Page 34 of Make The Cut

“But Red, I thought we were going to be on the same team. You were supposed to defend me with your expert marksmanship skills.” I tilt my head to one side and do my best imitation of puppy dog eyes.

She taunts me with a wink. “Such chivalry.”

I feel Skye and Leo watching us, questions written across their stares.Just how well do you guys know each other?

“Girls vs guys it is for the first round,” I say. “But be warned, Leo and I are going to make you regret this team. Right, Perez?”

He rolls his eyes. “Just call me Leo.”

I dive behind a weird giant plastic block set up in the laser tag room. The décor is not contributing to my desire to look cool or stylish. Instead, it’s like a giant Lego puzzle with enormous pieces scattered around and stacked on top of each other to create a quasi-staircase that looks extremely unstable. The dim lighting has caused me to stub my toe. Twice.

Ducking my head down, I try to peer through the gaps between two blocks. I spy Skye first, adjusting the tactical gear, and see my chance. I level the laser—gun? Pointer? Shooter?—above the block and fire. It hits her with apewsound, but not on the laser sensor.

“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath.

Next to me, his back to the wall, Leo scoots up and yells. “Hey, Skye!”

Just as she turns to look at him, I fire the laser pointer again and it hits her in the chest, making a sad electronic beep that says she’s lost.

“Nice,” I say, fist-bumping him.

Poppy, however, is a different story. She’s shorter than Skye, making it easier for her to hide behind things, and agile enough that despite her claims of being a terrible dodgeball player, she’s dodged all of our shots.

“You can run, but you can’t hide!” I call, trying to sound menacing.

I hear her laugh, an oddly musical sound. “Then why can’t you find me?”

Leo and I advance to where we hear her voice coming from, but before we can reach her, she’s already darted away behind a different block structure.

Just as I think I’ve gotten close to her, she’s disappeared again. Behind a block, I press my back to the wall and scan the perimeter for Poppy.

“Found you,” someone whispers.

I look up to see her crouching on the block above my head. Before I can reach for my gun, she’s already aimed at my chest.

Poppy Black never misses.

After the first round, we play again, this time with Poppy and me on one side, and Skye and Leo on the other.

“Wait! We need a strategy,” Poppy hisses, as we dart behind an oversized grey Lego block.

“How about, I’ll go this way and you’ll go that way?” I suggest.

She rolls her eyes and begins to lay out a tactical strategy in five-point form. If this woman was reincarnated as a Roman centurion, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Got it?” she says in a harsh whisper.

I nod, fighting the urge to laugh at how seriously she takes laser tag. “Capisce.”

We start shooting at Skye to take out the weaker link first. However, Leo is a bit harder to take down. Just as I see him aiming his laser pointer at Poppy, instinct kicks in and I run across the floor and dive toward her, covering her body with mine.

“Hey!” she whispers. “What are you doing? This wasn’t part of the plan!”

“You were in danger,” I whisper, trying not to think about the fact that, even as Leo is persistently shooting at me, all I can focus on isher.

Her scent of lavender and honey; how soft her skin is beneath my fingertips, how fast she’s breathing, the faint thrumming of her pulse as I brush her hair off her neck, her heart beating a thousand miles a minute.

Poppy makes a disgruntled noise. “I’mfine…”

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