A Twist Of Fate [3]

Chapter 13

The evening had gone by without any further dramas or issues, but it hadn't stopped Felix from repeatedly glaring at me across the veranda as we all spent the rest of the night out drinking around a cosy fire. He was purposefully making me uncomfortable, and I wanted desperately to leave with Cal and head to our room, but I did not give that prick the satisfaction of making me leave.

Now, we were a group of hungover and tired folk trudging our way forward to do rock climbing with Zeke. Before we had all retired to bed, and with Felix still giving me death stares over the fire, I'd arranged a vote with the group for what activity we could all do together, which was probably not the best idea when everyone was drunk and eager to do everything. Rock climbing had won the vote, but now every single one of us was regretting that as we moaned and groaned and prepared for a morning of sweating out the alchohol on the side of a small cliff.

'Good morning, happy campers!' Zeke cheered, as he turned to see us approaching. 'Well, happy cabiners.'

'Hey, Zeke!' Penny beamed, giving him a cute wave. He returned the cute wave and a smile crept onto his face.

I had called Zeke earlier when I'd awoken to see if he could squeeze us all in, and I had a feeling Penny being with us had been the reason he conveniently had a last minute slot for such a big group.

We had arrived at an outdoor open area which I could see now had several climbing walls which were currently filled mostly with children.

'I thought we were rock climbing,' Tori muttered, nursing her head. 'As in, on an actual cliff.'

'Oh, you will be,' Zeke chuckled. 'Those are for the kids and just for you guys to get a quick practice in. Once I'm satisfied you have mastered the wall, we'll move onto the actual rock climbing.'

'Sounds great,' Sarah enthused, clearly trying to get the group in the mood. Thankfully, her asshole boyfriend had refused to join us.

'Yeah, come on guys, it'll be fun!' I exclaimed, urging them all to stop being negative.

'First off, I need you guys to head into that little cabin there where we'll play a little safety video that I need ya'll to pay serious attention to,' Zeke told us. 'After that, I'll get you all fitted with equipment for your harnesses and we'll start practising.'

We all paraded into the cabin and got seated on the wooden benches. A plasma TV on the wall lit up as Zeke took a seat by the computer and started the video. I made a conscious effort to pay attention to the dos and don'ts and many many rules, but I couldn't stop thinking about Felix. I was overjoyed that he wasn't here with us but also nervous at him being alone in the cabin where he could access all of my stuff. I didn't trust the guy not to make good on his threat to make this trip hell.

'Sorry, I'm late.' His voice suddenly pierced my thoughts and I blinked hard, confused as if I had somehow manifested him being here by thinking about him.

'Ugh, great.' I heard Georgie mutter.

'Babe!' Sarah jumped up from her seat and skipped over, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. 'I knew you wouldn't let me down.'

'Never,' he replied, kissing her forehead.

Zeke paused the video and stood to his feet. 'If you wanna' take a seat, dude... I just need you to watch this safety video with the rest of the guys.'

'I'm good, man,' Felix replied, waving a dismissive hand at him. 'It's rock climbing not swimming with sharks.'

Zeke frowned and then forced an uncomfortable laugh. 'Sure, but it's the rules and I can't let you join in if you won't watch it, dude.'