Based on how loudly all the guys on both teams were cheering, it seemed likely that the freedom race was going to be something wildly uncomfortable for me. Would I be handcuffed and have to try to get free before Cole claimed his prize?Oh God.
I started to walk back to my team to discuss our game plan, but one of Ocelot’s helpers stopped me and handed me a bigcardboard box. I opened it up to find a bunch of red bikinis inside.
Frankie skipped over to me with a big smile on her face, her braids bouncing with every step. “It’s your lucky day,” she said.
Was she being sarcastic? That was exactly the kind of thing you’d say to someone who was about to get bondage banged. “Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because I’m a beast at tying knots.”
Knots!?I’d kind of just been joking about the whole bondage thing. “Am I about to be tied up and spanked?”
Frankie laughed. “Maybe if we lose. But no, not for this event. Come on…we need to get some volunteers and then go get ready. We only have thirty minutes before the race begins.”
Isadora and Giovanna were the first to volunteer. The rest of the girls on my team were less enthusiastic, but eventually we got three more takers.
Diablo raised his hand too.
“You want to wear one of these?” asked Frankie, holding up one of the red bikini tops.
Diablo laughed. “No. But I’d be happy to help tie them.”
“Me too,” offered Angel.
Frankie pursed her lips. “Nice try, perverts. But we don’t need any help.” She turned to me. “Let’s go get ready.”
We jogged off to the nearest cabin with the five other girls.
“So what exactly is the freedom race?” I asked.
“The best event,” said Isadora. She and Giovanna had already gotten naked and were putting on the red bikinis.
“A race to see who can free all of us from our bikini tops the fastest,” said Frankie. “It’s kind of like #FreeTheNipple, only it has nothing to do with feminism and more to do with everyone seeing our boobs. Our job is to try to prevent that from happening by tying these bikinis as tight as humanly possible.”
“Gah! I knew one of these events was going to end up with me naked.”
Frankie laughed. “Not if I can help it. I feel like I’ve been preparing for this all my life.” She gestured to her braids and all her hand-made bracelets. Lots of them involved leather straps and tons of little knots. “Here…put yours on and I’ll tie you up.” She tossed me one of the bikinis to change into while she went around helping the other girls.
Isadora and Giovanna respectfully declined her help. Instead of wearing the bikinis like normal people, they tied them in some weird style called the “upside down” bikini. Basically it turned their tops into slutty little tube tops that pushed their boobs together.
They claimed they did it to try to confuse the blue team, but I was pretty sure they just wanted their cleavage to look amazing.
I hid behind a bunk and changed into my bikini, holding the cups against my breasts while I waited for Frankie to come help. Eventually she came. I couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, but the knots she was making certainly didn’t feel normal.
She gave one final tug and then patted me on the back. “Don’t worry,” she said. “No one is getting through these knots.”
I took a deep breath. “I hope you’re right.” And then something occurred to me. I was certain that Cole would be the one untying our knots. But who would do the dirty work for our team? Tanner wasn’t my boyfriend anymore, but I didn’t relish the idea of him ripping off a bunch of girls’ bikinis. Especially Chastity’s.
But as much as I hated that thought, he did seem extremely motivated to keep Cole from getting to see me naked. Which was confusing…because Tanner had made it very clear that we could never be together.Right?Gah! He was so confusing.
What really mattered, though, was if Tanner was any good with knots. Because I wasn’t about to stand there and let Cole rip off my bikini top while Tanner floundered around like a schoolboy about to see his first pair of boobs.
“You any good with knots?” I asked Tanner once we were all changed and ready for the freedom race.
“I’m decent.”
“Just decent?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Nigel’s the real expert.”
