Tainted Heartbreak (Tainted Knights 3)

“Christ,” he groaned. “Yeah, okay, whatever. Harper, beautiful, I’m sorry I called them bitches. But do you see what they’ve done to me? They totally fucked up my favorite running shoes.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo. Should have worn boots,” Aubree sniggered.

“Get on with it,” London commanded.

“I’m Shane Stevenson, and we just got our asses handed to us by the Blonde Bombshells during a game of paintball war.”

“Who is ‘we’?” I asked, fighting to keep my grin at bay.

He shot me a glare, but Santana was already turning the camera on the other fallen rockers once again. “Demon’s Wings and OtherWorld got their asses kicked so hard by a few little bitty girls. Aw, and look at the poor, fallen Tainted Knights. Babe, you’ve got paint in your ears!” Santana laughed when Kale flipped her off.

“Wait, where’s Cash?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t seen him since we’d passed him in the woods. Someone, probably Roanna since she was sniping those harder to get, had pelted him three times in the back. I’d stopped, to Riley and Santana’s dismay, and kissed him. When his hands had grabbed my ass and he’d deepened the kiss—and I’d gotten lost in the taste of him all over again—my friends had dragged me away.

“He got a call. Said he’d be back in a few,” Liam told me.

“Are you happy now?” Shane asked London. “Can I get up?”

“London,” Roanna groaned when the other Bombshell seemed to be thinking it over.

“Aw, Ro, you’re messing with my fun.” She sighed exasperatedly. “Fine, Stevenson. You’re free to go.”

“Hey!” Santana squealed, dropping her phone just as Riley screamed in surprise.

I didn’t have to ask them what was going on, because I felt the sudden impact of a paintball hitting my shoulder. The Bombshells moved as one, putting Roanna in the middle like she was a baby elephant and they were trying to protect her. Aubree got hit first, then Genesis and London back-to-back. Roanna took one to the back of the shoulder, the blue paint vivid in her platinum blond hair.

It was over in seconds, and by the time Roanna was hit, I knew where the shots were coming from. Drake walked out of the woods, his gun tossed over his shoulder and a grin on his face.

“Never underestimate the Stevenson brothers, ladies,” Shane taunted them, getting to his feet to embrace his brother in a back-slapping hug.

“How did we miss him?” Aubree groaned, stunned.

“Fuck it all. We were so focused on taking out Shane, we forgot about Drake,” Genesis muttered. “How did we miss him, though? He’s the hot brother.”

“Gen, they look almost like twins,” Roanna reminded her.

“Key word ‘almost.’ You know I love long hair on a guy.”

London was already confronting the two brothers. “You planned this all along, didn’t you?”

Shane’s grin was hypnotic the way it brightened his entire face. Holy shit, but the Stevenson brothers were still hot as fuck even in their forties. “Sweetie, I saw those wheels turning in your pretty head back at breakfast. You’re just like my wife and daughter, thinking you could one-up me and get away with it. Only difference is, you’re not my wife or baby girl. You can’t twist me around your finger like them.”

“How long have you been waiting up there?” Aubree demanded.

Drake shrugged. “Never left this area. I’ve been here since the game began.”

“You sat in one spot for an hour just to snipe us?”

“Kid, I’ve got four daughters and a pregnant wife who drags me shoe shopping every weekend. I’ve sat in one spot for a hell of a lot longer than an hour.” He patted her on the head. “Better luck next time.”

Kale, laughing so hard he could barely see, pulled out his phone and jumped to his feet. “Come on, girls. Smile pretty for the camera.”

I quickly turned my head so the camera only got my profile as he videoed us. Shit. I hadn’t expected this, and now that we’d lost, I was going to end up on freaking YouTube and every social media known to man. One of the reasons Riley and I had been guarding Santana during the game was to make sure I was out of range of the camera at all times. If Malcolm was pissed now, seeing a video with me in it go viral would send him through the roof, and whatever I had to face when I got home would be ten times worse.

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“Is there a bathroom around here?” Riley asked.

“Up the hill, back at the shop where we got our gear,” Nik informed her.