Rm w/a Vu(96)

And that’s when I feel it: something inside me stirs and I know he’s close. I only wonder if he can sense me the way I can sense him. It would be wise to assume he can, so I keep moving, listening carefully for his following movements. I hear the shuffle of his feet on the other side of the obstacle, and I spring up like a jack-in-the-box, firing two rounds into his chest before he can react.

I’m feeling pretty good about winning the first round, and I can hear everyone making their way over, congratulating me on my victory. There’s something in Greyston’s eyes as he raises his mask that tells me this isn’t over. He never really struck me as the type to be a sore loser. Competitive, yes; sore loser, definitely not.

I decide that I’m probably reading too much into it and try to put it behind me. “You were good,” I tell him, taking my own mask off. “Really made me work for it.”

Greyston smirks, and my fear of him being upset dissolves completely. “Won’t be the first time today,” he assures me, and I feel like there’s a double meaning to his words. He leans in close, his lips brushing my ear. “Let’s go again.”

“Wanna be on my team?” I ask, stepping forward, gripping the waist of his pants and pulling him to me. Locking eyes with him, I pop up onto my toes and let my nose brush his, our mouths so close, yet so far from each other. “I’ll protect you.” My voice is barely a whisper, and I feel Greyston’s lips curl up when mine finally graze them.

“It’s a tempting offer, sweetheart, but I’d like a rematch.” His hands rest on my hips, his fingers curling and holding me firmly in place, and my heart flutters. He’s doing this on purpose—dazzling me the way he does in order to throw me off my game.

I hum, licking my lips and pulling back. “It’s your funeral, Masters.”

After being congratulated, we reset the teams. This time, Callie and Toby are with me, and Xander and Daphne have sided with Greyston. Four minutes in, Xander has taken out Callie, and Toby gets Daphne. It’s two on two, but Toby is proving to be a good ally.

“Greyston is mine,” I tell him with a smirk as we duck behind a barricade to avoid being hit.

“Careful there, Juliette, Greyston’s mighty competitive. He’s been known to not take too kindly to losing sometimes,” he warns me.

I smile and arch an eyebrow. “Well, I’m not just going to roll over and play dead. I think I’ll take my chances.”

We split up shortly after our conversation, and I’m just making my way across the field when I feel the sharp sting in my upper arm first and then my ass where Greyston’s red paint has marked me. “Ow! Damn it!” I shout, skidding to a stop and turning to see my assailant.

He’s just standing there, holding his gun and looking pretty damn smug.

Making himself known isn’t his best move, because Toby avenges me, shooting Greyston. We leave the field, and Greyston seems pleased at having shown me up. And also a little disgruntled at having his victory so short-lived.

“Good game,” I say, sidling up to him as we walk to where Daphne and Callie are watching the game. “We even now?”

Smirking, he looks down at me, mischief shining bright in his eyes. “Not even close.”

It’s interesting to watch Toby and Xander play against each other. Xander is stealthy and very tactical, while Toby has clearly been influenced by one too many TV shows and movies—not that it isn’t hilarious.

Xander is the winner of the second round, and after he and Toby make their way back over to us, we split up into different teams. Greyston and I remain on opposite teams, his own competitive spirit fuelling mine further.

We play three more games over the next couple hours, and I am the last person standing for two of them, having taken Greyston out to reign champion. While I should feel pretty good about it, I can’t help but sense something is off about him as we make our way to the front counter to drop off all of our equipment.

He seems incredibly tense, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe Toby was right; maybe I should have just let him think he was better than me—even if it goes against everything I know.

We say goodbye to everyone, and even then, Greyston barely cracks a smile, asking Toby if he would mind taking Xander back to his hotel. Tentatively, Greyston presses his hand into my lower back to lead me to the car, and as we go, I notice Daphne and Xander exchange phone numbers.

Even though he’s acting a bit odd, Greyston still opens my door for me and waits for me and Daphne to get in before closing it and running around to the driver’s side. I’m unsure how to broach the subject of his behavior, especially in front of someone else. I mean, clearly calling him a spoilsport will result in a fight—and this isn’t something I want our first fight to be about.