PAINTBALLS AND PAYBACK
CASH
“So, what’s the plan tonight, boys?” Reid asked as he hopped over the back of the sectional and plopped down next to me with a bounce.
“Are there supposed to be plans?” I arched a brow at him.
Reid gasped, clutching his chest. “You need a bachelor party. It is an absolute necessity.”
I barked out a laugh. “I absolutely do not. I’m already married.”
“Okay, I’m not talking about strippers and blow. Just some dudes doing dude things before we ship you off to the old ball and chain.” He shrugged casually.
Walker walked up behind him and clapped him on the back of the head. “You’re talking about your sister, dipshit.”
“Ow.” Reid rubbed his head with a pout.
“I don’t hate Reid’s idea,” Axle said with a smirk.
“Please don’t get me kicked out of my bed tonight,” Owen pleaded from where he was lounging.
“Don’t act like you don’t love hanging out with us, Kelly,” Walker grunted as he rounded the couch and sat with the rest of us.
“You guys get me in trouble constantly.” Owen sighed.
“Like that time we dyed Fletch’s hands blue.” Reid leaned over and raised his hand to Owen, who slapped it with a smile.
“That was totally worth it.”
Fletch was Lottie’s horrible ex-boyfriend who she had dated for the majority of her young life.
Last summer, he insisted on coming to visit Montana while she was here for her annual trip.
Her remedy to Fletch being here was to bring Owen along as her new fiancé.
We were weary of Owen at first, but he won us over pretty quickly.
We relished in torturing Fletch for weeks.
“Iron Saddle?” Axle asked, looking around at the group.
“Nah, too simple. Think bigger.” Reid raised his hands in the air like he was painting us a visual picture.
“What do you suggest?” I asked hesitantly, truly afraid of what this kid was thinking.
“So glad you asked.” His smile was frightening.
Forty minutes later, Reid instructed us to change into white shirts and meet him in the big field behind Walker’s house. We often led the horses and the few livestock on the ranch out this way to graze on the fields. The pasture was fenced in and hale bales sat in piles around the field.
Reid approached the group with a cooler in his hands and a duffel bag strapped to his shoulder. He dropped the cooler at his feet and started passing out beers. He pulled out an outdoor speaker and started blasting “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.
Once the music was blasting he unzipped the duffel and stood up straight. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes in a dramatic fashion like this was the start of a battle scene in an action movie and he was about to give a dramatic speech.
“The rules of the game are simple: first person to land a shot on every player wins.” Reid pulled a paintball gun out of the duffel and tossed it to me.
“Oh, fuck yes,” I said, pumping the gun and taking a practice shot into the distance.
“You guys are ridiculous,” Owen said, catching his gun.
“You too chicken to play, Kelly?” Walker grunted as he caught his.
“You assholes are going down.” Owen pointed the barrel of the paintball gun toward Walker’s stern face.
“No face shots, and the winner gets to dole out any punishment they see fit,” Reid said before chugging his beer.
I aimed right at Reid’s chest and shot him straight in the nipple at the same time Owen, Axle, and Walker landed shots to his chest. He spit out his beer and shrieked before we all bolted away laughing.
“That’s one!” I shouted as I rounded a hay bale.
“You’re all fucking cheaters!” Reid coughed.
I peeked around the hay bale and had a clear sight of Axle hiding behind the one in front of me.
I aimed my shot and got him square in the back just as a paintball hit my shoulder.
Pain erupted through my back, making me hiss.
I peered behind me and saw Owen blow on the barrel of his gun before running away.
Two down, two to go.
I ducked and quickly ran across the field to the next hay bale as I watched Owen and Axle in a standoff, staring each other down. I quietly snuck up to them and landed a shot right to Owen’s side, causing him to crumble to the ground as Axle landed a shot to his chest.
One more to go.
I smiled as I crouched low behind the hay. I was going to have some bruises tomorrow, but it was worth it to have some gold old fashioned fun around here.
A quick motion out of the corner of my eye caught my attention; Walker was ducking behind a hay bale fifty feet in front of me.
This was it. It was now or never. I took off running out in the open as I took paintballs to the chest. I roared and ran through shot after shot like a wild beast. I was on Walker before he even saw me coming and landed a shot directly to his back.
“Victory!” I yelled as I waved my paint gun in the air. Reid, Owen, and Axle ran up to me and landed more shots to my chest and back, drenching my white shirt in colors of red, blue, green, and yellow.
They all clapped me on the back as we grabbed cans from the cooler and cracked open fresh beers.
“This was great, dude. Thank you,” I said, tipping my drink to Reid’s.
He shrugged. “I thought we could use a way to get some energy out.”
“So, who are you going to torture?” Owen raised a brow at me.
I clapped his shoulder and chuckled darkly. He was completely covered in paint—we all were. In hindsight, doing this with no protective gear was fucking stupid but it had been a hell of a lot of fun.
“Oh, I have an idea,” I said, smiling at Reid whose face fell flat.
“No, god, please. Not me.”
“Time for you to get dressed up, Little Brooks.” I looped my arm around his shoulders as the guys erupted into cheers.
We pushed into the Iron Saddle and all eyes swung to us in silence. A few jaws dropped, and more than one person did a double take.
I rubbed my lips together to stifle my laughter.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Reid announced as he strutted up to the bar and ordered a beer.
Everyone stared as he leaned on his elbows, dressed in a sparkly pink tube top and matching skirt—thanks, Lottie—with a white cowgirl hat that had a veil attached to the back.
“You’re going to be a beautiful bride,” Axle burst out as he ordered us drinks.
My chest was shaking and my cheeks hurt from smiling so damn much.
This was the chaos I missed.
It felt so good to be home.
A loud crash and the distinct sound of shouting had my head spinning to the dance floor just as I witnessed a familiar blonde throw a drink on the girl in front of her. I was immediately heading in that direction as I heard Paige shout, “Say it again to my face, bitch!”