Playing Games
Page 20

He shrugged his shoulders. "Makes sense to me. Now instead of just me and you, it's two teams. We can work off of each other and push to the end." His gaze moved to our guidebook. "And we can share information."
"Or," I said in a sarcastic voice, "we could share our information and you could use it to hose me again. Nice try, Brodie."
"Fine. If you're going to hold a grudge, I can't stop you." Brodie gave me a sad look that I didn't buy for a minute. "Can we borrow your guidebook for a few, at least?"
"No," Liam said. "Get your own."
"We didn't have the money on the last leg," Brodie said, talking to me and ignoring Liam. "It'd be really helpful if you could let us just see it for a few minutes—"
"No," I said this time. "There's plenty of time before seven am. Go get your own guidebook."
"But you've got one right here—"
"And we said no," Liam reminded him. "You've been a dick to your sister the whole time. You shouldn't be surprised that she doesn't want to help you."
"Fine. You don't want to help me?" Brodie reached over and plucked the guidebook out of Liam's hands, getting to his feet. "Then I'll just take it—"
Instantly, Liam was on his feet, going after Brodie, and grasped the guidebook. “That’s not yours.”
Brodie put a hand on Liam’s jaw, planting it and trying to shove him aside to keep the guide from him. The two men began to scuffle, and I screamed as they started to get a bit violent. What the hell was happening? "Stop it, Brodie," I yelled, leaping to my feet.
"Liam, quit it," Tesla bellowed off to the side.
"Hey, buzz off," I called at her, even as the men's struggles got more aggressive.
A ripping sound cut through the air.
Suddenly, Chip was there, pulling Brodie off, and Dean stepped in, blocking Liam. "What's going on here?" The host asked. Cameras hovered all around, catching every humiliating moment for TV.
"This asshole stole what wasn't his," Liam said, waving what was now one half of a tourism guide to Italy. "And I'm tired of him walking all over my partner. Katy's been nothing but nice about this whole shit deal and her brother thinks he can just do whatever he wants."
My jaw dropped a little to hear Liam defend me like that - against my own brother. It was…really nice.
Chip frowned at the two men. He looked at Brodie. "Is it true that you stole from this team?"
Brodie gave a sigh of disgust and tossed the ripped half of the stolen guide onto the ground. "I didn't realize they were going to be such pussies about it."
"I'm sorry, but stealing is against the rules. Yellow team, you will have to take a two-hour penalty for rules violation at seven am, when the facilities open."
The look Brodie shot my way was withering. "Seriously?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Too bad," Liam said in a bland voice, then scooped up the discarded half of the guide.
"Careful," Chip said. "I can give you a penalty too."
Liam returned to my side and said nothing else. I could practically feel the tension vibrating off of him. I put an arm around his waist and steered him away from the tense little group. "Come on. Let's just go sit down."
The crowd dispersed, and a cameraman came to our side, filming as Liam and I sat down off to the side again. I barely noticed that another team came up to the mat, looking confused as everyone scattered. Summer and Polly. I looked at Liam, noticing that his lip was swollen on one side. My fingers brushed over it. "You okay?"
He ran his tongue over his lip, and it slid against my fingertips, which just made my entire body flare up. "Yeah. Your brother elbowed me in the face."
My eyes narrowed. "He's such an ass. You want me to say something?"
"Nah. They'll kick him from the game."
“And you don’t want that?”
“Not if it’ll make Tesla run screaming to the label about what I did.” After a moment, he grinned. "Pretty sure I elbowed him in the gut, though."
I smiled back, and let my hand drop back into my lap.
To my surprise, he picked up my hand and kissed my fingertips, right where his tongue had brushed against them. "He doesn't know what he missed out on when he lost you as a partner."
Warmth flooded through me. I tried to think of what to say, but my gaze was fascinated by his mouth on my fingertips.
A large hand clapped me on the back, startling me. "You guys ok?" Dean leaned over us. "That was some messy shit, huh?"
I nodded and pulled my hand back toward me, hoping Dean and the others hadn't noticed that electric moment between Liam and I. "We're fine. Thanks, Dean."
He nodded. "You let me and Abby know if you need anything."
As Dean left, I squeezed in next to Liam and tucked my legs close. Like at the airport, I pulled my body close to his and snuggled in as we waited for dawn. Neither one of us spoke, and it seemed like a bad move to pull our guide out right away again.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to Liam.
His fingers reached out and brushed along my jawline in a tender caress. "I'm not."
 
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
 
Wendi and Rick, the mother and son team, were the last to arrive in Pompeii. They showed up some time around four in the morning, while I was trying to sleep, and the sounds of Wendi's high pitched bawling woke me up. We were a little sad to see them go because they were genuinely nice, but teams had to leave. That was just how the game worked. As long as it wasn't us, I didn't much care.
When six am rolled around, the remaining teams started to head back to the entrance designated for the competition. Liam and I waited a bit, then consulted our guide again.
Two major temples inside Pompeii - Jupiter and Apollo. We studied the floor plans, then decided that we'd head to the Temple of Jupiter, despite it being just a bit further into the city than the Temple of Apollo, since everyone would probably head to Apollo first. Then, we joined the others.
At seven, the teams flooded into Pompeii. The ruins were magnificent – from the cobbled streets to the graffiti-covered and frescoed buildings around us. I wanted to stop and look at the fascinating city, but we didn't have time. It was a race, after all.
The first temple we passed was the temple of Apollo, and we could see the challenge areas set up. Immediately, four teams broke off and headed for it. Abby and Dean hesitated and looked at us, and we headed on to the next temple. They followed us, since we’d agreed to work together on this leg of the race as well.
Each station was set up with dozens of white broken pieces, all supposed to resemble marble but felt like plastic. Our goal was to create a replica of each temple as it stood once upon a time, and a judge would swing by with our next clue. Except we had a mountain of pieces, and they all looked the same.
More puzzles. Ugh. I picked up one block, studied it, and gave Liam a helpless look. "I don't even know where to begin."
He took the piece from me, studied it, and then handed it back. "I wonder if the other temple's any easier."