But not this time.
And there was only one good reason for that.
Just like Xavi had pushed me away last night because he wanted to go after Taeho, I was pushing Xavi away because I wanted someone else.
I wanted Brody.
And I wanted him bad.
Brody
I strapped my vest tighter and checked my goggles cautiously. The last thing I wanted was to do something stupid like lose an eye playing paintball, and there was a competitive atmosphere in the air that made me nervous.
The kind of atmosphere that wasn’t going to go away until someone got hurt – or until one of our teams won a resounding victory.
We’d already been separated into teams. Olly’s people, and Keaton’s people. Apparently, I was one of Keaton’s people.
Aiden was one of Olly’s, which made me even more nervous. Because Ace was also on Keaton’s team, and the two of them were squaring up and posturing opposite each other in ways that made me think this was going to go too far, even if they were just messing around.
“I’ll keep this short,” Olly said, turning to give his team a pep talk. He paused and looked each of them in the eye. Even from behind, it looked like an impressive move. “Don’t stop until they’re all dead.”
His team cheered, making me blink.
“He, uh, means… out of the game? Right?” I whispered to Ace beside me. He’d actually chosen to stand beside me without me forcing it, which was something.
“Listen up!” Keaton called out, grabbing our attention. He’d clearly heard his fiancé’s attempt and wanted to do better. “We’re going to go out there and crush them, alright? They all think they’re so good at everything because they do sports. Well, I say – to hell with sports! Right?”
A few of us nodded and murmured in response, but Cade lifted a hand. “Isn’t paintball kind of a sport?” he asked.
“No!” Keaton declared, lifting a hand dramatically in the air. “It’s war! And we’re going to win this war!”
There was much more enthusiastic nodding and agreement all around me. I looked sideways, muttering from the corner of my mouth. “He doesn’t really mean war, right?”
There was no answer.
I looked around and saw, to my horror, that Ace was smirking at me.
I checked my goggles one more time. I had a feeling this was about to get violent.
“Let’s go!” Keaton yelled, and before I knew it, we were all charging. Olly’s team went in one direction while we all apparently went in the other, and I scrambled to keep up without also dropping my paintball gun.
The arena was basically a patch of muddy ground behind the hotel that had been kitted out with spare tires, bundles of logs tied together, corrugated iron sheeting, and wooden platforms which had pretty obviously been built at the least expense possible and then covered with fake ivy to blend them in. Along with everyone else, I quickly scattered to crouch behind one of the makeshift shelters, waiting for a signal that the round had started.
A klaxon blasted through the air, and we were off.
Right away, I saw a couple of bright red paint spots appear on the already paint-splattered tires directly ahead of me. Keaton was behind them, and he simply cheered in response, then quickly whipped forward and fired off a couple of rounds in the same direction. I had no idea if he’d hit anyone, but the game was definitely underfoot.
I shuffled to the opposite side of my shelter and cautiously peered around it. I wasn’t stupid enough to stick my head out in the same line of sight as where Keaton was hiding, but I needed to get a line of sight on someone. I watched one of Olly’s football buddies rush across the field from one barricade to another, creeping forward over the space between our teams.
They were on the attack, and they weren’t going to make it easy for us.
I lifted my paint gun to a spot where I could sight down the barrel, swinging it from side to side as I looked for any sign of movement.
The same guy ran forward –
I fired –
And completely missed, splattering the wooden wall behind him instead.
