Page 17 of Love at Full Tilt

“No one can get the first clue until ten-thirty,” Mason says. He’s almost a head taller than me, and he hunches slightly so I can hear his soft voice.

“How do you know?” I’m as loud as he is quiet. Nothing summons my competitive side quite like the idea that someone knows something I don’t.

He grins. “That’s when the restaurant opens.”

“Which one?”

He shakes his head. “You can figure it out. I need to know my alliance is with someone who actually knows their stuff.”

I huff indignantly. “I knew every clue yesterday.”

“Those were easy.”

This time I flat-out squawk.

I’m still gaping at him as the five of us make our way out of the store. From the sly glint in Mason’s eyes, he’s clearly baiting me. Or possibly trying to motivate me? Either way, it works.

“Issy.” I fall into step with her. I may know the movies and the parks, but Issy knows the food. She’s basically been studying it since we booked our trip. “Mason says the first clue is at one of the restaurants here that doesn’t open until ten-thirty. Any guesses to which one?”

She bites her lip, her brown eyes narrowing. “Chocolate that can kill you?”

“Yes.” A less poetic paraphrase, but close enough.

She pulls out her phone and starts typing into the browser, her feet slowing to a stop. Multitasking has never been her strength, except in the kitchen. “Dastardly has that lava cake,” she mumbles. “Lava can technically kill you….

“Then there’s Temptations. Pretty much everything on their menu is decadent. I know they have some chocolate dishes….” Her voice trails off. Her fingers are moving even faster now.

“No. Wait.” She glances up at me. A wide smile splits her face. “Hellfire.”

“What?”

“It just opened. One of their most-raved-about desserts is called Death by Chocolate.”

I actually scream, then throw my arms around her. “My culinary queen.”

Issy beams, resting her temple against mine.

I don’t know what I’m going to do without her next year. Except for my parents, no one else believes in me so unconditionally. I try to always do the same for her. Like with her cooking videos. I’m always the first to watch and share.

Arching an eyebrow at Mason, I say, “Death by Chocolate.”

“Death by Chocolate,” he echoes.

I can’t help but pump a fist like the dork I am.

Tess waves her phone at me. “Hellfire is on the other side of the park from half the rides we want to start with.”

I can’t get into this with her again, so I wrinkle my nose apologetically. I can’t commit to doing anything else until I secure my spot for tomorrow. She knows this. I refuse to have to repeat it.

Issy steps between us. “Why don’t Tess and I go find the chocolate-and-banana Cronuts I need for my channel while you, Mason, and Carter get the clue. We can knock out two things on our list at once.”

“Good plan,” Carter says, spinning his hat around so the brim covers his eyes from the sun. “Except I’m going for the Cronuts.”

No one else has any complaints, so the three of them head north toward Clockbender’s Tower, while Mason and I turn east. In the distance, the mountain peak from Valyrad’s Flight cuts jagged edges into the bright-blue sky.

We’re quiet for a few minutes as we dodge through the crowd. Ahead of us, I catch sight of a ginger-haired guy with a contestant pin speed-walking in the same direction, and my steps grow faster. Mason’s long stride helps him keep up easily.

He yawns and rubs at his eyes.

“Sorry for being such a bore,” I quip.

One corner of his mouth ticks up a little.

“I picked up a few hours of work this morning stocking shelves for Carter’s dad, so I didn’t get much sleep.

He owns a twenty-four-hour pharmacy and lets me come in whenever I want to make some extra cash.

” He’s wearing a large silver ring on his index finger, and he spins it around as he talks.

“When did you go in?” I ask.

“About two.”

“In the morning?”

Mason nods. “I wanted to make it a decent shift. I can’t work my regular job while I’m doing this contest.”

“I would have gone straight back to bed as soon as I clocked out.” I’m a monster without at least six hours of sleep.

“I need the money,” he says.

I don’t mean to ask for what, but the words come out anyway.

“For college,” he responds. “I have to pay for it myself, so I’ve taken the last year to work full-time and save up.”

“So that’s why you’re doing this contest?”

“It would cover more than half my credits if I stay in-state.”

My stomach tightens. I’ve been so focused on why I need this contest money that I haven’t even stopped to consider that someone else could have real reasons to want it too.

“My dad thinks college is a waste of time.” His eyes catch mine. “But it’s not. Not for me, at least.” Something sharp has slipped into his tone, and he presses out a breath like it’s a weight in his mouth.

Then he clears his throat, and it feels like a door has shut between us. “That’s…quite the shirt.” He nods at me.

I tug at the T-shirt’s hem, suddenly too aware of how closely it fits. Which then makes me too aware of everyone around us, and how thick the crowd is, and how people keep jostling Mason and me closer and closer together.

“ Sunspark… is…was”—I don’t even know how to talk about my best friendship anymore—“a thing with Tess, Issy, andme.”

“I won’t tell you, then, how much I hate that movie.” He crosses his arms even as another small smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

Here we go again: painted grass, the sequel.

I mirror his body language but not his grin. “Please don’t. That movie’s pretty special to me.”

He doesn’t say anything else, as if he wants me to decide how much to share, but everything about him has softened. It urges me to keep going.

“Eighth grade was terrible for the three of us. All this bad stuff kept happening. Issy’s favorite uncle died in a car accident, and Tess’s parents got divorced, and my mom…

” I shake my head. I don’t talk about my mother’s worst day.

If I did, I’d have to remember it. “Anyway…we spent a lot of time hiding out in Issy’s room watching Fable Industry movies.

And most of the time, it was Sunspark. ”

His mouth draws tight, and he drifts a little closer to me. Though our arms aren’t touching, I can practically feel his skin against mine.

“That’s why you love this place,” he says softly.

I nod. “It gives me somewhere to escape.” I take a breath, preparing to tell him more.

But then a family with at least five kids pushes between us, laughing and talking as if we weren’t there. Just ghosts they can walk through.

I get turned around dodging them, and by the time I’m facing the right direction again, I don’t see Mason. He must have kept going.

He’s so tall, and my body seems so attuned to his, that my heart starts to beat a little faster when I don’t spot him anywhere.

I can get to Hellfire on my own. Cartographer is installed on my phone, and I know the parks’ general layouts. But for once, I want to get to this clue with Mason. I want to help him get as far as he can in this contest too.

A warm hand wraps around mine, making me jump. I look up to see Mason beside me again, moving ahead to thread us through the throngs of people.

My pulse is galloping wildly, thrumming in my veins and beating at my eardrums. I should let go. Should scurry to keep pace with him.

But instead, I secure my grip. I hold on tight.

Just for now. Just until we clear the crowd.