“You sure do have a glow about you,” Cassie says from the bathroom when I get back to the room. Crackling with energy, she looks like she’s down to party another few hours.

I definitely don’t blame her. Tonight’s been magical. I’m still drowning in the afterglow of being with Tony. Every moment with him was incredible. And I didn’t want it to end.

If tomorrow never came, I’d be a happy woman.

“What the hell happened to you?” I ask as my eyes focus on Cassie’s face. She looks like a cave woman, with wildly disheveled hair and a torn dress. If not for the grin on her face, I’d be worried.

“Caleb had his way with me,” she says, slipping out of her ruined dress and into pajamas.

“No way!” I exclaim in disbelief. I was beginning to think their flirting and taunting was playful, not sexual. Was my radar that far off on them?

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Cassie says as she grabs a brush and starts trying to tame her wild mane. “I mean, he about tickled me to death when I tried to jump kick him in his ass for throwing that water balloon at me. Don’t worry, I gave as much as I got. You should see him!”

“Oh.” I laugh.

“Yeah. Can you believe it? He’s jealous I have more swag than him.” She makes a face. “The bastard made me beg him to stop, and I had to because I was laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee.”

Just imagining Cassie screaming at Caleb while he tickles her mercilessly only makes me laugh harder.

Cassie pauses her brushing to fix a murderous scowl on me. “Oh, that’s funny to you?”

I only laugh harder. “No,” I say anyway, clutching my sides. “Sorry.”

“What happened with you? Did you two . . .?” Her voice trails off into silence, and I swear the only sound is my heartbeat.

I could lie. Tell her that nothing happened, and we just enjoyed each other’s company. But I don’t want to anymore. Nothing that feels that good should be kept secret. Besides, she knows. She just doesn’t know any details.

Slowly, I nod my head.

Cassie looks worried as she sets down her brush, staring at me for a long time before replying. “Han, listen . . . I’m glad that you and Tony are into each other. Really, I am. You guys actually make a cute couple.” She looks down at the floor, fidgeting with her pajamas before looking back up at me. “But be careful. Someone could get really hurt here. You know that, right?”

The worry in Cassie’s eyes is touching. In my heart, I don’t know if I’m lying to her or not as I answer, “I appreciate that. But we agreed that we’re both going to just go and give it our all tomorrow. Only one of us can win, and I accept that.”

“Okay,” Cassie says, swallowing but giving me a smile. “See you in the morning.”

If only getting to sleep were that easy. It’s hours before I can even close my eyes.

* * *

The sun greets me the next morning as I wake up, anxiety tearing at my stomach. I look over at Cassie, who’s also up, and we exchange silent glances. There’s no need for words. Shit or get off the pot, as my grandpa used to say.

“Ready?” I ask Cassie, and my phone rings. Myra. “Fuck, I can’t talk to her right now,” I say, shutting it off. “You ready?”

Cassie comes up and hugs me, and I hug her back. “Now I’m ready.”

Breakfast is like a library. Everybody’s quiet. The stakes are too high for us to disguise it with normal chit chat, and if they’re at all like me, they’re regretful that this is ending. Tony gives me a smile, but it’s not enough to tame my nerves. When we’re finished, Alani leads us toward the bath house, turning toward the ocean just before we reach the mountain. We emerge to see . . . “Oh, shit.”

“Good morning, teams,” Wes says. “Today, we're doing a challenge that is going to be so much fun, admittedly maybe more so for me to watch, but nonetheless. And also, I’ve decided there will be one more challenge after this. Though that one will only be for Hannah and Tony.”

“Just when we think we have the answers, he changes the questions,” Caleb mutters, but Wes ignores him, continuing.

“The staff and I have constructed a bit of an obstacle course, and both members of the team have to cross to win. You will start, run to the slide, up the stairs to the top, down the next slide, then run the tires, where you must step at least one foot in each.”

I look at the zigzag of tires worriedly, but Tony chuckles. “I remember those. Guess those two-a-days for football were useful.”

“Continuing to over/under bars,” Wes says, walking us through the course. “You can over or under but you have to alternate, so start strategically. You next belly crawl under the rope netting, and yes, the mud’s sort of clean. Next, you have to hop post to post. If you touch down, start over. And then run for the finish line.”

It’s intimidating. Some of the post jumps look insane, but the guys look confident. “Hey, Cassie,” Caleb jokes, “I think that post might just be big enough to satisfy you.”

“You mean big enough to shut that mouth of yours,” Cassie says, and I have to smile. It helps break the tension. Still, I need this win. I need to get the edge going into whatever this final game is.

“Hey, Hannah?” Tony says, and when I look over, I see him smiling. “You sure your big booty can fit through those bars?”

“Big booty ho!” Mo Mo squawks, and Tony can’t help it, he starts snickering. I have to laugh too. I know exactly why Tony chose the words he did, and I shake my head.

“Just make sure to get on your knees when you have to kiss it after we win!” I tease, blushing as I think of what happened just last night. We get ready, lining up at the start line, and with a clap of Wes’s hands, we start.

The first few obstacles are no problem, although the guys are so much more aggressive it’s hard to watch. Tony, in particular, nearly breaks the slide as he takes a flying leap from the top, his ass and lower back cracking into the slide about three quarters of the way down, making me wince a little. The guys gain ground on the tires too. They’ve done this before in football and such, while Cassie and I have to make sure we don’t get caught in the rims.

We don’t stand a chance. I know it, and they know it. But we continue on anyway. I’m not just going to give up.

“Come on, we need this!” I yell to Cassie, helping her up and over the last bar. Tony stops and looks back, and I see something in his eyes before he dives under the net. When he gets up, he slips and falls, allowing us to close the gap a little.

“Push!” Cassie grunts as we get out, seeing the final obstacle, the jumping posts. Tony and Caleb are more than halfway across, and Caleb takes another big hop, landing on one foot before stretching out and jumping again, clearing the last two logs in the air to land surefooted and make a last dash for the finish line.

“Tony, go!” Caleb yells, but his timing is just a fraction off. Tony stumbles and falls off the log he’s aiming for. He walks back to the beginning of the obstacle, and his eyes meet mine again. He starts up the logs while Cassie and I start our own, working together to balance each other as we step from log to log. Tony is jumping, skipping logs, and is nearly at the end when he falls again, having to start over. Caleb screams in frustration, but Tony seems calm as he starts back, and as Cassie and I finish, he’s actually behind us.

“Go, go, GO!” I yell to Cassie, who takes off as hard as she can. It’s close, and I’ve never run harder in my life, but we cross the finish line just ahead of Tony, who doesn’t look as dejected as he should be for losing.

Caleb, on the other hand, doesn’t look pleased. “What the hell, man? You’re a former athlete. Coordination is supposed to be your thing.”

“I fucked up. I was too winded,” Tony says, clapping Caleb on the shoulder. Wesley gives Tony a sly look and Tony looks away. Cassie jumps up and down, hugging me, not believing we pulled it off. Her joy is infectious and I find myself smiling back at her when the guys give us a high-five, Tony saying, and Caleb grumbling, their congratulations.

“Hmmm, it was fun to watch. Perhaps not in the ways I expected, but you all showed great heart today. I’ll see you in the main room at three o’clock,” he says quietly. “Congratulations.”

He leaves, and I look at Tony, who’s still red-faced. He gives me a small, chagrined smile, and I shake my head. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Shouldn’t have done what?” Tony asks.

I cross my arms, raising an eyebrow. “Winning is good, but sometimes, you lose when you win. I guess some of Wesley’s voodoo shit is soaking in.” I step closer, looking in his eyes. “I don’t want to win like that. Got it?”

Tony smiles, nodding. “Got it.”