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“Boys, it’s been a pleasure like always,” I say instead of goodbye. “Have a good hunt. See you tonight.”
Thomas waves and heads in the opposite direction to mine. Gabriel waves as well but doesn’t move.
Well…
I check the rendezvous information on my phone, orient myself, and head to the outdoor amphitheater.
“Bye,” I say, awkwardly waving at MGM before I hit the road.
I sense more than hear him following me.
I turn.
Indeed, there he is.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m headed this way too,” he answers with an easygoing attitude.
At every turn I take, I wait for the sound of his footsteps to abandon me. But they never do.
When I reach the amphitheater, entrance two, third row on the left, I sit on the bench and cross my arms, pouting. “Aren’t you supposed to be going somewhere?”
“I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
I look up at him. “No. Because I’m about to meet with a certain Horace Hodge, and you’re not him.”
Gabriel sits next to me, eliciting too much leg bumping for my taste. “We traded spots,” he reveals, grinning like a mischievous boy who just got away with stealing candy from the store.
“For the scavenger hunt?”
“Yep.”
Then I understand. “Is that where you went last night?”
Gabriel nods.
Oh gosh. A full day of this. How am I going to survive a day in the woods alone with him? Images of potential make-out spots invade my mind in quick flashes: on the green grass, pressed against a tree, or even on a sunny rock.
My heart flutters—totally on board with the plan.
I am doomed.
33
GABRIEL
I watch a range of emotions play on Blake’s face as she processes the development, then sighs and asks me, “Do you have the first clue? My briefing said my partner would provide it.”
“Just like that?” I ask. “You will not protest or try to run away?”
“I’ve learned when to give up around you. So the clue?”
I take out a roll of parchment and hand it to her.
Blake stares at the intentionally distressed old-looking scroll and pulls at the red ribbon keeping it folded, spreading the foil wide.
“If you can’t make up your mind, I might be where you’re sitting,” she reads aloud. “Reach the part where I let people in, find my clue, and you will win!” She looks at me. “This is worse than I thought.”
