Partner Games
Page 25

He kissed it again, and my skin broke out in goosebumps. Oh, wow. Just…wow. He continued to kiss my palm, and then began to move slowly up my arm. Then, he gave my hand a tug, inviting me closer.
I went. Of course I went. This was every daydream and fantasy I’d had about the man.
Well, in my fantasies, my sister wasn’t sleeping a few feet away. Ditto Plate. But the moment felt private, and I’d kick myself if I didn’t take the opportunity.
His arms went around me, sliding into my sleeping bag to brush against my waist and pull me tighter against him. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, breath warm against my face.
I was pretty sure I’d die of crushing disappointment if he didn’t. So I nodded, and my nose brushed against his.
Then, his lips caught mine. I held my breath as his mouth brushed over my mouth. His lips pressed gently, nibbling on my lower one, encouraging me to open up for his kiss. I parted my lips, and the moment I did, his tongue brushed into my mouth.
My fingers moved to his chest, curling against his t-shirt with bliss. I wanted to moan, but…I was pretty sure someone would hear that. I held in my reaction even as his tongue dipped against mine again, then rubbed against it. And I forgot all about the other two people in the tent.
We kissed hard, our mouths locked. Swift’s tongue and lips took over my world, and there was nothing but his mouth on mine, his taste on my lips, his skin brushing against mine. I felt his hand slide up my shirt, pausing at my ribs. Letting me decide if I wanted to push him away or let him move forward.
I arched my back, and my breasts brushed against his chest, my nipples hard. My boobs were tiny, but when he cupped one and sucked in a breath, I didn’t think he cared.
“You’re beautiful, Tiny,” he breathed against my mouth. His thumb rubbed over my nipple, and I felt it all the way through my body. “Don’t push me away again, okay? You gotta talk to me.”
I nodded. I was pretty much incapable of speech at this point. Talking to him. Got it.
His fingers teased my nipple a moment longer, and then he gave me one last kiss and sighed. “I should stop touching you.”
“No,” I whispered, kissing him again. “Bad idea.”
Swift rolled my nipple against his callused thumb, and then his hand left my shirt entirely. I could have wept. “If I don’t stop, I’m not going to be able to stop,” he warned me. “But we can continue again when we have more privacy. Okay?”
I nodded again, and for a moment, I hated that Plate and my twin were here.
Being on a race with a bunch of other people was hell for makeout sessions.
 
 
Chapter Sixteen
 

“Trying to predict Georgie Price is like trying to predict…well, nothing. You just can’t predict that one. She’s like an emotional tornado.” — Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races  
 
Elon and Gwen, the brown team, aka Team Newlyweds, were the last team to arrive last night. I was told this the next morning, because it had been super late and I was already asleep. They’d come and gone, and since they were now off the race, no one even got to say their goodbyes. Not that anyone would miss them. They bickered with each other so much that the race would be a better place without them.
I didn’t mind sleeping through their exit from the game. Heck, I slept awesome last night. Maybe it was the fact that we weren’t going to have to take off first thing in the morning. Maybe it was the crisp mountain air. Maybe it was the kisses and the makeout session with Swift at bedtime.
Pretty sure it was that.
At any rate, I woke up the next morning, utterly refreshed. I didn’t even mind that our location – Walig Hut – had no shower and no real bathrooms. There was hot chocolate to drink, warm pastries for breakfast, and a nice toasty fire.
Today was officially hangout day. Georgie and I wouldn’t be leaving until late tonight. Plate and Swift had come in first place and would be leaving a few hours ahead of us, but promised to try and catch up together if at all possible. Georgie and I just had to make up time.
But until then, we could kick back and unwind for a bit.
As Georgie and I nabbed breakfast, I couldn’t stop blushing. Every time I saw Swift, I felt my face turn bright red. I’d made out with the occasional guy or two in the past, but it had been a long damn time, and never one quite so sexy as Swift. And never with my sister sleeping a few feet away, along with another guy. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself…and feeling a little wild. Trade-off, I supposed.
Swift, for his part, had given me a wink and tugged on one of my braids, and then left me alone to go spend time with Plate. Which sucked, but I understood it. Everyone was kind of sticking close to their teammate at the moment. No strategy, just relaxing. Maybe that was why the teams weren’t clustering together. For a brief time, the game was on hiatus.
Or so I thought. I was eating pastries and sipping hot cocoa at the wooden table when one of the Green Machine dropped onto the bench next to me. A moment later, the other sat on my other side.
My breakfast tart stuck to the roof of my mouth. “Hi?”
“So,” Drew said. “Can we talk?”
I swallowed the bite of food and shrugged. “About what?”
“A potential alliance,” Foster said. “Or lack thereof.”
“Pardon?”
Drew and Foster exchanged a look over my head. “Here’s the thing,” Drew said. “We’ve noticed you have an alliance with Swift and Plate.”
“So?” I forced myself to take another casual bite of my food.
“So we don’t like it. In fact, none of the other players like it. You’re working together on all the tasks and it feels like it’s two against one.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Since when had pushy Drew and Foster started speaking for the other teams? “So?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“So, you’re helping them win,” Foster hissed. “They’re using you guys to spring ahead of everyone else. You think they’d be the leaders if they weren’t getting help?”
“Again, so?”
He scowled, clearly annoyed with my flippant attitude. “So you guys need to lay off. Quit working together. Rumor has it that this race is going to have a few team delay tasks. As in, if I get to a task before another team, I can choose to delay them.” Drew leaned in. “And guess who we’re going to delay?”
“Us?” I snorted. “That’s a crap threat. We’re already in last place.” I sounded more confident than I felt. This dick was blackmailing us.
“No. Your little boyfriends. Don’t think the rest of us haven’t noticed you sucking face with Swift. And Georgie’s all over the big one. So if you don’t stop working with them, we take them out. The other teams are with us, too. Whoever gets to the team delay will delay those two.”
Foster leaned in. “Two birds with one stone. We get rid of them, you girls are gone without their help.”
Oh please. Not only was this insulting, but it was really douchey of them to try this. “I see.”
“I’m glad you do,” Drew said with his smarmy grin. “It just works out better for everyone if you guys go solo on this. It’s fairer.”