Partner Games
Page 24

But judging from Georgie’s reaction, I guess we’re not mad at the black team anymore? I watched with resentment as she happily chatted away to Plate, filling his ears with all the things that happened in our day as he shouldered her bag.
It’s almost like they’re the team, and where that put me, I didn’t know.
Land of confusion. Population: Me.
“We saved you a spot in the tent with us,” Swift said to me. He reached out and took my bag, and I let him. “They’re pairing teams up, I guess to create more friction.” He shrugged. “Plate and I just kinda growled at anyone that got the idea that they’d stay with us.”
“Thank you,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what to think. Georgie’s not acting like she’s mad. Her mood swings have taught me something important, though. I can’t trust anyone on this race, not even my own twin.
We dropped our bags in the tent and then hung out for a bit. Georgie was in her high-flying mode, and she was the life of the party. Me, I just sat around and stared at the campfire. Someone handed me S’mores and hot chocolate, and I ate and drank, and tried not to be too much of a party pooper.
It got cold as the night went on, and people started to head to their tents to burrow in their sleeping bags. Georgie eventually yawned and looked over at me. “Shall we retire?”
I nodded. I hadn’t felt like chatting with the others anyhow. I was tired, confused, cranky, and didn’t know what to think about Swift. After I’d brushed him off earlier, he’d been keeping his distance from me. My twin, of course, had hung all over Plate and even sat on his knee at one point, laughing as she smushed a piece of chocolate on his face. They were flirty and Georgie was having fun, though I noticed she never took it past flirting. There were no furtive kisses, no sneaking away. She was just…playing. Just being Georgie.
I guess I was being Clementine, too, since I was the outcast sitting by myself near the fire, not having fun. That about summed things up.
I followed Georgie into the tent, and Swift and Plate decided it was time for them to go to sleep, too. I shivered in the cold as Georgie got in the tent and started unrolling blankets. They were provided for us by the crew so we didn’t have to shlepp blankets all over the world, but I wondered if they’d cheaped out on us. “These aren’t very warm,” Georgie pointed out as she handed one to me. “Gonna be a cold night.”
I held my sleeping bag out. It wasn’t one of the heavy duty camping ones. It was a light sleeping bag with the World Races logo. Great. We’d freeze to death, but at least it’d be publicity for the show. “Well, isn’t that lovely.”
“Me and Plate can sleep on the outside,” Swift offered. “One of us on each side. You girls can sleep in the middle. We can bookend you with warmth if you’re okay with that.”
I froze, sneaking a glance at my twin.
Georgie beamed. “That’s a wonderful idea. Come on in, Clemmy.”
I crawled into the small tent after my twin, glad it was dark so no one could see the hot flush on my face. We were going to be sleeping between the boys? I knew both Georgie and I were tall and skinny, so it wasn’t like we’d generate a lot of body heat on our own, but…wow. My virgin mind was having trouble picturing this.
I… really hoped Plate slept next to Georgie.
The guys waited outside the tent while we changed into warmer, long-sleeved shirts for sleeping in, and then crawled into our sleeping bags. I undid my braids and washed my face clean of makeup with a few wet-wipes, then tossed them into a Ziploc baggie. There was no sink to brush our teeth, so we had to settle for the finger tooth brush with a squirt of toothpaste.
Georgie gave them the okay when we were settled in, and I laid down with my eyes closed, pretending hard to sleep as they moved around, adjusting bags and setting up their blankets. Then, the zipper went up and it got quiet. Real quiet. In the distance, we heard sheep bleating from a neighboring field, and a giggle escaped my throat.
“Shh,” Georgie hissed at me, but I could hear the laughter in her voice. I pinched her arm and she swatted me back. This was just like when we were kids having a sleepover, except this time there were boys involved.
I peered through the darkness at the lump at my side. It was big and masculine, and I could smell a hint of either aftershave or deodorant. Was that Plate? Or Swift?
I found out in the next moment – a hand touched my loose hair and then I heard a low, soft murmur. “I like your hair down.”
Swift.
I looked over at Georgie to see if she’d heard anything, but my twin was silent. She smacked her lips sleepily and then turned on her side, away from me.
My body prickled with awareness as Swift continued to touch my hair with his fingers. It was long enough that it flowed over my shoulders and down my arm. If I was standing straight up, it’d probably go halfway down my back. Normally I just braided it and forgot it, but tonight I felt a girlish sort of pleasure that he liked it.
And I might have scooted my sleeping bag a little closer to his and turned toward him.
He turned on his side, and then we were facing each other in the darkness, inches apart. I could make out certain features in the shadows – the slope of his shoulders, the vague shape of his head, the shadow on his nose. His hand left my hair and went to my hand where it held the blanket against my now-braless chest.
I held my breath as he pulled my hand down, and then lightly began tracing his fingers over my palm, exploring it in the darkness. Oh wow, that felt…so freaking hot. I could feel each brush of his rough fingertips through my body. My nipples were hard, and my pulse pounded between my legs in response.
Was he…was he going to kiss me? He was so close I could smell mint on his breath, which told me he’d attempted to brush his teeth, too. Or was he just going to play with my hand all night?
Not that I minded that part. I liked his touch.
I just wanted more of it.
His fingers continued to draw small circles on my palm, and then he flipped my hand over and began to trace over my knuckles. “You mad at me?” His voice was so quiet I almost thought it was my imagination.
“Not mad,” I replied softly, and scooted a bit closer so Georgie wouldn’t overhear us.
“Then how come you pushed me off?”
“I just…I don’t know. I was talking with Georgie and she said you tried to get me drunk on purpose—“
“I did not,” he hissed, and his voice had risen so much that I immediately clapped my hand over his mouth to quiet him.
I tensed, waiting to see if Georgie had heard that. If she was going to wake up and ask what we were doing. But a moment later, I heard a soft, gentle snore that told me that Georgie was asleep.
And then Plate began to snore. Loud. Really loud. Jesus. Here I was worried about the tiny noises we were making, and Plate sounded like he was going to wake up people two mountains over.
“Is he always this loud?” I asked Swift.
He nodded under my hand.
I started to pull it away, but he held onto my wrist and kept my hand against his mouth.
Then, slowly, he kissed my palm. “I would never get you drunk on purpose, Tiny.”
“Okay,” I said softly, since my brain was starting to misfire. Truth was, I’d lost all coherent thought the moment his lips moved against my hand.