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A screeching whistle wakes me up.

I shoot up in bed, sitting up and breathing shallowly. I glance at the clock and groan.

5AM.

Are you serious?

'Ladies! Today, you have boot camp! Collect your clothing from the hallway and be ready to go in exactly one hour.'

Spencer's voice reaches me from the corridor and I grimace. I drag myself from my bed and open my bedroom door.

A couple of the other girls are in the hallway, too. I pick up the pile of army-green clothes from the floor and shut my bedroom door.

It's too early to be doing anything.

I take a shower to wake myself up. I plait my hair back, wanting it out of the way. If we're doing obstacle courses today, I don't want my long hair holding me back.

I change into the tank top and booty shorts. I scrunch up my nose as I look at myself in the mirror. This outfit was obviously chosen by the bachelors, it shows off my figure completely.

I'm glad I packed my sports bra, I put it on under the tank top. After putting on socks and trainers, I meet the rest of the women in the communal area.

Most of them are having breakfast. Winnie and Florie have finished theirs and are painting black stripes on each other's cheeks.

Everyone gets them done and I agree to let them do my face, too. We all put on hoodies and sweatpants. I look out of the window and worry how they're going to make us do this in 0°C weather.

Spencer collects us and leads us downstairs. Saffron suddenly perks up and walks with him at the front.

Instead of taking us outside, he leads us downstairs to an enormous gymnasium. It's a huge hall, with a rubbery floor that has a bit of a spring to it as you walk over it.

There is a wooden obstacle course set up, stretching in a giant U-shape around the gym.

Our three bachelors are stood in the centre, wearing t-shirts and shorts. Their muscles are on show and I am here for it.

'Ladies, thank you for getting up so early,' Spencer greets us.

He stands in front of the bachelors and slides in comfortably to the role of Chris Harrison.

'Today, you will be completing this obstacle course. In the first round, you will be individually timed on how fast you can complete the course.'

I share a look with Saffron and she pulls a face.

'After which, the slowest three will be bumped out. The remaining seven of you will complete the course again, only this time, you will have to do it with a bachelor of your choice as your partner.'

My eyes meet Bain's and he smirks. I can see the mischievous glint in his dark eyes from here.

'In the third round, the six fastest women will be pitted against each other in pairs. The winner from each pair will get to have a date with the bachelor of their choice tonight.'

Excited whispers break out in the girls. Individual dates are obviously a big thing. We are given a few minutes to walk around the course. We check out the obstacles and my friends and I discuss which ones we think will be hardest, and the tactics for getting over them the fastest.

'Alright! We will be going alphabetically. So, Amity, you're up first.'

My heart sinks.

Fuck.

Why do I have to be first?

I nervously step up to the starting line. I check my plaits are in place and wiggle my toes in my trainers. I curl my fingers into fists and prime myself for taking off fast.

Spencer blows a whistle and I throw myself at the first obstacle. It is a wooden ladder, with much larger than normal spaces between the bars. I rush to climb over it and drop down the other side.

Next, I have to use ropes suspended from a bar to cross over a five metre painted square on the floor. I grip the ropes tightly, trying to find my footing on the moving wooden planks. Spencer informs me that, if I fall off, I have to start again.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I make it to the other side. My fingers are aching from how tightly I was gripping the rope.

I drop to my stomach on the floor and crawl underneath rope netting. It pulls at my hair and clothing, but I quickly make it to the other side. I can hear the girls cheering behind me.

What's the bet that Helene is staying quiet?

I swallow hard as I look up at the tall wall in front of me. It is made of stacked logs.

I wedge the points of my shoes into the gaps between the logs and shove my fingers into the cracks to lift myself up. I refuse to let myself look down and freak out as I climb the wall.

Once I get to the top, I swing my legs over the other side and jump down, landing in a crouch.

I crawl through some tunnels. I have to climb a few steps and jump across a large gap. The second gap is bigger and I have to use a rope to swing across it. I land on the other side and push myself to go on, even though I'm panting.

Next, is monkey bars. I grab the third bar along and swing my body out. I use the momentum to throw myself forwards. I catch my weight and swing my feet. I touch the other side with my feet and pull myself across the final bars.

The next obstacle is six boards of wood, positioned at angles. I have to jump from one to the other, landing on the slanted surface.

I make it to the other side and feel relieved as the final obstacle is my last. I keep my knees high and run through the tyres, placing a foot in the hole of each one.

As I cross the finish line, Ahmed stops the timer. He writes my time on a white board; 3:17.

I have my hands on my hips and I'm panting as the girls pat me on the back and congratulate me.

'Binah, you're up next!' Spencer calls.

I watch the rest of the women complete their runs. Marybeth falls on a couple of hers and ends up with the longest time of 6 minutes.

Niki gets the second longest at 5:32. I know athletics isn't her strong suit, but she's told me that baking is, so the baking competition in two days will be good for her.

'Alright, ladies. Marybeth, Niki and Kira, I'm afraid you have been bumped out. Everyone else, would the seven of you line up over here,' Spencer asks.

'We will go alphabetical again. Amity, choose your bachelor.'

My cheeks warm up and my eyes immediately go to Bain.

'Um, Bain. Please.'

Bain steps forward and smiles at me.

'Okay, everyone listening? Here's what you do,' Spencer informs us how we're going to complete the course together. The more he explains, the redder my cheeks go.

Bain turns me to me when he's done explaining.

'You ready for this, Amity?' He asks, grinning at me.

I nod uncertainly. 'Yeah.'

'Good, let's do this.'

He takes my hand and my stupid heart flutters. We stand next to each other on the starting line and wait for Spencer to blow the whistle.

We both bolt forwards when he does. Luckily, the first obstacle is nice and easy. We both have to go over the ladder together. The second one is easy, too. We use the ropes to cross the gap.

We crawl under the netting together, our hands and feet brush against one another. I try not to let myself get distracted.

The log wall is harder. Bain bends his knees and holds out his hands. I place my hands on his shoulders and jump up. He catches me easily. He has to piggy-back me over the wall.

He climbs the wall with ease. You wouldn't even know he has me on his back. He gently eases himself over and we both drop to the floor. He holds onto me tightly and I squeeze him to get him to let me go.

He drops me to my feet and we crawl through some tunnels. I go first and I'm conscious of my ass in Bain's face. He doesn't seem to mind it.

'Come on, Am! We've got this!' He encourages me.

He gently slaps my butt from behind in the tunnel, making me laugh. Our laughs echo along the tunnel.

Bain takes my hand and we jump across the gap together. I let him use the rope to swing across the second gap and he throws it back to me.

The monkey bars is where it gets difficult. According to Spencer's description, we both have to hang upside down on the bars and kiss.

We climb on top of them and I cautiously lower myself down. My legs are wedged around a bar, stopping me from falling. My plaits hang in the air and blood rushes to my head.

Bain grins at me, his hair looks like it is standing on end due to gravity. He leans forward and adrenaline pumps through me.

I don't want our first kiss to be like this. It's only day two.

Bain must sense my hesitation, because he only pecks my lips. The brief feeling of his lips on mine is enough to make butterflies flutter in my stomach.

We quickly get down and move onto the next obstacle.

The final obstacle is the hardest. I bend my knees and Bain jumps onto my back. It's called the Hero Carry.

I struggle under his heavy weight. All those damn muscles.

I push through and carry him over the tyres. The second we cross the finish line, I drop him and shake my arms out.

Bain hugs me and swings me around in the air.

'We did it! Well done!' He says happily, making me smile.

I don't get to celebrate our victory completing the course for long, because Binah is up next. She chooses Ahmed (obviously) and the two of them do the course together.

It's adorable watching them kiss on the monkey bars. He gently cups her cheeks and Binah goes bright red afterwards and something tells me it wasn't due to the blood rushing to her head with gravity.

Florie chooses Ahmed, too. Binah doesn't watch as the two of them kiss. Helene is after and of course, she chooses Bain.

I hate watching him carry her on his back. She looks like she enjoys it way too much.

Helene pulls her shorts a little higher before entering the tunnels and I scowl. Her ass looks amazing in those shorts, and I'm sure Bain would agree with me. He certainly gets a good eyeful going behind her in the tunnel.

It comes to the monkey bars and I decide to look away when they swing themselves upside down. Whistles and cheers make me look back. Helene has her hands in Bain's hair and their kiss is very different to mine and his.

No cute peck, no sweet little kiss. Nope. This is a long fucking kiss with tongue.

Fucking fantastic.

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