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Someone must still be mad I shot him in his thigh. Too close to your manhood for comfort? Oops, my bad.
“I don’t think anyone is ready for this. What is it?”
“The fucking trifecta of all obstacle courses would be my guess. We need a game plan.”
He has a point. Coming into today, the game plan was to take second place. I wanted to give Gage a glimmer of hope that we could win and then rip the rug out from beneath him. I have a feeling I have no control over how today’s event will end. No one does.
As everyone else arrives, I take in their first impressions of the course. Mouths hang open in surprise, eyes wide as they scan over all the obstacles. Yup, no one was expecting this, and not a single person is hiding their shock.
“As you can see, things aren’t going to be easy for you today,” Ed begins. “This course is designed for you to fail. Don’t take it personally, but we’ve been going a little easy on you, and if we’re handing out immunity to two of you this week, we’re going to make you work for it. So, let me start by announcing where everyone is right now.”
Ed reads the stats for each of us. The guys’ race is tight, with Lennon and Jace only a few points apart. The girl’s race is not as close, though Teegan has me by one point. If I can beat her the next two days, I should be able to claim immunity no problem.
“Now, that’s the last time you’re going to hear where you stand. The results from today and tomorrow will be announced at the elimination on Sunday.”
Groans and protests ring out until Ed raises his hand in the air and silence falls.
“Today’s contest is going to be timed. You have three eggs to start. Should you break one, you’ll be given another one to continue on, ten seconds added to your total time. If you break all three eggs, a total of sixty seconds will be added to your time after you finish the course. There are ways to beat each obstacle so to keep the games fair, you won’t be able to watch other teams compete until after your team has run the course. With that said, I’d like all teams aside from Gage and Presley to make themselves comfortable in the stables. There are refreshments and snacks available while you wait. You’ll each be called out once it’s your turn.”
Ed leads everyone across the field and through the large open doors of the stable. Jace and Lennon are walking backward, giving me a thumbs-up, wishing me luck. It’s adorable how they team up until they get me alone, and then it’s every man for himself.
“Put one of them out of their misery already,” Gage mumbles next to me. “I’m so sick of hearing about how amazing you are. It’s annoying as fuck.”
“Sorry.” I stare at my feet for a brief moment before finding the courage to say what I really want to. “It’s not my fault that I’m so awesome. Maybe it’s my spunky personality. People can’t help but love me.”
Shooting him a fake smile, I wink and walk over to Claudia who’s impatiently waiting for us.
“Only one of them loves you,” Gage states flatly, but I don’t press for answers. If one of them truly does feel that way about me already, I want to hear it from them, not Gage.
“Your first egg,” she says, handing me a bright-pink egg with the number one painted on it in black. Giving it a little shake, I hear the yolk move around. Great. I was hoping it would be solid. “There are four obstacles. Rule number one: the egg must be visible at all times. You can’t tuck it in your pocket or anything. We have to be able to see that it hasn’t dropped or broken open. Rule number two: No throwing the egg. You can hand it off, but you cannot throw it over an obstacle. Rule number three: When you drop an egg, raise your hand high in the air so we can pause the clock and bring you a new one. You cannot continue until we give you the signal. And finally, rule number four: if you drop your last egg, the clock doesn’t stop. You must complete the remainder of the course, so I suggest running.”
We’re given five minutes to come up with a strategy, but we don’t need it. Gage already has a plan, and I’m not given an option but to go along with him. Not that I hate his plan, but it takes away all the control I was hoping for over the outcome.
Gage nods his head at me as we approach the starting line. As soon as Claudia says go, I drop the egg. One second and the clock stops. I’m handed another and repeat the process. As soon as the third egg is in my hand and we’re given the go-ahead, I toss it on the ground and sprint after Gage.
The first obstacle is a set of tires we have to jump through. Easy enough. The rock wall is next, and we scale it with ease, jumping over and landing on our feet. Third obstacle in sight, I jump up on the balance beam and run the ten yards, bounding off and toward the final obstacle. A rope to climb with a bell at the top that we have to ring.
It reminds me of gym class in high school. I hated that damn rope, and this one is no exception.
That doesn’t stop me from pulling myself up higher and higher until I ring the bell, stopping the clock. Gage is already on the ground waiting for me by the time I climb back down. He gives me a high five, and I return it without thinking. I’m out of breath after racing through the obstacles as fast as I could.
Instead of starting at zero, we started at the sixty-second mark, but his plan was genius. I see it now. Even if we hadn’t struggled on the first three obstacles, there was no way we could climb that rope without breaking the eggs. Getting rid of them to begin with was smart because everyone is going to eventually break all three. There’s no doubt in my mind.
Taking a seat off to the side, Gage and I watch as team after team struggles to get through the course without breaking their eggs. Every single team is tested at the ropes, breaking their third and final egg before climbing the ropes. It’s not until Lennon and Natasha approach the ropes that things change. They’ve broken two eggs. The last one is in Lennon’s hand. He surveys his options, pops it in between his lips, and climbs like a mad man.
They’re the first team to not break all three eggs, and only one team still has to run the course. Jace and Courtney. I love the girl, but she’s the least athletic of all of us. Poor Jace doesn’t stand a chance. Or at least that’s what I thought. Courtney hands him the egg as soon as they start and he takes off, breezing through all the obstacles, finally waiting for Courtney at the bottom of the ropes.
Two ropes are side by side so you can climb at the same time, but that’s not how they decide to do it. Courtney goes first, and Jace helps push her tiny ass all the way up, then shimmies around her as she climbs down and rings the damn bell himself. And the egg, the first one they were handed, was still intact.
Showoff.
He tosses the blue egg up into the air and lets it fall to the grass with a splat as Courtney wraps her arms around his neck. He lifts her effortlessly, as if he didn’t just climb up a rope and help her do the same, and spins her around.
Everyone’s hooting and hollering as they jog over to where we’re all seated. Jace takes a bow and Courtney curtseys, a huge smile on her face. She needed that more than anyone. She’s been coming in last a lot, and after the announcements this morning, it was made clear there was no way she was going to be granted immunity.
“How the hell did you do that?” I ask Jace as he takes a seat on the other side of Gage.
“Do what?” he asks, taking a giant swig of water as he struggles to catch his breath.
“Um, not break the egg when you climbed the rope. It’s not possible.”
“Sure, it is. But a magician never shares his tricks.”
Gage grunts and pushes himself off the grass, walking away without so much as a goodbye.
“How’d you guys make out? Is he being an ass today?”
“Not as much as he usually is. We did okay, I think. We broke all our eggs right away and took off in a sprint. I know we beat a few of the teams, but I’d be surprised if we took first. I have a feeling that will be you and Courtney. You guys breezed through and didn’t take any penalty seconds like the rest of us.”
“You’re welcome to share the winners’ circle with me if you want.” He scoots closer to me and lowers his voice so only I can hear what he says next. “Or you can be my prize. I’ll take you over immunity any day. I have a feeling you’re the gift that keeps on giving.”
