48. The Love Olympics
the love olympics
. . .
Ellie
Adorable baby photos should be outlawed.
The more albums Mrs. Westbrook flipped through with pictures of Cade and his brother toddling around and playing together, the more forced my smile became during breakfast.
Cade was a delightfully chubby baby, with perfectly squishable cheeks and a toothless smile that melted my heart. But the last thing I needed right now was to be thinking about him and babies.
Cade seemed oblivious to my plight as he added two chocolate croissants to my plate before being pulled into a conversation with Harrison.
When his mom brought out a picture of Cade dressed in his first suit for preschool graduation, I tossed back the rest of my mimosa and held my glass out for a refill.
It was going to be a long day.
Dr. Lovejoy had completely transformed the main deck when we returned in our swimsuits for the Love Olympics. Pink balloon arches stretched overhead, four rows of tiki torches dominated the middle of the deck, and I even spotted a colorful ball pit by the back railing.
All the lounge furniture stood to one side, where Cade’s family, Mac, and some crewmembers sat to watch the event. Whiskey stretched out on Mac’s lap, soaking up the sun and ignoring the wave I sent him.
What was even stranger was the thumbs-up Cade’s grandfather sent me while Mrs. Westbrook buffed her nails.
Music pumped from unseen speakers—fun and poppy and perfect for a sunny day at sea.
But the giant banner hanging across the deck stole my attention. An explosion of hearts had been painted across it, with large red letters: The Love Olympics!
“Wow,” I breathed next to Cade. “Dr. Lovejoy really went all out.”
He grunted while I straightened the strap on my crocheted bikini and tried to keep my eyes off Cade’s bare chest.
The other couples arrived, and I did a double take when Fletcher trudged onto the deck with a swollen and nasty black eye.
“You did that?” I whispered to Cade, not meaning to sound as impressed as I did.
“I should’ve done more,” he muttered. “He wouldn’t still be here, but it wasn’t worth bringing out the helicopter when we’ll be back at port tomorrow morning. I’d rather beat his annoying ass in these games first.”
I bit my lip to hide my laugh, because Fletcher was heading straight toward us.
He stopped in front of me, squinting with his one good eye. “Hey.”
I shared a glance with Cade before narrowing my eyes. Despite wanting to claw out Fletcher’s remaining eye for what he’d done to Whiskey, I needed to take the high road. “Hello.”
Fletcher’s whole body heaved a sigh. “… Sorry I threw your cat overboard.”
I frowned at the half-assed apology. He didn’t sound very sorry. In fact, I’d bet all my crocheting supplies he was only apologizing after being persuaded to by Cade.
“And sorry, everybody, for my poor behavior yesterday,” Fletcher yelled out to the deck without waiting for me to respond. He aimed a one-eyed glare at Cade. “It won’t happen again.”
Cade simply arched a brow.
“I’m here, I’m here! Sorry I’m running a little behind,” Dr. Lovejoy called as she burst through the sliding doors. She trotted toward us, holding a clipboard and raising a megaphone to her lips. “Couples, welcome to the Love Olympics!”
She threw an arm out toward all the pretty decorations, and I clapped on instinct.
No one else joined in.
“Today will test how well you and your partner can work together as a team,” she continued, unbothered by the lack of enthusiasm as Fletcher slipped away to join Candace.
“Our itinerary is deviating from the normal Olympic Games. Instead of winning medals for each individual event, we’re combining all of them to create one large challenge course.
You’ll race through three exciting obstacles, beginning with a three-legged race right here.
The first couple to cross the final finish line will be crowned our Love Champions! Any questions?”
“Yeah.” Harrison looked over the course with a critical eye and crossed his arms. “What do we win?”
Dr. Lovejoy let out a weak laugh and tucked her clipboard under one arm.
“What’s important to remember is that you’re all winners just for participating and strengthening your relationships today.
And everyone deserves applause for that.
” She started a round of applause that didn’t quite catch on—minus a few slow claps from Mac.
“That being said, I do have a few little treats for our Love Champions.”
Fletcher snorted. “Treats? What are we—dogs?”
I scowled at him while Dr. Lovejoy’s face fell.
“Well, today isn’t about prizes,” she said. “It’s about celebrating the week we’ve spent together and your growth as couples.”
I eyed the other couples, only Madison and Piper showing any excitement about this. Though Cade had his game face on.
Cade’s grandfather stood from his chair, raising his voice. “I’ll throw in a bottle of the winners’ choice from my wine collection as a prize, plus a trip to anywhere you’d like to go.”
I perked up, attention sharpening. Anywhere? I’d always dreamed of taking Whiskey to a famous cat festival in Belgium.
The other couples leaned forward, too, and Harrison rubbed his hands together. “Okay, now we’re talking. Let’s do this.”
Dr. Lovejoy held up a hand. “Now, hold on a second. It’s not about the prize! Don’t get distracted by material goods.”
Unfortunately for her, the other couples were already lining up at the makeshift starting line. Cade took my hand and pulled me over to an open spot to the left of his brother and Madison.
“Oh, fiddlesticks.” Dr. Lovejoy hustled to move in front of us. “Remember, it’s one big race, so don’t pause or wait for the others between games. At each station, there’ll be a card with instructions waiting for you. I’ll hand out the first one now.”
She passed a fancy lace-framed card to each couple, and I leaned closer to Cade to eye the pretty red roses on the cardstock.
“The crew will help you get ready,” she continued just as a guy approached me and Cade with three red bandanas.
“You must keep your legs fastened together until you finish the three-legged race and arrive at the next station. Take a moment to get situated and read your card, then we’ll go on my signal! ”
The crewmember crouched in front of us and yanked my left leg to Cade’s right. The height difference was almost laughable with my hip lining up to his thigh, and I tightened my grip on Cade’s hand to keep my balance. He read the card aloud for both of us.
The Better Together Dash:
To complete this game, each couple must race with two of their legs tied together. Follow the taped arrows on the ground to race around the main deck, navigating obstacles along the way. Search the ball pit for a heart-shaped key needed to unlock the next game. Good luck!
I frowned. This sounded way more athletic than I’d expected.
Eyeing the red arrows looping around the deck, I regripped my partner’s hand. “Cade? I’m nervous.”
His brows rose. “What’s there to be nervous about? There aren’t any snakes here. No heights or swimming. It’s just a race and some games.”
“Well, running isn’t really my thing. I used to sneak crochet supplies into gym class—”
“Ellie.” He squeezed my hand, and a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “Relax. We’ve got this.”
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Right. Absolutely. Totally got this.”
Now I just needed to resist the urge to throw up.
Out of nowhere, a loud pop made me jump a foot in the air—which hurt since the bandanas kept me tied to Cade, who hadn’t flinched.
We all whipped toward the sound. Dr. Lovejoy stood with a smoking flare gun pointed to the sky.
“What the hell was that?” Harrison asked, rubbing his ears.
“That was the signal!” She waved at us to move. “Go, go!”
Mac appeared behind her and plucked the gun from her hand with a disapproving stare, and Cade tugged me forward. “Come on.”
It was instantly obvious that our height difference was an issue, and I did my best to keep up with Cade’s longer strides.
There was no rhyme or reason or synchronization to our running.
We just looked like two headless chickens hobbling around the track, while the other three couples jogged straight past us.
“We’ll send you a postcard from Saint-Tropez!” Harrison yelled back with a laugh.
An alarming sound—something between a growl and a snarl—came from Cade before he tightened his arm around my waist and hauled me up against his side.
He barely gave me enough time to wrap my arms around him before he took off down the track.
It was a repeat of the ropes course, but with my left leg awkwardly pinned to his while the other hung limply in the air.
I couldn’t help giggling at just how ridiculous we must look.
Our first obstacle was a limbo bar at about chest height—which Cade and I easily ducked under. The following hurdle was a little trickier, but he helped lift me while angling our tied legs over it.
Vlad and Piper struggled to clear the hurdle, allowing us to hobble into third place.
“This is so fun.” I grinned while Cade ran, even though I wasn’t doing much of the work. We were even gaining on the two other couples, who were crawling through the ball pit, flinging balls every which way in search of their keys.
Cade and I raced up to join them, crashed over the ball pit wall at full speed and landed inside.
Another laugh burst out of me, and I joined Cade in searching.
The ball pit was as large as our cabin and could easily fit four couples. I had no idea how big the key was, but we dug through plastic balls and crawled on our knees through the madness. By now, the bandanas holding me and Cade together were cutting off my circulation.
“I found one!” Madison yelled right before Harrison pulled her up out of the pit.
My heart thundered in my chest with adrenaline, especially when Fletcher held up another key with a victorious shout. Candace sighed, and he practically dragged her out of the pit.
Cade swept his arms across the floor meticulously, sending balls flying.
Both keys so far had been found on the left side of the pit, so I sped up my crawling to pull him toward the opposite side.
Digging did nothing. Trying to see anything through the balls was impossible.
So I blindly ran my hands over the bottom of the pit, until my fingers brushed against something solid—
“I got it!” I cried, holding up a wooden heart with a key attached.
“Good girl,” Cade praised quickly, already pulling me out of the ball pit. “We can still catch them. Come on.”
He hauled me up against his side, and I lifted my other foot. “Go, go!”
Cade sprinted the rest of the way, and we didn’t run into any other obstacles before reaching Dr. Lovejoy back at the track’s beginning.
“Second station is right here!” She pointed us toward the row of tiki torches, where Harrison and Madison had already unlocked one of four small safes.
Fletcher and Candace trotted up to another one just ahead of us, so Cade and I hobbled over to the safe between them with the key clenched tightly in my fist.
I unlocked the safe, while Cade quickly undid the knots keeping our legs together.
Another card sat waiting inside.
Suck and Blow:
Place a playing card between yours and your partner’s lips. With each player staying on their designated side of the tiki torches, “suck” and “blow” to weave the card between each torch. Hands must be kept behind your backs. If a card drops before finishing, return to the start.
I stared at the card in disbelief.
We had to what now?