Playing Games (8 page)

We bounded past the finish and waited for
Chip to announce our place.

"Black team," Chip said in a grave voice.
"You are team….number five."

I gave a happy squeal of excitement, even
though I'd known we were at least five, considering we'd left five
teams back at the last challenge. And to my surprise, Liam reached
down and grabbed me into a hug, lifting me into the air.

And I laughed. Today? We were safe.

CHAPTER FIVE

"I have to say…I'm not exactly unhappy to
have Katy as a partner. She's a tough one, despite the pigtails. I
think the others underestimate just how strong she is because she
looks so small and cute. And she kisses like a fiend."
— Liam
Brogan, Paris Leg of
The World Races

Everyone lingered in the lobby of the hotel.
It wasn't that we particularly wanted to hang around. All the
racers were exhausted from the constant flight-hopping and then
heading straight to the challenges, not to mention the constant
nerves when you thought you were in last place. I was wiped, Liam
was wiped, everyone was wiped. And yet, we were all still in the
lobby.

No one had the money for a hotel room.

Rooms were just a bit over two hundred a
night, and we'd been given twenty dollars for the Greenland leg,
and a hundred for the Ireland leg. Considering that we liked
eating, we had to save some money for food and drink. Even two
teams pooling their money together couldn't afford one room, as the
price we’d been quoted was over two hundred and twenty a night. No
one was quite willing - yet - to fork over most of their money to
split one double room between six people. No one wanted to be that
third couple that didn't get to sleep on a bed.

So we hung out in the lobby, our two bucket
chairs scooted close together, and watched the others come in for
the race. Brodie and Tesla had come in fourth, one spot ahead of
us. They now sat in the bar of the hotel, eating dinner and
flirting. It was like my brother hadn't even noticed I was
there.

I glanced over at Liam to see if he was
feeling the sting of Tesla's lack of attention, but he didn't seem
to be bothered.

In fact, he was leaning in to my chair. He
whispered, "Kissy and Rusty came in ninth, so they’re out."

I couldn't say I was surprised to hear that,
since the Rednecks hadn’t proven themselves to be particularly good
with the challenges. I was, however, surprised by the shiver that
rocked through me at his breath against my ear. I squirmed in my
chair and counted heads of the other contestants, loitering in the
lobby. "Who does that leave?"

"Just Myrna and Fred, I think." Liam glanced
around the room and nodded. "Yep. Just them."

"The two easiest teams," I mused. "It's going
to get a lot harder after this. Who do you think will go next?"

He considered the others, then leaned in
close to me again to whisper his response. "Depends on the kind of
challenge. If it's a water challenge, I say Wendi and Rick, because
Wendi's not athletic and Rick doesn't have the musculature."

The mother and son team. I could see
that.

"If it's something athletic…maybe Steffi and
Cristi. They don't run as fast as the others."

"And if it's an eating challenge?" I asked
lightly.

"Then we'll win," he said. "If you do it,
anyhow. If it's me, be prepared for the Loser Lodge."

"Sensitive stomach?"

He gave a small laugh. "Would you believe me
if I said that my failure at that challenge had more to do with
memories of a bad sushi experience than anything else?"

I chuckled. "I believe it. I don't think I
can ever eat fish again after that challenge. And it wasn't even
fish. It just smelled like it."

“It was a nightmare.”

“I’m shocked – you’re not a big fan of the
raw, blubbery insides of marine wildlife?”

"Don't remind me," he said, clutching at his
stomach as if in pain. "I'm still getting acid reflux
flashbacks."

I laughed again, just as someone thumped into
the chair next to me. It was Abby, with Dean hovering over her
shoulder.

Liam immediately went quiet, glancing over at
me.

Abby leaned in, a twinkle in her eye, and
whispered, "How much money do you have?"

"Why?" I asked warily, glancing over at my
partner. His face was a mask of indifference. Gone was the easy
smile he'd worn, and I felt like our hard-won truce had just
disappeared into smoke. Which kind of sucked.

"Because," Abby said, and then leaned in,
glancing around at the crowded lobby. Her voice lowered. "Dean
worked his magic and got us a discount on a room that was
vacated."

I sucked in a breath, staring up in wonder at
Dean. He winked at me, all cocky and pleased with himself. "I
pulled a few strings, might have signed a few autographs, things
like that."

Oh, that was right. Dean was a big shot
Olympian swimmer. Five medals or something like that. I looked over
at Liam in excitement. "You're famous too - maybe you can squeeze
us a discount?"

His mouth twitched and he shook his head.
"Tesla, maybe. Everyone recognizes her. Me, I'm just the guitarist.
Without her at my side, I'm anonymous."

Abby waved a hand impatiently. "We don't need
another discount. They're willing to give us the room for half
price as long as we're out by seven am."

I glanced at my watch. We had a twelve hour
rest break between the time we'd arrived and the time we received
our next clue. "We got here at five," I told her.

"We got here at three thirty," Abby said. "So
that's perfect."

"And that means we only have to pay about a
hundred and ten or so…fifty five apiece if we split it between two
teams."

I looked over at Liam.

He shrugged.

"Hot showers," Abby cajoled. "Pillows.
Someplace to sleep that's not an airport floor."

It was so incredibly tempting. I bit my lip,
and then stole a glance at Liam again. "What do you want to do?" It
would be half of our money, but we'd also be well rested and well
showered. It was worth it to me, but this was a partnership, and
that partnership meant that we'd have to agree.

Something Brodie and I had sucked at.

Liam noticed my hesitation. "It'll mean
watching our money for meals for a bit."

I nodded.

"I have half of the money from when Tesla and
I got split," he told me. "Six dollars and fifty cents."

"I have nothing other than what they gave us
for this leg of the race," I said cheerfully. "Brodie sucks with
money." My brother and I had argued over some high priced protein
bars at the general store in Kulusuk, but Brodie had insisted, and
we'd spent every dime. Liam apparently had saved his cash better
than we had.

"Looks like he's still determined to spend
all of his team's money," Dean pointed out. "They're having a few
beers in the bar. That's gonna cost them."

I was hungry too, but I'd gladly give up
dinner for a nice bed and a hot shower. I looked at Liam again.

"I'm in if you are," he told me.

I could have kissed him - again - in that
moment. “Totally in.”

"Great," Abby said with excitement. "Dean's
going to get the room." She glanced up at her partner, who leaned
down and kissed her forehead, then headed off to the counter. She
turned back to look at me and Liam. "We don't want the others to
know we're sharing a room or they'll probably crash it and try to
squeeze some pillows or floor space. I'll find out what room we
have, and then I'll take the elevator to the top floor. Wait five
minutes, and then meet me there, and we'll go to the room
together."

"Sounds good," I told her, and when she stuck
her pinky out, I linked mine through hers.

It was good to have friends on this race.

~~ * * * ~~

Fifteen minutes later, I flopped down on one
of the queen beds in the hotel room and groaned with pleasure. "Oh
my god, a mattress. I've died and gone to heaven."

Next to me, Liam sat on the edge of the bed
and dropped his pack to the ground. He didn't flop backward like I
had, just sat and looked at me.

Which made me feel weird and selfish, like I
was hogging all of the bed. So I sat up and curled my legs under
me.

On the other bed, Abby slid her shoes off and
wiggled her feet as Dean sprawled onto the bed behind her. "This
was the best use of money ever. I'm so glad we did this."

"I'm so glad you invited us," I told her. My
stomach growled, and I winced. I had a protein bar in my bag, but
it wasn't sounding super appetizing at the moment.

Liam glanced at me again, then turned to Dean
and Abby. "I don't suppose you guys want to go halves on dinner? We
can get a pizza for pretty cheap if we don't mind picking it
up."

"Pizza sounds great to me," Abby said,
rubbing her stomach. She glanced over at Dean. "Paper rock scissors
for who has to go get it?"

He laughed and leaned in to kiss Abby. "Tell
you what. I'll get it and you owe me."

"Mmm, deal," she told him with a teasing
grin.

Dean got back to his feet and put some money
in his pocket, then glanced at Liam. "You want to come with?"

"Sure, man. Give the girls a few minutes to
relax without us." He looked over at me again, that hesitant
almost-smile on his face, and then they disappeared. The door shut
a moment later, and silence fell. It was just me and Abby in the
room, basking in the fact that we didn't have to go anywhere for at
least several more hours.

The silence didn't last long, though. Abby
rolled onto her side on the bed and gazed over at me. "Sooooo,
how's the new partner? What’s it like being paired up with a rock
god?"

I sat up, crossed my legs, and thought. I
felt like I could trust Abby. It was like having one of my best
friends here on the race with me. And I didn't think she'd dick us
over. "He's…not what I expected."

"He seems different than your brother," Abby
said bluntly. "And I mean that in a good way. I think you lucked
out."

I gave her a wry look. "Brodie's my brother,
but yeah, he tends to think of Brodie first and Katy second."

"Why do you let him get away with that? I'd
have beat him with my backpack if he'd treated me the way he
treated you."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess because he
was honest about what he wanted out of this? He wants a career. Me,
I just want the consolation prize money."

She snorted. "I told myself that until I made
the merge on
Endurance Island
. Trust me, when you get closer
to that big prize? You want that money."

She had a point. I had to admit that when I
saw everyone racing, it made my blood get fired up and my
competitive spirit kick in. Still, I didn't know if I could
deliberately push ahead of Brodie, not when I'd be just as happy
with the last place check. It seemed selfish somehow. Even though
Brodie hadn't been awesome to me on the race, the race would end
and he'd still be my brother long after these people were out of my
life. So I said nothing.

"Well, at any rate, I'm glad we're allied
with you and not Brodie. He doesn't seem the loyal type," she said
with a yawn. "You want the first shower? I'll wait until Dean gets
back and we can share ours."

A shower sounded incredible. I pulled myself
up from the bed and grabbed my backpack. "I promise not to use all
the hot water."

"Good." She waved me away, yawning and laying
back on her bed.

By the time the guys got back with pizza, I
had showered and changed into new clothes, and was combing out my
wet hair. We tore into the pizza, divvying it up four ways. I only
ate two of my slices, being the smallest of the group, and nudged
my extra slice over to Liam. He was a tall guy and would probably
need the fuel.

He took it with a wink at me, and then
devoured it.

Dean patted his stomach and glanced at the
bathroom. "Shower free?"

"All yours," I told him, uncapping my bottle
of water and taking another drink.

"Wait for me," Abby said, getting to her
feet. "I thought we'd share."

"Just like old times," Dean said with a grin,
and smacked Abby on the butt as she sauntered past him. They
disappeared into the bathroom and I was left alone with Liam.

I glanced over at him as he wiped his hands
with the napkin, and then looked over at me.

"So," he said, then paused.

"So," I said back.

He seemed more at ease now that it was just
the two of us, and now that I wasn't glowering at him every moment.
Instead, he simply studied my face, as if considering me. After a
moment, he stuck his hand out. "I think we got off on the wrong
foot on this race. Hi, I'm Liam."

I laughed and took his hand. "Hi, I'm
Katy."

"And what brings you on The World Races,
Katy?"

"Well," I said, crossing my legs and getting
comfortable on the bed. "I actually didn't want to be on the show.
I got talked into it because Brodie needed a partner. And I want
the money to invest in my business."

"Business?" He looked impressed. "What kind
of business?"

"I have a custom cakes and cupcakes
business," I said proudly. "Katy's Short Cakes."

He nodded, as if it somehow fit me, and then
he crossed his legs on the bed until he was sitting, facing me. "So
you're a baker?"

"I am." It felt weirdly intimate to be facing
each other on the bed like this. It was…direct. And personal. There
was no hiding or averting eyes with this. We were one on one, face
to face.

"And the pigtails? Are you a children’s baker
or something?" There was a hint of a smile on his mouth.

I groaned and ruffled a hand through my
loose, wet blonde hair. "The pigtails were decided by casting, not
by me. I think they picked it because I'm short."