Page 60 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

I deleted the draft and put the phone back in my drawer.

"Hey Tim, how confident are you that you'll be able to choreograph a dance that will win Kristen gold in the tiebreaker? If it happens."

Tim spun around in his chair. "Uh, I dunno. Maybe fifty-fifty. I mean, my choreography will obviously be the best, but I found a video of Gabriela doing the samba and she's pretty freaking good at it. And our backup dancers are another variable that could tilt the odds against us."

"Could you do anything to get those odds a little higher?"

"I guess I could research the judges to see what they like, but that's bordering on violating the integrity of the ballroom. And you know I would never do anything to jeopardize such a beautiful, noble sport."

"What if someone's life depended on it?"

"I know that it's easy to get sucked into the cut-throat world of competitive dance, Bryce, but don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"

Did Tim seriously just accuse me of being dramatic? I think I might kill myself.

"Bryce? Is everything okay?"

I took a deep breath. It was clear Tim wasn't going to do anything to improve our odds unless I told him about Rodrigo and his threats against Em. And fifty-fifty odds of the USA losing and Em getting killed were way too risky for my liking. I had to tell him. "If I tell you something, do you promise to never tell anyone else about it?"

"You're the love of my life, Bryce. You know you can tell me your secrets."

"I'm what? No, Tim. How many times do we have to go over this? This is the same as the difference between being in love with someone and loving them like a brother."

Tim shrugged. "Still don't see the difference."

"The love of your life is the girl that you want to be with forever, not something...never mind. It's not worth explaining."

"Whatever you say. Now what was that secret?"

"Remember the other night when the Uber driver drove off with me?"

"Yeah. He made you carsick."

"No." I lowered my voice just to be sure no one would hear us. "He kidnapped me and took me to some strip club where this asshole threatened to kill Em if I didn't help them rig certain events."

Tim looked concerned for a second and then started laughing. "You had me for a second there. But you're going to have to do better than that if you want to trick me."

"Tim, I'm serious. Look, he even gave me a burner phone where he tells me what to do through drafts. He's trying to rig the games so he gets a huge payout on some bet he made." I pulled the phone out of the drawer and tossed it to Tim.

"Wow, you're serious? Why don't you take this to Coach?"

"Because he has Em. He's not messing around. He even showed me a live video feed of Em sitting in her dorm."

"Shit, really?"

"Yes."

"So what are you gonna do then?"

"I have a plan to take him down, but for now I have to play along. He wants me to ensure that the USA wins the tiebreaker event."

"And he'll kill Em if the USA loses?"

"Yes."

"Shit. Fuck the integrity of the ballroom. I'll do whatever it takes to win this thing for you."

"What did you have in mind?"

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