Doll Parts (The Game 4)

“Time’s up!” Reese declared, now kitted up with a megaphone.

“Thank you!” Noa beamed up at me, though I could tell he was waiting. Waiting for my reaction to everything else. He’d be waiting for a while longer.

Lucian was slipping right into Master mode with Cam. “On your knees. You’ve missed your window to wear my collar tonight, so you’ll be naked from the second Colt and Reese are done talking.”

Yeah, that approach worked with Cameron. He looked stricken as he dropped to his knees and lowered his gaze.

I side-eyed Lucian. He was far stronger than me here. I would’ve caved and given Cam some reassurance first.

Colt took over the megaphone. “Before we begin, I wanna express my heartfelt thanks to our brat community. Not only are y’all talented as fuck, but you just made this event a lot more fun than it was already gonna be. I’m genuinely impressed by your sneakiness—and I admit my ego took a li’l hit.”

He earned applause from most of us, and I let out a sharp whistle in agreement.

It gave the brats two seconds of smirking smugly and feeling victorious.

They deserved it.

“With that said…” Colt drawled. “Y’all signed your fuckin’ death warrant with that display.”

“Hear, hear!” I called.

More applause.

The brats were less amused now.

Colt continued, and he started pacing along the front line. “A few of us have dedicated a portion of our lives to the armed forces. Greer, you spent twelve years in the Marines before you started your business with your brothers. I’m still active in the Air Force. River and Reese, you know what the Army’s like. Kingsley, Duane, Beau, you served in the Navy. And why am I tellin’ y’all this?” He came to a stop. “We were gonna go all out for Halloween next month. We’re talkin’ costumes, trick or treat, more candy than you can handle, and a big party.”

“Oh no,” Cam whispered.

“Instead,” Colt went on, “after a quick word with Reese here, we’ve decided a change of plans is in order.” He handed the megaphone over to Reese.

“One month from now,” Reese said, “we’ll be welcoming you to our Boot Camp for Brats event. And after this show…? You’re all qualified.”

The Tops applauded once more, some hollering out, “Excellent choice!” and “We’ll be there!” and “Can’t fucking wait!”

“I have a question, Daddy!” Kit jumped and raised his hand. “Is it gonna be like the Air Force ballerina boot camp or an actual military branch boot camp with grunt training?”

My eyebrows went all the way up there.

Colt blinked.

Noa guffawed. “I love this guy!”

“Boy, you must be high,” Lucas grated out. “Don’t you think you’ve dug your grave deep enough?”

Colt recovered and smiled lazily. “Let him dig, darlin’.”

“We’ll protect you as much as we can,” Shay told Kit, whose grin was growing increasingly nervous.

Reese chuckled darkly. “That’s a bold statement comin’ from someone who could be spending next week blindfolded, gagged, and serving as our personal urinal.”

Shay got smacked with reality right there and immediately fell in line.

“What’re you gonna pee in if he’s gagged?” Noa—oh, fucking Noa—felt the need to ask.

I gripped his neck in warning.

Reese slid him a dry look. “Last time I checked, he had an asshole. Are you cruisin’ for a collective punishment, little one? You should know your Daddy’s given a few of us some liberties where you’re concerned.”

He wasn’t lying.

“Bullshit,” Noa laughed.

I suppressed a sigh. So far, so good. But he was dancing closer to a limit.

I had, in fact, given a handful of my closest friends liberties when it came to disciplining Noa. He was a wild child, and he loved to push buttons. If he was out of my sight and did something wrong, he wasn’t going to get away with it.

“Keep talkin’, squirt,” Colt urged. “I’m one of those who’ve been green-lit to make you cry.”

My boy didn’t know when to stop. “Okay, boomer.”

That was it. I squeezed his neck harder and forced him to look up at me. “One more word and you’ll spend the whole weekend in the pillory out front.”

He widened his eyes.

Did he think I didn’t know about his hatred of restrictions? I’d spent weeks carefully digging for his limits, likes, and aversions.

Colt and Reese got back on track.

“We’ve wasted enough time on little come dumpsters,” Colt drawled into the megaphone. “We’re all here today for our Funhouse event! The rules could not be simpler—even a brat can understand them. Complete the task at each station and receive a puzzle piece. Twelve stations, twelve pieces. Greer and Macklin will hand out the schedules for all participants, and Reese is gonna walk you through the mandatory safety shit.”

Reese received the megaphone. “And on your schedule, you’ll also see what group you’re part of and when dinner is served for your group. A few volunteers will be throwing burgers and hot dogs on the grill all night.”