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That was until I ran off to use one of the porta-potties. Even those were luxurious, with a large vanity mirror and an oversized sink to wash your hands, so unlike the typical ones you saw scattered around public parks or in the back of gas stations that were covered in graffiti and God knew what else. When I got back, Ryzen had popped down three tents over to talk with the SNM triplets. I had started to whip the frosting for our brookies when I smelled smoke. I opened the oven door and a big black cloud billowed out from it. Someone had turned our oven knob from three-fifty to four seventy-five. Our brookies had never stood a chance.
Ryzen’s mouth fell open when he came back to our tent and saw the charcoal pan. “Fuck.”
“‘Fuck’ is right.” I scanned the other tents and saw Penelope looking our way. Oh, she’d sabotaged us all right. I didn’t know how she could have walked over here and done it without someone seeing, but that shit-eating grin plastered all over her face confirmed it for me.
Ryzen rubbed his hands down his face and groaned. “We’re going to look like incompetent fools.”
“Um, I don’t think it’s that serious, Ryzen.” I dumped the charcoal lumps into the trash. “It’s supposed to be just fun.”Like we were having twenty minutes ago,was what I wanted to say.
“You think I’m here for fun?” His back tensed and he threw his dishtowel on the table. “Next time, don’t run off when we’re in the middle of a competition.”
Ah, so we were going to play the blame game now. I was very familiar with this tactic, unfortunately. I was beginning to see there were several sides to Ryzen. There was boss man Ryzen, who liked to control everything. There was sexy, carefree, fun Ryzen, who I had just been with. Then there was this Ryzen, an absolute prick.
After Penelope’s key lime pie tarts were announced as the winner, we headed back to the estate to change. Ryzen was silent the whole ride there, buried in his phone. I grabbed some casual clothes from my suitcase and changed in the bathroom, while Ryzen changed in the room.
Cian had left a toiletry bag on the sink, and morbid curiosity had me rummaging through it. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find. Razor. Shave cream. Brush. Toothpaste.Ah, sensitive teeth, I see.Cologne. I spritzed some in the air and let it fall on my face. Damn, that smelled good. Like the god of thunder and lightning himself. I unzipped the side pocket and pulled out something very familiar.
Condoms? Did he think he was going to get laid on this business trip?I don’t think so, cowboy.
I put everything back into the bag exactly as I had found it and stuffed the condoms into my pile of clothes. Was it evil? Nah. Evil would have been if I had put his toothbrush in the toilet. But I wasn’t evil, and I also wasn’t twelve years old. No, this was just to give him a little taste of his own medicine for locking the bathroom door earlier.
I met Ryzen downstairs by the bar, and he seemed to be in a better mood. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and offered me a drink, which I happily accepted. It was like the bakeoff hadn’t even happened. A few minutes later we were on the golf carts, heading back to the carnival. The group was in full swing by the time we returned. The sun was setting, and they had set up a large projector on one side of the field.
Covington was standing with Hewie next to what looked like a small racetrack. Two of the SNM triplets, I think Scott and Michael, sat on the ground nearby, tying a rope around each of their legs. Oh, God, a three-legged race? You had got to be kidding me.
“Come on.” Ryzen dragged me towards them, my drink spilling as he rushed us over. “Maybe we’ll be able to redeem ourselves after all.” He grabbed a rope and began tying our legs together.
“Um, I’m not very coordinated, Ryzen.” I took a sip of my drink as he tugged the rope tight. “Ouch.” I reached down to loosen it, and he swatted my hand away.
“Don’t worry, I’ll lead.” He stood back up, a satisfied grin on his face.
I wondered if he took all competitions this seriously, or was it just because he wanted to look good in front of Covington? Either way, I could not care less about winning a stupid race. He marched us over to the start line, practically lifting me off the ground.
“Just take it easy, OK? Your legs are a lot longer than mine,” I said.
My leg was itching where he’d tied the rope, and I was really regretting every decision I had made leading up to this point. The other contestants took their place at the start line, and before I knew what was happening, a loud horn blared across the field and Ryzen took off.
He held onto my hand and we sprinted across the field. This was a terrible idea. He was a good foot taller than me and every stride he took made it seem like I was flying off the ground. We rounded the first barrel, leaving almost everyone behind us struggling to catch up. I stumbled at the second barrel, and he pulled me back up before my hand could even touch the ground.
“Faster, Nova, we’re winning.” He was focused on the remaining barrels, not at all concerned that he was practically dragging me through the dirt. The rope was like sandpaper against my skin, and I realized in that moment that I would have to scratch off rope play from my sexual to-do list.
“Ryzen, slow down.” I blew my bangs out of my eyes. “We’re going to fall.”
Of course, he didn’t listen. He kept running, and the rope kept rubbing, and our hips kept bumping. With the finish line in sight, I tripped over a rock in the dirt, and we went down. Just like I’d known we were going to do. I landed on my stomach, the air whooshing out of me. As the SNM guys cruised past the finish line, I turned to Ryzen, who was also on his stomach. “Are you OK?”
He sighed and stood up, pulling me with him. He rubbed the dirt off his slacks and reached down, untying the rope from around our legs. I sensed eyes on us, and not just from the cheering crowd as the other players ran past us, but from Cian. Of course. Because why wouldn’t he be watching me eat dirt?
Ryzen didn’t say a word, just wiped the dirt from my pants and kissed the top of my head. It was for show, of course. The ever-doting fiancée making sure his woman was OK after falling. But the tension rolling off of his body said otherwise. He guided us over to the sidelines where Iva stood handing out drinks.
“Oof, you OK, sugar? That was quite the fall.” She handed me a cup of yellow-looking liquid, which I hoped was lemonade.
“Queen of clumsiness, that’s me.” I laughed and scanned the field for any other risky games Ryzen might force me to try.
This was not going as well as I had hoped. Ryzen’s mood swings were giving me whiplash. And Cian, well, that was something I didn’t want to—couldn’t—deal with this week. He was a distraction. And a distraction like that could mess up our entire plan. No, I needed to stay focused on Ryzen and making him look good.
I reached for his hand and squeezed. “Sorry, honey. Let’s try another game.”
Suck it up, Nova. Suck it the hell up.
