Rm w/a Vu(94)

Behind Greyston, Daphne starts laughing as she saunters up to us. “She is going to destroy you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Greyston grumbles, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, all while smiling.

My excitement continues to escalate with every step, and I’m practically pulling Greyston behind me. The minute we walk through the doors, I can hear a game in progress, and a rush of adrenaline surges through me. I’m shaking.

“Hi,” I enthusiastically greet the man at the counter. “I have a reservation for six at two.”

He checks his computer and nods. “Juliette Foster?”

“That’s me.”

“All right, well the last group is just wrapping up, so we’ll just go over everything you’ll need to know while we wait. Do any of you have your own equipment?” he asks, looking at each of us. “No? Well then, full equipment rental is nine ninety-five per person, and that gets you everything you’ll need for the afternoon, including one hundred rounds of ammo. Should you find you need more ammunition, we have price packages for them.”

After he gives us the low down, I reach into my vest for my wallet when Greyston stops me, placing a hand over mine. “I’ve got this,” he says.

“No, it’s okay,” I assure him. “I want to.”

“Maybe next time?” he offers gently. “I was going to expense it to the agency.”

Smiling, I push my wallet back into my pocket. “Oh, right. Of course.”

Greyston gets everything squared away, and we all collect our equipment. Once we’re suited up, I begin to explain how to use the guns. It’s not a surprise for me to learn that all three guys have done this before while Daphne and Callie haven’t. So, as we make our way to the field, I walk ahead with the girls and tell them how everything works.

“So, you can shoot one paintball at a time,” I begin to explain, showing them how the trigger mechanism works on my unloaded gun. “Or, you can use the double trigger for rapid-fire shooting. You go through more rounds, but I find it a little more fun.”

“Of course you do,” Greyston quips from behind me.

I turn my head to look back at him, narrow my eyes, and smirk. “You want to be my guinea pig?”

“Nope,” he says quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. “Sorry. Please, continue.”

“I have a question,” Callie pipes up. “How bad, exactly, is this going to hurt?”

“Well, if you get hit—and you will—you’ll be sporting a pretty sizable bruise tomorrow.” Thinking back to the last time I went, I try to figure out how to explain the feeling. “The initial impact stings like crazy, but you’ll be so hopped up on adrenaline that you’ll barely even notice.

“Now,” I continue, stopping and turning around to face everyone as I load my paintballs into the chamber atop the gun, “do we want to play as individuals? Or in teams?”

“Teams!” Callie and Daphne cry out simultaneously, and I snicker.

It isn’t shocking that they would want to team up, especially considering they’ve never played. Truthfully, it would be pretty cruel to set them loose when the rest of us have. I’m sure the guys would go easy on them, but I can’t just send them off alone their first time out.

We continue talking about how we should split up, deciding to switch up the teams every round to keep it fair. Once we arrive at the field, we discuss the first set of teams. Callie and Daphne seem to be more than willing to play guys versus girls when I suggest it.

The guys all seem confident that they can win—even Xander gets in on the testosterone-fuelled comments they fling our way as they affix their masks to their faces and walk backward away from me and the girls.

“Good luck, sweetheart,” Greyston says confidently, giving me one more wink and a brief glimpse of that crooked smirk before lowering his mask completely and joining his teammates.

Maybe it’s that I’ve allied myself with two paintball virgins that’s boosted his confidence enough to think I need luck, or maybe he’s just trying to rattle me; whatever it is, this only awakens my instinct to play as hard as I can…and win. Thinking back to all the times my dad brought me here, I remember everything he ever taught me about strategy. Sometimes we’d play against each other, others it would be him and me against a few of his deputies. He and I were pretty evenly matched, but it was rare that we’d lose against his men.

I may not have had much time to hit the range with him in the last two years, but I’m still fairly confident in my abilities.

I lower my mask, Daphne and Callie following suit, and we march onto the field. The minute the game begins, the three of us duck behind one of the bigger obstacles, several paintballs firing in our direction and barely missing us. Behind me, I hear gunfire and realize that Daphne is firing on the guys as they split up and take cover; she’s a natural, proving I chose my teammates well.