Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
COLTON
T he man moves quickly, I’ll give him that. Even through the barricade of yarn we put into place to slow him down, it only takes a few seconds before Sebastian is leaping on top of the kitchen island, his weapon pointed straight down to where Leena is hidden behind it.
I can’t help but laugh when he rains a volley of shots down onto her. She screams, scrambling out from behind the counter, stepping over and ducking through the string like a fucking pro. I quickly look away, because staring at my boss’s ass in those skin-tight camo leggings is not the objective of this game. Well, not entirely.
But I won’t deny it’s definitely a perk.
“Fisher! I need backup!” she cries out when her path causes her to take fire from where Luke is kneeling on the couch.
“Stay with me, Hart! I’m moving in!” I say into my earpiece, lying flat on my stomach and pulling myself under a nearby set of strings so I can pop up behind the couch where Luke is stationed.
“Are you two wearing comms? ” Sebastian barks out.
“Well that’s fucking cheating!” Luke agrees.
“It’s not our fault you aren’t prepared. And you always cheat,” I retort, smiling as I move into position.
“Campbell, watch your six,” Sebastian warns, but he’s too late.
I stand, landing five perfect shots straight into Luke’s back before scrambling to pick up my ammo and finding cover behind the tipped up coffee table.
“I’m clear!” Leena says, my assistance helping her get to safer ground. But at what cost?
I roll to my back, watching with horror as Luke stands over me, the gun pointed straight at my chest. We smirk, both of us knowing how fucking ridiculous this is.
“What? You told me to distract her.” I shrug.
Then he shoots me.
Right. In. The. Dick.
The foam bullet doesn’t hurt, but the backhanded slap he adds to that same spot as he steps over me definitely does.
“Oh, fuck! ” I say through gritted teeth. “Hart! Your boyfriend just shot me in the dick!”
“Fisher, if you don’t want him playing with your dick, you should just ask him nicely to stop,” Leena replies.
I gasp out a laugh, so does Sebastian from wherever he’s at on the other side of the room.
I hear the sounds of more shots being fired and Leena’s laughter following them.
I honestly wasn’t sure if the guys would even play this game with us, and I definitely didn’t think they would take it so seriously. But when Luke pulls off his shirt and finds the other two comm pieces we left out on the side table, tossing one clear across the room to his teammate, I realize: this game is just getting started.
—
We’ve been at this for hours, all of us too stubborn to surrender. Leena and I are down five points, and desperately in need of scoring so we don’t have to live with the embarrassment of this slaughter for the rest of our lives.
I know that Sebastian is currently staking out the living room, so I head toward the hallway instead.
I hear a sound.
I quickly turn the corner, gun raised, then halt, standing up straight as I stare at the sight in front of me.
This. This is why we’re doing so poorly.
My teammate currently has her legs wrapped around Luke’s waist. His shirtless chest is pinning her against the wall, his mouth devouring hers as his pelvis thrusts slowly against her.
I stare for longer than I should, because… well, fuck.
He raises her arms above her head, her fingers still clutched around her weapon. I’m so caught up with watching his tongue disappearing into her mouth that I nearly miss how his fingers are slowly climbing up her arm, reaching for her weapon.
“Hey! Quit fraternizing with the enemy!” I shout, quickly raising my weapon and nailing Luke in the side of the neck with a single bullet.
It’s then that Leena realizes how close she got to losing her weapon. She glares back at Luke, grabbing his face and leaning in close.
“You fucking played me,” she seethes against his mouth, then drops her legs back down. She picks up the ammo at his feet then quickly makes her way over to me. I tuck her behind my back, and we both glare as the man walks past us, smirking and readjusting his dick in his pants as he makes his way back to the starting zone in the entryway.
I holster my weapon, because yes, of course we bought holsters for our Nerf guns, then quickly turn to face Leena.
I cup her perfect face in my hands and stare down into her dark eyes, studying every inch of her face in my mock search for injuries.
“Are you okay?” I breathe. My voice husky from the toll it takes to get through this goddamn house while it’s a maze of string.
“I’m okay.” She shakes her head, and I know why her voice is breathless.
I saw it.
I don’t think I could ever unsee it.
She slowly smiles, and we both chuckle over how seriously we’ve all been taking this game. Too seriously, maybe.
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun in my entire fucking life.
And… I realize I’m still staring at her, my bottom lip pinched between my teeth. I must have a death wish, because my thumbs are brushing over her soft face just below the black lines she let me smear across her cheeks earlier.
I look at her perfect lips, red from Luke’s kiss.
Luke’s kiss. Not mine.
I would make sure those lips were fucking swollen.
The thought catches me off guard.
This woman is… fuck. I don’t have a word for it. I can’t have a word for it. Because the only sentiment I’m allowed to fill in for what I’m feeling for her, is “off-limits.”
So I let her go.
I step back, but her eyes don’t leave mine, which leaves me… confused. Why is she looking at me like this?
She can’t look at me like this. We can’t–
Something in the living room shatters.
I quickly draw my weapon, shaking my head to clear whatever the fuck that was, and the two of us step easily through the string, having memorized its location at this point.
When we reach the living room, I drop my Nerf gun, nearly convulsing with laughter. So is Luke, and it’s not long before Leena is too.
Sebastian is lying on the floor covered in books, the empty shelving unit leaning precariously over him, a vase shattered by his feet.
Clearly, he didn’t step high enough over the string.
He looks a little dazed, but soon enough, he’s laughing too.
A moment later, once we’ve pulled our shit together, I glance at Leena. She gives me a little nod, both of us knowing that this is our chance.
We drop to our knees, leaving our Nerf guns behind. We won’t need them for this.
We crawl in opposite directions, working our way around the couches until we’re each positioned behind one of the guys. Their weapons are down as they try to rid the shelf of string so they can get it upright.
I find Leena’s eyes, and we both smile, pulling out the handcuffs we’re carrying and nodding once again to signal our coordinated attack.
In no time at all, Leena has Luke’s wrists bound behind his back, I have the cuffs on Sebastian, and I’m wrestling the unsuspecting man to the floor.
Luke stares at Leena in confusion, and maybe a little shock, as she too shoves him to the floor so he’s back to back with Sebastian. I use the zip ties I’ve been carrying to hook their cuffs together and the two of us step back to face them.
They both glare at me, clearly seeing where this is going.
“Nuh-uh, don’t look at me. This is all on you.” I raise my hands, then make my way to the couch, grabbing my bag of chips from the side table and kicking my feet up onto the upturned coffee table, settling in to watch the show.
Leena crosses her arms, and their eyes trail up to her. They know they’re in trouble.
God , I’m glad I’m here for this.
“Colton told me where you went.”
“We told him not to te–” Luke starts, but she doesn’t let him finish.
“Don’t you dare ask your friend to lie ever again, and don’t get mad at him. I knew something was up, I made him tell me. You’re both shit at lying, and you’ve been sneaking around since yesterday.”
“Sweet–” Sebastian tries.
“Don’t you sweetheart me, Seb. I was worried sick about the both of you. How would you guys like it if I snuck off without you, then got myself hurt or killed? Huh? What if you weren’t there for that?”
Oh shit.
Luke hangs his head, and Sebastian squeezes his eyes shut.
“That’s what I thought. You both have to start trusting me. You didn’t tell me I killed The Jack, or how much danger we were actually in, you were all over me during the op and now you pull this shit? We’re done with this. With all of it. No more lies, no more secrets. Got it?” She stares down the two men who are looking fucking miserable right about now.
I almost feel bad for them.
Almost.
I agreed with them that Leena shouldn’t go with them today. But I didn’t like lying to her.
Which is why I told her when she asked.
They’re all quiet for a long moment. It’s Sebastian who finally speaks, “Get down here, sugar.” His voice is… gentle.
It’s still fucking weird seeing him like this.
Leena kneels beside them, and they shift in their cuffs so they can see her.
“We just... worry about you,” Sebastian explains, his eyes finding hers.
“Just like I worry about you. So please, just talk to me, let me know what’s going on and allow me to have a say in what we do about it. Okay?” She touches his cheek, and he leans into it.
“I’m sorry Leena, we should have told you where we were going today. And you’re right, you deserve to know what’s going on with the Deck. We’ll try not to be overprotective assholes.” Luke smirks at her.
“ Try. ” Sebastian emphasizes the word with a raised eyebrow.
“Thank you,” she says, and she really means that.
Leena takes one last long look at them, then stands.
“Now, as soon as you get out of those cuffs, you can start making it up to me. Key’s on the kitchen counter. Oh, and watch out for the string.” She smiles, walking over to me.
I raise my arm, and she nestles into my side. I turn on the television and tip the bag of chips toward her. She grabs a handful, the two of us crunching, ignoring the two men handcuffed on the floor.
I can feel them glaring at us in disbelief.
We don’t look at them.
We’re busy watching our show.
Okay, that’s a lie, I have no idea what’s on the screen as they work to get themselves out of the little predicament we left them in.
It’s so fucking funny that it takes Leena and I all our effort to not burst out laughing again.
Leena eventually relaxes under my arm, and I’m suddenly finding it… difficult being this close to her. I should be used to it, considering how many times we’ve sat together like this… but something’s changed.
I think about her smile, about how good it feels to hear her laugh.
It’s the best sound in the fucking world.
I glance down at her, my own smile only growing wider as I study hers. I can’t help myself.
I’m aware of every inch where she’s touching me. It feels like fucking fire against my skin, a burning heat that I never want to go away. It’s more than just her touch, her smile, her laughter.
The fact that I’m clearly attracted to her.
It’s everything about her.
This amazing woman, who’s become my best friend, who’s been through hell and still finds joy in building blanket forts, just feels so important to me now. Like she’s supposed to be in my life.
A wave of sorrow suddenly washes over me as I think about that.
I look between her and my two best friends, think about how much they love her. How much they’ve changed since bringing her home. How happy they all are.
At this moment, I finally understand my feelings for her. And at the same time, I realize the heart-wrenching truth.
She will never be mine.