Page 182 of Traitor

I scan the small gathering of his brothers and prospects, picking carefully. "Ria," I say immediately. She grins like a maniac and practically skips to my side. "Hellbat, Fang, and Mindfuck."

Bones laughs, shaking his head. "You're really picking Mindfuck?"

"I like his style," I shoot back, grinning.

He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. "If you like getting into arguments about fucking quantum physics mid-battle, he's all yours."

Mindfuck beams proudly, while Ria snorts beside me.

Bones quickly selects Tank, Domino, and a few prospects, his eyes gleaming with pure mischief. "Let's see what you can do."

I roll my shoulders, eyes narrowing further. "Oh, trust me. You won't be smiling so much when I cover your ass in paint."

He gives me a cocky smirk, taking position behind a large stack of wooden crates. "We'll see about that, baby."

The horn blares, and chaos erupts.

I immediately duck behind a barrel, shots whizzing by my head. Ria dives beside me, cursing under her breath.

"Cover me!" she yells and bolts forward. I pop out, peppering paint in Bones' direction. He ducks, rolls, and fires back with impossible precision.

Goddammit, he wasn't lying — he's not taking it easy on me.

Mindfuck tries distracting Domino with some bullshit mind game, something about paintballs existing in two states at once, before Domino just shoots him directly in the chest, splattering neon orange paint all over his black protective vest.

"Fuck!" Mindfuck yells, dramatically clutching his chest. "The pain is too real!"

I groan, shaking my head. "You're fucking useless!"

Ria giggles hysterically, practically dancing through the obstacles, covering Tank in vivid purple paint. Fang and Hellbat take down the prospects easily, but Bones and Domino prove annoyingly difficult to pin down.

I move quickly, sneaking through barriers, heart racing as I hunt my main target. A shadow moves nearby, and I whirl around, firing blindly. Bones is right there, ducking, paintballs missing by inches.

"Almost, baby!" He laughs, utterly infuriating.

"Shut up!" I snap, grinning despite myself. I chase after him, dodging paint, feeling like we're both fucking teenagers, lost in the thrill of competition.

But suddenly, he's gone.

I spin around, confused, until I feel a tap on my shoulder. Whipping around, I see him already at a distance, smiling like a fucking idiot, his paintball gun raised.

"Gotcha, baby."

A splat of paint hits me dead center on my vest. Neon orange. I stare down at it in disbelief.

"No fucking way," I gasp, stunned.

He laughs triumphantly, comes close and throws an arm around me. "You put up a hell of a fight."

I scowl at him, but it quickly turns into a reluctant smile. "Asshole."

He kisses the top of my head, chuckling again. "You love it."

Ria jogs over, panting. "You lost?" Her eyes widen dramatically, mock-horrified.

"Don't rub it in," I mutter, rolling my eyes.

She shakes her head, still grinning. "Damn, Tempe, I had money on you. Now I have to pay Tank."

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