I try to grab whatever shred of dignity I still have and pull myself upright with the help of the rope. Once I’m set, I lean back and rest my weight in the harness as I try to catch my breath.
My legs are straight against the wall as I allow my torso to gingerly recline and my eyes to open slowly. The view isn’t of mountains, but I can see the tops of the trees and the people walking through the courtyard area aren’t nearly as small as I imagined they would be.
I breathe in deeply.
I can do this.
Kaeleb manages to finally stop his theatrics long enough for me to get my bearings, then I give the rope a little slack and kick my feet off the wall. My hands are shaking, but I keep a firm grip as I sail downward a bit and then land firmly. I repeat these motions until I’m about ten feet off the ground.
Blood is rushing through my veins, the adrenaline coursing through me, and for about five seconds I feel like I can do anything.
That is until Kaeleb completely drops his very important anchor role, releasing the rope and throwing me into another freefall. An unexpected squeal escapes me as I plummet the remainder of the way down, only to land in his arms with an oomph.
His scent stirs all around me, and as my arms fly around his neck, I find myself inhaling deeper than probably appropriate. And when my lungs can take no more air, I enjoy its soothing effect until I remember that I’m pissed.
He could have killed me.
And now I’m going to kill him.
“Kaeleb! A*shole!” I yell, jumping out of his arms and planting my feet hit on the ground. I haul my arms back and shove as hard as I can. “You could have dropped me!”
His shoulders shake with his silent chuckles. “No way. I’m 6’3.” That was like a two foot drop.”
Palmer watches our interaction with interest. I swear I spot the tiniest of amusement flash across his features as he states, “Something tells me that Kaeleb would never drop you, Raven.” He directs his eyes in Kaeleb’s direction; all amusement lost and replaced with caution. “That being said, your actions were not at all conducive for this exercise.” Palmer looks back to me before adding, “I hope that your maturity level is greater than that of Mr. McMadden’s, seeing as though it’s his turn next. We need to maintain a serious environment for the others who actually hope to gain something from this class.” His voice is stern along with his glare.
What? Now I’m in trouble?
Sneering at Kaeleb, I respond, “Yes, sir.” Palmer gives a brisk nod before marching onto the next pairing of people.
“You’re an ass,” I snip at him, yanking the harness off of my waist and down my legs before stepping out of it.
“I never said I wasn’t.” He kicks the nylon contraption up and off the ground with his foot, then catches it midair with ease. “I’m sorry, but that shit too was funny not to pass up."
My face draws tightly and my eyes narrow at his statement. “And what if you’d dropped me?”
His arrogance lessens and his hazel eyes soften. “I wouldn’t have dropped you.” He maintains eye contact with me and his stare is so full of sincerity, I’m forced to break it.
My cheeks warm as I cast my glance to the ground, kicking the grass with my Docs.
“Well, at least you didn’t grope my ass,” I concede before looking back up. His lips form into a crooked smile and he chuckles under his breath. “Who said I didn’t?”
“I would’ve felt it,” I counter.
He shakes his head as his eyes fill with humor. “I have ninja hands.” He breaks to step into the harness and pulls it up, securing it before adding, “And you have a nice ass.”
My mouth pops open, but before I can say anything he steps into my personal space—the very space he knows I hate anyone to breach as evidenced during our proximity awareness exercises—and holds my gaping stare.
“There was no way I was letting you go.” He pauses briefly and his eyes tighten as they peer into mine. “Our bonds were secured.”
My eyebrows pinch together in confusion with the intensity of his statement, but then his face softens into a light grin as he holds the rope in front of my face and adds, “These ties can’t be broken.”
Kaeleb gives me a wink and then turns on his heel, away from me and heads toward the stairs along the side of the wall. Before he takes the first step, he twists his body back around and shouts, “Try to focus on keeping me alive and not the magnificence of my ass!”
I flip him the bird and another loud cackle fills the air before he makes his way to the top of the wall. Once he’s securely harnessed in, he flies backwards without abandon and rappels masterfully down the side, with absolutely no help from me.
And it’s a good thing.
Because Mr. McMadden does, in fact, have a magnificent derrière.
Not that I was looking.