Read Online Body Games (A Games Novel) by Jill Myles, Jessica Clare - Free Book Online Page A

“We’ve gotta keep the big guy distracted,” I murmured to Kip. “She’s not a threat.”
    “Ok,” Kip said. “I’ll go for her, you go for him.”
    “Wait, me? Why me?” How on earth was I supposed to keep a guy like that busy?
    “Ready,” Chip called before Kip could answer. “And…go!”
    We took off, heading for the water. We made it in advance of Sunnie and Jendan, who seemed to be holding back. That struck me as odd, but I dove for the buoy…
    Only to be tackled and sent underwater. The big guy had found me. His big hands hauled me backward and one rubbed hard down my back. It dragged against my sunburn, and my screech of protest was muffled by the water. I pushed myself to the surface, grabbing at one of his legs and trying to dump him backward. I’d swam with rough cousins as a kid and knew how to pick a fight in a pool, at least. This wasn’t much different.
    But Jendan’s size gave him the advantage. He grabbed me by the torso and pushed me down into the water again. Again, his hand went down my back, rubbing.
    When I came up for air again, sputtering, his big arm wrapped around my shoulders and he pinned me in the water and then sank down, pulling both of us in to our chins.
    “Your back,” he murmured in my ear. “I’m trying to clean it off.”
    “What?” Disoriented, I looked around. Sunnie was flailing near the buoy and Kip’s feet disappeared into the water, my partner diving down to get the ring.
    “He wrote something on your back,” Jendan said in my ear, and rubbed my back again under the water. “I’m trying to get rid of it.”
    “My name?” Everyone had their names written on them every day.
    “Not your name.”
    “What?” I stopped struggling, wincing when Jendan’s hand pressed against my sensitive skin. “What did he write?” I whispered, forgetting about the challenge.
    “You don’t want to know—“
    “Yes, I do,” I insisted. “Just tell me.”
    “Lousy lay. He wrote that instead of your name. At least, I assume he’s the one that wrote on your back.” His cool eyes met mine, sympathetic. “I was trying to help.”
    Even now, Kip was sprinting out of the water, ignoring Sunnie’s feeble cries. I was too stunned to do anything, and when Jendan’s hand swiped across my back once more, I let him.
    Lousy lay?
    And here I thought Kip and I were doing better today. What a fucking prick. No wonder everyone was laughing when I turned around. I felt my face go hot with anger. That little son of a bitch—
    “Team eight wins again,” Chip said, throwing his hands in the air as Kip trotted to the finish line with the ring again. Pleased with himself, Kip did a little ‘Rocky’ bounce and then threw his hands in the air.
    Jendan gave my back a final rub and then released me.
    “You two okay in the water?” Chip asked, his attention turning toward Jendan and me.
    “Just twisted my ankle a little,” I said, hauling out of the water and faking a limp. I was boiling mad as I went back to the line-up, unable to look over at my partner. My back stung, but my pride hurt worse. Of all the awful things to do…
    I could teach Kip a lesson. Deliberately throw the challenge and see if I could get Kip ousted. It’d be risky, but did I want to play next to a guy that wrote Lousy Lay on my back just to try and humiliate me in public? All because I wouldn’t fuck him this time around?
    “Jendan, looks like you didn’t even try very hard that time,” Chip commented, breaking into my stream of thoughts. “Are you and Sunnie struggling with the challenge?”
    “Just lost my bearings,” Jendan said easily, and I glanced down the line at him. He shot me a secretive look, and I realized that he had no intention on telling anyone that he’d deliberately tackled me just to wipe my back off. They might notice that the words were no longer there, but maybe not that he did it on purpose to help me.
    He’d thrown that round just to save me a little humiliation? I owed