Partner Games
Page 56

First place. They’d done it. First place. Georgie screamed in my ear, then began to clap wildly. I couldn’t move. I was so numb with relief. I put my hands together slowly, trying to clap, but I felt like a marionette.
I was just so relieved.
Plate was the first one to get on the stage. He threw down his backpack and did a Rocky-style punch-and-jog, and then flung his arms around Chip Brubaker. Chip laughed and clapped Plate on the back, and then turned to Swift. He wasn’t exuberant like Plate, or laughing and joking. His face was pale and he was sweaty.
“You don’t look like you’re happy to have won,” Chip called out to Swift.
“We won?” He asked slowly. “We’re in first?” Swift’s gaze moved through the eliminated racers lined up, and with a clench of my heart, I knew he was looking for me. His eyes locked with mine a moment later, and I gave him an encouraging nod. They won. It wasn’t a joke.
He exhaled deeply and bent over, his hands on his knees. “Oh, thank God.”
Everyone burst into cheers again. A knot formed in my throat and I smiled, clapping harder.
Chip clapped Swift on the back. “You need a moment?”
“I’ll…be…okay,” he said slowly. “Just need to breathe.”
“Take your time,” Chip told him. He turned back to Plate, who was smiling broadly. Plate pumped a fist in the air as Chip began to speak. “Well, boys. Eight countries. Six continents. Ten teams….and you’re in first place!”
“Yeah, baby!” Plate shouted. Swift stood upright, and Plate grabbed him in an enormous hug, spinning him around. “We did it, bro!”
As if just now able to believe it, a slow smile spread across Swift’s face. He let out a gigantic whoop and slapped Plate on the back, then screamed, raising a fist into the air. “Fuck yeah!”
“Bleep that,” someone in production called out.
“How’d you boys do it?” Chip asked, giving them toothy smiles. “You came in first place in almost every leg. Then toward the end, you were in last. But somehow, you managed to fight back to the front of the pack to win the prize. What’s your secret?”
Swift immediately looked to me. “We made some really great friends along the way.”
Friends? The knot in my throat felt like it was the size of New Hampshire.
“That’s right,” Plate said immediately, heading down the steps. He grabbed Georgie’s hand and then mine, and dragged us up onto the stage. “We couldn’t have done it without these two ladies.”
I looked over at Swift, uncertain. Friends? Friends? The word kept ringing in my ears.
Swift took two steps forward and immediately enfolded me in a hug. He squeezed me tight against him.
More cheers erupted from the gathered crowd.
“We owe you guys everything,” Swift murmured in my ear.
I squeezed him back. “You don’t owe us anything. It was all you.”
“Here comes second place,” called Chip. “Why don’t you boys come on up here? Team Three’s still waiting for a connecting flight overseas, I’m sorry to say, so we won’t get to see them again.”
I looked up and couldn’t resist a small, smug smile as the Green Machine threw their backpacks down on the sand and jogged up the steps.
“You guys ran a great race,” Chip told them, shaking their hands. “I’m sorry it just wasn’t enough.”
“We were close,” Drew said in a tight voice, his hands on his hips. His mouth was a firm, unhappy line.
Swift just held me tight against him.
“You boys ran a good race,” Chip said.
Georgie snorted. I shot her a look.
“Well, it’s hard to run a good race when everyone else teams up against you,” Foster said, tone belligerent.
“Oh no, you did not just go there.” Georgie put her hands on her hips.
“What is it?” Plate asked.
I rolled my eyes and just held tight to Swift. “It’s called sour grapes. Don’t pay any attention to it. You guys won fair and square.”
“That’s rich, coming from you two girls,” Drew said. He mimed flipping a braid, imitating me. “Oh wow, boys, this challenge is so hard. Can you do it for us?”
Georgie scowled. “Whatever. That is not how it went down.”
“It’s okay, Georgie. They’re just bitter bitches because they played shady and it still got them second place. Oh wait, I’m sorry. Second place is still first loser, right? You boys are officially first losers.” I gave them a smug smile. “Guess you should have stolen someone else’s money, huh?”
“Wait, what?” Swift’s arms tightened around me.
“They stole your money?” Plate bellowed at the same time.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said quickly. “The race is over, and it didn’t do them any good.”
Swift’s hands went to my shoulders and tightened. Not enough to hurt, just enough to let me know that he was tense. “When?”
“When what?”
“When did they steal your money?”
I gave Georgie a guilty look. I hated that we – okay I – had brought it up. I knew the boys would lose their shit. “Morocco?”
Swift released me and stepped forward. “Morocco, huh? That was a while back.”
“Yup. And we did just fine.” I kept my tone upbeat.
But Swift kept moving toward Chip. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, muscles bulging, and looked the host right in the eye. “The race is done, right? It’s over?”
Chip frowned, and then resumed his normal plastic smile. “It is. You’ve won. Now what—“
“You’re sure it’s 100% over?” Swift asked.
Chip nodded.
“Good. Then I can’t get in trouble for this.” Swift turned and slammed his fist into Drew’s face.
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
“To an awesome race,” Plate said, raising his glass of champagne in the air. “Even with all the douchebags.”
“Even with,” I said, raising my glass of champagne. Georgie raised hers, and at my side, Swift raised his mug of beer, his other hand in the ice bucket. He’d managed to do quite a bit of damage to Drew’s face – and to his hand – before he’d been pulled off of him. Drew had threatened to sue, and Georgie had threatened to sue Drew right back for harassment, and the race lawyers had gotten involved and soothed everyone’s feelings with a few minor settlements and promises for future spots on other reality TV shows.
Me, though? I couldn’t stop smiling. Swift had won, and he’d beat up the bad guys to boot. It was hard not to be on cloud nine at the moment. We sat in the restaurant of the expensive resort hotel. We’d be staying here overnight, courtesy of the show, and then everyone would be heading home in the morning.
Plate downed his champagne and belched. “That’s the last of the bottle.”
“Thanks for a great dinner, guys,” Georgie said with a smile. “It was fun to go out and celebrate. I’m glad the good guys won for a change.”
“Too bad Jendan and Annabelle couldn’t be here to celebrate,” Swift said, gazing at his beer mug. “They were good guys.”