The final obstacle was to swing down to the grass below, and I warned Ellie not to let go right before I jumped. She squeezed my neck hard enough that my vision blurred by the time my feet finally touched the ground.
Fletcher dropped shortly after us, with a disgruntled Candace plucking leaves out of her hair behind him. Piper and Vlad were hot on their heels, though Piper’s face was alarmingly green.
But Harrison and Madison were already celebrating just feet away, having beaten us by seconds.
We’d lost.
I peeled Ellie’s arms off me and muttered a string of curses, while my brother swung his wife around with a victory cry.
My frown deepened.
Show-off.
Meanwhile, Ellie was all smiles.
“Holy macaroni, we’re alive. And we did it!” She jumped up and down, grabbing my arms and shaking me. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe we did it. That was incredible. You were flying across those planks!”
“I’d hardly call it flying?—”
She flung both arms around me, making me stiffen. “You were amazing, Cade. So fast, even with me weighing you down.”
I forced a stiff smile. “Not fast enough. We still lost.”
“So? I’ve never done anything that cool in my entire life. It was exhilarating.” She pulled back, practically vibrating with adrenaline as she laughed. Her quick switch from terrified to giddy gave me whiplash. “Not thatIeven did anything—it wasall you—but not dying on the spot when I faced off against that snake should count for something, right?”
I stared. She thought she’dfaced offagainst the snake?
“Well done, everyone!” Lovejoy hustled along a makeshift trail behind us, catching up to the group with a small number of crew in tow. “Now wasn’t that a rush? Who feels a new sense of freedom?”
Most of the others were smiling—with Ellie popping her hand up—and even Candace shrugged as she plucked another leaf from her hair. “It was fine, I guess.”
“Wonderful,” Lovejoy said, still smiling. “Today wasn’t necessarily a competition, but I saw the fire it brought out in each of you. You’ll want to hold on to that for an activity on the last full day of our retreat.”
“Is it the Love Olympics?” Madison gasped, clasping her hands. “Please tell me we’ll get to do the Love Olympics! It’s my favorite series on your channel.”
I frowned. That sounded cheesy as hell.
“You guessed it!” Lovejoy beamed. “Yes, we have a ship-friendly version of the Love Olympics planned. It’ll be loads of fun, with a dash of competition between couples.”
“Well, Maddie and I obviously have that in the bag already,” Harrison said under his breath, making me squint.
“I’d save the trash talk until after you see what awaits you in the games, Harrison.” Lovejoy winked, sweeping an arm toward the forest behind us. “But, for now, let’s move our retreat back to the yacht. You’ve earned some relaxation, then I have a few topics I’d like to discuss with you ladies while an old friend of mine speaks with the gentlemen.”
I was finished listening to anything she or any of her friends had to say, but arguing wasn’t the play right now. Especially not when the others all happily started walking toward the beach.
“Come on.” Ellie reached for my hand and pulled me behind her. “I can’t wait to see Whiskey and tell him I fought a snake. He’s gonna freak out.”
She paused midstep, glancing down at our clasped hands, and quickly dropped mine. “Oh. Sorry, I forgot you don’t like?—”
“It’s fine.” I took her hand back in mine like it wasn’t a big deal. But when Ellie continued to stare wordlessly at our hands, I rubbed my jaw. “You were right. It’ll be more convincing this way.”
She bit her lip, but nodded and began swinging our arms a little while we walked. It was so normal. Easy. Comfortable.
My thoughts zeroed in on how soft her hand was, and I almost missed my brother approaching.
Harrison walked over with his arm around Madison, all grins. “What happened back there, bro? Getting slower in your old age?”
I squeezed Ellie’s hand. “Give me a second. I need to go kill my brother.”
