Page 23 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“I swear if you ask me for a kiss, I’m going to set up a kissing booth and start charging a dollar.”

Zee’s grin spreads as he straightens. He digs in his jeans pocket and slaps a twenty in my hand. “Down payment for later.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine, twenty it is. Dollars, not kisses,” I clarify.

He pouts as Emi tilts her head to observe us like a couple of specimens. “Are you two together?” she asks.

“No,” we both say. “He has an unhealthy obsession with my underwear and making me suffer.”

He grins. “It’s foreplay.”

“Okay, Aaden and Zee, you’re on one team. Myself, Emi and Natia on the other,” Duncan says, loading his blue balls into his gun, his signature color.

“And Smoothie can join your team when he arrives,” I add.

Zee explains that all team members must make it through the course and the ones covered with the least amount of paint wins. Simple - until I see the assault course with concrete walls, rope bridges strung high in the trees, and tunnels dug through mud. I worry we might have scared Emi off, but as we take our respective starting positions, she calls out over her shoulder to Aaden. “Hope your male ego is still intact when I whoop your ass.” She winks at him. “Because after I do, my prize will be biting yours later.” She cackles, skipping off.

I snort out a laugh and catch the blush which matches Aaden’s red balls.

A horn sounds, signaling the start of the hour we have to reach the end and blast the opposite team. Duncan, ever the strategist, pulls us away from the course behind an ancient oak tree. “Emi, your job is to take down Aaden. He’ll hesitate shooting you, use it to your advantage. Natia, same goes for you with Jed, but try to get some shots in at Zee. I’ll take on Zee, he’ll be too focused on whooping your ass after your bet to worry about me.”

Emi growls as a look of pure determination settles on her features. “Let’s do this.” I blink at her. She’s best friend material. We trudge into the course, hiding behind natural obstacles to suss out the terrain. I whip my hand around high in the air to Duncan, who’s hiding in the bushes twenty feet across from me, to signal that Aaden is tummy crawling through a mud tunnel. Emi appears at the end of the tunnel and shoots several times along it before disappearing behind a tree with a gleeful giggle. Aaden grunts and stands at the end of the tunnel, looking over his shoulder at the paint. I stifle a laugh at his pink, glitter covered ass.

A loud whistle echoes around the forest. Jed’s arrived. Game on. I hustle towards the same tunnel Aaden came out of and crawl through. As expected, a shuffling behind me signals Zee’s no doubt delighted approach. He curses as Duncan targets him. I make it through unscathed and zip around the tree. After a quick look around, I swing my rifle onto my back and clamber up the tree, bypassing the rope bridge. I keep going, finding a perch where I can survey the ground like a silent predator. Emi makes it to the other side of the tunnel and then squeaks as red explodes on her left leg. Aaden chuckles from below me. Huh, I thought he’d gone ahead, and I guess our assumption he’d have mercy on Emi was wrong. Aaden climbs the tree, not noticing me. I take aim, put pressure on the trigger and then release it as Aaden grunts.

“Why do you keep hitting my ass, woman?” he growls to a sniggering Emi.

“You know, Iama doctor. I can check it out for you later. Maybe apply a little healing balm.”

Aaden snorts as he runs across the rope bridge with Emi hot on his pink, glitter covered ass. As expected, Zee hangs back until last and pummels Duncan with yellow paint. Duncan pauses, looks back through the tunnel, smirks at Zee and makes off towards my tree. The rules of paintball apply, no shots above the neck, so Zee emerges unscathed.

Duncan spots me in the tree, I put my finger to my lips and he grins, before creeping down the same path as Emi and Aaden. Jed meets Zee and they have a quick strategy discussion before heading my way. I take aim, and fire six shots in quick succession, each hit their mark. I almost fall out the tree laughing as Jed and Zee blink at their rainbow and gold glitter covered chests.

“Unicorn paint? You got me unicorn paint?” I shout with glee as I drop to the rope bridge and scamper to the next tree.

“You’ll pay for that,” Zee growls whilst Jed’s laughter echoes around the forest.

I sneak up the next tree, planning my next attack. Emi’s shrieks of joy bounce back from ahead. No doubt she and Aaden have entered their own personal battle. I spot Duncan at the base of a tree, the end of the aerial part of the course. He winks and raises his hand, I nod and swing my leg over a thick branch, watching out for Jed and Zee on the rope bridge. The birds fall silent and the slight breeze dies, shrouding us in an eerie silence. A branch snaps somewhere below and my eyes dart to the ground, searching for the source. After a few heartbeats, nothing moves. Must have been an animal.

My neck snaps to the right as the rope bridge jerks, my gun swinging in that direction. A branch dangles from the bridge. My chest explodes with pressure, I grunt as several balls blast my chest covering me in yellow and silver. I glance down, and find Jed and Zee smirking with satisfaction. The asses surrounded me. The sound of a trigger echoes around us as Jed drops to the floor, Zee’s a second too late. Duncan’s blue shot gets him in his back.

Whilst Duncan distracts my enemy, I dart across the bridge, dropping and rolling out of the tree into the dirt. I land next to an amused Duncan and point at him. “You used me as bait.”

His lip quirks. “You took one for the team.”

I glance at my paint covered chest and legs. “I took more than one.”

Zee shouts from the tree. “That’s what she said.”

I roll my eyes as Duncan reaches out, grabs my hand and hauls me up. He nods towards the mini wooden fortress. “You go in there, draw them out. I’ll hunt them.”

The rickety ladder creaks as I clamber up and push open the door of the fortress, disturbing the musky earth smell. Sealing myself inside, I perch on a worn wooden stool and shift the camouflage netting with my rifle to scan the area. The large green bushes about twenty yards away rustle, but I can’t tell if it’s Duncan, Zee, or Jed. If they stood a little more, I’d be able to tell by their aura. Someone grunts as a shot meets its target. I pivot my rifle tracking the sound.

Instincts honed over many hours of training snap into place. Silence becomes the backing track as we enter stealth mode. It doesn’t matter that this is for fun, it’s still training. I let out a steady breath and roll my shoulders, easing the stiffness. A hand slams across my mouth and drags me off the stool, deeper into the dark confined space of the fortress. I slam the butt of the rifle into my attacker’s knee. He grunts, but another arm wraps around my body and draws me tight against the length of my attacker. The masculine and intoxicating scent of sandalwood, dark chocolate, and vanilla hits my nostrils. I struggle as his warm breath hits my cheek. He nips my ear.

“It’s me, Natia. Stop struggling.” I go lax in shock as the familiar timber and cadence makes me shiver.

“Are you going to be quiet?” he asks. I nod and he takes his hand away from my mouth and lets me go. I spin around, then trip and drown into gold eyes.

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