“Excellent. We have four teams. Each of you will randomly draw a color and then collect your kit to the left of me. Remember, this is a fun game—good, clean fun—Tony, I’m talking to you—" the crowd laughs again. “So let’s all get ready for some laser tag!” he shouts, and people loudly cheer as we all start lining up to pick our colors and find out whose team we are going to be on.
Darya excitedly follows me and pulls a yellow tag out of the jar. She waits nervously to see what color I am going to pull. I breathe a sigh of relief when it is yellow as well. I definitely didn’t want to have to be competing against my own wife.
She squeals in delight and jumps into my arms.
“Let’s get our vests and laser guns,” I laugh, carrying her over to the equipment.
“Oh no, I was really hoping I would be playing with you,” Reina comments suggestively as she bumps her hip against me.
“Oh, honey, he’s got his hands full playing with me,” Darya chuckles.
Reina pulls a face of annoyance but then quickly hides it behind a wide smile.
“Well, then, I guess it can all come down to whoever handles such a large…gun…the best.” Reina eyes my crotch for a second and smirks.
Darya steps in front of me, pressing her ass against my crotch and staring Reina down.
I feel like it isn’t safe for me to intervene at this point, so I just let them have their moment. It seems to be relatively playful, in the spirit of laser tag.
The team leader calls out that it is time to head into the forest for the game to start.
“You will see orange beacons around the perimeter. If you step outside of it, you are no longer in the game, so make sure you stay in the lines—a shot to the arm or leg will remove twenty five percent of your life light, and a shot to the chest will put your life light out. The life light is the bar indicated on the left sleeve of your gear. Stay safe, go find a spot with your team, and the game starts in ten minutes. Strategize, make a plan, have fun.”
There is absolute chaos as we all bolt towards the forest, trying to follow our teams and take note of where the other teams are going.
Reina, on the red team, runs close behind me and grabs my arm.
She pushes me up against a tree, playfully threatening me with her laser gun.
“I’m coming for you,” she says in a heated whisper.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Darya comes flying into her and knocks her clean off her feet.
“Better keep your eyes open, Reina.” She laughs, then grabs my hand and pulls me after our yellow team members.
I can’t believe she pulled that move, and as we leave, I catch a glimpse of Reina’s sour expression as she stands up to dust herself off. Everyone knows these games get intense, but I guess this one just got personal, too.
Our team makes a plan to split into smaller teams of two and three and cover more ground to take the other teams out. And in the beginning, we are doing really well—in fact, it starts looking like we might even win. But then Reina spots Darya and the intensity level goes up.
Reina seems hell-bent on getting up and close and personal with me, and Darya and seems hell-bent on taking her out.
Every time Reina comes near us, Darya dives in front of me to block her, until finally Darya’s mood seems to darken with annoyance.
“Who the hell does she think she is?” she demands, crouching behind a tree with me.
“She’s just playing the game,” I try to reassure her, but Darya is not having any of it.
“I am going to take her out for real,” Darya snaps, her mouth tight and her eyes narrowed with determination.
“Darya, it’s just a game, baby girl.”
“Fuck this,” she shouts, standing up and getting ready to run straight into the middle of the chaos.
I grab her arm and pull her back down behind the trees.
Her possessiveness over me and anger towards Reina for challenging her place in my life is turning me on rather wildly. It already started last night, but now, with her becoming more heated, so is my response.
I tug her hard and she lands on her back next to me.