Cupcake

“All right, kids, I hope you had a good time with that,” Ms. Weaver said. “Our third activity requires the most trust and is by far the most fun. This will be our last exercise for today.”

Thank goodness, I thought. It’s nearly over.

“We’ll be doing a trust fall.”

I waited for her to say she was kidding, that we’d be doing something simple like telling our partner our deepest fears or our dreams for the future. But she didn’t.

“One person will close their eyes, hold their arms out to the side, and fall backward. The other person stands behind them and catches. Sounds easy, right? All you need to do is decide who will fall and who will catch.” Ms. Weaver checked her watch. “We’re running a little short on time, so let’s take ten minutes for this one.”

I watched as the other pairs got into position. People were already falling and laughing. It seemed like there was very little discussion necessary.

I glanced sidelong at my prince.

“Cupcake,” he said.

“Rhys,” I said back.

“I can feel you staring at me.”

Dang it.

“Yeah well.” I sighed. “I’m ready to do this whenever you are.”

Rhys nodded then came up behind me. I could feel my brow furrow as I spun to face him. He met my frown with one of his own.

“What are you doing?” he said.

I rolled up my sleeves then held out my hands. “What does it look like? You heard Ms. Weaver. I’m getting ready to catch you.” Rhys blinked, and I twirled my finger in a circular motion. “Now, if you could just turn around…”

He was silent a moment.

“Are you serious?” Rhys said.

“Yes.”

He just stared.

“Something wrong?” I asked. “You understood the instructions, right?”

“Yeah, I did,” Rhys said. “She wants us to do a trust fall.”

I gave him a half smile. “I know it’s weird, but that’s the assignment. Don’t worry. I saw this in a movie once. All you have to do is fall backward into my arms. Easy.”

His lips were still in a firm line, and he didn’t budge.

“Rhys,” I said, getting a little impatient now, “is it something else? Almost all the other couples are done. We’ve only got a few minutes left.”

Rhys cocked his head to the side. “I thought you were messing around, but I guess you’re serious. Cupcake, you realize I’m a football player, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “I think we’ve established that. So?”

“You should fall, and I’ll catch.”

My laugh couldn’t be contained. “No way. I may not be a sports expert, Rhys, but I know the quarterback is the one who throws the ball, not catches it. This exercise is about trust. I’ll be doing the catching.”

“I’m bigger than you,” he explained patiently. “I lift weights every day. As you so eloquently put it, I’m fit.”

I crossed my arms and stood my ground.

“Come on. This makes no sense. I could crush you, Cupcake. Why won’t you just let me catch you?”

I knew he liked to tease me, but I couldn’t believe he didn’t get it.

I mean, Rhys had eyes.

The reason was clear.

“Listen, Rhys, I’m not like the other girls on Homecoming Court, okay?” I said, uncomfortable, but if he needed me to spell it out, so be it. “I’m a big girl. My mom calls me voluptuous, and I love her for it. But I’ve always struggled with my weight. There’s no way I’m going to make some guy ‘catch’ me.”

He shook his head. “You’re not making me do anything. And your reasoning is ridiculous. I could literally pick you up and spin you around.”

“I don’t— What’s that?” I said, suddenly thrown offtrack by a loud buzzing.

“The sound of my teeth grinding because you’re so stubborn?”

“No, no,” I hissed, “that noise.”

My heart started to pick up speed as Rhys shrugged.

“Oh, there’s a ladybug or wasp or something behind you,” he said all nonchalant like I wasn’t in mortal peril. My eyes went wide. “It’s been there a minute. Don’t worry; it’ll probably go away on its own.”

But it didn’t go away.

If anything, the ladybug/wasp/killer insect only got closer.

And it sounded angry.

I tried to hold still, but it was useless. With a squeak, I jerked away, ducking to the right. But the bug followed. I weaved again to the left—but it seemed to anticipate the move.

“What are you doing?” Rhys said, and I swear there was amusement in his voice.

“What’s it look like?” I yipped again as the insect zoomed by my ear. “It’s chasing me. I’m trying to escape.”

“It’s probably just a ladybug,” he said. “They can’t hurt you, you know.”

“Says who?”

I was close to tears. Why wouldn’t it just go away?

“Ahhh!” I ran in the opposite direction of the bug—and straight into Rhys.

Cringing, I watched as the bug came toward me again, but there was nowhere to run. It got closer and closer. I’d accepted the fact that I was a goner—when Rhys suddenly acted. Lifting his hand and waiting until just the right moment, he swatted at the bug, making direct contact. As it lay there on the ground, I didn’t know who was more stunned, me or the insect.

It recovered a second later and finally flew off.

“You…made it go away.”

“Yeah. You okay there?” Rhys asked. “I think it was a wasp, but it’s gone now.”

“You could’ve been stung,” I said.

“It would only hurt for a second.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Again, are you all right? You seemed really scared.”

I swallowed, realizing I was pressed against his side.

When the heck did that happen?

Clearing my throat, I moved away and crossed my arms. “Yeah, I’m good. Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said. “Maybe now you trust me enough to let me catch you? Since I saved your life and all?”

“I just hate bugs.” A shudder of disgust shot through me. “They’re so gross. Ugh, I just hate them so much.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

I looked to Rhys and saw him wearing that half smile once more. Jeez, he was annoying—but I couldn’t deny I was impressed with his bug-swatting skills. Because of our face-off with the evil wasp, we only had a little time to complete the final exercise. With a deep breath, I turned around.

“Okay,” I said. “You can catch, and I’ll fall. But Rhys?”

“Yeah, Cupcake?”

“Just don’t blame me if I break you.”

“I’m not scared.” By the sound of his voice, I knew he was amused.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I mumbled. Then to him, I said, “You ready?”

“Whenever you are, Cupcake.”

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, imagining all the possible things that could go wrong: me flattening Rhys like a pancake, Rhys crumpling under my substantial weight and the earthquake that would follow, the other princes and princesses laughing and their horrified gasps, me somehow breaking Rhys’s throwing arm, thus damaging any chance he might have at a future in football, the fall going perfectly and Rhys commenting after the fact on how heavy I was.

Ugh, I never thought about my weight like this. Why, oh why was this so incredibly hard?

“Cupcake?” Rhys said. “Don’t overthink it. Just fall.”

Easy for him to say.

Right. Here we go.

Oh God, please don’t let me crush the quarterback.

I held my arms out and leaned backward, secretly trying to hold on to my equilibrium as long as I could. There was a moment of falling. Then Rhys was there, catching me beneath both arms like it was nothing, his hands wrapping around my waist.

“Got you,” he said, the words hitting my ear and making me gasp.

Rhys gently set me back on my feet.

I turned to check him for injuries, but none were visible.

“You’re okay,” I said in wonder.

“Yeah,” he said. “Told you I’d catch you.”

“You lied before,” I said, and Rhys frowned. “Stopping killer bugs with your bare hands, catching girls without breaking a sweat—you are totally a superhero, Rhys Castle.”

He shook his head. “For a second I thought you were talking about those pics.”

And just like that, my mind went back to his bare chest and torso.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “People send pics to their significant others all the time. It’s not unheard of.”

“Well, I don’t,” he said as Ms. Weaver called us to huddle up. Rhys began to turn but then stopped. “Also, if that’s your way of asking if I have a ‘significant other’—”

My jaw dropped.

“I don’t have one of those, either.”

Rhys turned and walked away, leaving me there staring after him. What the heck? Why would he say something like that? There was only one reason I could think of, and it made me frown. Awesome, now Rhys thought I had a crush on him. As if a few trust exercises, including one trust fall, would literally make me fall for him.

I gave a mental laugh. Yeah, right.

I was too smart for that.

If I couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of his arms around me, that was only natural. It would pass.

Rhys had probably already forgotten about it.

And I would, too.