Page 57 of Rat Race

Aubrey made an irritated little noise like a rattlesnake.

"We should've left you out there," she sniped, hand firmly lockin’ with mine as she towed me toward the spot in the wall Ella was shinin’ her watch on. "But at least you havesomeuse."

I wanted to sigh. I didn’t know what was more exhausting—the maze or their annoying-ass feud.

"You are such an ungrateful bitch, you know?" Ella said flatly. "Any ideas on how to solve this?"

Using my own watch, I added to the light, looking at the pipes embedded into the wall. They were mismatched, the water trying to get in from the ceiling splatterin’ down onto the floor.

Jesus fuck, was I sick of being wet.

I worked backwards, looking for the answer to the puzzle. "I reckon the water needs to get to the pipe at the bottom…" I muttered. "So we'll need to… move it around?"

Aubrey was looking at the pipes, her mind trying to work through the puzzle. "At least it isn't fucking blood this time," she grumbled.

"Blood?" Ella asked.

"You don't wanna know," I said. "Reeked worse than the pig pen in 109-degree heat."

The brunette shivered. "Fair enough. You think we're getting close to the end?"

"Must be.” It was more hopeful than anything, but I moved my wrist to look at my watch all the same.

The viewer count was still good. In the hundreds of thousands. The comments on the other hand…

MJS.QUEERBOOKCLUB

God this is so BORING!! Fuck the girls already! No one gives a shit about making it out.

ELLEMAEBOOKS

Typing this with one hand ;) ready for anything

LIBRELIBRO23

Weston4ever! I’d like the next turn to ride the cowboy 315-XXX-XXX

This is what I fucking get for letting my desires get the best of me.The audience didn’t care about me winning. All they wanted was to see me fucking Aubrey again.

The temptation was there again, teasing the edges of my mind and setting my body alight.

But as I scrolled I saw more positive ones.

3_TOAST_BOY_5

Try turning the top left two!

BOOKBOUDOIRYEG

The middles can make an “L” shape if you turn the right one!

I cleared my throat, ready to share the ideas with the team. “Seems like some people–”

"Hey!" shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls. "I need that!"

Aubrey

Is this what death felt like?

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