“Well, boys,” I said. “I like wearing your clothes. It makes me feel close to you, even if you’re not around, but this isn’t really what I had in mind. And…” I paused dramatically. “Troy, I thought your pimping days were over.” At his questioning look, I supplied my answer. “You’re flashing everyone.” I extended my pointer finger in and out several times in the direction of his manhood.
The sound of my guys laughing was music to my ears.
Before the race had started, we had made and agreement. We were going to run as a team. We were going to finish as a team. All sixteen of us. They denied the petition, but there were ways around it. As we neared the finish line, we stopped and linked arms with a member of the opposite team. We would lead with our left foot and cross with our right foot. Sam, from the other team, had to go by himself since Drake insisted on not letting me down, but we were still synchronized with John. We were last. They would have to call it as a tie. We were all together, and we all crossed together.
Steven and Will gave us exasperated looks, but amusement lingered in their eyes, before they saw me in Drake’s arms. My hair was a sopping mess.
“What happened?” Will asked as they advanced on us.
“That last obstacle, Rose rushed forward as we were crossing the river, and caused waves in it. One of the waves crashed across Blake, and then she slipped off the rock,” Jemmy said indignantly.
“Was it intentional?” Steven asked slowly as he looked at Drake pointedly.
Drake nodded.
“It looked like it to me,” Terrance said as he stepped forward.
“Those are pretty serious accusations,” another board member came over to us.
I tugged on Drake to set me down. I was tired, I was hungry, and I was cold, but I felt at a disadvantage. At the look of hurt on Drake’s face, I quickly grabbed his arms and wrapped his arms around me. I no longer wanted to be held, but I needed his strength.
“Well it’s a good thing we have monitors and cameras on the course,” Will said resolutely.
The female board member I had never met, gasped. “Why would there be cameras on the course? That’s an invasion of their privacy.”
She was tall and almost resembled a bird in her fragile appearance, with a pointed nose and chin. Her hair was jet black and was cut severely to her chin, not a perfect strand was out of place. Her best features were her sapphire blue eyes. I didn’t like the feeling I got around her.
“Ms. Bullock, when they signed their contracts, they were made aware of the possibility of us recording them while on the facility or on a job, for training purposes. Why wouldn’t we record it to learn everyone’s strengths and weaknesses for mission readiness?” Will said patiently, but I could see the annoyance in his eyes.
“But you didn’t tell them they were being recorded today,” Ms. Bullock argued. “Don’t you think that’s an invasion of their privacy? We had monitors out there. Wasn’t that enough?”
Steven narrowed his gaze on her. “Why are you so opposed to this? When you have never had an issue with it in the past. Are you hiding something? Do you know something we don’t?”
Ms. Bullock pulled herself to her full height. “No! This is ridiculous. Is this what we’ve become?” she asked before storming off.
“And that is a lie,” I heard Rachel murmur to Will and Steven.
Out of good sportsmanship, we decided to wait for all the other teams to come back in. They tried to convince me to go home, but I refused to leave. If Rose did this to me, and I suspected she did, I wasn’t going to let her run me off that easily.
The rain had started to come down in sheets. Will had erected tents and ushered us under one of them. Blankets were brought out and distributed. Jace had hunted down some towels for Drake and me.
I was glad they had the forethought to have food catered in. They had ordered food from the We 7 down the street. Remy had his General Manager pick a menu and deliver it to the facility. I found myself huddled on the ground, picnic style, between Drake and Troy. I leaned my head against Drake as I ate my wild mushroom and chicken penne. Once my stomach was full, I found my eyes wanted to close, but I could also feel my other appetite rising.
> I began stroking Drakes leg. I could feel the guilt in him. The fear he had felt. I tried to rise my empath barriers, but I couldn’t. I had once been very sensitive to Drake’s feelings. I had always felt his pain, anxiety, and desolation, until I learned how to build my barriers against it. I waited until he was done his food, before I crawled into his lap.
I know he was shocked by my behavior. Other than the other night, I had never initiated our interactions. I never wanted to rush him, but he was my connected and I knew I had to reassure him.
“It’s not your fault,” I murmured against his neck.
He tightened his arms around me and arranged my blanket around us. “She used to be my girlfriend, and I know…it was her attacking you today. If she wasn’t carrying my child, possibly, I would have already called the cops on her.
“She keeps calling me, texting me, showing up at my job. I loved her once, but any residual feelings I have for her are long dead. She’s driven me away. I don’t know how to proceed. If she is carrying my child, I don’t want to give her any ammo to take my child away from me.
“Now she’s targeting you, and it’s tearing me apart. I want to protect you. I want to be with you, but she’s still between us. I can’t wait to find out if this baby is mine or not.”
I kissed the side of his neck. “You’re my connection. You’re my forever. She can’t drive me away. Let her crazy ass try.”
He sighed and pulled me in closer. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll wake you up when the last team gets in.”