Page 99 of Role Play
Yet Forrest seems unfazed. “Is that supposed to embarrass me? Because I’d have no qualms matching slippers with my kid.” Forrest returns his attention to me and nods toward the blond. “Meanwhile, this kangaroo wrangler is Saylor.”
Saylor offers an irreverent two-finger salute. “A pleasure to finally meet the woman Forrest’s been drafting text messages to for twenty minutes before sending.”
That got him. Forrest narrows his eyes at Saylor. “Inaccurate.”
“I’ve got receipts, mate,” Saylor stage-whispers to me. “He’s become a walking thesaurus trying to impress you.”
“So,” I say, enjoying the color rising in Forrest’s cheeks, “thanks for letting me crash your guys’ day. Though I’m still not clear how paintball relates to this ‘touch her and die’ trope we’resupposedly reenacting.” I make air quotes around the words. “Seems like a stretch.”
Taio lifts an eyebrow. “Who says it’s a stretch? Paintball is the perfect theater for primal possessiveness. Add some danger, a damsel, a hero?—”
“Whoa, hey now. I’m nobody’s damsel. I’m here to be a helpful fourth,” I interject, jabbing a finger into his chest.
“Well, good. Because no pressure, but we have a league reputation to protect,” Taio says with utmost seriousness. “And today we’re up against the Slaughterhouse Four.”
My posture stiffens. “Slaughterhouse? Why does that sound so murderous? I thought this was a fun paintball game. Like…children play here, right?”
“Not on Saturdays,” Saylor remarks. “No knives, no eye-gouging, and no boots to the back of the head, but other than that, pretty much anything goes, love.”
Forrest reads my petrified expression. “It can get a little intense sometimes, but Slaughterhouse knows we have a newbie today. They won’t give you a hard time.”
“See that look on Hawk’s face, Sora?”
“Mhm,” I murmur, staring into Forrest’s sweet smile.
“Remember that look. That’s how you’ll know he’s serving up a heaping pile of bullshit. Slaughterhouse will not only show you no mercy, they’ll specifically target the weak link.”
“Don’t scare her,” Forrest barks at Taio, before turning back to me. “I’ll admit, we’ve had a bit of an unfriendly rivalry, but that doesn’t apply to you.”
“They’re here.” Saylor perks up, suddenly alert. “Randy, Trevor, Brody, and looks like Jax is their fourth today?Shit.”
“Fuck. They brought in their sniper,” Taio says bitterly, his expression grave. “They’re looking for blood after what happened last match.”
“What happened last match?” I can’t help asking.
The three men exchange glances loaded with unspoken history.
“We might have ambushed them in the locker room with leftover paint,” Saylor admits.
“While they were showering,” Taio adds.
“And livestreamed it on Say’s socials,” Forrest finishes.
I burst out laughing, unable to picture buttoned-up Forrest participating in such juvenile revenge. “Oh my god, so whatever you have coming today, you deserve it.”
Taio wraps his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly. “No, no, teammate.Wedeserve it. You’re one of us now, and shit’s about to get gnarly. You ready?”
I sniff twice. “You smell so familiar,” I tell Taio. “What is that?”
“Elixir by Dior,” Taio says proudly. “Little pricey, but it was a gift from a client.”
“Oh, yes.Elixir.My mom’s ex-boyfriend wore the same cologne. I was always fond of it. Such a nice smell.”
Taio winks at me. “I wear it better than your mom’s ex, right?”
I duck my head in a deep nod. “Of course you do.”
“Hey, Ty? You fond of that hand?” Forrest asks.
