Page 61 of Power Moves
‘It’s close,’ he says, his laughter easing, though he’s still breathless enough to make my nerves crackle.
Away from the floodlit arena, long shadows fall across our path to the campsite. Archie leads the way as I trudge behind, trying not to slip over with Maxy’s advice ringing in my ears.Full aggression. When I stumble on a divot and, without looking back, Archie sticks his hand behind him for me to hold on to, I have to make a split-second decision about how committed I am to preserving my personal space. The answer is genius. I smoosh myself against his back, wrapping my arms around his chest.
‘Millsy!’ he cries, aghast.
‘I tripped!’ I lie gleefully, wiping my arms over every part of his body I can reach. I can’t give him a deep soaking but I do successfully manage to cover at least forty per cent of him in streaks of mud before he can work out what’s going on. Victory is mine!
Archie spins and quick as a flash, grabs both my wrists in his hands. ‘You’re going to pay for that,’ he says.
‘I’m not scared.’
Archie picks up a handful of mud and throws it at my chest. My jaw drops in horror, but as I look down I realise I can’t even tell where it landed. He could drop a whole crate of soggy dirt onto me and it would make no difference.
I jolt backwards out of his grasp, grab two handfuls of mud and fling them at him. One lands with a satisfyingthwackon his cheek.
Archie’s eyes widen. ‘Oh Millsy, no.’
Eeeeek!I run away as fast as my gumboots allow. I have no idea where I’m going but I’m giggling like a lunatic and I can hear Archie chasing me, hurling handfuls of mud at my back.
‘You’re a goner!’ he yells. He’s trying to sound threatening but I can’t stop laughing.
‘You don’t scare me,’ I call over my shoulder. ‘You’re just a big cuddly bear!’
‘That’s enough,’ yells Archie. He launches through the air to grab me around the waist and we fall in a heap into the mire, only now it’s not scary and suffocating—now it’s hilarious. I scoop up as much mud as I can and start plastering it all over his face.
‘Cheating!’ gasps Archie.
‘Don’t hate the player, hate the game!’ I’m laughing so hard I can barely move but I manage to wriggle from his grasp.
Archie grabs my slippery calf. ‘You forget I used to do this professionally.’ He yanks my ankle and I slide back to him.
‘You forget I’m not impressed at all by your football career.’ I kick away and he claws at me again. I squeal as he drags me back. This time, he throws a leg over me, and within a second he’s on top of me, pinning me to the ground. I believe the technical term isstraddling. I’m trapped. There is a mischievous glint in his eye.
‘Don’t you dare look at me like that, Archibald,’ I cry, picking up a wad of mud and slinging it at his face. As the mud splatters on his neck, I squirm away.
‘Get back here, Ms Hatton!’
‘Nope,’ I shriek, panting as I crawl away and he swipes at my feet. ‘I know what that look means!’
‘No, you don’t.’ Archie lunges at my gumboot.
‘Let me go!’
‘Never!’
My knees slide out from underneath me and Archie pulls me towards him. His arm lands over my waist and it’s so heavy I can’t move. My energy is spent. He’s puffing from the exertion too. We’ve both won and we’ve both lost. Mud is the real victor here.
We lie there heaving for a few seconds before I twist around to face him. He is completely mud-brown, apart from the whites of his eyes and his teeth. He has one of those smiles that shines through his whole face.
‘Archie,’ I whisper, ‘can I ask you something?’
‘Anything,’ he says, simply.
I steel myself, knowing I’m probably going to be disappointed. ‘Do you wear women’s underwear?’
CHAPTER 28
Archie only has plain navy Bonds briefs. As expected, his tent doesn’t have a shower but there is a port-a-shower nearby and Archie magnanimously lets me use his towel. When I return, he’s waiting outside for me.
