Chapter 616

"Do you?" I ask, grinning up at him, sort of surprised to see Jackson wanting to go to a social occasion.

"Oh, I'm happy to stay in here," he says, giving me a broad grin. "Alone with you. We can turn the water back on, or get in the tub..."

I grin up at him, shaking my head. "Don't tempt me, McClintock. Next time I get you naked in the shower and I'm not all traumatized from falling into an alternate realm ruled by darkness, I am going to take advantage of the situation."

"That's my girl," he growls, dipping his head to give me a fierce kiss that he breaks far too soon. "But come on - we should go out there," he says, giving me a smart smack on the ass that makes me yelp in surprise and then laugh. "The others are going to want to see that you're okay, and then they're going to want to celebrate you."

"Celebrate me?" I ask, standing a little straighter, liking this idea very much.

"Yeah, Ariel," Jackson says, smiling at me and looking...far too gorgeous as he does it, all damp and half-naked and kind. "I don't know the final tallies but.....I think you may have won today."

"But we all won," I say, turning my head to the side, not understanding.

"Our team won," he says, giving me a wink and reaching for his pile of clean clothes. "But there were individual tallies too. Don't you want to know how your performance stood up to everyone else?"

My competitive streak flares in me and I immediately dart for my clothes. "Hell yes I want to know!"

I get dressed faster than I ever have in my life, Jackson laughing warm beside me.

“Did I get it?” I gasp, stumbling out of the bathroom and still buttoning the top button of my shirt. “Did I win!?"

Jesse beams at me from his spot on the couch with Daphne at his side. Her own face breaks into a smile when she sees me, her hands anxiously clasped in her lap. "Results aren't in yet," Jesse says, the relief to see that I'm back to my usual self clear in the crinkle of his eyes. "They're -"

But Rafe storms over to us, blocking Jesse's sightline and taking me by the shoulders. "Are you fucking all right?"

"I'm fine!" I say, smiling up into his face. "I promise, I'm sorry -"

He groans, pulling me to him and wrapping me in a tight hug. "You had me so worried, Ariel," he murmurs, rocking me back and forth. "You were like, shell-shocked the whole ride home, I was scared you had a mental break –“

"I just needed a minute," I assure him, patting my brother on the back. "I'll explain it all later." I pull back a bit, sending a glance towards the door, not wanting to bring more attention to what happened than necessary.

Rafe sighs and nods to me before shifting his gaze to Jackson. "Seriously, she's good?"noveldrama

Jackson opens his mouth to

confirm that I am but before he can I

give Rafe a hearty smack on the

chest. "I just told you I was," I growl. "You don't need to confirm it with a man to know it's right."

Then I pull away from him, wanting to go say hello to Daphne. Behind me, I hear Jackson murmur

g to Rafe about strawber

ice cream being the right medicine, but troll my eyes and ignore them, plopping down next to my friend and

giving her a big hug.

"Congratulations!" she says, hugging me back with a laugh. "I heard you played a big role in the victory today."

"Yes, I'm very murderous," I say with a happy sigh, letting her go and leaning across her to give Jesse a hug too. "Hello, I missed you! How was your day, did you kill anyone?"

"No one, isn't that a bummer?” he

says, shaking his head at me as frown and take my seat again. "By the time I got to Wright's camp it was a awasteland - everyone was gone."

"What?" I ask, completely baffled. "What on earth happened?"

Jesse gives a hearty shrug but then the door opens and three people stumble in, laughing, just as the dumbwaiter bell rings.

"Results are in!" Ben calls, waving a couple of sheets of paper over his head and laughing as he beams around the room at us, Luca and Tony coming in after.

"Let me see!" I gasp, jumping up and dashing for him. "Who came in tops!?"

"Let's just say it was a Games that favored the dark horses," Ben says, laughing and grinning as he hands me a sheet.

I grab it and gasp because the name at the top of the list -

It's not mine.

And it's certainly no one I expected.

"Tony!?" I breathe, whipping my head up to gape at him.