Page 121 of Knot That Serious

24. The Real Winners

Raj

Raj watched Eli go, her pink head of hair glowing in the black lights. He’d bring a hat for her next time, a beanie.

Because hell yes they’d be doing this again.

He’d gotten Jack and Beckett the first time, and the rush of excitement was just like Eli had promised.

Getting shot and losing the first round had been fun, but totally worth it to taste the coffee still on Eli’s tongue.

It wasn’t long before he felt like he was going in circles, and climbed the stairs to one of the plateaus to see the arena better. He spotted Jack and ducked down, getting on his belly so he wouldn’t be seen.

“Hi,” a deep voice said, and Raj froze, turning his head to the side to find Beckett.

“This is a lot of fun,” he said as he aimed his plastic gun at Raj.

Raj went limp as his vest sang the death song, and he groaned. “Dammit.”

But then Beckett’s vest went off, too, and Raj turned to find Eli peering around the corner.

“Hah!” Raj said, grinning. He slid off the obstruction and followed after Eli.

“I found our base,” she whispered.

“I’m coming, babe,” Jack shouted, his voice echoing around the arena.

She giggled, and then led Raj through the maze until they found their base.

“Do we just wait again? I feel like that’s a trap.”

“Do you want to find their base?” she asked.

Raj nodded. “If they’re distracted, that means their base is unprotected,” he whispered. “I think it’s in the back right corner. A round little building, like a gazebo.”

“Romantic,” she cooed. “But if we leave, our base will be unprotected.”

“Do you wanna split up?”

“Hmm, no. Better odds if we run into one of them.” Eli waved a hand out. “After you.”

After crawling through tunnels—probably a lot easier for Eli, since she wasn’t over six fucking feet tall—they finally encountered Jack and Beckett again.

“Shh,” Eli said, yanking Raj down to her ear. “If they get close, we have to shoot each other.”

“I see, yes,” Raj said, though he didn’t see at all, and Eli smothered a laugh.

“Just do it,” she said, rolling her eyes. Raj met her gaze and something unreadable passed over her expression before she pulled him in for a kiss.

Then the lights went out again.

“Damn,” Eli whispered into the kiss.

A bang sounded. “Ow! Fuck,” a voice that sounded like Beckett’s said. Another voice shushed him.

“It’s dark,” Beckett whined, and Eli covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Do you see their lights anywhere?” Jack asked.

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