“Her aim was a bit low, he didn’t cry, but his eyes watered.”
Pride swelled in my chest as I ran after Nixon and hid behind the first tree. I had enough land that it was easy to set up a paint ball field. It was professional to say the least.
We had several trees strategically planted around the house for protection. The field to the left near the garage was usually empty unless we pulled out all of our obstacles for paintball, creating a huge competition field for Capture the Flag that ended up making most professional fields you paid money for look like a cheap ass circus.
I didn’t have time to change.
We were losing, and Abandonatos were competitive by nature.
So I quickly tossed my jacket to the side and started moving stealthily through the trees leading to our group’s flag. We always had two base camps, one for the other team, one for us; the flag was always visible. Getting there was the problem.
“I will cut a bitch!” Phoenix roared as a paintball sailed past his ear. “They’re taking head shots!”
“Then duck,” I offered in a dry tone. “Be the bigger man, Phoenix.”
He flipped me off then jogged to the left while I made a beeline toward the girls’ camp.
It was about eight hundred feet away, visible, with a spotlight in the window that ran across the landscape back and forth over the course of twenty seconds.
I ducked behind a tree as it landed near me and passed.
Exhaling, I moved again, careful to keep my eyes peeled for pink.
A flash of color moved to my right and then, behind me, as leaves crunched.
With a sigh, I pointed the gun behind me without looking and shot two rounds.
“Son of a mother fu—”
“You got Mo!” Tex shouted just as I turned and gave Mo a little wave. She shook her head and marched toward our base camp while Tex gave me a nod and pointed forward with his fingers.
I was already ahead of him.
I moved to the right while he went wide left.
A shot went off.
Another girl yelled.
I waited in the crisp night air as the wind picked up around me, but nothing. She didn’t scream again, which begged the question, was she down? Or was it fake?
Two more steps.
Tex let out a loud curse as rapid fire sounded.
“I hit you first!” he yelled.
“Bull shit!” Mil tossed back. “I got you first.”
Glaring daggers, he stepped backward shaking his head toward me, just as I fired at her side.
“Aw, bummer Mil, that sucks balls. Guess you just got hit too.”
Her eyes narrowed in on Tex while she gave me the finger and slunk off.
“Get the flag, man.” Tex’s eyes were like laser beams. “The only girl left is Val.”
I didn’t want to insult her by asking how out loud. But still. How the hell was she the last girl standing up against mob bosses and their wives?
Maybe she’d hidden after hitting Chase.
Not that she seemed like the type.
I took a cautious step toward their base camp and then hid behind a tree when I heard the sound of someone breathing.
My started to race as the breathing got louder and louder.
The minute I realized where the breathing was coming from, was a minute too late, as a gun was pointed at my back, I dropped my hands to my sides and turned around, right pointer finger still on the trigger. “Val.”
“Sergio.” Her cheeks were flushed, her face dirty like she’d been crawling through the mud.
“Did you trip?” I mocked, because really, playing nice with her would just be suspicious at this point. I left because it was her birthday and she’d rather shoot me in the dick then look at me for another two minutes.
Val’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “I was army crawling.”
“Through the poison ivy?” I nodded my head toward the leaves. No chance in hell was she going to fall for it, but I had to try.
Her eyes flashed, and for a brief moment she glanced down at her arm, just as I held up my gun and pointed it at her chest.
“Oldest trick in the book.” I shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Wow, I don’t hear that word often from you.”
“It’s hard to pronounce.”
“Maybe for you…”
I held back my smile. At least she was talking to me, even if every single word was dripping with insults and sarcasm. “Hands up, Val, I’m taking your flag.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls before you pull the trigger.”
“You have to admit, it does relax them a bit before they meet their maker.” I gripped her with my free hand and pushed her toward the base camp where the flag was held. Once we were inside the tiny fort, I pushed her to the side, not hard enough to hurt her, but so she knew I wasn’t going to play nice just because she was my wife.
Or just because I’d forgotten her birthday.
Or pissed her off.
Holy shit, I was a jackass.
I grabbed the flag and turned just in time to see her holding another paintball gun and aiming it at my face.
“Surprise.” She grinned cheerfully. “I stole Trace’s gun before she got taken out.”