Playing Games
Page 41

That one had been almost too easy.
For my task? We'd had to turn around and race back to Siem Reap and head to a nearby restaurant, where Khmer Cuisine was served. The second individual task was there, and as soon as I saw that it was at a restaurant, I knew the producers were rigging things to get us to stay. I was the only one on the race that had culinary school experience. If there was a challenge I was going to excel at, it was going to be cooking.
Sure enough, when we arrived at the restaurant, I saw that not only was Summer there, working on the challenge, but Brodie and Abby were both there as well. We'd caught up with the other teams somehow.
"Good luck," Liam told me, and gave me a quick kiss before I dashed to my table.
For this challenge, my clue read, you have a table full of traditional Khmer ingredients. You must taste the provided dish to determine how to prepare it and then make it from scratch. A judge will taste your dish to determine if it has been made properly. Once you have completed both dishes to his satisfaction, you will receive your next task.
I sat down at the only empty table - right next to Abby, who gave me a queasy smile. Her table was torn apart, ingredients spread and sprinkled everywhere, and both of her 'taster' dishes half eaten. I picked up the first one and studied it, blanching. "Are these ants?"
"They are," she told me. "And they taste every bit as nasty as you'd think."
"Lovely," I said, and gave Liam a grateful smile when he dropped a bottle of water off at the corner of my table. Good man. The other plate seemed to be full of wiggly tentacles on a stick. Okay, that was not nearly as bad. I'd just think of that as the local calamari dish.
As soon as I sat down, Brodie got up and sprinted to the exit, his task completed. Damn. Well, that was all right. The other two teams were still here. I studied my table ingredients, and didn't recognize many of the spices or herbs. The easiest thing to do would be to taste the dish, then taste each spice until I figured out which ones it had been made with, and go from there. Steeling myself, I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and took a tiny bite of the ant mountain. It was bitter tasting, but there were spices mixed in, and it wasn't so terrible as long as I didn't think about what I was eating. Lemongrass, I decided. There was lemongrass in there, and garlic. I took another bite, contemplating. Lemongrass, garlic, and something else I couldn't identify.
Abby took one look at me, and swigged more water, clearly having issues with the challenge. "I am not so good with insects."
I set the plate down and licked the tip of my finger, then stuck it into a plate of what looked like spices. It was hot and unpleasant, and I swigged more water. Not what I was looking for. I did notice a bit of greenery at the corner of the table, broke off a small blade, and chewed. There was my lemongrass, at least. I pulled my bowl of 'fresh' ants closer and set the lemongrass next to it, contemplating my next spice.
"You guys are doing really well," Abby told me, leaning in to whisper. "Making good TV?"
"Guess so," I said, and couldn't resist a blush. I pointed at the lemongrass at the corner of her table. "You need some of that."
She tore off a handful and shook her head. "This is going to be it for Dean and I, I think. If you turn in the wrong dish, they make you start over, which means you have to keep tasting over and over again, and my stomach can't handle it right now." She patted her lower belly. "Maybe in another seven months."
My eyes widened and I forgot all about eating. "You're pregnant? Are you supposed to be racing? Isn't this dangerous?"
She grimaced and swigged more water. "Keep it down. I haven't said anything to Dean."
I glanced over at her husband. There was a look of concern on his handsome face, brows furrowed as he watched his wife chug bottles of water. But he clapped his hands and gave her a supportive thumbs up when she looked over at him. "You're doing great, baby," he called out. "Don't get discouraged."
"Why are you on a game show if you're pregnant?" I asked, leaning in to taste another one of my spices. Ugh. Bitter as hell, but possibly in the ant dish. I set it aside in the maybe pile.
"I didn't realize I was. By the time I did, it was too late to back out. You know I hate these sorts of shows, right?" She shook her head and shuffled a few of her spice dishes, contemplating the mess of cooking on her table. "I swore I'd never be on another one of these things, but Dean's coach passed away a few months ago and he's been in a funk. He needed a distraction and when they called and offered, I thought it'd be a good idea." She scrunched up her face and tasted the ant dish again. "I didn't figure out about you-know-what until a few days before the race, and by then it was too late to change my mind. I figured it couldn't hurt anything, right? But I didn't think I'd be eating spicy bugs, either." She shook her head. "I can't keep them down, which means we're done."
"I can help," I told her.
"No, you need to play to win. If you can do this fast, catch up with your brother and I'll try and beat Summer." She gave me a crooked grin. "And if I don't, I'll just hope for the Ace if you're game."
Oh god, that damned Ace. I swallowed hard. "Um, Abby…"
She studied her plates, not paying attention to me. "I don't know which is worse. The ant pile or the squid on a stick."
"Abby," I told her quietly. "I haven't told Liam yet, but…Brodie blackmailed me on the last leg and I had to give him the Ace."
Abby stared at me a long moment, and then the side of her mouth curled into a smile.
"I'm so sorry," I told her. "I know we had a deal, but he's my brother—"
"Oh, girl." She waved a hand and set her plate down. "Do not worry about that in the slightest. I'm only here for Dean. I don't care if we leave today, though he'll be disappointed because he likes to win."
"I feel awful. Liam's going to be so mad when he finds out."
She leaned in again and tapped my arm. "Let me give you another piece of advice, Katy. This is a reality TV show, but it's not reality in the slightest. There's a difference between making good TV and making good friends, and I've done this before. I know the difference." She smiled wider. "I think of you as a friend, and this race won't change that. But Brodie's your brother, so if you have to save his ass, that's what you do. I don't think he'd be as understanding." She winked. "I don't know if you noticed, but he really, really wants to win."
I snorted and chewed a green leaf, then spat it out. Disgusting flavor and not what I was looking for. I shuffled the bowls again. "Yeah, I noticed."
"So don't you worry about us," she said, mixing her ingredients and then picking up her chopsticks with a resigned face. "If he gets all bummed, I'll just tell him about the baby."
From across the room, Dean cupped his hands to his face and called out, "Less gossip, more eating, Abby."
She waved a hand at him, dismissing his words. "I'm eating, I'm eating."
"You're the best, Abby," I told her.
"I know," she said loftily, then gave me a curious look. "How is Liam handling the whole Ace thing? I thought he hated Brodie."