Page 49 of Confessions of a Former Puck Bunny

Orange paint dripped from her goggles, and a few splatters from the “shrapnel” covered my right arm. “FYI, it works, and it has a hair trigger,” she said, a sheepish grin on her face. “In case anyone was wondering.”

Beck removed her coated goggles and wiped them off with his shirt. “Luckily for us, friendly fire doesn’t count, especially before the game’s even started.” He replaced her goggles and gave her a quick kiss.

The way they looked at each other would’ve given me intense feelings of jealousy and longing a month or so ago, but now it made me look at my someone, who winked at me as he slipped his hand in my back pocket. My insides went all gooey warm, and I was in serious danger of turning into a giggly mess of a girl who believed in real life happily ever afters.

“Everyone set?” Daniel stood on a straw bale on the far end of the field, where the rest of his team was gathered, bullhorn in hand. We were on the opposite end, and everyone tensed, weapons at the ready. “Go!”

Ryder grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a wooden cart. “Wait for Dane to draw their fire, and then we go.”

His eyes were so blue, and he looked hot even in the big goggles, which I’m sure weren’t nearly as flattering on me.

“Lindsay?”

Right. We were in the middle of a battle. A flag and bragging rights were at stake. I nodded, and as paint bullets flew off to the left, Ryder and I ran toward the next barricade, a wooden panel propped up with a couple of large bales.

We paused to catch our breath, and then Ryder peeked over the top. “Incoming.”

“Seriously? You guys are so serious with your army lingo. Are there bogeys at five o’clock?”

“More like one o’clock,” Ryder said, then he stood up and fired off a rapid stream of shots. I heard swearing and I figured that meant he’d hit someone. He ducked down right as a stream of blue paint hit the flat wood panel shielding us.

Blue splatters flew over and hit my legs. Not enough to get me out. I paid enough attention to the instructions to know it had to be a direct hit.

I pushed to my feet and fired in the direction the bullets had come from. Pink exploded, hitting one of the guys from the other team square in the chest. “I got him! I actually got—”

Ryder yanked me down as another stream of bullets came our way—yellow this time. With two fingers, he gestured toward a tree on the far end of the boundary. I didn’t think there was any way we’d make it without getting hit, but I decided I’d give it my all. He extended his hand, I slapped my palm in his, and then we ran.

Ryder spun out, firing off another round, and when I saw someone coming at us from the other side, I fired. They dodged my bullets as they ducked for cover, but it gave us enough time to make it behind the tree.

Adrenaline surged through my veins and I found myself super invested in the outcome. I wanted that flag. I wanted to win. I wanted my bodyguard—well, that was a result of more than just the game, but with the added adrenaline, my desire for him was stronger than ever.

“How you holding up?” he asked, his breathing ragged from our sprint.

“Good. I want to take them down.”

“That’s my girl.” He curled me close and then peeked around the tree, gun out. He fired off a few rounds.

“Dane might be in trouble,” I said as I scanned the other half of the field. I noticed Hudson sneaking up to the barrier where he and Megan were holed up.

It was a far shot, but I couldn’t simply let Hudson take them out—as the captain, Dane was the only one who could unfreeze my teammates.

I aimed my barrel at Hudson’s back and fired. The way he jerked around made it clear he hadn’t expected it. Again, I was totally over our past, but a triumphant surge definitely accomplished that hit.

Unfortunately, I’d left myself open. I dodged, and the bullet just missed me, hitting the tree and sending a spray of paint across my cheek and neck. Already most of us were pretty colorful, direct hit or not.

A few of the frozen players from both sides were freed and madness ensued. Ryder made a circle around his eye and pointed toward the flag, then held up two fingers and swung them around.

“Can I see the flag?”

He shook his head and repeated the gesture.

“Um, I really don’t know what you mean. Can’t you just talk?”

Theshushgesture I understood. He grabbed my hand and sprinted toward an old hollowed-out log seconds before bullets sprayed where we’d been. “I was trying to tell you there was a sniper up high, and we had two enemies approaching.”

“I’ll totally understand that next time,” I said, although I had my doubts. Ryder and I went from cover to cover, and occasionally he and Dane exchanged a bunch of hand signals while Megan and I shrugged, grinned, and waved at each other.

We inched toward the flag, so close now that I could practically taste our victory.

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