On the other bed, Abby slid her shoes off and wiggled her feet as Dean sprawled onto the bed behind her. "This was the best use of money ever. I'm so glad we did this."
"I'm so glad you invited us," I told her. My stomach growled, and I winced. I had a protein bar in my bag, but it wasn't sounding super appetizing at the moment.
Liam glanced at me again, then turned to Dean and Abby. "I don't suppose you guys want to go halves on dinner? We can get a pizza for pretty cheap if we don't mind picking it up."
"Pizza sounds great to me," Abby said, rubbing her stomach. She glanced over at Dean. "Paper rock scissors for who has to go get it?"
He laughed and leaned in to kiss Abby. "Tell you what. I'll get it and you owe me."
"Mmm, deal," she told him with a teasing grin.
Dean got back to his feet and put some money in his pocket, then glanced at Liam. "You want to come with?"
"Sure, man. Give the girls a few minutes to relax without us." He looked over at me again, that hesitant almost-smile on his face, and then they disappeared. The door shut a moment later, and silence fell. It was just me and Abby in the room, basking in the fact that we didn't have to go anywhere for at least several more hours.
The silence didn't last long, though. Abby rolled onto her side on the bed and gazed over at me. "Sooooo, how's the new partner? What’s it like being paired up with a rock god?"
I sat up, crossed my legs, and thought. I felt like I could trust Abby. It was like having one of my best friends here on the race with me. And I didn't think she'd dick us over. "He's…not what I expected."
"He seems different than your brother," Abby said bluntly. "And I mean that in a good way. I think you lucked out."
I gave her a wry look. "Brodie's my brother, but yeah, he tends to think of Brodie first and Katy second."
"Why do you let him get away with that? I'd have beat him with my backpack if he'd treated me the way he treated you."
I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess because he was honest about what he wanted out of this? He wants a career. Me, I just want the consolation prize money."
She snorted. "I told myself that until I made the merge on Endurance Island. Trust me, when you get closer to that big prize? You want that money."
She had a point. I had to admit that when I saw everyone racing, it made my blood get fired up and my competitive spirit kick in. Still, I didn't know if I could deliberately push ahead of Brodie, not when I'd be just as happy with the last place check. It seemed selfish somehow. Even though Brodie hadn't been awesome to me on the race, the race would end and he'd still be my brother long after these people were out of my life. So I said nothing.
"Well, at any rate, I'm glad we're allied with you and not Brodie. He doesn't seem the loyal type," she said with a yawn. "You want the first shower? I'll wait until Dean gets back and we can share ours."
A shower sounded incredible. I pulled myself up from the bed and grabbed my backpack. "I promise not to use all the hot water."
"Good." She waved me away, yawning and laying back on her bed.
By the time the guys got back with pizza, I had showered and changed into new clothes, and was combing out my wet hair. We tore into the pizza, divvying it up four ways. I only ate two of my slices, being the smallest of the group, and nudged my extra slice over to Liam. He was a tall guy and would probably need the fuel.
He took it with a wink at me, and then devoured it.
Dean patted his stomach and glanced at the bathroom. "Shower free?"
"All yours," I told him, uncapping my bottle of water and taking another drink.
"Wait for me," Abby said, getting to her feet. "I thought we'd share."
"Just like old times," Dean said with a grin, and smacked Abby on the butt as she sauntered past him. They disappeared into the bathroom and I was left alone with Liam.
I glanced over at him as he wiped his hands with the napkin, and then looked over at me.
"So," he said, then paused.
"So," I said back.
He seemed more at ease now that it was just the two of us, and now that I wasn't glowering at him every moment. Instead, he simply studied my face, as if considering me. After a moment, he stuck his hand out. "I think we got off on the wrong foot on this race. Hi, I'm Liam."
I laughed and took his hand. "Hi, I'm Katy."
"And what brings you on The World Races, Katy?"
"Well," I said, crossing my legs and getting comfortable on the bed. "I actually didn't want to be on the show. I got talked into it because Brodie needed a partner. And I want the money to invest in my business."