Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 114337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
No one else was allowed on the course once the bullhorn siren went off, which was the starting pistol. Everyone had to stick to their events until it was over, so no one accidentally got in the way of the competitors.
The announcer’s voice boomed from across the field. “Lambdas and Sigs, are you ready?” He paused as we let out our battle cries. “Then may the best house win. On your marks. Get set . . .”
The siren wailed, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
TWO
Madison
My pulse leapt into double-time, and I swallowed thickly, stealing a glance at Colin. He stood a few feet back from the pair of ladders that descended the backside of the climbing wall. His stance was ready, and his determined gaze was fixed on the top of the wall. Everything about his posture screamed it was ‘go time.’
So, I did the same.
The waiting was tense, and since I couldn’t see what was happening, I listened for any clues as to how my team was doing. My heartrate climbed as the voices of my sisters swelled abruptly, overpowering everyone else. Their encouraging words were strained and desperate. Some of them uttered phrases like, “that’s okay” and “shake it off.”
Something bad had happened, and it sounded like we’d fallen behind.
My suspicions were confirmed when I heard the thud of feet on the other side of the wall, scrambling upward. They were too heavy to be Zoe’s, not to mention, they were paired with male grunts of effort that came from the other side of the ladder Colin faced.
When the guy appeared at the top of the wall, my heart sank, and panic rose in its place. It didn’t sound like Zoe had even started her climb yet.
Fuck, how far behind were we?
“You got this, Zoe!” I yelled, having no idea if she was even close enough to hear me.
I recognized the guy coming over the wall because I remembered Jack bitching about him. Riley was known for asking his brothers to get him stuff at the liquor store and then never paying them back. It had gotten so bad, they’d come up with a code word so he never knew when anyone was doing a liquor run.
But he was an heir to an energy drink company, and his parents had donated so much money to the school, the field house was named after them. It meant no matter how annoying he was, he’d never get kicked out of Sigma Phi Alpha. He gave them clout.
Riley must have had the baton stashed in his pocket or the waistband of his shorts, because he held on to the wall with one hand and then produced the shiny red baton in the other. He dropped it down to Colin, who took off the second he had it. His feet pounded up the steps behind me at the same time I heard Zoe begin to scale the wall.
Shit, she was fast.
“Yes, girl,” I shouted. “You’re almost there!”
Riley slung himself over the top of the wall and came down the ladder express-style, with his feet outside the side rails, bypassing the rungs like he was on a submarine and needed to get to the bridge.
I tried to ignore him. My attention was zeroed in on my teammate, but I couldn’t help but notice his approach in my peripheral vision.
What’s this guy’s deal?
Zoe crested the wall with our blue baton tucked under her chin. She leaned over and lifted her head, releasing the baton to drop right into my waiting hands.
Except—
That didn’t happen.
Riley moved in, pushing me out of the way and snatched the baton out of the air. As soon as he had it, he turned and chucked it away. The baton glinted as it went, sailing away from me and landing right in a muddy puddle at the far side of the wall.
He glanced back at me and flashed the smile of an absolute asshole. “Oops.”
“What the fuck?” I demanded, but I didn’t have time to wait for his response. I needed that baton—plus a miracle—if we had any chance of winning now.
I dashed into the sticky mud, expecting to hear the trill of a whistle from the ref. I mean, I’d clearly been impeded, making my face heat to a million degrees. I was a diehard rule-follower, and they’d just cheated.
But when I snatched up the hollow blue rod from the puddle . . . I heard nothing.
Nothing, that was, except Riley’s shitty laugh.
“Hello, ref?” I yelled angrily, trudging as fast as my mud-caked feet would allow.
The referee’s stunned gaze was locked on to me, his hand holding the whistle frozen halfway to his lips. It was like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to blow the whistle or not. Maybe he was too scared to, or maybe he just wanted his boy Colin to have a healthy lead.