Page 34 of Rat Race

“All for the show,” Aubrey agreed, her eyes carefully watching the way the pillars moved.

The exit wasn’t far, but tryin’ to jump between moving pillars with blood sticking to our clothes and shoes was a terrifying thought.

“Right, left, left, then up,” Aubrey said, her eyes not moving from the moving pillars. Buzz after buzz rang out, warnin’ us they’d be movin’. But it was all too fast.

I followed her gaze, watchin’ the pillars.It was a sequence.

“You sure about that?” I asked, not able to make out the sequence she was seeing.

Her head snapped to me.

“Time for you to take a chance on me,” she replied, giving me a wink before jumping to the next pillar.

I cursed under my breath because as soon as she landed, it jerked further away from me.

“Jump on my command and we will get out of here, okay?” she said. My pause had her lettin’ out an annoyed groan. “Fucking move your ass!”

Her yell reverberated around the room and had my body moving before my mind caught up to what I was doin’.

I ran at the pillar, jumpin’ and flyin’ through the air to land just in time for it to move back to its original place. I let out a tense breath and looked up at the blonde knockout who was staring down at me with a cruel smirk.

“Good girl.”

Her tone sent a zap of excitement through me.

I looked at the next pillar, and then suddenly, the sequence clicked.

“Can you keep up, darlin’?” I shot her a smile before jumping to the next one.

I didn’t even have time to steady myself before her body collided with mine. Her hands wrapped around my shoulders and her chest pushed up to my back. A light laughter rang in my ears.

“The question is, can you?”

And with that, she was jumpin’ to the next. This time, she didn’t wait for me to follow.

I looked back down at the blood coming up fast and bubbling. The smell was overwhelming and threatened to gag me.

With a deep breath, I jumped the last two pillars before pulling her to me.

“Ready?” I asked, looking down at her.

She let out a playful scoff before pushing me away to turn around to look up at the exit.

“I’ll lift ya,” I offered a bit too eagerly.

“Keep your hands where they’re meant to be, cowboy.” Aubrey said with a grin as my hands grabbed her waist. Her fingers grazed the ledge, her heeled boot making hard contact with my chest as she pulled herself up, rolling onto the ledge.

Bitter disappointment coated my tongue.Am I the only one feeling this?

The buzzer rang again, warning that the pillars would be shifting.

“Now me,” I called up to her, my hands outstretched for a much-needed boost.

She looked over the edge of the door, a feral smile covering her beautiful features. “What was it that Scar said to Mufasa? ‘Long live the king’?”

My heart raced, jaw falling slack at her betrayal.

If my life wasn’t on the line, I might have taken a moment to revel in just how breathtaking her cruelty was.

---