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Besides, he was bound by a confidentiality agreement anyway.

“Well, that’s a new development,” Deeley muttered to hoots from Matty Coates.

Nolan stepped back and grinned when Eli said, “I’m so glad you came.”

“Timekeeper, are you ready?” Hughes called from between CC and Zanetti. He pointed at a tall guy with long blond hair half tied back into a bun.

“Ready,” Bennett Jackson said. Nolan had never met him, but he recognized him as the man who’d filmed the Trailblazers docuseries last season. He was also dating Zanetti, according to Nolan’s research.

“Good luck,” CC said to Zanetti. “I’m a four-time Obstacle Course Master, you know.”

Zanetti rolled his eyes. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“He’s only mentioned it about eight times today,” Eli explained to Nolan. “The guys all bet on CC, which is kind of mean, but . . . odds, you know? He won against Zanetti last year. I bet on Zanetti—he’s my mentor, and I felt bad.”

“On your marks,” Hughes shouted. “Get set.” He blew a whistle, and CC and Zanetti took off.

First, there was a balance beam set in the grass, and each player, according to Eli, had to make it across without falling. If they fell, they had to start over. Both men successfully made it—they weren’t athletes for nothing—and once they’d hopped off, there was a cup of beer for them each to chug.

Next were monkey bars, which CC was surprisingly agile at.

More beer.

After that were a couple of portable basketball nets. The guys had to sink five shots before they could move on. CC killed that too, leaving Zanetti almost an entire challenge behind.

More beer.

Zanetti caught up to CC on the sack race—Nolan hadn’t seen one of those since his Pinewood Camp days with King.

Eli, Matty Coates, Prinnie, and Deeley cheered the guys on like they were spectators at a hockey game.

Past the sack race, there was yet more beer.

No wonder Eli was already drunk.

Next up was another balance walk, this one on springs. CC fell off and had to start over, giving Zanetti the lead.

Of course, there was more beer to chug.

“How much beer is in those cups?” Nolan asked. “Do I need to worry about alcohol poisoning?”

Eli hiccuped a laugh. “Not a lot.” He held his thumb and forefinger about a half inch apart. “Maybe this much?”

Nolan relaxed a tad. That wasn’t enough to get a person drunk, so Eli must’ve had more to drink outside of the obstacle course.

After the beer was a leg press—more beer. A chin-up bar—more beer. An adult climbing wall—more beer. And finally, hurdles before a sprint to the finish line.

Zanetti crossed it two steps ahead of CC, who wailed a very dramatic, “Nooooooooooo,” like he’d discovered Mr. Wiggles had, in fact, been set on fire.

Eli cheered so loud one would think he’d won a million dollars. Hell, he’d been the only one to bet on Zanetti—maybe he had.

“Ha ha ha!” He sounded like an evil witch from a children’s movie. “Pay up, bitches.”

Bennett, it turned out, had also bet on Zanetti, so the two of them split the winnings between them, but Eli still netted out four hundred bucks richer.

“I’d pay you back for the accent pillows,” Eli said, waving his stack of bills in the air—because apparently hockey players walked around with two hundred dollars in cash in their wallets for fun. “But I don’t want to.”

“They were a gift,” Nolan said, chuckling.