More than Distance

23

“Not a dozen.” Okay, maybe half a dozen.

He leaned against the pier railing, his shirt stretching over his hard chest, and the reflection of the ocean made his dark eyes sparkle. “What happens when the show throws a curveball and it’s something you haven’t prepared for? Or life, for that matter?”

I gave a casual shrug. “I’m still working on that.”

“Exactly. That’s why you need me. To come up with a Plan B.”

“Oh please. You know I always have a Plan B, C, D, and E.”

“I’ll settle for handling Plan F then.” He gave me another sexy smirk. “It does sound a lot more dirty.”

Whoa, was he flirting with me? No, that couldn’t be right. He thought of me as a little sister, after all. And ever since he’d come back, he’d been a total jerk to me.

Even so, I was relieved when the Road Trip Race crew told the contestants to line up at the end of the pier with the ocean behind us. After a few minutes, the host of Road Trip Race, Chuck Bannon, moved to stand in front of the cameras, facing us. He was a middle-aged white guy with a shaved head and he wore his usual outfit on the show, a polo shirt with long shorts over hiking boots.

“Welcome to the twelfth season of Road Trip Race!” he said to the camera. “This year we’re trying something different: a couples theme. Each of the 10 pairs competing this season are romantically involved. Some of them have only been dating for a few weeks, some of them have been together for years, and some of them have been married for decades. Each couple will attempt to travel from Santa Monica to New York in a car while hunting for scavenger list items and competing in fun, romantic challenges. Which couple will make it to the end and win one million dollars? And more importantly, which couples will be broken up by then?”

He grinned at the camera, while my pulse stuttered and a million bees buzzed around inside my stomach. The show was starting and I wasn’t ready at all. I was overcome with the feeling I’d forgotten to pack something important before going on a trip, but couldn’t remember what it was. But no, I hadn’t forgotten anything—I’d checked my lists and my bag a hundred times. It was just that none of my planning could have truly prepared me for actually living in this moment.

Chuck turned to speak to the contestants. “At the end of the pier there are ten cars waiting for you. Each one is fitted with interior cameras and microphones, along with a speed logger that will track your GPS and let us know if you travel above the speed limit. You’ll find the keys in the glove box, plus a camera and your first scavenger hunt list. You’ll need to take photos of four out of six scavenger hunt items before you reach the next location. If you don’t, you’ll be sent off to finish before you can attempt the challenge.”

I knew all of this from watching the show, but it was a good refresher anyway. Three of the scavenger hunt items were always landmarks or other pit stops, while the other three were things you might encounter on the road, like a broken-down truck. On previous seasons I’d seen contestants go to every one of the locations and travel so far out of their way that they ended up last at the destination and got kicked off. But I’d also seen contestants only go to one location, then fail to find enough of the chance scavenger hunt items, forcing them to backtrack. Those kind of mistakes could cost you the win. The trick was to map out the best way to a few of the locations and hope you got lucky along the way with the other items too.

Chuck glanced up and down the row of contestants. “Once you complete the scavenger hunt, you’ll have to finish a challenge before getting the location of the final destination for the night. The first team to reach the final destination gets a special romantic evening, plus five thousand dollars each. They also get to start the next part of the race first in the morning, with each other team leaving in order, five minutes apart. The last team that arrives each night will be eliminated from the game. The team that makes it all the way to the end will win a million dollars.”

The prize money wasn’t really why I was on the show, but winning it would make me feel a whole lot better about not having a job lined up. Half a million dollars would give me a huge buffer until I decided what to do next with my life. Ryan, of course, didn’t need the prize money. I still wasn’t sure why he was even here.

“Are you ready to get started?” Chuck asked all of us. We all cheered and yelled, our energy level high. Many of the competitors leaned forward, like they were about to burst into a run at the start of a race.

“I said, are you ready to get started?” he yelled. To the side of us, a bunch of crew members waved at us to cheer. We yelled back, “Yes!” and some of the others stomped their feet. I bounced on my heels, ready to sprint off as much as they were.

“Ready? On your mark… Get set… Go!” Chuck stepped back, gesturing for us to head for the cars.

The line of contestants burst forth in one big, excited rush, speeding forward as if the two seconds they might gain on the other teams would make or break the game for them. Not that I was any better. I ran at full speed too, with Ryan at my side.

Our long legs came in handy and we were one of the first teams to reach the cars. Ten black Chevy Malibu sedans waited for us, and I knew from previous seasons they’d get tons of product placement during the show when it aired.