Page 28 of Love Me

They slowed.

“You’re not going to win,” Creed said over his shoulder.

Taking bigger steps, I caught up quickly. “That’s rude. I could win.”

“Fine,” Colt said. “If you win, I’ll lick you clean in the shower, which I plan on doing regardless when I win.”

“You mean ifwewin,” Creed corrected Colt.

“If I win, since these stakes are dirty, I—” I started to say.

“You’re the one who made them dirty, Shi,” Creed pointed out with a grin. “No complaints, though.”

“Definitely no complaints,” Colt agreed, also grinning.

“I want to try something new in the bedroom,” I finished.

They both stumbled.

“What is it that you want to try?” Colt asked.

“If I win, you’ll find out,” I said.

Creed frowned at first, but as he pondered, his face relaxed and his head tilted to the side. “As long as you’ll be naked, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

I giggled. “I’ll be naked.”

“Now I don’t know if I want to win,” Colt said to Creed.

7

The run had begun.Some people raced through theStartbanner and down the dirt path. Others were still visiting the tents. I wouldn’t say we raced toward the first obstacle, but we weren’t that far behind the ones who did.

The first obstacle was called The Pits. At least, that’s what the sign next to it said. The sign also gave a brief description. The Pits consisted of steep, muddy hills with ice-cold swamps in between them that contained hidden sinkholes. We stared down at the first swamp we had to climb into, whose water was a murky pale tan.

“No work-up to getting dirty, I see,” Isabelle commented.

Ethan gave her a taunting smirk. “Want to skip it?”

She glared at him. “No.” She caught me watching the two of them. Leaning close, she whispered to me, “We got a dirty bet going on, too.” She giggled at the shock that must have shown on my face. “We overheard you.”

Clearly.I shouldn’t have been surprised. They had been walking behind us.

The guys didn’t hesitate in slowly climbing down the steep, slippery slope to get into the first pit of muddy water. Ethan was the first one in. I didn’t know why I’d thought the water would be shallow at first and gradually get deeper, but the moment Ethen got in, it was an instant drop. Isabelle and I held back, listening to the guys hiss as they sank up to their chests.

Isabelle looked at me and held out her hand. “I say we just rip the Band-Aid off and get it over with.”

I smiled and took her hand.

Seeing what we intended to do, the guys made room, and Isabelle and I leapt. We dropped into the pit feet-first. The freezing water bit at my skin as I went completely under.

I gasped as I resurfaced.

So did Isabelle. “It’s colder than I thought.”

Yes, it was. “Can you reach the bottom?” I asked as I struggled to kick my feet with shoes on. Colt’s arm wrapped around me and he pulled me through the water until my feet touched the bottom.

When we reached the other side, we were faced with climbing up a tall, muddy hill. The guys insisted Isabelle and I go first. I dug my shoes and fingers into the mud, doing my best to gain purchase as I climbed. Many times, my fingers slid through the mud like butter. I almost fell back into the water when hands caught me by the back of my thighs. “You got it, Shi,” Creed encouraged as he gave me a little push.