Playing Games
Page 28

“How about a good luck kiss?”
“Even better,” he said, moving toward me. Before I could take the initiative, his hand went to the back of my neck and he dragged me toward him in a quick, fierce kiss that left my knees weak.
"Good luck," I said, hugging his oversized backpack to my front, wobbly. "I'll, um, be here."
He disappeared off with the production crew, and I sat down on a chair at the dock, waiting. I could at least watch and see who else showed up and make note of the order they arrived in. Unless Joel/Derron and Hal/Stefan showed up ahead of the others, they had to be in last place. A bad flight, maybe. It didn't matter. We seemed to be safe for now.
Of course, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I knocked on wood.
The diving shop sold snacks and cold bottles of water, and I made myself comfortable, waiting in a shady spot and eying the flag stop.
At least an hour crawled by. No Liam. No other contestants. I spun my water bottle and then purchased another and more snacks for Liam, because I knew he'd be hungry. We'd been going all morning long, and if his dive was taking this long, he was bound to be exhausted when he returned. I peered at the waters of the harbor, but didn't see anything. I'd just wait here for him to return, since Chip was so close by.
A taxi pulled up a few minutes later. To my dismay, Brodie and Tesla jumped out of the cab. They'd gotten ahead of the rest of the group. Damn it. And now I was going to have to sit with one of them. Double damn.
I nearly groaned aloud when Tesla disappeared into the dive shop, leaving me with Brodie. Figured.
My brother sprawled onto the deck next to me and rested his head on his pack. "Hey, sis." He gestured at my water bottle. "I don't suppose you'd give that to me? I'm wiped."
"They sell them in the shop, Brodie."
"Yeah, but Tesla and I are pretty low on funds at the moment." He grimaced. "She likes to spend money and we keep running out."
I eyed my brother's sweaty hair and cracked lips, and sighed, handing the water bottle to him. "You hungry, too?"
"God yes, I'm starving."
I wordlessly handed him the bag of trail mix I'd been saving for Liam. "I'd give you some money but it's not just mine."
"That's okay," Brodie said, stuffing food into his mouth and taking a huge swig of water. "You are awesome, Katy, you know that?"
I just shook my head at Brodie. "I'm your sister. I'm not going to let you die on a dumb race."
He grinned and flopped back down on his bag. "This race is pretty awesome, actually."
It was, I had to admit. I was having a lot more fun than I'd anticipated…but most of that was due to Liam. "I'm still a bit mad at you for the partner swap," I told him. "You should have talked to me first."
"I just didn't want Tesla to go, you know? I didn't realize they were going to flip us." He shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted up at me. "I am sorry. You’re my sister. I didn’t want to screw you over."
I sighed. "I know." Brodie was just Brodie. Kind of thoughtless, really impulsive, but didn't mean any harm. "So how's Tesla in the partner department?"
"She's pretty good," he said and gave me a wicked grin. "And she's pretty good at the race."
"Gross, Brodie. Just gross."
He laughed, finished his water, and then gave the empty bottle a mournful look. Jeez, how long had they been without water or anything to eat? I returned to the shop, bought two more bottles and two more bags of trail mix, then sat next to Brodie again and wordlessly handed him one of each.
My brother enveloped me in a bear hug. "I love you, Katy."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, but I was feeling a little better about me and Brodie. I gave my brother a hug back and then nudged his shoulder. "You tell Tesla to watch it on the money, all right? We don't get that much for each leg, and it's probably stupid of me to be buying you stuff since we're competing."
"Is Liam a good diver?" Brodie asked, looking a bit too interested. "Tesla says she is. If we can pass you guys, we get first place."
I had no idea if Liam was a good diver, but I wanted first place. "Don't know. How were the others doing at the mummy challenge?"
He made a face. "Dean's a machine. He was ripping through it. Polly was kind of grossed out. The other two didn't show up while we were there."
"Wow, their flights must have really been backed up. Poor guys." Two all-male teams, both delayed. They’d be neck and neck until the end - I didn't want to be in that race to the finish line.
He nodded. "It's gonna be one of them eliminated. I just know it."
It sure seemed that way.
A cameraman zoomed past, filming something. Both Brodie and I leapt to our feet to see who was coming.
Liam's tall body trotted down the dock, still in the wetsuit, dripping water. I gave a happy little jump and grabbed our bags, heading toward him.
"Congrats, Katy," my brother called out to me. "We'll get you next time."
"In your dreams," I called back, grinning. I gave Liam a quick one-armed hug as I met him and then pointed at Chip. "Finish line's right up there."
Liam looked exhausted, his wet hair pushed off his brow in a messy tangle. "That challenge," he breathed, "was awful. Do you know how many chests there are at the bottom of the harbor? My god. I thought I'd never find ten with coins. And then not all of the coins are lighthouse coins. You have to dig through them looking for the right ones."
My eyes widened. "Glad you did it and not me."
We raced up to top of the hill and met Chip. The finish line tape was intact, and I had to admit that it felt amazing to bust through it, hand in hand, and bound onto the mat in front of the host.
"Liam and Katy! You're the first team to arrive!"
I gave a happy squeal - even though we'd known it - and flung myself into Liam's arms. He kissed me full on the mouth in response.
Chip laughed. "Seems like your partnership is working out all right."
"Seems to be," I said, pulling my now-wet t-shirt away from my chest and wiping at Liam's dripping wet-suit.
"Well, as the winners of this leg of the race, I have an additional prize for you two." Chip gave us both a teasing look, and then produced an envelope from behind his back. "The second Ace of the game."
I stared at it, then groaned.
Damn it. Another Ace? That was the last thing I wanted. "Can't we, like, trade that in for a trip to Fiji or something?"
Chip frowned and held the Ace out. "You don't want it?"
I looked over at Liam, who took it in hand. "No, we'll take it. Better us than another team."
Chip nodded. “It’s all yours, then. Congratulations!”
I tried to look thrilled, and failed.
The host glanced down at his watch. "You have twelve hours until the next leg of the race. Enjoy your stay."
 
 
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We headed into Alexandria for the day. Both Liam and I were too tired to argue with the cab driver when he suggested a particular hotel that was very nice and tourist friendly. Usually that meant 'expensive,' especially if the cab driver was suggesting it. Still, the hotel he dropped us off at was decent looking on the outside, and the rooms reasonable.