“How’s it going?” Miles asked, leaning back against the couch.
She didn’t say anything. Instead she took a big bite of her food so she couldn’t possibly say something. How was it going? That was as good as he could come up with? How did he think it was going when he’d dumped her for his buddy? Left her on the trail feeling like a puppy that had just been kicked.
I’m great! Awesome. Never been better.
“I wanted to come over earlier, but Ben needed to talk about a couple of things.”
Of course, Ben comes first.
She forced another deep breath into her lungs forgetting that she still had a mouth full of food until some of it hit the back of her throat. She coughed into her napkin, her eyes watering. Miles sat forward, patting her on the back to help her catch her breath.
Paige put her plate on the coffee table, her appetite gone, and took a sip of water. When she finally stopped coughing, Miles continued to rub her back. She wanted more than anything to lean into his chest, bury her face in his neck, breathe in his manly scent.
She shifted on the couch, leaning away from Miles and propping herself up against the arm of the couch for support. She would not give in to temptation. Not after he’d made his real feelings about her clear.
“Paige,” he said softly, stroking the side of her leg with his fingers, sending tingles of heat along her skin. She wished he’d stop touching her. It would make it easier to ignore him. “I know you don’t understand why I decided to finish the cache with Ben, but I can explain if you’ll listen to me. Ignoring me is childish and silly.”
Oh, no. He did not.
Paige turned to face him. “You know what’s childish and silly?” She didn’t wait for his answer before continuing. “Choosing your hiking buddy over the girl you claim to like enough to take to bed. Or maybe that was all I was to you — a girl to take to bed while you were stuck on this stupid show. Just a way for you to fill the long boring evenings.”
She got up from the couch and grabbed her plate before crossing the room to throw it in the garbage. Miles stood.
“Come back and talk to me about this.”
Paige paused. “You made your choice, and now I’ve made mine. See you at the finale.”
She walked out of the common room with her head held high, feeling every bit as confident as she did in her heels even though she was currently barefoot. She didn’t need Miles to win this game. Hell, she didn’t even need Zoe. All she needed was a few good caches to secure some points and she could win this whole game. That would show all of them just how strong and confident she was now.
Pulling open her bedroom door, she wasn’t at all surprised to find Ben and Zoe talking. Ben looked pretty comfortable on Paige’s bed, but he was going to have to get uncomfortable.
“Ben,” she said, making them both jump since neither had paid her any attention when she’d walked in. “You’re a nice guy and all, but I need you to get the hell out of my bed.”
He raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, obviously surprised by this new Paige. “Okay. Sorry. I thought you’d be with Miles again tonight. He said he was going to talk to you once I left with Zoe.”
“Oh, he did come talk to me. And I told him to get lost too.”
Ben stood by the door while Paige fluffed her pillows. “Is everything okay with you and Miles?”
“Does it sound like everything’s fine?” she snapped then regretted it. She lowered her voice as exhaustion set in. “No, Ben, it’s not.”
“Sorry to hear that,” he said. “Maybe we can get it all sorted out tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.”
“I doubt that,” she muttered, climbing into bed and pulling the blankets over her head. A moment later she heard the door close and Zoe turning out the light.
• • •
Paige peeled her eyes open to peer at the clock on the bedside table. One in the morning. It was inhuman to be awake in the middle of the night. Groaning, she reached out for her water bottle only to find it missing.
Damn it. It had been on the end table beside the couch in the common room. Probably it still sat there.
She rolled out of bed and slipped into the hall as quietly as she could so as not to wake up Zoe. It would take her approximately two minutes to walk down the hall to the common room to get her bottle and then she could be back to bed in another two. Sounded like a pretty good plan.
As she came up to the common room door, the quiet murmuring of voices from inside stopped her in her tracks. Who was up so late?
Holding her breath, she crept closer to the door, straining to hear who was inside. She didn’t want to spy on anyone or eavesdrop, but she also didn’t want to be seen by everyone in her thin pajamas in the cool night air. She’d done that once before, and all it had gotten her was a tumble in the sheets and a broken heart. No way would she risk that again.
She paused, listening.
Miles’s voice drifted to her as if beckoning her to go to him. The sound of his voice in the dark made her long to feel his hands on her body. Made her belly turn to lava at the thought of forgiving him and going back to his bed for make-up sex.
Until she heard Eve’s voice.
Then the lava in her belly hardened as fire sparked in her veins. They hadn’t even been fighting one day and already he was chatting up Eve in the common room late at night. Alone. Next stop, Bedroomville, apparently.
She rested her forehead against the cold wall, trying to think of a valid reason why they were talking so late at night. Maybe they were forming a new alliance. Maybe they’d always been in an alliance. Maybe they were watching a movie on television.
Eve laughed. Giggled.
Or maybe Eve had finally succeeded in getting into Miles’s pants like she’d hinted at wanting for this whole show. She wouldn’t be surprised. Eve hadn’t exactly hidden her attraction to Miles.
Maybe Miles had finally decided to stop pushing her away. Maybe he didn’t like sleeping alone. He hadn’t wasted any time. His feelings for Paige couldn’t have been real.
Paige swiped at a tear that had broken free.
Damn him. She wasn’t going to cry for him when he’d already moved on to sleeping with someone else. And she wasn’t going to stand here in the hall like some jealous girlfriend and spy on them.
Nope. Miles could do whatever he wanted — whomever he wanted.
He wasn’t her concern anymore. She wouldn’t let him be.
Paige jogged back down the hallway on the balls of her feet trying to get away as quickly as she could without making any noise to draw them out of the common room to find her. The last thing she needed was a confrontation with Miles. She’d managed to keep her emotions in check earlier tonight, but she couldn’t guarantee she’d be able to do it again now that she knew he was spending his free time with Eve instead of her. Not that it mattered anyway. She’d washed her hands of him the minute he’d chosen Ben over her. Hadn’t she?
She climbed back into bed no longer thirsty and prayed Zoe hadn’t heard her come back. She couldn’t handle Zoe right now. Paige pulled the covers over her head.
Miles had made two choices today, both of them bad. And neither included her.
This time she didn’t bother to stop the tears.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Miles knocked on the door to Zoe and Paige’s room. With an hour left until they had to check out for the day, he hoped he’d have enough time to convince Paige he still wanted to be in an alliance with her.
And he still wanted to be with her in other ways too.
If only he could get her to talk to him for two seconds.
It had been a couple days since their argument at the cache when Paige ended up walking away from him — literally and figuratively. He’d tried a few more times to talk to her since the night by the fi
replace, but he couldn’t seem to get her to stay still long enough. Every time he approached her, she started a conversation with another team until he got tired of waiting around.
After completing the climbing cache with Ben, he’d realized how wrong he’d been to assume Ben couldn’t do the harder caches. Miles also realized he’d probably been wrong about Paige and Zoe not being able to do the caches as well. And he planned to tell her as much when he finally got the chance to.
His last hope of getting his alliance back on track with her was coming to her room early in the morning before the day of racing started. Being that today was the last day of the race, he was out of options and time. He wanted to race with Zoe and Paige. He wanted to learn more about Paige before it was too late and the show ended and everyone went back to their own lives.
Damn it. He needed to spend time with her. It didn’t seem to matter what he filled his time with each evening, not being with Paige made him lonelier than he cared to be. Lonelier than he’d ever been, even after Ben had stopped climbing and had gotten married.
He missed Paige.
Somehow she’d become a part of his life during the show and he hadn’t felt the same since she’d walked away. It killed him knowing she thought so poorly of him. He had to change her mind.
He knocked on the door again, harder this time. They had to be in there. He’d checked all of the usual areas and he hadn’t seen either of them yet. Therefore they had to still be getting ready. He had her trapped. There was nowhere for her to run off and hide … no one for her to start another conversation with except for Zoe and she didn’t count. He wouldn’t care if he had to interrupt her, not that he thought Zoe would actually bother to play along with Paige just to torment him.
Or maybe she would.
Come to think of it, Zoe had basically only spoken to Ben for the last couple of days. He was glad they’d connected. Ben needed someone in his life who actually understood what he was going through, since his wife and Miles were only so helpful.
The door cracked open. “What the hell? God, you’re annoying,” Zoe said through the door.
“Good morning to you too, sis. Is Paige here? Can I talk to her, please?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “No.”
He sighed. Dealing with Zoe first thing in the morning always required an incredible amount of patience. Far more than he ever had available. Today was no exception. “No she’s not here, or no I can’t talk to her?”
Zoe shrugged. “Either. Both.”
“Come on, Zoe. Be a good sister and let me talk to her.”
“I can’t. She’s in the shower right now, and there’s no way I’m letting you in there.”
“I’ll wait in the room and you can let her know I’m here.”
She shook her head. “She told me specifically, on many occasions I might add, that she doesn’t want to talk to you again. You lost your chance when you pulled that alpha male crap on her.”
He closed his eyes and banged his head against the doorframe feeling defeated. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Well, you did. And now you have to deal.” Zoe stepped back and moved to close the door.
He thrust his hand into the space, gabbing the side of the door, stopping her from closing it all the way. “Let me talk to her. If you have any heart, don’t close the door on me.”
“I think you should know me better than that by now.” She smiled and he knew she wouldn’t budge. When Zoe made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. One of the ways they were very alike. “Today’s the last day of the show and our last chance to get caches. I can’t let you talk to her or else instead of a capable partner, I’ll have a distracted, sniffling mess to take care of like I have since you pulled jerk.”
“That’s exactly why I need to talk to her. I promise she’ll be fine to compete today if you let me apologize.”
“I thought you wanted Ben to win. Isn’t that why you chose him over Paige to begin with?”
“I didn’t mean to pick him over Paige. At least, I didn’t think that was what I was doing when I did it. I only wanted to prove to him that he could climb and you’re right, I want him to win.”
Zoe nodded. “Yeah, I wanted him to win too.”
“You did?” Miles asked unable to keep the shock from his tone. Zoe didn’t do nice things for others especially not let them win a pile of money she could try to win herself.
“I thought winning would help Ben get his life back, just like you did,” Zoe said. “But take a look at him now. He doesn’t even need to win anymore. He doesn’t need our help anymore. He can win all on his own merits if you let him. And so can I. I want to win too. So I’m keeping Paige away from you until after the check in tonight.”
“So now you’re out to get us?” Miles asked. Typical Zoe. Using someone until she got what she wanted then walking away without remorse.
Fuck. Just like Paige thought he’d done to her. Great. Another similarity to Zoe. No wonder Paige didn’t want to talk to him again. Wow. They really were related after all. Paige was right. His actions did speak louder than his words. His stomach rolled. He was no better than Zoe.
“Fine,” he said, sighing. “Can you give her a message for me?” Zoe nodded, so he continued. “Tell her that I’m coming to find her tonight at base camp and I want to apologize. And … I know she’s strong and all that, but ask her to be careful. I hate that I’m not there to race with you girls today. Keep an eye on her for me, okay?”
Zoe’s shoulders dropped a fraction at his words. If he could get through to her, maybe he still had a shot at saying something right to Paige to help make this all better too. Now he had to wait until tonight to get a chance to say it.
He stepped back from the door and turned away as Zoe closed it. Hopefully tonight wouldn’t be too late.
• • •
“Who was at the door?” Paige asked, walking out of the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel and another around her body.
“It was Team Father Daughter checking to see if we’re okay since we haven’t made it to breakfast yet. I told them we were running late.” Zoe crossed the room and slipped her feet into her sneakers, tying them. “I can’t wait until I’m out of these stupid sneakers. How can I look cute on TV in these?”
“You look great as always. You could wear flippers on your feet and you’d still look awesome.”
Zoe smiled. A genuine smile. “Thanks. You look pretty hot today too. I’d do you.”
Paige laughed and blushed while she straightened her shirt. She did look pretty hot today in her yoga top, tight Capri pants, and heels. Too bad Miles wouldn’t get to see it.
Not that his opinion mattered anymore.
“Well, thanks. I appreciate the compliment coming from you,” Paige said. Maybe their last day racing would be an enjoyable one.
“Don’t get used to it. I’m just being nice for the cameras.”
“You remember there are no cameras in our rooms, right?” Paige asked.
“Damn. I guess I was nice for no reason then,” Zoe said, the teasing tone in her voice unusual but welcomed.
“We should probably head out. I need to grab something for breakfast quickly and I want to make sure we leave right on time. We have to try and get as many caches as possible today since it’s our last shot.”
Zoe nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want to work with the boys again today? We usually got a bunch of caches with them.”
Paige shook her head. “No. I’m done with the boys. They don’t want us around anyway. We’d probably get to a cache that’s ‘too hard for little girls’ and then they’d leave us again to do it themselves. No way. Today I’m all about girl power.”
“I think Miles feels bad about that.”
“Good. He should feel bad.” Paige squared he
r shoulders and looked directly at Zoe. “Today I want to go for the hard one.”
“The firefighter’s cache?”
“Yep. I know it’s tricky, but they wouldn’t open it again if it wasn’t safe. And no one else has done it yet, so I really think we should do it. And we won’t have Miles around to tell us we suck.”
“I don’t know about this,” Zoe said, looking nervous for the first time Paige could remember. “I think there’s a reason none of the other teams have gone for it.”
“Yeah, because they’re all scared like Miles. But I’m not scared. I know we’re strong enough to do that cache — now’s our chance to prove it to everyone else. And we’ll score an awesome prize too.”
Paige held her breath waiting for Zoe to disagree with her. If she did, Paige had another few arguments in her arsenal to use. She wasn’t going to give up until Zoe said yes.
“Okay. I’m in. But if it gets too scary or looks too dangerous once we get there, then we have to leave. I’m not going to risk being removed from the show because of an injury on the last day. We’ve been here way too long not to be in the finale. Deal?”
“Deal.”
• • •
Paige and Zoe stood at the edge of the bluff peering over the side. Below, water splashed gently against the rocks. Somewhere on the side of these rocks the cache that had caused the firefighters to fall was hidden. But could they find it?
“I think we should go back to the truck and find another cache,” Zoe said, her voice wavering.
“No way. We can totally do this.” Paige did feel confident, sort of, but maybe not as confident as she made her voice sound. She didn’t want to add to Zoe’s already nervous state since both team members had to descend to find the cache.
“But it’s so steep. And the water … ” Zoe’s voice trailed off as she took a step away from the edge. “I don’t know.”
Paige turned with her arms crossed. “Are you trying to tell me there’s something in this world that Miss Zoe Oliver is too chicken to do? ’Cause I don’t believe it. I might have to call the tabloids myself so they can get the inside scoop on the real Zoe.”
Stuck on You (Crimson Romance) Page 20