Partner Games
Page 14

“I know,” I said. I ached for Swift, because the look on his face was nothing short of devastated. They’d gone from first to ten hours behind the last team. How did one possibly catch up? “We’ve got to think of something.”
“How are you feeling about your generosity now, boys?” Chip asked.
“Well, Chuck, it sucks a big donkey dick,” Plate said. Swift was silent. His hands were on his hips and he stared at the mat, clearly furious.
“It’s Chip,” the host said again.
“Whatever. We’re in last, so I guess you won’t have to hear from us much more, will you?”
The host’s mouth thinned. “Sounds like you two are going to have a few more hours to kill.” He looked over at us. “Ladies, you have two hours to rest up, and then your next leg starts.”
Holy crap, two hours? We wouldn’t have time to do more than catch a bite to eat.
And I wanted desperately to talk to Swift. To apologize. I knew he wanted so badly to win, and now they were essentially hopeless because they’d tried to do a nice thing and save me and Georgie.
“All right, everyone can scatter. We’re done filming for now,” the production assistant called. She pointed at us. “You two, be back in an hour forty five to prep for your next round.”
I looked over at Georgie. “I want to talk to Swift.”
She nodded. “I’ll go find Plate and see if he’s okay, and if there’s anything we can do. And I might hit up the other teams to get the skinny on how everyone’s doing.”
“Sounds good. Back here in an hour?”
She gave me a thumbs up and a wink, and we split.
I trotted through the hotel, thumbs hooked into the straps of my backpack, looking for a familiar black t-shirt and a lean body. We didn’t have much time, and I felt like I desperately needed to talk to him. What if he went back to his room? What could I do?
I saw Jendan and Annabelle heading up a flight of stairs and flagged them down. “Hey! Guys! Have you seen Swift or Plate?”
Annabelle pointed down to the lobby. “I think I saw them at the bar. Or at least one of them.”
I gave her a breathless thanks and headed toward the hotel bar. Sure enough, there was Swift, nursing a bottle of Corona. I moved to sit next to him and felt suddenly awkward when he didn’t look at me.
“Drinking?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light.
He gave a halfhearted shrug. “Got a few hours to kill. Twelve of ‘em, actually.”
That was a punch in the gut. “Can we talk somewhere, please?”
Swift looked at me, then nodded. He downed his beer in one mighty chug and then set it down on the bar, along with a few dollars. “Sure.”
I walked out of the bar ahead of him, and headed for the nearest stairwell. It seemed like a quiet spot to talk, at the very least. Swift followed me, and when he shut the door to the stairwell, I took my backpack off and set it down on the steps, and then sat on the second one.
He sat next to me, but he stared straight ahead.
I swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault,” he said. Still didn’t look at me.
“Georgie and I really tried hard this leg. She didn’t have any meltdowns at all. And we got through our challenges fast. It was just that…our flights ended up too late. When we got to Tikal we had to wait for them to open again.”
“Tiny,” he said, finally looking over at me. His eyes were flat. “Seriously. It’s o-kay.” He drawled the word out. “It’s not your fault.”
“I feel like it is,” I told him. “I know you didn’t want to use the Ace. I can see it on your face. I know that money’s super important to you. Will you tell me why?”
His jaw worked and then he shrugged, back to staring at the door. “Doesn’t everyone want a million dollars?”
Somehow I sensed that there was more to the issue, but what could I do? If he wasn’t going to talk, I couldn’t make him. But I wanted to ease his unhappiness – he seemed so utterly miserable. “We’re going to fix this, Swift, I promise.”
“Look,” he said, glancing over at me. “If we have to switch places with a team, I’m glad it’s you girls. We like you. I like you.” My breath hitched at that admission, but he continued. “And you need a break. So I’m glad for you.”
“We’re going to fix it,” I said stubbornly. “You wait and see. We’re not racing without you guys.” Maybe it was a reckless promise to make, but I didn’t care. It got his attention. He looked up at me, and gave me a half-smile, the wounded look still in his eyes.
I wished I could help. I thought about my twin. What would Georgie say or do to take that misery out of his expression? She’d…well, she’d give him something else to think about. So I scooted a little closer to him and pressed my mouth to his.
 
 
Chapter Nine
 

“Yo. I did not see that coming. Swift’s gonna kill me. All because I’m walking around with a constant chub for Georgie Price.” — Plate, Team One Percent, The World Races  
 
Swift’s mouth tasted like Corona and lime. I noticed that before anything else. He stiffened against me, clearly surprised that I’d kissed him. Maybe my big distraction plan wasn’t such a good plan after all. I pulled back—
Only to have his hand go to the back of my neck and pull me in again.
Then, Swift kissed me, his mouth devouring mine. I gasped and his tongue slicked into my mouth, brushing against my tongue. Then, I moaned and lost myself in the kiss. I forgot about the taste of beer and the stairwell and the stupid race. There was only Swift’s mouth on mine, his lips caressing my own, and the stubble of his jaw brushing against my skin. His mouth conquered mine and I felt like putty, my lips molded and sculpted against his. His tongue flicked against mine, and then he pulled away, gazing at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
I licked my lips, because I wanted to keep tasting him.
“Damn, Tiny. Why’d you do that?”
My confidence shriveled. Why did I kiss him? “I…I’m sorry.”
He groaned and put his head in his hands. “Don’t be sorry. I just meant…” He gave me an exasperated look. “If we’re going to stay in this race, I need to have my head in the game and now I’m going to be thinking about your mouth.”
Nervous, I licked my lips again. “I—“
“And God, stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Licking your lips. Every time you do that, it makes me hard.”
And just like that, my self-confidence had a resurgence. “I can’t help it. I like the way you taste.”
He groaned again, then leaned in and captured my mouth in his. His hands went around my waist and he pulled me against him, and then we were kissing furiously all over again, tongues and lips meshed. He broke away a moment later. “And now I’m really going to need a cold shower,” he murmured against my mouth.
“Sorry,” I whispered again. But I wasn’t really sorry. I wanted to keep kissing him.
Swift’s lips brushed against mine again, and then he sighed. “I’m going to miss racing alongside you girls. I hope you guys do well with the lead.”