She let out a half giggle, half sigh. “More like a dangerous thing.”
“I’m completely harmless.” Yeah, he didn’t even believe himself.
“Not even when I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open will I ever agree with that one.”
“I’m gonna convince you to go out with me.” As soon as he said it, everything clicked into place. It was like seeing a play form on the ice seconds before the players moved and knowing where the puck was going to go.
This was going to happen. They were going to happen. All he had to do was get her to agree.
“Good luck to you,” she said. “I’m a stubborn woman.”
“I’ll have to play dirty then.” And he most definitely wasn’t above that—especially not when inspiration hit out of thin air in the form of an already planned Ice Knights players and family event. “How about a group thing? No pressure. No chance for us to get naked. Plus, you can shoot me with paint pellets.”
“You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?” she asked with a laugh. “What time?”
He raised his fist in triumph. “Be ready at eleven. We’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“We?”
“What fun would it be if I told you everything?” Especially since, as a total Ice Knights fan, she’d freak out knowing she was going to be hanging out with the entire team.
“You can’t just hang up now without more details,” she said, excitement making her voice higher and the words come out quicker than usual. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“Now you know how I felt when you sent that selfie before my plane took off.” Curious. Needy. Wanting more. “Sweet dreams, Fallon.”
…
Fallon had no idea how she’d ended up squatting behind a haystack as paint pellets flew overhead. Scratch that. She knew exactly how she’d ended up there, and it was all because of the guy with the fabulous ass sneaking around a tower of old tires a few yards away.
When he said the other night that she’d get to hit him with paint, she was thinking more along the lines of a color run or a messy Paint and Sip. Instead, they were in a field littered with obstacles along with half the Ice Knights and their significant others playing paintball. There were only five of them left in play in this round, with all the others shooting off wisecracks from behind a ten-foot-high chain-link fence where everyone went once they’d gotten splattered with a bright yellow paint pellet.
“Hey, Blackburn,” she yelled as she stood and took aim.
He turned and must have realized halfway through his pivot that he’d made a rookie mistake because he tried to dive behind the tire tower—but it was too late. She fired off the last two rounds in her air gun, hitting him right in the middle of his camouflage vest.
“Nice shot.”
Fallon whipped around. Marti stood a few feet away, her own vest free of any paint, with a friendly grin on her face and her finger on the trigger. “Sorry, Fallon.”
The paint pellet hit her in the shoulder, leaving a yellow splotch and a dull ache like getting nailed by a hard-packed snowball.
“Don’t let the sweet smile fool you. Marti is a bloodthirsty competitor,” Zach said as they did the walk of shame together off the field.
>
“You know her pretty well?” Not that she was jealous. She was just curious, and the uptick in her blood pressure was the result of the paintball, that was all.
“Coach Peppers coached my travel team in high school. Marti was always around.”
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. “And did you ever…”
He nodded and held open the gate to where everyone else had gathered. “Like rabbits.”
And that’s what she got for asking. Her stomach sank. She liked Marti, but she did manage to make wearing a dorky camo vest and goggles look cute. And Fallon? She didn’t need a mirror to know that the minute she took off the goggles she was going to have a red imprint across her forehead and under her eyes. Super attractive.
“I’m kidding,” Zach said, pivoting so that he was directly in her path. “We’ve never and I would never.”
“Why?” Not that she was digging for more, but she was totally digging for more.