Page 57 of Until It Was Real

Blossom giggles, and Rhett shakes his head.

“I guess I’m ready then.”

Blossom rushes inside. I follow her. I feel bad. She really wants to win, but she’s stuck with me. Rhett forces his way in front of us so he can pay.

“I can pay for myself,” I grumble.

“Speak for yourself,” Blossom says.

Once Rhett has paid, the attendant hands us empty whiskey bottles. “This is your contraband. If the bottle breaks before you finish the gauntlet, you’ll be disqualified.”

He motions us forward. “Wait at the start line. Your time starts when the door opens.”

Blossom skips ahead. She shoves the bottle up her sleeve. Rhett puts his bottle in his jeans pocket. I put my bottle in my bra. Rhett’s eyes widen.

“What? These big breasts should be good for something.”

His eyes flare. “Don’t you worry, Havoc. Those breasts of yours are definitely good.”

Warmth gathers in my belly at the passion in his blue eyes. Before I have a chance to dim it, the door opens and Blossom dashes inside. “Come on. We’re winning this.”

Rhett grasps my hand and drags me forward. I’m glad he’s leading because I can barely see a foot in front of me with all the fog in the air.

“Stop! Smugglers!” a man shouts from somewhere to my side.

“You can’t catch me,” Blossom squeals.

“To the left,” Rhett coaches her. She goes right and he sighs. “Your other left.”

She spins around and nearly crashes into us. He nudges her forward. “This way.”

We run through the maze behind Blossom until she leads us to a dead end. Her hands move over the walls. “There must be a hidden passage here somewhere.”

There’s a click and a door opens. “Found it,” Rhett says. Blossom rushes through the door. Rhett goes next. I take up the rear.

The door begins to close and I hurry to get through it, but it closes before I can make it and I crash into it.

The next thing I know, I’m laying on the grass outside the high school with Rhett and Blossom looming over me. “Did we win?”

Rhett grins down at me. “We did.”

“Big man carried you the entire way through the gauntlet after you passed out.”

I groan. “It wasn’t my fault.”

Rhett chuckles. “Of course not. The door came out of nowhere and slapped you in the face.”

I try to sit up but dizziness hits me and I fall back down.

“Are you okay?” Rhett asks as he brushes the hair from my face.

The concern in his eyes causes a crack in my resistance to form. I need to get out of here and superglue that crack. I can’t afford to let my resistance crumble.

Chapter 19

“I’m not thanking my brothers because they accidentally helped.” ~ Rhett

Rhett

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