Love or Lust (LOL): Part 1

“Huh?”

“The guy. He was obviously special. You’re tearing the grass out of the ground.”

Looking down, I notice I am, in fact, ripping apart the lawn around me. I have a fistful in each hand, and it appears those are not the first.

“He was, but he’s not anymore,” I state, releasing the grass and watching as it floats back to the ground.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was recent and it wasn’t a mutual decision.”

Ha! Mutual. Nope. Not even close. In fact, I had no say in it. He may have tried to explain his infidelity away and apologize, but he never once asked me to come home. He knew it was over the moment our eyes met while he was still inside her.

“That sucks,” Milo says.

Closing my eyes and shaking my head slightly, I realize I said it all out loud, and now he knows more than I was wanting to tell anyone. So will the rest of America.

It hasn’t been lost on me that there’s a cameraman following us around. However, I did forget about him a few times today, which tells me I’m getting used to them being there. That could cause problems down the line if I’m not careful. There are things I don’t want the world to know.

“We should get going,” I suggest, pushing myself off the ground and brushing off my ass with my hands.

Before I can register what’s happening, Milo grabs my hand and pulls me against his body, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me on the cheek.

“He’s an idiot, but I kind of want to shake his hand. His loss could be my gain.”

His words were whispered soft enough there’s no way the cameras would have picked them up. They weren’t meant to. What he said was only for me to hear.

“Let the games begin!”Ed announces as we all make our way to the starting line.

He spends the next twenty minutes going over the rules and how the game is played. His attention remains focused on the camera the entire time, though you would have thought he was talking to us. It takes him four takes to get it right.

This place is starting to confuse me.

We were on live TV Sunday night during the elimination ceremony, yet every other time has been taped. Edited. I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.

Turning my attention back to the race, I give Milo a slight squeeze. Lined up to our left is Lennon and Teegan. On the other side of them are Gage and Courtney followed by Drake and Bella. To our right is Callen and Natasha and after them are Jace and Kyra.

Everyone looks ready to race with the exception of Gage and Courtney. His eyes are trained forward, his smile flat as Courtney says something to him.

“On your marks,” Ed says, directing my attention back to where he’s standing at the other end of the field. “Get set.” He lifts his left hand toward the sky, a white flag between his fingers. “Go!” he hollers as the flag falls to the ground.

Milo and I start out strong. We prepared for this. We’re moving in sync until the first obstacle.

Yup.

They couldn’t make the games too easy. They had to throw a few kinks in our plans and place obstacles across the course right before we were allowed to take the field. Our first obstacle, a tightly strung rope. It reminds me of what we used to use in gym class when we’d play tug of war. It’s at least a foot off the ground, and the one rule for today’s competition... not lifting your partner off the ground.

“Turn sideways, I’ll walk first, step over, and you follow. Sound good?” Milo asks as we approach.

“Let’s do it.”

We easily maneuver the rope, lifting our tied-together legs without an issue. We’re leading after the first obstacle, but the next is not going to be as easy. There are large tarps side by side, and they appear to be wet. Wet means slippery, so we’re going to have to slow our pace down to avoid falling.

Never mind.

One step on the tarp and we’re both flat on our ass.

“Is that soap?” I ask, sniffing my hands.

“Crawl,” Milo states firmly. “They didn’t say anything about having to be on our feet, right?”