Page 53 of Love to Prove You Wrong

The doors closed behind us and I held my laser gun pointed forward. Enough being sweet little Addy. It was time to hunt Justin down and maybe give Ashley a subtle push while I was at it. She’d never know it was intentional.

Chapter Eighteen

My eyes needed a couple of seconds to adjust to the dark of the laser tag arena. Everyone around me scurried away, hiding behind wooden screens and inside small tunnels. I stepped right into a big net and let out a scream. A moment later, I got hit by a laser.

I stumbled out of the net and lowered myself behind the hood of a car. The arena must’ve been huge, considering the number of props that were stuffed in there.

I let my gaze travel around the room. A couple of feet in front of me was a metal staircase leading to the top level. I caught sight of a pair of red blinking lights, aimed my laser at them, and shot. Ha. Us girls could definitely win this.

Still crouched low, I made my way to another hiding spot. Ashley was taking cover there as well. “Psst,” she said. “Listen, if you locate Justin, will you please introduce me?”

“Like, now? In the middle of a game?” I had to give it to her, she wasn’t a quitter.

She shrugged. “Now’s as good a time as any. I mean, I need to get to him before some other chick does.”

“Maybe later. I’m trying to win this game,” I said. “Oh look, someone’s motioning for me. Gotta go.”

I left our hiding spot and made a run for the stairs. I got attacked from behind, but the person pointing his laser gun at me missed all his shots. When I was in the clear again, I located Ashley and aimed at her, which wasn’t hard to do since she was strolling toward the back corner of the arena as if she didn’t mind being so exposed.

I ducked down as soon as I hit her with my laser. It was lame, but she was being lame too. Okay, maybe she was only trying to get what tickled her fancy, and I couldn’t blame her for trying. That didn’t mean I couldn’t prevent her little plan from succeeding, though.

I moved through the arena in true Katniss Everdeen style and managed to nail at least fifteen shots. Justin’s dark hair popped up from behind obstacles now and again, but he never stood still long enough for me to take him out.

Time flew by and before I knew it, we were called back to the vesting room for a five-minute break. Sweat dripped down my back. Who knew a game of laser tag would be this exhausting?

“Some idiot from our team shot me,” Ashley said, clearly exasperated.

She stared everyone in our group down with a furious look in her eyes.

“Relax, it’s just a game, Ash,” Jess said, still panting from our twenty minutes of gameplay.

“Games need to be played fair,” Ashley countered.

“I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose,” I said. “We’re all trying to get used to handling these laser guns. The next round won’t have these kinds of hiccups.”

Ashley leaned against the wall, inspecting her blaster as if she was a soldier at war. “It better not. I don’t want the guys to win this game.”

“Three minutes,” a computerized voice announced over the loudspeakers.

Olive appeared by my side. “This is all a bit too intense for me. The bickering, I mean. I’m loving the laser tag.”

“I agree,” I said, keeping my voice down. “Layla’s friends sure are an fiery bunch.”

“Right? And why does Ashley feel the need to flirt at her friend’s bachelorette party? This day should be all about Layla. She could at least wait until everyone’s out drunk or something.”

I followed Olive’s gaze and spotted Justin and Ashley talking in a corner of the room. She was touching his arm more than necessary and every time I saw his lips move, she threw her head back and laughed. Seeing her little act would make you think Justin was a renowned stand-up comedian. Sure, he was amusing, but he wasn’tthatfunny. I should’ve just tackled her in there when I had the chance.

And Justin wasn’t being fair either. A few days ago, he was performing a song for me and now he was flirting with another woman? I felt stupid for ever bothering with him.

The computerized voice counted backward from ten to zero and the doors to the arena flung open again. I stormed in, ready to take both Ashley and Justin down. I needed to funnel my energy into winning this game instead of fighting back the tears gathering in my eyes.

I took cover in the cockpit of a fake spacecraft. I hoped the plexiglass at the front was smudged enough so the others wouldn’t notice me immediately. There was a convenient small hole at the side to take out anyone entering my perimeter.

A couple of minutes later, Justin crept closer. He sat right in my line of vision, but he hadn’t spotted me as his back was toward me. This was my chance. I knew that he wouldn’t care or be affected by my move in any way, but it sure would make me feel better.

I pointed my laser at his shoulder and pulled the trigger.

“Gotcha,” I said, perhaps a tad too loud.

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