She points out Lars, who is a dark-haired clone of Stellan’s, if Stellan had two days’ worth of stubble on his cheeks. I nod.
“I actually know him. He visited New York with Stellan and Erik.”
“Oh, don’t get me started on Erik. He is a pain in my ass… but you probably know that he’s not actually related to the Løves, right?”
“I do.”
She nods. “Over there, Anders is one of ours too…” She points to Anders, who wears his dark hair a bit longer and has a beard. He looks like Stellan, but he’s younger and he looks as though he likes emo. “And then the rest are family friends.”
“Wait, that’s…” I stop, squinting as I count silently. “Yeah, that’s only four Løve children.”
She shrugs. “Finn is the missing link. And he’s… out of town.”
Her eye roll hints that there is more to the story. But before I can ask anything else, the van rolls to a stop. I crawl out, looking around what seems to be an abandoned children’s playground. Jungle bars with half the bars rotted away, see saws that have seen better days, a long abandoned treehouse, and a geo-dome for climbing that appears very rusty and dangerous.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s all definitely overgrown and cool looking. But what exactly are we supposed to do here?
“What in the world?” I ask, wrinkling my nose.
Erik and Stellan climb out of the back of the van, sharing a grin between them. “Paintball.”
My eyes widen. The driver starts handing out big airsoft guns with a few racks of various neon colored paintballs. I take one when it’s handed to me, but I have zero idea how to get the paintballs in the gun.
Tilting my head at it doesn’t seem to make the gun make more sense, either.
“I—" I stammer, looking around. Surely no one actually expects me to play, right?
“I’ll team up with Stellan!” Erik says, grinning as he grips his gun.
“Oh, come on,” Anders interjects. “Everyone here gets it, okay? You two are the ideal pairing. Why don’t you make at least a little fun for the rest of us,ja?Spread some of that alpha male top dog bullshit around.”
Stellan sighs, tugging on his t-shirt. “He’s right.”
“I think Stellan should be with Margot,” Annika chimes in, sliding me a wink. “To help her really get a fuller picture. Erik, you can be with me.”
My eyebrows rise. Erik gives her a stormy look but reluctantly agrees. “Fine.”
Everybody else pairs up, heading into the middle of the playground. I tag along, watching Stellan. I thought maybe I was just drunk when I met him; I had convinced myself that it is just his usual button up and dark slacks that make him attractive.
But now I realize that I was wrong. As we all line up around the dome-shaped climbing structure, I look at Stellan’s handsome features. His dark hair, his ice blue eyes, his cheekbones sent straight from heaven.
Those things are still a part of him when he’s dressed down, apparently even when he wears an outfit that looks like a post-apocalyptic version of what college frat boys don.
He nods to me, leaning close. “When the driver blows the whistle, run for that big old tree right there.” He nods to indicate it. “And whatever you do, do not stop.”
The driver looks odd, following us in his formal blacksuit. He blows a little whistle. “On my signal! If you get hit, even a little, you must head back here.”
I nod, trying to juggle my tote bag and my gun at the same time. The driver blows the whistle and everyone takes off in pairs; I run after Stellan as fast as I can, wondering how I’m even supposed to get the paintballs into the gun.
Surely it can’t be that hard, right?
Stellan ducks behind the huge oak tree, looking around. I stop and he yanks me out of everyone else’s line of sight just in time; three paintballs whiz by my head, making my heart skid to a halt.
Looking up at Stellan with wide eyes, I start to thank him. He shushes me, then takes my gun and feeds one of my tubes of paintballs into it with a loudclick. He does the same for his gun, then holds a finger to his lips.
He leans down close. “Leave your bag here. No one will move it, I promise.”
I bite my lip. The only thing in my tote bag worth stealing is my Nikon, which is worth so much that I will probably never own another like it ever again. I reach in my bag and pull out my camera, hanging it around my neck.
