Partner Games
Page 16

A short time later, we had tickets and Sergio had taken a million pictures with us – or rather, mostly with Georgie. She’d been accommodating, vamping on his desk and posing sexily while I held her backpack and tried not to look too goofy in the pictures I was in. We even roped in a passing tourist who held the camera and took photos of Georgie, me, and Sergio together. I was pretty sure the one of us kissing his cheek was going to show up somewhere totally embarrassing online, but if it could save Swift and Plate, I was all for it.
We grabbed our tickets once the camera was put away and thanked Sergio once more before we dashed out the door to our waiting taxi. The moment we did, the Green Machine stepped out of their cab.
“Shit,” Georgie said as we shut the doors. “I hope that worked.”
“Me, too. We won’t know until all flights are booked, though.”
We got to the airport and headed to the gate for our flight to Guatemala City. Georgie and I stopped by the snack bar to grab a bite to eat, but I couldn’t take more than a bite or two. I was too nervous. We’d put all our hopes on Sergio being so starstruck by Georgie that he’d sabotage the others. Georgie picked at her food, too.
“What are the odds Sergio held strong?” Georgie asked. “And what can we do if he didn’t?”
I stared down at my airport taco. “If he didn’t, we could always try and delay the flight.”
“How?”
I held up the taco. “We vomit these on the plane the moment we get on and hope for projectile spray?”
“Gross!” She dropped her taco. “And I’m done eating. Don’t joke about that shit.”
I wasn’t joking. In all seriousness, I wondered how we could stall the plane. Vomiting was the only thing I could think of. Breaking something in the bathroom? Spilling a soda in first class? I contemplated all of the above. Even if we did, there were flights leaving Flores every two hours. That wouldn’t be enough time for Swift and Plate to catch up.
“Don’t look now,” Georgie murmured. “Your favorite guys are here.”
I looked up and swallowed a groan as the Green Machine trotted toward our table, backpacks bouncing.
“Hey guys,” Georgie said brightly. “Looks like we’re on the same flight, huh?”
Drew and Foster dropped into the seats next to us without asking, and I gritted my teeth before I could blurt out something unfriendly. “Man, we had a hell of a time at the travel agency.”
“Oh?” Georgie’s eyes went wide. “That sounds terrible. What happened?”
I pretended to pay a lot of attention to my taco suddenly, because I didn’t have the poker face that Georgie did. I was too afraid they’d see the hope in my eyes.
“Lots of full flights,” Foster said. “And the longest fucking layovers. We’re all going to be stuck together.”
“Oh no, there goes our lead,” Georgie said with a pout. Under the table, she nudged me with her sneaker. “Just when I thought we were going to get ahead.”
“Can I see your tickets?” I asked, pulling ours out. “Maybe we’re on the same flights.”
Drew pulled his out and scooted closer to me and we compared. Sure enough, we were both on the same flight to Heathrow…which didn’t take off until tomorrow night.
Everyone was going to catch up. Our plan had worked. If Sergio had been at the airport, I would have kissed him full on the mouth in happiness.
“Sucks, huh?” Drew said, looking at me.
“Sure does.”
I must have sounded too gleeful, because Georgie kicked me under the table.
 
 
Chapter Ten
 
 
“No one should underestimate those twins. They’re more than a pair of pretty faces – they’re smart and sneaky, too. That’s pretty damn sexy if you ask me.” — Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races
 
 
By the time we got to Heathrow, every team was waiting at the gate except for the Black team. There were the Doctor Moms, Team Houston, the Newlyweds (still arguing), the Green Machine, Team Daddy & Son, the Red Hat ladies, and Team Endurance Island. No sign of the one team Georgie and I were hoping to see – Team One Percent, aka Plate and Swift. I tried to keep my hopes up as I propped my backpack up in my lap and watched everyone arrive at the gate.
We’d lost our lead, but it didn’t matter. We’d gladly give up twenty minutes of a lead if it meant Swift and Plate were back in this thing. I tried to hide my worry, but Annabelle was seated next to me and she patted me on the hand. “Look at it this way, honey. It’s for the best. Falling in love on the show is hell on strategy.”
I blushed and mumbled something like, “Not in love.”
“Uh huh,” she said, her tone knowing.
Georgie flipped through an old magazine someone had left on a seat, clearly impatient. “The plane’s going to be here any minute and there’s no sign of them. I’m so pissy about this.” She leaned in toward me. “Sergio promised us, and now we’re going to be splashed all over the internet. If he didn’t save them, I’m totally booking a flight back to Guatemala to give him a piece of my mind.”
“I’ll go with you,” I told her drily. “You want something from the snack bar before we get on the plane? It’s a two hour trip to Oslo and then we’re probably going to take off running. We should get some protein in.”
“How about peanut M&Ms?” Georgie asked. “And maybe some red licorice whips if they have them.”
“I said protein, Georgie!”
“Oh, Clemmy. That’s why I asked for peanut M&Ms.” She rolled her eyes at me and flipped another page in her magazine.
With an exasperated sigh, I grabbed a few dollars from our shared stash of race money and headed for the nearest snack shop. No wonder my twin was so skinny. She existed on sugar and coffee alone.
As I passed by the ladies room in the airport, a hand grabbed me. I yelped, only to have a mouth press to mine and pulled me against the wall.
Swift. He was here.
I gasped, which he took as an invitation to deepen the kiss, and his tongue flicked inside my mouth.
And just like that, I sort of forgot everything around me. My arms went around his neck and then we were locked together, kissing wildly. He tasted good, like mint gum and that delicious, intoxicating flavor I was coming to think of as ‘Swift’s tongue’. Which was a silly flavor, but hey, I was being kissed senseless. I wasn’t good at analogies at the moment.
His hands slid to my waist and then cupped my ass, dragging me against him as he pressed me against the wall. I gave a little squeak of surprise at that.
Did I mention I was a rather inexperienced virgin? Because I was. Am. Whatever. Thing is, while Georgie was out living the high life, I was studying and digging in the dirt. I didn’t date. No one noticed me when Georgie was around.
And to have this much intensity from a guy was wonderful…and a little scary. I broke away from his kiss, blinking. “You freaked me out when you grabbed me,” I said breathlessly.
“I didn’t want anyone else to see us,” he said, staring at my mouth. Then he leaned in and kissed me again. He caught my lower lip in his teeth and sucked on it, and my legs nearly buckled. Good thing he had me pressed against the bathroom wall.