Partner Games
Page 55

“Nope! I love the thought of having a beach vacation.”
She grinned over at me, a stripe of zinc on her nose. “We’ll need a vacation to recuperate from this vacation.”
“This wasn’t much of a vacation,” I told her. “It was a race, remember?”
“How can I possibly forget?” she said in a dry voice, and gestured at the beach.
She had a point. The stretch of sand we occupied was utterly gorgeous: blue skies, curling waves, smooth sand, and nothing but beach for miles on end.
Nothing but beach, that was, and a hundred different crew members prepping for the World Races finale. Power cords were strung all over the beach, and cameras and microphones were everywhere. People ran around, shouting, trying to get in last minute projects before the racers arrived. The eliminated teams were lounging on the beach under various World Races umbrellas, sipping drinks and waiting for the finish line prep. It would be an hour yet, we’d been told by production, so we had to sit and wait. We had our orders, though – once one of the teams was in the home stretch, we were to line up in front of the gigantic World Races finish line and cheer whoever it was on.
If it was Green, there wouldn’t be a lot of cheering on my end.
Still, if we had to wait for teams to arrive, a beautiful Hawaiian beach was the place to do it. I relaxed on my towel under the umbrella and took another sip of my Pina Colada. Hawaii could be fun. If I never saw Swift again, I guessed I could just drown my sorrows in endless beaches and all the fruity umbrella drinks I could carry.
And then I’d go home, try to schmooze all the nearest universities with digs going on and see if I could land a spot somewhere. Strangely, that didn’t sound like as much fun as it had before. I’d miss Georgie, and I’d worry about her if I left her again. I loved my twin, and I wasn’t sure if she was ready to be without her support system yet. “Hey, Georgie?”
“Hmm?” She gave me a lazy look, putting a hand to her floppy hat to hold it in place.
“What are you doing after the race?”
“Hawaiian vacation, duh.”
“No, I mean after that. After we go home and stuff. Are you going back to New York?”
A flash of uncertainty crossed my twin’s confident face. “No. I think I’m done with modeling for a while.”
“I think we should do something together.”
“Like what?” Her nose wrinkled. “Please don’t tell me you want to dig up dinosaurs.”
“No. I mean, I love that career, but I’m kind of stalled there at the moment. Maybe I’ll write a book or something.”
“About prehistoric fish?”
“Ammonites. And why not?”
“So you’re going back home?” Did she sound disappointed? We were halfway across the US from each other. Georgie spent her time in NYC, and I’d spent my time in Montana during the last year. We’d barely seen each other.
“Actually, remember when we were kids?” I brushed sand off my knees and curled my legs under me, struck by sudden inspiration. “We’d make shoebox houses for our dolls to live in? Except we’d spend all of our time fixing up the houses instead of playing with the dolls?”
“Yeah?” Her brows furrowed. “So?”
“So let’s do something like that! Let’s buy a house somewhere on the cheap with our contestant money. Put some elbow-grease into it and make it a fun project. What do you think?” The more I considered the idea, the more I liked it. Georgie and I always had fun painting our rooms as kids, and decorating. This would just be an even bigger scale project.
Her face lit up. “You want to do that?”
“Of course.”
“But wouldn’t you miss the university digs?”
I shrugged. “They’ll be there later. I can always go back.”
Her beaming smile told me everything I needed to know. “I love it. Can we buy something spooky and haunted?”
“Er…I guess?” Whatever she wanted to do, I was game for.
“This’ll be fun!” Georgie raised a fist and I bumped it. “You’re the best, Clemmy.” Happiness shone in Georgie’s eyes, and I felt as pleased as she looked. This would be good for both of us. Whatever happened, my sister and I would stick together.
“Attention, everyone,” someone called out on a bullhorn. “A team is nearing the finish line. Please put on your World Races gear and line up at your assigned spots.”
“This is it,” Georgie said, jumping to her feet. She flung her hat off and swiped a hand over her nose, smearing off the zinc. “Let’s go see who wins!”
A wave of anxiety crashed over me.
Please, be Swift and Plate!
 
 
Chapter Thirty-Six
 
 
“Home stretch. I just pray it’s enough.” – Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races
 
 
“We need everyone to line up in the order you were eliminated from the race,” a production assistant bellowed at the racers. “Regular race uniforms on, no beach accessories. Hustle! Hustle!” He snapped his fingers at us. “Two minutes!”
Georgie and I scrambled to our designated place. I was anxious to see who was going to cross the finish line. I smoothed my hair with my hands as Georgie wiped the last of the zinc off her face, then shoved her hat at one of the people scrambling past. Everywhere, people were lining up. Directly across from us, the Red Hat ladies stood. We were the two teams closest to the stage, and we’d have a great view of whoever got to stand there with Chip.
Unfortunately, that meant we also wouldn’t be able to see who was in first place until they ran right past us.
“Oh God, I’m so nervous,” Georgie said, shaking her hands out and dancing in place. “What if it’s Green? Can I vomit on them as they run past?”
“I’m fine with that.” My own stomach was churning around the fruity drinks I’d downed. Anxiety threatened to make me dizzy, and I had to take several deep breaths. All of the other teams just looked excited to see who would win.
Me and Georgie? We looked like we were going to be sick.
“The first team’s taxi has pulled up to the beach,” someone in production called out. “Everyone get ready!”
Georgie clutched my arm. “I can’t look!”
Fuck that. I was looking. I leaned forward, my heart pounding as I strained to make out people. Colors. Blurs. Something. I had a new pair of glasses now, but the sun was so bright that it was hard to focus. I shielded my eyes and peered down the long stretch of empty beach.
Two people, jogging.
I sucked in a breath.
“I see them!” Someone cried. “Here they come!”
Georgie clung to my arm. “Is it them?”
“I can’t tell!”
“Look harder!” She shook my arm.
I turned back to glare at my impossible twin. Seriously? But when I turned again…
I could make out faces. The color of shirts.
Cheers exploded around us. “Come on up here, boys!” Chip called out from the stage. Georgie grabbed my arm tighter and started hopping up and down.
Swift and Plate jogged up to the finish line and onto the stage.