She slogged through the mud on her belly to the other side while painful zaps occasionally coursed through her whenever she accidentally touched another wire. By the time she finally scaled the small wall out of the pit behind Adam, she had never in her life been so glad to be done with something. Thank goodness they only had to make it to the finish line now. That shouldn’t be so bad.

She followed the guys down the trail, and they picked up their pace until they were running again, mud flinging from their shoes. The event volunteers had done a good job of cleaning the paths of fallen tree limbs and other debris. With nothing to trip over, it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Well, mostly.

While both Adam and Michael contained a seemingly endless supply of energy, it wasn’t a sustainable speed. At least not for her. Her strength had slowly dissipated throughout each obstacle, and the hectic pace Adam set was too intense while she was this depleted. So she slowed down to give herself a breather.

The moment Adam realized he was pulling away, he shortened his stride to match hers. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she panted out. She was just more distracted than usual. Mostly by the incredible burning in her calves. “I’m just not as fit as you two.”

His forehead wrinkled in disapproval. “You’re doing great. Ditch the negativity.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one struggling. Maybe he didn’t like her to say that kind of negative stuff out loud, but it was true and he undoubtedly knew it. That was probably why he didn’t bother to argue the point rather than just get mad at her for commenting on it.

“If you need a break, we can walk.”

Hell no. Besides, if he told her to engage her core one more time, she would probably punch him in the face. “That’s okay,” she said between heavy breaths. “Keep going. Don’t slow down.” The faster they got to the end, the quicker she could go home, take a hot shower, eat something, and fall into bed. She was looking forward to that. “We need to keep moving. Why don’t you guys go on ahead of me?”

Adam shook his head. “We aren’t leaving you behind.”

“Why not? You said it yourself. That was the last obstacle. I know how competitive you two are. Go race to the finish line.” She grinned at him. “You can let me know who wins when I get there.”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t want to leave you.”

She motioned to a passing runner and blew out a hard breath. “I’m hardly alone, Adam. There are dozens of other contestants in the vicinity. Besides, I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at the finish line.”