Partner Games

by Jessica Clare

  My hopes went down as the taxi pulled up and there was a man standing on a World Races logo mat. He wore suspenders and shorts, with a goofy little hat. As we piled out of the taxi, he held a disk out for us.

  I groaned. Day wasn’t over.

  I paid the taxi as Georgie took the clue from him, and then we read it together. Hike up the mountain to Walig Hut, where you will spend the next twenty four hours in rustic luxury! Four tents have been provided for the eight remaining teams. The last team to show up at the Hut will be eliminated.

  “Oh crap,” I breathed. “I think we’re out, Georgie.”

  “Not necessarily. Someone could have been behind us.” Her voice was firm and she grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s find the trail that leads up to the hut in the mountains. It’s not over until it’s over.”

  Shouldering our bags, we found the marked trail and began to hike. It was getting late, and the day had been ultra-long. My watch read ten at night local time and the sun was just now starting to go down, twilight making the trail even darker.

  The hike took hours. By the time we saw the flickering light of torches, I was just glad that the day would soon be over. We’d go home, lick our collective pride, and that would be it. Life would go back to normal. “We gave it our best, Georgie,” I told my twin sadly. “I’m sorry we didn’t win.”

  “It’s all right,” she said, putting her arm around my waist in a half-hug as we walked. “We had fun.”

  We had. I looped my arm around my twin’s waist, and then we continued on toward the line of flickering torches.

  Chip stood on the mat, waiting. A few other teams milled nearby, waiting to see us get eliminated. I sighed to myself as I saw a familiar face and forced myself to look away from Swift, concentrating on the mat instead.

  A camera zoomed in just as Georgie and I stepped onto it to accept our fate.

  “Red Team,” Chip said in a grave voice. “You ladies are a little behind everyone else.”

  “We missed the first train,” Georgie said, her voice strong. “It happens.”

  He nodded. “Clementine? Do you have anything to add?”

  I thought for a moment. “Nope. We did what we could.”

  Chip peered at us in the darkness. “Well, I’m afraid I have to let you know…”

  I braced myself, shoulders tense.

  “…that you are team number eight.”

  I exhaled so loudly I thought I was going to vomit.

  “What?” said Georgie faintly.

  “You are not the last team to arrive,” Chip said, grinning. “How does this make you feel?”

  “Like I want to puke,” I said.

  A few people nearby laughed.

  Chip produced a clue disk. “This is your next clue. You’ll start from here in twenty-four hours exactly. Until then, relax, eat, and enjoy yourselves.”

  Georgie took the clue and tucked it under her arm, and we wandered away from the mat, dazed. I released my twin, and Swift approached me to pull me into a hug, his arms wide.

  I sidestepped, avoiding him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  To my side, Georgie gave a whoop and then leapt onto Plate, wrapping her arms and legs around him like a spider monkey. “We’re still in,” she screamed. “Fuck yes!”

  “Yeehaw!” Plate said, twirling my twin around.

  I gaped at them.

  Well, what the hell was that about? Were we with the black team or against them? Were they the enemy or our friends?

  Why was my twin constantly changing her mind?

  “You okay?” Swift asked.

  “I think I’m going crazy,” I said, putting a hand to my forehead.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I almost feel like I need to warn Plate away from Georgie. Rule one of the bro code is ‘never let your buddy stick his dick in crazy’.” — Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races

  The moment I got Georgie to myself, we were going to have a talk. Twin to twin, heart to heart. I needed to know what’s going on in that head of hers.

  Unfortunately, that moment wouldn’t be anytime soon, because the camp was crawling with other players. I saw Jendan and Annabelle snuggling next to a campfire, the Red Hat ladies and the Doctor Moms chatting with the Green Machine. Team Daddy and Team Houston had their heads together, and of course, Swift and Plate were waiting for me and Georgie. There’s not an ounce of privacy.

  But judging from Georgie’s reaction, I guess we’re not mad at the black team anymore? I watched with resentment as she happily chatted away to Plate, filling his ears with all the things that happened in our day as he shouldered her bag.

  It’s almost like they’re the team, and where that put me, I didn’t know.

  Land of confusion. Population: Me.

  “We saved you a spot in the tent with us,” Swift said to me. He reached out and took my bag, and I let him. “They’re pairing teams up, I guess to create more friction.” He shrugged. “Plate and I just kinda growled at anyone that got the idea that they’d stay with us.”

  “Thank you,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what to think. Georgie’s not acting like she’s mad. Her mood swings have taught me something important, though. I can’t trust anyone on this race, not even my own twin.

  We dropped our bags in the tent and then hung out for a bit. Georgie was in her high-flying mode, and she was the life of the party. Me, I just sat around and stared at the campfire. Someone handed me S’mores and hot chocolate, and I ate and drank, and tried not to be too much of a party pooper.

  It got cold as the night went on, and people started to head to their tents to burrow in their sleeping bags. Georgie eventually yawned and looked over at me. “Shall we retire?”

  I nodded. I hadn’t felt like chatting with the others anyhow. I was tired, confused, cranky, and didn’t know what to think about Swift. After I’d brushed him off earlier, he’d been keeping his distance from me. My twin, of course, had hung all over Plate and even sat on his knee at one point, laughing as she smushed a piece of chocolate on his face. They were flirty and Georgie was having fun, though I noticed she never took it past flirting. There were no furtive kisses, no sneaking away. She was just…playing. Just being Georgie.

  I guess I was being Clementine, too, since I was the outcast sitting by myself near the fire, not having fun. That about summed things up.

  I followed Georgie into the tent, and Swift and Plate decided it was time for them to go to sleep, too. I shivered in the cold as Georgie got in the tent and started unrolling blankets. They were provided for us by the crew so we didn’t have to shlepp blankets all over the world, but I wondered if they’d cheaped out on us. “These aren’t very warm,” Georgie pointed out as she handed one to me. “Gonna be a cold night.”

  I held my sleeping bag out. It wasn’t one of the heavy duty camping ones. It was a light sleeping bag with the World Races logo. Great. We’d freeze to death, but at least it’d be publicity for the show. “Well, isn’t that lovely.”

  “Me and Plate can sleep on the outside,” Swift offered. “One of us on each side. You girls can sleep in the middle. We can bookend you with warmth if you’re okay with that.”

  I froze, sneaking a glance at my twin.

  Georgie beamed. “That’s a wonderful idea. Come on in, Clemmy.”

  I crawled into the small tent after my twin, glad it was dark so no one could see the hot flush on my face. We were going to be sleeping between the boys? I knew both Georgie and I were tall and skinny, so it wasn’t like we’d generate a lot of body heat on our own, but…wow. My virgin mind was having trouble picturing this.

  I… really hoped Plate slept next to Georgie.

  The guys waited outside the tent while we changed into warmer, long-sleeved shirts for sleeping in, and then crawled into our sleeping bags. I undid my braids and washed my face clean of makeup with a few wet-wipes, then tossed them into a Ziploc baggie. There was no sink to brush our teeth, so we had to settle for the finger tooth brush w
ith a squirt of toothpaste.

  Georgie gave them the okay when we were settled in, and I laid down with my eyes closed, pretending hard to sleep as they moved around, adjusting bags and setting up their blankets. Then, the zipper went up and it got quiet. Real quiet. In the distance, we heard sheep bleating from a neighboring field, and a giggle escaped my throat.

  “Shh,” Georgie hissed at me, but I could hear the laughter in her voice. I pinched her arm and she swatted me back. This was just like when we were kids having a sleepover, except this time there were boys involved.

  I peered through the darkness at the lump at my side. It was big and masculine, and I could smell a hint of either aftershave or deodorant. Was that Plate? Or Swift?

  I found out in the next moment – a hand touched my loose hair and then I heard a low, soft murmur. “I like your hair down.”

  Swift.

  I looked over at Georgie to see if she’d heard anything, but my twin was silent. She smacked her lips sleepily and then turned on her side, away from me.

  My body prickled with awareness as Swift continued to touch my hair with his fingers. It was long enough that it flowed over my shoulders and down my arm. If I was standing straight up, it’d probably go halfway down my back. Normally I just braided it and forgot it, but tonight I felt a girlish sort of pleasure that he liked it.

  And I might have scooted my sleeping bag a little closer to his and turned toward him.

  He turned on his side, and then we were facing each other in the darkness, inches apart. I could make out certain features in the shadows – the slope of his shoulders, the vague shape of his head, the shadow on his nose. His hand left my hair and went to my hand where it held the blanket against my now-braless chest.

  I held my breath as he pulled my hand down, and then lightly began tracing his fingers over my palm, exploring it in the darkness. Oh wow, that felt…so freaking hot. I could feel each brush of his rough fingertips through my body. My nipples were hard, and my pulse pounded between my legs in response.

  Was he…was he going to kiss me? He was so close I could smell mint on his breath, which told me he’d attempted to brush his teeth, too. Or was he just going to play with my hand all night?

  Not that I minded that part. I liked his touch.

  I just wanted more of it.

  His fingers continued to draw small circles on my palm, and then he flipped my hand over and began to trace over my knuckles. “You mad at me?” His voice was so quiet I almost thought it was my imagination.

  “Not mad,” I replied softly, and scooted a bit closer so Georgie wouldn’t overhear us.

  “Then how come you pushed me off?”

  “I just…I don’t know. I was talking with Georgie and she said you tried to get me drunk on purpose—“

  “I did not,” he hissed, and his voice had risen so much that I immediately clapped my hand over his mouth to quiet him.

  I tensed, waiting to see if Georgie had heard that. If she was going to wake up and ask what we were doing. But a moment later, I heard a soft, gentle snore that told me that Georgie was asleep.

  And then Plate began to snore. Loud. Really loud. Jesus. Here I was worried about the tiny noises we were making, and Plate sounded like he was going to wake up people two mountains over.

  “Is he always this loud?” I asked Swift.

  He nodded under my hand.

  I started to pull it away, but he held onto my wrist and kept my hand against his mouth.

  Then, slowly, he kissed my palm. “I would never get you drunk on purpose, Tiny.”

  “Okay,” I said softly, since my brain was starting to misfire. Truth was, I’d lost all coherent thought the moment his lips moved against my hand.

  He kissed it again, and my skin broke out in goosebumps. Oh, wow. Just…wow. He continued to kiss my palm, and then began to move slowly up my arm. Then, he gave my hand a tug, inviting me closer.

  I went. Of course I went. This was every daydream and fantasy I’d had about the man.

  Well, in my fantasies, my sister wasn’t sleeping a few feet away. Ditto Plate. But the moment felt private, and I’d kick myself if I didn’t take the opportunity.

  His arms went around me, sliding into my sleeping bag to brush against my waist and pull me tighter against him. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, breath warm against my face.

  I was pretty sure I’d die of crushing disappointment if he didn’t. So I nodded, and my nose brushed against his.

  Then, his lips caught mine. I held my breath as his mouth brushed over my mouth. His lips pressed gently, nibbling on my lower one, encouraging me to open up for his kiss. I parted my lips, and the moment I did, his tongue brushed into my mouth.

  My fingers moved to his chest, curling against his t-shirt with bliss. I wanted to moan, but…I was pretty sure someone would hear that. I held in my reaction even as his tongue dipped against mine again, then rubbed against it. And I forgot all about the other two people in the tent.

  We kissed hard, our mouths locked. Swift’s tongue and lips took over my world, and there was nothing but his mouth on mine, his taste on my lips, his skin brushing against mine. I felt his hand slide up my shirt, pausing at my ribs. Letting me decide if I wanted to push him away or let him move forward.

  I arched my back, and my breasts brushed against his chest, my nipples hard. My boobs were tiny, but when he cupped one and sucked in a breath, I didn’t think he cared.

  “You’re beautiful, Tiny,” he breathed against my mouth. His thumb rubbed over my nipple, and I felt it all the way through my body. “Don’t push me away again, okay? You gotta talk to me.”

  I nodded. I was pretty much incapable of speech at this point. Talking to him. Got it.

  His fingers teased my nipple a moment longer, and then he gave me one last kiss and sighed. “I should stop touching you.”

  “No,” I whispered, kissing him again. “Bad idea.”

  Swift rolled my nipple against his callused thumb, and then his hand left my shirt entirely. I could have wept. “If I don’t stop, I’m not going to be able to stop,” he warned me. “But we can continue again when we have more privacy. Okay?”

  I nodded again, and for a moment, I hated that Plate and my twin were here.

  Being on a race with a bunch of other people was hell for makeout sessions.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Trying to predict Georgie Price is like trying to predict…well, nothing. You just can’t predict that one. She’s like an emotional tornado.” — Swift, Team One Percent, The World Races

  Elon and Gwen, the brown team, aka Team Newlyweds, were the last team to arrive last night. I was told this the next morning, because it had been super late and I was already asleep. They’d come and gone, and since they were now off the race, no one even got to say their goodbyes. Not that anyone would miss them. They bickered with each other so much that the race would be a better place without them.

  I didn’t mind sleeping through their exit from the game. Heck, I slept awesome last night. Maybe it was the fact that we weren’t going to have to take off first thing in the morning. Maybe it was the crisp mountain air. Maybe it was the kisses and the makeout session with Swift at bedtime.

  Pretty sure it was that.

  At any rate, I woke up the next morning, utterly refreshed. I didn’t even mind that our location – Walig Hut – had no shower and no real bathrooms. There was hot chocolate to drink, warm pastries for breakfast, and a nice toasty fire.

  Today was officially hangout day. Georgie and I wouldn’t be leaving until late tonight. Plate and Swift had come in first place and would be leaving a few hours ahead of us, but promised to try and catch up together if at all possible. Georgie and I just had to make up time.

  But until then, we could kick back and unwind for a bit.

  As Georgie and I nabbed breakfast, I couldn’t stop blushing. Every time I saw Swift, I felt my face turn bright red. I’d made out with the occasional guy or two in the past, but it had bee
n a long damn time, and never one quite so sexy as Swift. And never with my sister sleeping a few feet away, along with another guy. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself…and feeling a little wild. Trade-off, I supposed.

  Swift, for his part, had given me a wink and tugged on one of my braids, and then left me alone to go spend time with Plate. Which sucked, but I understood it. Everyone was kind of sticking close to their teammate at the moment. No strategy, just relaxing. Maybe that was why the teams weren’t clustering together. For a brief time, the game was on hiatus.

  Or so I thought. I was eating pastries and sipping hot cocoa at the wooden table when one of the Green Machine dropped onto the bench next to me. A moment later, the other sat on my other side.

  My breakfast tart stuck to the roof of my mouth. “Hi?”

  “So,” Drew said. “Can we talk?”

  I swallowed the bite of food and shrugged. “About what?”

  “A potential alliance,” Foster said. “Or lack thereof.”

  “Pardon?”

  Drew and Foster exchanged a look over my head. “Here’s the thing,” Drew said. “We’ve noticed you have an alliance with Swift and Plate.”

  “So?” I forced myself to take another casual bite of my food.

  “So we don’t like it. In fact, none of the other players like it. You’re working together on all the tasks and it feels like it’s two against one.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Since when had pushy Drew and Foster started speaking for the other teams? “So?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “So, you’re helping them win,” Foster hissed. “They’re using you guys to spring ahead of everyone else. You think they’d be the leaders if they weren’t getting help?”

  “Again, so?”

  He scowled, clearly annoyed with my flippant attitude. “So you guys need to lay off. Quit working together. Rumor has it that this race is going to have a few team delay tasks. As in, if I get to a task before another team, I can choose to delay them.” Drew leaned in. “And guess who we’re going to delay?”