Valerie laughed so loudly that her voice bounced pleasantly off the rocks. Then she turned to face Adrienne again. This time she reached out a hand and swiped a few strands of hair off Adrienne’s neck. Her fingertips were so soft against Adrienne’s skin that she shuddered. “You should be flattered,” she whispered. “But not because of your Instagram following or your last name. But because you’re genuinely amazing, Adrienne.”
Genuinely amazing.
“Thank you,” Adrienne whispered back, but only because her voice would crack, and she might actually cry if she spoke any louder, or if Valerie had said anything kinder. Funny that Adrienne, who thrived on the shallow adoration of millions of strangers, was being entirely undone by a woman who didn’t care about her brand at all. “We should probably get back.”
Valerie smiled and stood up first. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
Indeed, that it was.
Chapter Nineteen
Valerie woke up with a feeling in her stomach. And it wasn’t just any feeling; it was the same feeling she’d experienced that very same day two years ago when she’d completely blown the final challenge. A kind of feeling that made her ribs feel too tight and her internal organs feel like they were dancing the tango toEl Choclo. Her dad used to say that a bad morning intuition was like unseasonably warm winter weather. If you wake up and the air feels too gentle, don’t trust it.
But what did it mean?
Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long to find out. Tamera stomped back into camp brandishing an envelope along with the six water bottles she’d gone to refill. “We’ve got mail, everyone,” she announced, dropping the bottles to the ground with a clank. “Reward challenge this afternoon. Or at least I think it’s for a reward. The message was a little cryptic.”
Valerie inched to the edge of the shelter for the first time that morning. Since the sun was hidden behind a bank of clouds, a cool breeze wafted off the ocean, and it looked like it might just rain, she’d decided to sleep in. But now she was as awake as ever. “What does it say?” she asked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
“Do you want me to read it?” Tamera asked, dropping onto an overturned log.
“Of course we want you to read it,” Isla snapped from where she leaned against a tree. She pushed herself off and sat down beside Tamera, yanking the envelope away from her before handing it back. “What a stupid question.”
Tamera wrinkled her nose at Isla, then slipped a paper from the envelope. “Fine,” she said. “Here goes.” Then she cleared her throat. “Two minds must become one spine. Lean into your weaknesses or watch your game decline.”
Two minds. One spine.Valerie tried to focus on what that meant, but her gaze snagged on Adrienne. Usually, she’d take a second to appreciate the way Adrienne’s top lifted when she stretched her arms above her head, but nope, theEl Choclobeat in her gut was drowning out everything.
“Today the price of falling is the ultimate cost.” Then Tamera dropped the letter to her lap, and what followed was a silence so thick it pressed down like a blanket. Nobody moved. Nobody even breathed. Then, right when Valerie opened her mouth to speak, Sienna dropped the rice pot to the ground. “What the hell does the ultimate cost mean?”
“WELCOME TO THE PENULTIMATEchallenge,” Vivian said, standing tall in a stone-colored maxi dress. She had both hands clasped in front of her, and behind her the ocean was a restless grey wall of water. The wooden poles—Valerie counted six—rising out beyond the breakers did not go unnoticed. In fact, Valerie’s feet immediately became incredibly heavy. She imagined this was how it felt to swim with Doc Martens, and although that image of Stevie should bring a smile to her face, it did the opposite. Whatever the challenge was, it was going to break them physically, and the last time that had happened, Valerie hallucinated.
What if she quit the challenge again without meaning to? Could she handle more slander from fans of the show? Could she walk into a public coffee shop without worrying that someone was going to drop a glass of mango juice on her head? And aneven worse thought... could she crawl back to the Vales with her tail between her legs, begging for her old job back? Without the prize money, the five acres of land she’d bought would stay overgrown with fireweed, and wild lupine, and the wind would keep howling through the spruces and the crabgrass would continue to bloom out the empty headlights of the rusty 1970s Ford Pinto the previous owner had abandoned there.
“For today’s challenge, relying on your partner is everything. This is called Back-to-Back,” Vivian said.
Suddenly, it all made sense. Two minds, one spine.
For fuck’s sake!
“You and your partner will each climb onto a pole and with your backs pressed together, you’ll sit in the air,” Vivian said. “The rules are simple. Hold the position for as long as possible.” She paused, and Valerie knew something else was coming, something worse. But what could be worse than an endurance challenge?
“The first team to fall is out,” Vivian said. “And not just out of the challenge, but out of the game. Both members of that pair will be sent home immediately.”
Valerie pressed a fist to her stomach to keep herself from being sick. Her chances of winning that million dollars had just plummeted.
“One mistake will send you home. Go take your places.” Vivian waved them off like a flock of sheep, but Valerie didn’t move. It seemed Adrienne was also struggling to get her feet to work. She leaned in so close that their shoulders touched. “We’re fucked,” Adrienne muttered. Her breath hit Valerie’s cheek in a way that should’ve made her shudder, would’ve a day ago, but all she could think about was falling off that perch. “Our height difference alone—”
“It’s never bothered us before,” Valerie said under her breath. And it hadn’t. Every kiss had always felt completelynatural, as if there wasn’t more than a head difference between them. “Don’t panic.”
But Adrienne was a woman burning at the stake. “How can I not panic when this challenge can cut both of us from the game? We’re completely fucked.”
“We’ll be fine,” Valerie replied, though truthfully, she was panicking. Except her panic was more internal, and it involved squeezing her lungs into a corset-like knot that didn’t leave any room for the absolute rager going on in her stomach. “Let’s just get onto the platforms first.”
Adrienne huffed out a breath, then jogged to the water. Valerie followed close behind. Once they’d waded out into the surf, they reached their platforms. The water was surprisingly cool today. But then again, the sun was still hidden behind clouds, almost as if the weather knew how morose the morning was going to be. Valerie took the first pole and pulled herself up onto the flat wooden top. This alone was enough to get her nerves going. Then Adrienne climbed up, and thank goodness for the small handrail that was bolted to the side of each platform. Without it, there was no way they could get into position. Slowly, they leaned back. First, the small of Valerie’s back pressed against Adrienne’s lower spine, then Valerie’s shoulder blades tucked into the center of Adrienne’s ribs.
“I think that’s as aligned as we’re going to get,” Valerie said through gritted teeth. Time hadn’t even started, and she was already wondering how they were going to manage this.
Adrienne only whimpered in reply.