We duck back behind cover as multiple pellets splatter against the car’s metal frame.
I venture a peek, slowly poking my head up to see Kayden’s eyes flash from the open doorway of the fort.
Suddenly, something whizzes past my ear and splatters on the tree behind me.
“RETREAT! ” I yell, waving them over to my area.
We scramble backward, maintaining cover fire as more and more pellets whiz past us, thwacking the trees. Once we’re safely in the tree line, we break into a dead sprint toward our objective: the fort on the other side of the arena.
We keep running, guns tucked tightly at our sides. Soon enough, the pellets stop coming and I breathe a sigh of relief as we reach the fort. I nod to my teammates, and the three of us split up. Cara takes a left flank, Alex heads straight to the right, and I take the fort. I push through the fragile wooden door that is barely hanging on its hinges and duck below the side window, careful not to make any kind of noise that will draw attention.
The sound of something scraping against the outer wall jolts me to my feet again. I aim my gun, gaze darting all around me. I hear nothing for a moment but my breathing, and after about a minute, just when I think I’m in the clear, I feel the barrel of a paint ball gun dig into my back.
“Drop the gun,” Kayden orders.
***
“You really think I wouldn’t figure you out? That your ambush at the fort was a distraction to get me here so I could be bait for when Simon and Daniel come crawling?”
Kayden huffs as he pushes the barrel harder against my skin.
I make a soft yelping noise. His mouth is right at my ear now, warm breath tickling the curve of it. “Mislead. That was your first lesson to me. You’re unpredictable, Lucky, but even unpredictability has a pattern of behavior.”
It should have occurred to me that Kayden would figure me out this easily. We’ve spent the past few weeks training together, learning and memorizing each other’s movements for the sole purpose of breaking each other. He knows me just as well as I know him.
Well, almost.
“If you knew my plan, then why are you still here?” I say, eyeing the window above us. Nobody from the outside, not even the girls, will be able to see what’s going on in here, which puts me in panic mode. I’m all alone in this, and for the first time in a while, I don’t know what to do. Maybe there’s nothing else I can do. Perhaps Alex and Cara might still be able to win this if Kayden takes me out now.
“Thought I’d give you what you wanted,” he explains nonchalantly. “But just so you know, once I pull this trigger, a signal from me is all it takes for the boys to finish Alex and Cara, who, if I recall correctly, are waiting on either side of the fort, ready to pick Daniel and Simon off.”
A bolt of fear shoots through me at the mention of the girls.
Okay, maybe it’ll be better if I’m still in the game.
I try to mask my unease by straightening my back.
“Then the ball’s still in my court, don’t you think? My girls still have the element of surprise since Daniel and Simon’s only route here is through the clearing.”
“I guess it depends on who gets to signal first,” Kayden replies smoothly. “And from the looks of it, that’ll probably be me.”
Damn. I hate that I love how smug he looks knowing he’s bested me. Maybe I should just give him the win so I can see the arrogant side of him come to life. I’ve really been missing that side of him. Along with every other part of him. His dimple-laden smile, his deep, husky laugh, which always seems to warm my insides, his intense eyes watching me with unabated hunger whenever I flaunt my body in a way that a friend definitely shouldn’t . . .
I guess the past few days of not seeing him hasn’t been particularly easy on me.
“Hands up,” Kayden orders. “I’m asking nicely.”
“All right, all right. Fine.” I relent, allowing the gun to clatter to the ground and hauling my hands over my head in surrender as I turn to face him.
But not before dropping to the ground and using a leg to sweep Kayden’s legs out from under him.
He falls on his back, sending dirt in the air upon impact, and instinctively loosening the grip on his gun, which gives me the prime opportunity swiftly grab hold of both mine and his guns and spin them toward him.
Kayden lifts his hands up in surrender, fear striking him in a way I’ve never seen before.
“Hands up,” I tell him, my chest heaving. “I’m asking nicely.”
His gaze drops to my chest, sucking in a breath as he watches the steady rise and fall of my breasts as I try to stabilize my breathing. His eyes zip back up to my face, voice dropping low. “You won’t do it.”