Page 36 of Rat Race

Maybe it was almost dying in a pit of boiling blood that finally brought the emotions out of me.

“No!” I cried, desperately trying to wipe them off my face without ruining my makeup more than it already was. Another thing I had worked so hard on that she was ruining even after she was fucking dead. “You don’t get it! She was a huge fucking cunt and this was my only way to get back at her and now she's dead and I wasn’t even the one to do it!”

Another silence followed by water dripping somewhere in the room.

“Well, I have a goal,” they said and rolled their shoulders, their eyes looking over the well-placed trap. I let my eyes trail down their body. The tank top was pulled tight against their skin and made my mouth water. It made me feel just a bit better about Natalie’s death. Fuck, could I be any hornier? “And I need you to obtain it, so can you please stop with this tantrum and come help me?”

Tantrum?

My inner simping came to a screeching halt. I sniffled, trying to stop the tears.

Being scolded by Cam ignited something in me that made me want to obey but also do the exact opposite and see what they would do. I wanted to see a bit more of the frustration and anger I saw peeking through in their eyes. I wanted to provoke them.

I wanted them to use those strong arms of theirs and pin me up against the wall and?—

“Tell me what your goal is, then,” I said with a sniffle, pushing the dirty thoughts to the back of my head. They gave me another deadpan look. “Please?”

“No.” They walked further into the corridor, bending down so they were closer to the ground. There was a wall separating us and the rest of the maze. Their hand slid across the ground,checking for an opening. “Trust me, if I didn’t need your help, I wouldn’t be askin’.”

“Then tell me,” I replied with a whine and pushed myself up from the floor.

When they didn’t turn to me, I leaned over their back, putting my weight on them and using them as some sort of stool. Under the stink of blood, they had a distinct woodsy smell that had my stomach clenching.

It was undeniable.

I want them.

Natalie was slowly disappearing into the recesses of my mind while Cam was worming their way in. It was useless to try and stop it. I could feel it coming on stronger than anything I had ever felt for Natalie.

“So you can stab me in the back just before I reach it?” they asked.

I let out a groan and buried my face into their neck. Their hair tickled my face. I had the urge to sink my teeth into the muscled column.

“Come on,” I cooed. “Tell me and I’ll help you.”

They let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s the family business,” they said in a low voice. “I am the last of all my siblings to enter the Games. I don’t have a choice. I have to win.”

I mulled over their words. They were… more interesting than that bastard Hiram for sure. And their goal was just so…cute.

I mean, every time the Games came around, there were those who entered as Legacies. Their families counting on them to continue the line of succession and win, no matter the cost.

But the way they said it…

It felt like Cam didn’t truly want to win. Like they were doing it just to shut their family up.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not good at it.

And I had heard the rumors of how their family worked. They were well known. They trained hard. Produced perfectly bred children that werebornto win the Games.

It wasn’t often that theyweren’tpart of the winners’ pool.

Yet Cam seemed… different. And I wanted to know why.

“Okay.”

Their head whipped over to look at me, all but pushing me off them in the process. “Really?” they asked.

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