“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I think so,” she said, looking around.
I managed to get my arms out and lifted my chest off of her. She moved leaves and other debris off of her face.
“I didn’t realize there was hand-to-hand combat in paintballing,” she said.
“I didn’t expect your clumsy ass to fall over that easily.”
She laughed again, and this time I joined her. Her body was so small underneath mine; I could have crushed her. I reached up and pulled several leaves out of her hair. I noticed her shift in breathing and then looked into her hazel eyes. Her expression was no longer carefree; it was serious.
I swallowed hard. I knew I should have moved off of her but for some reason, my body wasn’t catching up with my brain.
A few seconds later, I rolled over to the side of her and she scooted away from me. I stood and helped her to her feet.
I turned away, unsure of what the hell just happened. The feel of her body under mine had messed with my rational thinking. I should apologize, but for what? Having a spark of not-so-platonic feelings for my best friend? I was getting married to someone else.
A sharp pain stung my ass cheek, and I turned around to see Sienna holding her gun in front of her.
“Gotcha!” she said and danced around with a big grin on her face. She pumped her fist in the air and said, “I won, I won.”
I couldn’t help laughing with her. And it brought the attention away from my awkwardness after having fallen on top of her and waiting too long to get up.
When we reached the entrance to the field, the other guys were standing there. They asked for a recap of what had happened and Sienna animatedly explained how she got me in the ass. I didn’t correct her because that would mean rehashing what had happened between us. I wasn’t sure I was ready to explain that quite yet, especially since I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, either.
We called it a tie since none of the teams had managed to get the other’s flag. The teens had to go, leaving me and Sienna to grab lunch by ourselves.
After a hearty meal of hot dogs and french fries, Sienna took me home. She had to stop over at the diner for a little while that afternoon.
“I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun,” I said.
“I’m glad you had a good time.”
It was nice driving without a scarf over my face. And with Sienna’s attention on the road, I found myself staring at her while we talked. Her hair was a mess, and her face paint streaked down her cheeks. But she was still one of the most beautiful women I knew.
“Thanks for this,” I said, turning away from her. We were almost to my house. I didn’t want this day to end, but I consistently took her away from work. It was only fair after everything she did for me today that I let her get back to her life.
“No problem,” she said. “Just to let you know, this wasn’t your bachelor party. We’re going above and beyond for that.” She tossed a smile at me then moved her attention back to the road. “Lately you’ve been doing so much wedding planning, I thought you could use a day of being a kid again.”
“I definitely needed this.” As we pulled into the driveway, the weight of the wedding pressed on my shoulders.
“Glad to be of service.”
I got out of the car, not wanting to give her another awkward moment. What I really wanted to do was reach across the center console and give her a hug. As friends, we weren’t very affectionate, but since that moment when I’d fallen on top of her, I had the strangest desire to touch her again. I wanted to see if this was real or just me having cold feet.
I waved to her as she backed out of the driveway and waited until she was out of sight before I went into the house.
My phone rang, and I grabbed it out of my pocket. Maybe Sienna wanted to meet up after the diner; I’d be game for that.
Instead, Rachel’s face filled the screen. I stared at it for two more rings before I turned the phone on silent and walked into the house.
Chapter Twelve
Sienna
The next morning,
I woke up sore in many places. After taking a shower, I inspected my body in the full-length mirror attached to my closet door. Bruises dotted my skin from the multiple paintball hits. And as much as they hurt, I smiled at the memory of how much fun we all had. It was nice to see that Parker and I could still keep up with high school kids. I tried to ignore the fact that each of them hit on me at least once, and some multiple times. It was all in good fun, even though I was paying for it today.