Page 110 of Ex Marks the Spot

Nothing keeping us apart.

Not intentional lies or misunderstood truths.

Not NDAs.

Not separate states.

“And now, for the team we’ve all been waiting for, Team Hartbreak, Court and Hartley!”

I briefly register the sound of cheering, but it quickly fades along with everything else that isn’t her.

Five steps . . .

Three steps . . .

One step . . .

I pull her in, splaying one hand across her back and threading the other into her hair before lowering my mouth to hers. “God, I’ve missed you,” I say through our kiss.

Her hands snake around my waist, drawing me in further. “Same.”

“I should probably stop kissing you now.”

She laughs and I gather the necessary willpower to turn her loose.

The crowd is still cheering when we take our seats next to the Bombshells. Hartley reaches over to do that hand-squeeze-hug-thing that women do, then settles into the crook of my arm.

“Welcome, everyone,” Paul says after taking a seat in his chair. “We’re so glad to see you again. I’m sure you’ve noticed the absence of our winning team, but we wanted to have a chance to chat with you all before we move on to them.”

Translation: Everyone hates the Wise Asses and we didn’t want them here either.

No one is saddened by this news.

In fact, it’s pretty easy to forget about them altogether as we move into discussing the other teams, our strategies, our most challenging moments, and our favorite parts of the race. My nerves quickly subside and the conversation flows easily, because although we’re on an immaculately decorated set surrounded by a live audience and a dozen cameras, this is basically a team dinner in better clothes and without the food.

But that mood changes when we return from the second commercial break.

“As I mentioned at the beginning of the reunion, the Wise Guys have notappeared on stage yet...and that’s because they weren’t invited. Here’s why.” The studio lights dim as Paul gestures to the screen at the side of the set. “As our editors were working on footage for leg ten in the Netherlands, one of them spotted something unusual.”

The clip shows Haylee and Big Mike studying the example place setting for the butler challenge. She’s going over the display with intense focus, but Mike just stands there for a few seconds and leaves. Then the footage zooms to his suit top, which was part of our costume.

“Our editor saw something sticking out of Big Mike’s pocket. She began searching through other footage from that challenge and noticed a pattern—every time he said he needed to use the bathroom, she saw the same item in his pocket.

“We began searching through footage from other legs and saw the same thing appearing.”

The clips move to a montage of him stowing something small and black in his pocket or his backpack.

“The Wise Guys brought a smartphone with them on the race.”

There is a collective gasp throughout the studio as the lights come back up.

“How did they sneak it in? Our bags were checked in Dallas,” Marcail says.

“They were, and our crew found no contraband in their backpacks. During our investigation, Big Mike confessed to having a friend in the crowd at the Giant Eyeball who followed their taxi to the airport and left the phone in a bathroom stall for Mike to retrieve. Throughout the race, he and DeAngelo connected to wi-fi at the airport, on airplanes, and at several McDonald’s locations to gain information about each destination. During other legs, like the Netherlands, he recorded videos to assist him with memory challenges and watched the footage in the bathroom.”

“Son of a...” Boyd catches himself before the last word and flattens his lips to a thin line.

“Needless to say, we’re deeply disappointed in their behavior and have pursued legal action against them and their accomplice in Dallas, who assisted them in exchange for a portion of the prize money. Obviously, none of them will receive any money.”

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