“I guarantee you Eli is blowing it on purpose,” Danny said.
“Like, throwing the challenge?” Trace asked.
“Definitely. He doesn’t want Sofia to pick him for the end. Right now, he’ll be taking his sweet-ass time to finish.”
My face flushed at the idea of Eli throwing a challenge to ensure I could pick him. It made me think all the way back to the first challenge of the show.
The maze.
He’d seemed to be doing so poorly. I had ended up beating him, even though I’d had to turn around and go another way when I was almost at the end. Then after, he had asked me to pick him as a partner. Had he thrown that one too?
“There they are,” Rachel pointed as the last four-wheeler came cruising through the woods. It came to an abrupt stop, and Sofia flung herself off.
“Last! I told you!” she screamed.
Eli took off his helmet, his expression one of mixed relief and exhaustion.
Rita announced them as last place. Eli barely even registered it. Instead, he walked straight toward me, his eyes scanning every inch of me in the process.
“You alright?” he asked.
Grant sighed exasperatedly. “Of course she’s fine.”
“Can you back off and give us some space?” Eli asked, jaw clenched.
“I really am fine,” I insisted, as Grant and the rest of the group walked toward the vans. “The last two challenges were a fluke, I promise. I don’t typically end up needing medical attention on a daily basis.”
That got him to brighten a bit. “Only when you’re with me, apparently.”
I laughed. “Just a coincidence.”
Eli took my hand and ran his thumb across the back of it. “Of course, for the first challenge that actually took a while and involved communication, we get separated.”
“It’s really fine. At least Grant and I came in second.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “Second, really?” he asked, searching my face. “I guess at least we’ll be together for the finals now.”
“Did you lose on purpose?” I blurted out. I wasn’t sure if it mattered, but I wanted to know all the same.
Eli ran a hand through his curls. “I mean, did I want us to lose? Yes. Is Sofia such a bad partner that she nagged me the whole time and gave me bad instructions? Also, yes.”
My lip turned up. “Grant and I actually worked really well together. I might want to stick with him.”
Eli pinched my side and I let out an involuntary screech of laughter.
“Over my dead body,” he whispered playfully.
“You’re unbelievable!”Sofia exclaimed as she barged through the doors behind me and began stalking toward me until she was right in my face.
I bit my tongue, not wanting to engage in unnecessary drama.
“Back off.” Rachel took a step in front of me defensively.
The girls’ van had arrived at the lodge first and the entire ride had been the definition of awkward silence. It seemed Sofia had finally reached her breaking point with me regarding the Eli situation. She had tried yelling something at me the moment we got into the van, but Brady had threatened her with a fine if she didn’t stop, and to wait to say anything until cameras were rolling. So the whole way back, I got to dread the delightful confrontation that would come to a head the moment we walked across that threshold.
“I’m not backing off,” Sofia insisted, glaring at me. “I’m not being silent on this anymore.”
“Dare to dream,” Rachel said sarcastically.
