laying Games (Games #2)(30)
Author: Jessica Clare

"You need to wear a delivery hat and apron," she told me cheerfully, and produced a boat-shaped hat with a big plastic pretzel on the front, and a plastic apron.

I set back down the pretzels, took the clothing from her, slapped the hat on and tied the apron around my waist. "Address?"

"Independence Hall," the woman said in a sweet voice. "Good luck."

"No street?" I didn’t know where that was. This was Philadelphia — what if there were four different Independence Halls? "No directions at all?"

"No." Her smile remained in place.

"And I can’t take a cab?"

"You have to walk."

Figured. I hefted the box and headed for the exit, trying not to panic. And here I’d thought twisting pretzels would be a challenge. I should have done the stinking flag task – Liam had been out of there within moments. Me, I’d spent the last hour twisting dough into knots and now had to hike across town with an enormous box of pretzels.

As soon as I emerged from the pretzel shop, I was greeted with polite clapping. "Good job, Katy," Polly called, and Tesla clapped her hands.

"Thanks," I said, touched by their encouragement. I squinted into the bright squinting sunlight and glancing over at my partner. Liam leaned against a wall, his pose utterly casual. But he was clapping, his hands slowly moving together, his gaze on me.

Did he hear me arguing with Brodie?

Our eyes locked for a long moment. Liam didn’t speak.

Guess not. Feeling awkward, I hefted the box. "I have to deliver this before I get the next set of instructions."

"Good luck," Liam called as I turned to leave.

I glanced back at him, then hurried down the street. The hall surely couldn’t be that far away. I just had to find it, and I had a lead on the others.

I’d been mistaken about one thing, though – the hall wasn’t close. And all too soon, the Katy-curse came back to haunt me. I went down a few streets, asked for directions, followed the directions I’d been given, and twenty minutes later, was hopelessly lost. Downtown Philadelphia was kind of crazy. There was an enormous amount of buildings all clustered together, and I had no idea where I was going. Not only that, but the box was getting heavier by the moment. Why on earth did the five foot tall, direction-challenged girl get the task that involved delivering a heavy box?

Frustrated, I grimly hefted the getting-heavier-by-the-minute box onto my shoulder and kept walking, only to realize I’d passed by the same tree twice now.

I was lost.

And this was the final leg.

And Liam was going to think that I was doing this on purpose so Brodie could win.

I admit, I panicked. I ran to the nearest building. I’d just ask for fricking directions, if that was what it took.

There was a small coffee shop nearby, and I hefted the box under my arm, pulling the heavy glass door open. Someone was coming out at the same time as I was going in, though, and nudged my box. It fell to the ground, pretzels spilling everywhere.

I gave a small scream of dismay. "No!"

"Sorry," the man in a suit said, holding a cup of coffee. He watched me as I knelt over the pretzels, and then turned away and left, as if it wasn’t important to help me. Dick.

I hurriedly scooped pretzels back into my box, trying to place them back the way they’d been neatly stacked. That was a losing battle, though, and by the time the box was full, I still had twenty pretzels sitting on the ground and couldn’t close the lid. Frustrated, I mashed pretzels and tried to stuff them back into some semblance of order. Pushing the pretzels back into place took another five minutes of my time, but I couldn’t leave any of them behind. Once the lid was back in place, I headed into the deserted coffee-shop. "Do you know where Independence Hall is?"

The guy behind the counter peered at my hat, then stared at the cameraman trailing me. "You on TV?"

"Something like that," I told him, impatient. "Independence Hall?"

He waved a hand. "Back that way several blocks."

"I just came from there," I exclaimed.

"Well then, you’re heading in the wrong direction. Go back that way a few blocks. You can’t miss it."

Can’t miss it? Apparently I had. Heart sinking, I wondered if the delivery location had been closer than I’d thought. I’d gone at least eight blocks by now, maybe more. Hefting my box again, I murmured a thank you and headed out the door.

Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was on the line, and I’d gone the wrong direction. Two hundred and fifty thousand.

And I’d screwed us because I was no good with directions.

The box seemed to get heavier with every block I jogged. I couldn’t afford to walk at this point. Who knew how much time I’d lost by going the wrong way? When I’d gone a few blocks again, I stopped and asked for directions once more. I got the same thing — a few blocks in this direction. You can’t miss it.

I arrived at Independence Hall twenty minutes later, having missed it again and gone in a circle. By that time, one of the handles on my box had broken, the bottom of the box was sagging, and I was near tears. At the front of the massive, historic hall stood a man in front of the doors, dressed in a George-Washington-style coat and a powdered wig. He stood on the World Races mat and gave me a pleased nod when I thumped my worn box of pretzels down on the ground. "Very good. Here is your next task."

I took the disk from him, weary and defeated. I wanted to lay down on the ground and give up, but I owed Liam an explanation.

Not that he’d believe me. This was the most critical task, we’d had a huge lead, and I’d blown it. The moment that Brodie had come running back before me? He’d assume the worst.

And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

I jogged back to the pretzel restaurant, my heart heavy. We’d lost. We’d lost the race. We’d come so close and I’d blown it. I’d said that I hadn’t wanted the win, but I lied. I totally lied.

Because right about now? I was sick that we’d lost everything. Second place got the same money as last place.

But that was okay. I’d keep my cool and not let anyone know how disappointed I was. How much it hurt to have everything blow up in my face in the eleventh hour. How much it hurt to not have Liam at my side at the end. I’d been warned that it wasn’t a real relationship, but my heart hadn’t listened so well.

And now I was in too deep.

And that hurt. A lot. It hurt worse than the ache of losing.

When the pretzel restaurant came into sight, I saw Liam leaning against the wall, every muscle in his body tense despite his casual pose. His black hair was shaggy, nearly covering one side of his face. Polly stood off to one side, scuffing one of her sneakers. Brodie was nowhere to be seen.

They’d already left.

Liam spotted me and got to his feet, and Polly looked my way with only mild interest. Her gaze was glum, and I realized that she knew they’d lost. The fighting spirit had gone out of her.

"Welcome back," Liam said in a low voice, approaching me as I rushed forward. He carried both of our backpacks again.

Like nothing was wrong when everything was wrong.

I burst into tears.

Liam’s eyes widened and he moved toward me, pulling me against him. "What’s wrong?"

"I…got…lost…" I choked out between sobs. "I f**king ruined us and now you hate me."

"What?" He glanced around and noticed Polly watching us curiously even as he hugged me closer. His hand splayed on the back of my head and he pulled me in for a tender kiss on the forehead. "Come on. Let’s get in the cab and we can talk on the way to the next task."

Unable to speak beyond my hysterical weeping, I handed him the disk. I hadn’t even bothered to look at the next task. What did it matter?

With me still tucked in his arms, Liam led me around the corner. A taxi waited there, along with one more, presumably for Polly and Summer for when they finished their task. Liam tossed our bags into the back seat, and then gestured for me to get in. I slid into the car, wiping tears miserably from my face. A moment later, he was in the car and shut the door. He leaned in and showed the driver the clue. "You know where the Rocky Stairs are?"

"Everyone does," the driver said, pulling away from the curb.

"Perfect. Thanks, man." Liam sat back and then pulled me against him again. When I wouldn’t meet his gaze, he put his fingers under my chin and tilted my face toward his. "Tell me what happened."

"Muh-my pretzels spilled everywhere," I sobbed. "And I got lost and went in the wrong direction and I couldn’t find the place and everyone knows I’m really bad with directions but I kept looking because I knew you would think I was throwing the challenge but I wasn’t, and I don’t want Brodie to get ahead at all, I just want us to get back to being cool and I wouldn’t even let him see how I twisted my pretzels because I didn’t want you to think I was helping him and—"

"Shhh," he told me. "Katy. I know you didn’t help him. It’s okay."

I looked up at him in surprise, wiping my eyes again. "How do you know?"

He gave me a crooked grin. "Tesla peeked in and said you were hiding your pretzels from Brodie so he couldn’t cheat. She was really annoyed about it, too."

I gave him a tremulous smile.

"And we couldn’t help but overhear everything you guys were yelling at each other," he told me in a low voice, his thumb stroking across my lower lip. "Turns out your brother blackmailed you, huh? You should have said something."

I took a shuddering breath. "I felt stupid. Like, he used me. And I gave him the Ace and then you guys fought, and I felt like I couldn’t tell you. I’m not exactly proud of it."

"You should have told me." He leaned in and kissed me, light and lovely, on the mouth. "I’m not a heartless beast, you know."

"No, but you were mad and you thought I was working with Brodie to f**k you over."

"That’s my own hang-up," Liam admitted. "Remember I told you Tesla and I dated once upon a time? That was pretty much how it ended up. She lied and saw other guys behind my back. So I guess once I heard that, I kind of got blinders on and assumed the worst."

"Well, that’s not my problem," I told him with a sniffle.

"No, it’s not." He gave me a sheepish look. "And I wanted to say I’m sorry."

"Thank you," I told him softly.

He leaned in and kissed me again, his tongue stroking over my parted lips. I felt the stud of his piercing glide along the seam of my mouth, and I opened for him, letting him flick against my tongue as we deepened the kiss. It was apology and comfort and desire all at once, and I melted into his arms. He broke the kiss a moment later and smiled down at me. "Forgiven?"

"Forgiven," I agreed, sliding my hands under his shirt to caress his bare skin. "Not that I suppose it matters, since we’ve lost the race."

"We’ll finish strong," Liam told me, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me close. "No shame in second place." He leaned in. "And with you in my arms? I’ve already won."

Those three sweet words did a lot to soothe my worries, I admit.

"We’re here," the cab driver announced.

I looked up from where I was snuggled against Liam’s chest. The minutes had flown past, and though it wasn’t a long drive, I’d enjoyed every moment of it, wrapped in his embrace, his hands touching my face, my hair, my skin as if he couldn’t get enough of me. All the while, he hummed a wordless tune under his breath. I wasn’t sure if that tune was for me or for him, but it was pleasant nevertheless.