Partner Games
Page 49

Which meant someone in our small circle was going to go home. And if I had to pick, I’d pick Jendan and Annabelle…but they were under the radar and more efficient at being a team than anyone realized. They never got to the front of the pack, just sort of motored along right behind the leaders. I wasn’t sure that Georgie and I would beat them if it came down to us versus them.
So yeah, I worried.
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
The flight to Paris was relatively short. From there, we shared cabs over to Charles De Gaulle, and then waited for our next flight. I was dismayed to find that, although I had a window seat, the man seated next to me with the aisle seat was ancient and smelled like Ben Gay. The moment the plane got in the air, he took his shoes off and kicked them under the seat in front of me.
This was going to be a long, long flight. I practiced breathing through my mouth and leaned against the window to try and give him room. I sat up in my chair and glanced backward, scanning the heads in the plane for my twin. She was back there in the center, and one seat separated her and Plate. Lucky. At least they could talk through the flight. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they switched seats the moment the fasten seatbelts sign went off.
With a resolute sigh, I settled back into my chair. Maybe I’d catch up on my sleep. Maybe I’d come up with a good strategy for what to do when the penalty situation arose.
Maybe I’d figure out what to do if it came down to the Black team versus us in the final two. The possibility was very real, and I worried about it. If Swift’s dad was really sick and needed the money for medical bills, I’d feel awful if Georgie and I won. Georgie didn’t need money. She had millions invested and socked away from her modeling career. And me, well, I didn’t, but I could always sponge off my twin. I didn’t get the impression that Swift had a ton of money. He said he worked in a garage.
Then again, Swift also tended to clam up whenever I asked him personal questions. He hadn’t told me if he really was in a biker gang – or club, or whatever they were called. And when Jendan and Annabelle had mentioned spending the prize money, he hadn’t brought up his dad. That might have been because it was personal…
But it also might have been a lie. And that worried me. What if he wasn’t telling the truth and I let him win? Was I just blinded by really hot kisses and an incredible pair of shoulders?
And okay, maybe a bit of spectacular oral?
It was sad, but I didn’t trust my own judgment anymore. Not when it came to a hot guy paying attention to me.
I stared morosely out the window. When had the race become so very complicated? I should be ecstatic that there were only five teams left. Instead, I was stressing….and half of my stress wasn’t even race related.
“Hey, man,” a familiar voice said. I turned and was surprised to see Swift kneeling in the aisle. He gave the guy in the seat next to me a grin. “I’m about ten rows back, aisle seat. Can I switch with you so I can sit next to my girl?”
The old man looked over at me, wrinkling his nose. I did my best to give him a bright, unassuming smile.
He shook his head. “I’m comfortable where I am.”
Swift shot me an are you kidding me look. He dug into his pocket. “I’ll give you twenty dollars.”
The man sighed. “Fine.” He stood up and collected his shoes, and Swift flashed me a grin and a thumbs up. He led the man to his seat, and I bit my lip.
Okay, worst case scenario had just changed to something a lot more fun.
A moment later, Swift slid in next to me. “Hey, Tiny.”
“Hi,” I croaked. God, at some point I was going to stop being so awkward around him.
He reached into the seat pocket in front of us and pulled out one of the flight blankets and unwrapped it. “Mind if we snuggle? It’s a long flight and I’d rather get comfy with you.”
Would I mind? Was he crazy? A high pitched giggle escaped my throat. “No.”
“No?”
“No, I mean, I don’t mind,” I stammered.
He winked at me and spread the blanket over both of our laps, then moved the armrest up. His arm went around my shoulders and he tucked me against him. “This is better, isn’t it?”
“Much,” I said, relaxing against him. He smelled so good compared to the other guy. I didn’t even mind the faint hint of sweat and camel that clung to him. “I’m glad we’re all on a flight together.”
“Me too. Though I’m annoyed to see Green Machine here.”
I laughed. “You’re annoyed? Me and Georgie have more reason to be annoyed than anyone else.”
Swift frowned and I felt his body stiffen against me. “Why?”
Oh dear. I didn’t know how Swift would react if he found out the guys had stolen our money. “Because they’ve been trying to get everyone to kick us off, remember?”
He chuckled, relaxing against me. “I guess that’s true. But they’ve been gunning for us, too.”
“Good point,” I said, and decided to leave it at that. “I hope they get booted out in the next round.”
“You and me both. I don’t want to have to race against them at the end.”
“Me either. I’d rather it be the three of us – you and Plate, me and Georgie, and Jendan and Annabelle – at the end.”
Swift only said, “Mmmm.”
That small sound…bothered me. I sat up. “Don’t you want to have all the good guys left?”
“Well, only one team can win. I’d rather it be a non-competitor like the Red Hat ladies than Jendan and Annabelle. I know I can beat those two old ladies in a footrace.” He squeezed my shoulders.
That…didn’t make me feel better. What about me and Georgie? He could beat us in a footrace, too, right?
I was starting to get a sinking suspicion that ‘beating Georgie and I’ was part of the plan.
And I didn’t know how I felt about that.
 
 
Chapter Thirty-Two
 

“We’re getting down to the wire here. Something big’s going to happen soon. I know it.” – Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races  
 
We got off the bus at the base of Huangshan and looked around.
“Where now?” Plate asked, looking over at me and Georgie.
“A spring, right?” Swift asked, handing me my backpack. He’d carried it for me on the bus ride, which made me feel like a jerk for doubting him. I was such a worry wart over nothing. Swift was a good guy and it was clear he liked me. He’d held my hand and snuggled with me on the long flight, and when we’d gotten into the airport at Tunxi, he and Plate had immediately waited for us to disembark the plane so we could all share a ride over to the mountain. The Green Machine and Red Hat ladies had immediately split off from the group, and we’d lost Jendan and Annabelle in the crowds at the airport, so we assumed they’d taken a different route to Huangshan. You could get to the mountain by bus, train, or taxi. We’d elected bus.
As we walked through the entry gate, my twin read the disk. “Hot Springs in Yellow Mountain Tourist Area,” Georgie repeated. “Do we see one anywhere?”
“It’s hard to tell,” I said, shouldering my bag as we stared at the floods of tourists around us. “Everything’s so…pretty.”