Total Heartthrob || Chris McLean

Season 1: Not So Happy Campers: Part 2

I began to plummet.

Below me, a thousand feet of open air. No safety net bound to catch me, no rope attached to my back to stop me. Only the solid blue of water at the bottom. My body utterly free as I leaned into the fall. I shut my eyes, focusing on the wind whipping past my body and enjoying that simple feeling of being weightless. Everything weighed nothing. Blissful, that's how I felt. Completely blissful.

I almost felt sorrow when I felt my fingertips break through the water barrier, my hands stinging from the impact. The air in my lungs escaped swiftly, and I swam up to the top to gasp. Even from the distance, I could hear the sharp cheers from my team, and a smile erupted on my face. I landed in the safe zone! With one hand numbly wiping my face, my other waved in the air as a celebratory cheer.

After a minute, Chef pulled the boat up to the edge of the circle and halted in front of me. He extended his hand, which I gratefully took as my legs felt like jelly; I was struggling to keep myself afloat. "Thank you," I panted out, sitting down on the first seat I could find once aboard.

"Ya got balls, little lady." I exhaled a breathy laugh, wheezing slightly. That's one way to put it.

Bridgette jumped next, falling into the water in a similar diving position as myself. She looked graceful as she did so, and I wondered if she enjoyed the fall as much as I had. Another perfect landing. She climbed aboard after resurfacing, and she gave me a weak high five.

Under the sun, we sat and watched contestant after contestant; Tyler went after, hurting both his ego and his manhood, followed by Geoff, Eva, and Duncan. After hd boarded the boat, green hair gelled to resist water it seemed, Chef made his first round to drop us off at the beach. "I don't know how you two did that so gracefully," Tyler heaved, looking up at Bridgette and I. She smiled, and I shrugged.

Unfortunately, our team left off with two chickens: DJ and Courtney. Being down two team members wouldn't help our case, so I dearly hoped we would win the second part of the challenge. It especially didn't help when the Gophers only had one chicken, Beth, and the rest of them jumped.

Needless to say, my hopes were low when all 23 of us arrived at the beach and began moving our crates. Why the crates weren't already at the cabins beat me, considering we'd have to push them a quarter of the islands length, but I allowed the reasoning to fall on Chris loving to torture us.

Despite the Gophers were immensely ahead of us, the Pink Girls felt it was the perfect time for a bathroom break, slowing us down even more. I was lucky to have Bridgette helping me push our crate both because of my blurred sight and because she had much more muscle than myself. "I can't stand them," I admitted, using my back to shove the crate. The sand caused unneeded friction, my bare feet slipping in it which made the crate barely move. And, I'm sure I had a splinter.

Bridgette laughed breathily. "They're not the worst. Just a little annoying."

"A little?" I scoffed out, squinting at her. She was close enough to be only slightly fuzzy, and she smiled at my comment.

"Lilia." At the beckon of my name, Bridgette and I focused our attention to behind us, where Chris pulled up on a four-wheeler. I turned my body towards him completely after he dismounted it and began walking up to us. Yeah, I definitely had a splinter. "Your glasses." Now, trust me, I knew he was taller than me — I knew his height from Google — but it hadn't dawned on me the difference until then. I looked up at him, his stature just tall enough to let my head tilt upward. "Good job on you two not being chickens."

I smiled, gratefully taking my glasses and sliding them into my face. He was as handsome as ever. Stubble getting just a little longer than usual, but it suited him. His deep brown eyes playful, crinkled from the faint smile on his lips. "Thanks, babe." He watched us a moment longer before nodding and returning to his four-wheeler. I watched him walk away — what? I couldn't help myself — before turning back to Bridgette. "All right. Back to pushing."