Kylie holds up her hands, drawing our attention.
“For that purpose, we’re sending every matching group on a scavenger hunt. The fastest teams who can also answer the pop quiz correctly will get a special prize going into round two. You will be given one clue and a packet of questions. When you correctly find your answer, you will find a second clue. There are ten items that you have to photograph and upload to our social media page. Each of you has different clues and places to go, so no cheating!”
I glance at Mack, whose eyes are shining.
“Mack is in his element,” I whisper to our omega.
Sofia looks from me to Mack, her expression turning guarded at his enthusiasm.
“Do you like…?”
Mack looks at her. “I really like puzzles and games.”
“And action figures and knitting?”
Mack turns red; it’s cute, and I know I’m not the only one to think so.
Her smile is slow but enchanting. I could almost be jealous that it’s directed at Mack and not me.
She laughs at the way he bounces on his toes.
“Well, go get our clues,” Devon says, suddenly joining us. He grabs Sofia’s hand and lifts her knuckles to his lips. “Good morning, Rebel.”
Her tiny sigh twists me up inside. I want more than anything for her to look at me like that.
“Oh, I made this for you.”
I reach into my bag and pull out a perfectly baked cookie. Her eyes widen.
“For me?”
“Yes.”
There’s something in her expression that looks far too much like pain. She bites her lower lip, looking around as if she’s self-conscious.
“You don’t have to eat it. It’s fine, I just thought you might like it,” I say quickly, cursing myself.
To my utter astonishment, her eyes fill with tears, and she turns away, brushing them. I wrap the cookie up, kicking myself for doing something wrong, though I’m not sure what, when she grabs my wrist.
“Wait. I want it.”
“Sofia, it’s okay, you don’t have-”
“I want it, please, Eli. It’s not you; it was a memory. Someone said something mean once, and I just remembered it.”
I hand it over to her slowly. She unwraps it and takes a bite. Her eyes widen and snap to my face.
There it is, the look I was hoping for…except I made her cry.
She’s not as comfortable with me as she is with Mack and Devon, and it shows. I pack up my backpack and step back, giving her space.
Devon hisses something at me, but I ignore him. I can hear the condemnation from my parents, the hisses that I’m not enough.
“On your marks…may the best smitten win!”
Mack bounces back to us and opens the envelope with the clue. “Something round, something blue, something borrowed, something canoe.” He waggles his eyebrows.
Devon groans in exasperation, but Mack and Sofia put their heads together.
