I glanced around to make sure Lucy had disappeared to the other side of the war room and out of earshot. “You like him, though, right? You seemed happy when you were talking to him.”
Tucker shoved me then, nearly knocking me off my feet despite my height advantage.
“Shut it, you prick. Of course we like him,” Tucker scoffed. “A little quiet for you, maybe, but we can work on that.”
Maisie shoved her brother. “That’s obviously because of us, dipshit. When Knox was with him, he deflated like a fucking balloon. All the tension justpoof! Gone in a flash.”
I stared at her. “What?”
She shoved me next. “Don’t be an idiot, Knox. He likes you. He likes all this big protective asshole thing you’ve got going on, just like you like his cute artist thing.”
“He’s more than that.” I frowned. “He has a lot going on, and I don’t think he’s done something so…chaotic in a long time.”
“So you’ve opened him up to new adventures.” Tucker smirked.
I smacked him in the back of the head and kicked the back of his knee, sending him to the floor.
“You’re useless at this. Let your sister talk.”
Maisie snorted. “Glorious. Perfect. God, he’s such an idiot.”
I sighed. “You’re all horrible. I should have protected Lucy and let him stay home.”
“But then we wouldn’t be able to give you our blessing, right?” Maisie asked, looking far too knowing. “Because we do, you know? Make your move, Knox. Tell him how you feel.”
I looked in the direction of the enemy base, where Duke was probably laying out their team’s strategy to grind my team into dust.
“I think I will.”
After that, it was too fast to think. The buzzer rang, signaling the start of our final round, and we dispersed into the maze of walls, black-lit obstacles, and areas of pitch dark shadow where someone could hide at any time.
I usually took the offense. It came naturally to me. But something pulled me toward the wall, where there were more barriers but also more lights. It felt like a semblance of protection for newer players to have something like a wall against their back.
I took the corner quickly and ducked behind one of the walls that wasn’t lit, settling myself into the shadows and taking slow, quiet breaths so I wouldn’t be heard.
For a few seconds, it was silent, save for Duke and Tucker squealing and swearing at each other near my team’s base, where Duke would want to open fire and Tucker would want to defend.
Then I heard it. Soft footsteps against the thinly carpeted floorboards that were likely older than us.
Lucy. It had to be. None of my friends were ever cautious, even Maisie. But Lucy took soft, even steps this time. Cautious.
I closed my eyes and trained my ears to the sound, mapping the distance he must be. When I heard the creak right outside my hiding spot, I leapt into action, lunging from the darkness behind the wall and crowding Lucy against the wall.
Lucy yelped and swung, but I was too close for it to result in much more than smacking his gun against my arm as I planted one hand on the wall beside Lucy’s pale hair.
“Knox,” he gasped, eyes wide and breath coming in ragged pants from what must have been quite the shock.
But he didn’t complain about our closeness, and his empty hand even moved to hover in front of my chest, like he wanted to rest his hand there but realized a split second before he made contact what he’d been doing.
Just like I knew it would, my heart jumped into my throat at his proximity. At those damn eyes trained on me like I was the only thing in the room. It fed my ego, admittedly, but it also made me want to show him exactly how good I could make him feel.
His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Fuck it.” I dropped my gun and kissed him for all I was worth.
He grunted at the force behind it, but the hand hovering over my chest was now fisting my shirt in a tight grip and pulling me impossibly closer. His head hit the wall with a soft thunk, and he let his gun slide down my back to land on the floor without care.
Those fingers threaded into my hair, and I lost it.
