Chapter 10 #2
Gods, I really need to work out because why the fuck am I so winded just from climbing this wall? Out of all of us, Maki is probably running circles around us.
“Found you,” I say, just barely whispering so we won’t be discovered. Shiloh gives me a small smile, patting the wall beside him.
The two of us lay on our bellies, looking out over the arena. Maki is running down a street, chasing after Rodney who’s screaming for Gayle to come save him. Gayle is trying to find which street they’re on while Rin is making his way back to his castle after getting shot.
The warmth of Shiloh beside me sinks into my arm. My chest constricts almost painfully, at being this close to him, at being so at ease with him.
Shiloh points his gun, shooting it twice and hitting Maki in the back. He looks down at his chest confused, looking around for the source of the shot but unable to find us. I can’t help but smile.
“That’s hot,” I say, looking over at Shiloh with a smirk.
“Keeping you around is great for my ego,” Shiloh says with a whisper.
“Guess you’ll have to keep me around.”
Shiloh stares at me for a long moment. I’m about to laugh it off and crack a joke but Shiloh surprises me. He reaches over, touching my cheek.
“Guess so,” he says before leaning over and kissing my lips. I’m so surprised that I drop my gun, the sound of it clattering against the ground below enough to pull the two of us away from each other.
Just then, a gun touches my back. “Found ya, lovebirds,” Rodney says before shooting both of us point blank.
I groan as I stand up, shoving Rodney away, careful not to actually shove him over the edge. He laughs as he climbs back down and heads towards Rin and Maki’s castle.
“That was embarrassing,” Shiloh says softly as we make our way back to our castle. “If they tease me, I’ll just walk home.”
“No you won’t. You like me.”
“Do not,” he says right away. We get into our castle and our vests reset.
“I think you do,” I sing-song at him, reaching out and ruffling his hair. In response, Shiloh shoots me, my vest lighting up and vibrating.
“What the fuck? Have you no integrity for the game? This is an outrage!”
“Wait, wait, wait,” he says quickly, looking at the scoreboard. “We’re trying to get the most kills right?”
“Yeah,” I say slowly.
“Okay, just walk in and out of the castle while I shoot you. I’ll get the most kills out of everyone.”
“You truly have no integrity,” I say, wonder clear in my voice. I back up, my vest clears. I step forward, Shiloh shoots me. I can’t help but laugh as we do this until finally, the timer goes off.
“What the fuck?” Rin cries as we meet in the middle. “How the fuck did you get so many kills? What the fuck? I didn’t even see you!”
Shiloh looks smug as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Results are results,” he says with a shrug. “What do I win?”
“Another kiss from Kei,” Rodney says with a smirk.
“Another kiss?”
“On that lovely note,” I say, glaring at my friends who’re snickering together. “New teams?”
“Fine. Roommates versus our dates?”
“Hell yeah,” Rin says, grinning up at Maki. “I’m totally kicking your ass.”
Maki sighs. “Yes, you’ve said that already.”
“Sound scared, babe.”
“Why? I know we’re going to beat you.”
“Oh snap. Nice smack talk, Maki,” Shiloh says, nudging Maki with his elbow.
“Thank you, Shiloh. Oli has been teaching me.”
“You should learn from Sullivan. That guy can say some crazy shit when no one’s listening.”
I snort, nodding my head in agreement. “He acts all innocent and then hits you with the most unhinged shit.”
“Should we try capture the flag?”
“Sounds good!”
The three of us make our way to our castle and hide the flag in the upper right corner where you have to climb a wall to find it. We decide that Rodney will guard our castle while Rin and I go out and try to find theirs.
After Rin counts us down, we’re off. Rin goes left and I head right, doing my best to keep myself as quiet as possible. In order to find the flag, I want to do a little spy work.
I get as close to the castle as I dare before hiding behind a wall, watching Maki and Gayle leave.
That leaves Shiloh watching the flag. I sneak a little closer.
I don’t see him or hear him. Gods, I almost wish I had my sense of smell right now, but then remember the crowd outside.
Nope, not worth it. I don’t want to win that badly.
Just as I’m getting ready to walk into the castle, I feel a gun press into my lower back.
“Gotcha,” Shiloh says and I stand up slowly, raising my hands up in surrender. Instead of shooting me, he presses his chest into my back, his breath hot against my ear. A shiver runs through me.
“Is that a gun against my back or are you happy to see me, sweetheart?”
Shiloh gives a dark chuckle. “Why not both?”
“Are we fucking or fighting right now because I can’t really tell.”
“I’m gonna shoot you in the back point blank.”
“That doesn’t clear things up for me.”
Shiloh leans forward, biting my earlobe. I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from moaning. Just then, I feel a vibration against my back.
Looking over my shoulder, I find Rin grinning at me from over Shiloh’s shoulder. Oh my gods. Caught twice. Really? They’re never gonna let me live this down!
“Fuck,” Shiloh hisses out before shoving me away and running towards his castle to reset his vest.
“This is our chance, let’s go!”
The two of us run after Shiloh, following him into his castle. I wrap my arms around him and toss him over my shoulder.
“What the fuck! This is cheating!”
“It’s not cheating! It’s strategy,” I say, holding on despite how much he wiggles and hits my back. He kicks his legs out and I almost take a tumble but barely manage to keep him in the air while Rin runs around the castle, looking for their flag.
“Got it!” Rin cries, jumping down the side of the castle and taking off running.
I set Shiloh back on his feet. He stares at me for a long time before shooting me. I laugh as I run back towards my castle.
We win that round but they end up winning the next round. The final round is a battle royale in honor of Gayle and Rodney since this is their specialty. Shiloh and I get out first which is a bummer but that’s okay. We find a wall to sit on, watching the rest of them run around each other.
Shiloh leans his head against my shoulder. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for accepting.”
“I was worried about meeting them. I know how much they mean to you.”I hum softly. “I got so stuck in my head about this being serious. Thanks for showing me that even though we’re, you know, trying this whole relationship thing out, things can still be fun.”
“Oh,” I breathe out, my heart stuttering in my chest. “This is our relationship, we get to decide the tone of it.”
“I’m realizing that now,” he says softly. “I think I really like you, Kei.”
“That’s good,” I say, taking his hand in my own and giving it a small squeeze. “Because I’m pretty sure I really like you too.”
“Gross,” he says, wrinkling his nose at me. I laugh so loud the others pause in their game to look up at us. Shiloh hides his face in my shirt, yelling at them to get back to shooting each other.
I never thought anything more than a quick fuck was for me. I’ve never been so happy to be proven wrong.