Page 54 of Catalyst

“I’m standing right here, you know,” Adam grumbles.

“We’re aware.” Matthew laughs. “Let me introduce you to everyone, Ellie.” He turns toward the group of people smiling at us, and it’s then I realize who they are. These are Matthew and Adam’s siblings. The resemblance is uncanny, especially between the boys. Every one of them has dark hair at various lengths and blue eyes that could stop traffic. Jesus, these men are dangerous. Then there’s Sara, their one and only sister, who is just as beautiful as the boys. Her dark chocolate-brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and her hazel eyes are full of humor and kindness.

“Over there is Carter, our nerdy engineer.” His brown hair is cut short on the sides and slicked back with product. He’s the most clean cut of all the brothers. “Next to him is Nolan, the clown and resident entrepreneur.” With shaggy brown hair and a playful smirk, I can already tell he’s the silly one of the group. “And finally, there’s Sara, our bleeding-heart animal rescuer.”

“Lovely descriptions of us, Matthew,” Sara admonishes, with a smile on her face.

“They’re true, aren’t they?”

“Only partly.” Sara walks over to me and wraps me in a hug that makes my chest ache for some reason. “It’s so good to finally meet you, Ellie. Adam has told us so much about you.”

“I can only imagine the things he’s said.” I raise my eyebrow at her, knowing full well Adam likely complained about my methods to his siblings.

“Oh, I like you already.” Sara laughs.

Nolan comes over and wraps me up in a hug, as well. He smells just as good as his other brothers, and I’d imagine his boyish good looks have women melting all over him. “How does my brother get anything done with a secretary as sexy as you?”

“Nolan!” Sara slaps his arm.

“What? I’m genuinely curious.”

My cheeks heat, and I watch Adam roll his eyes.

“Ignore him, Ellie. That’s what we do.” Carter holds his hand out for me to shake. I can see he’s the most reserved one of the five of them. Before today, I’d have said Adam was the most controlled, but he tends to let his anger be his driving emotion.

“All right, everyone. We’ll get the stragglers outfitted and go over some dos and don’ts.” The man’s voice seems to come out of nowhere, his navy blue polo indicating he works for The Fun Zone.

He begins to explain the rules, all of which have something to do with physical aggression. Although, he did stipulate that cursing was allowed since we’re a group of adults instead of children. Matthew teased Nolan that he barely counted as an adult.

Adam and I don our vests, the weight heavier than I expected. They lead us into the dark space; the glow-in-the-dark decals help to light up the room a little. My stomach flutters with excitement as we all prepare to go into battle.

“With your small group, it’s every man for themselves instead of teams. If you’re shot, your gun will be stunned for five seconds, and then you’re free to continue. Try not to hurt each other… or yourselves.”

A light on the wall illuminates, telling us to find our positions, and with one glance at each other, we all scurry around the room to pick a hiding spot. It’s not a large space, but there are plenty of walls and nooks to hide behind.

Then the neon sign starts counting down.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Battle!

Silence descends in the room, all of us holding our breaths for someone to make the first move. I peek through the small window, hoping to see movement. The spot I’m hiding in is against the wall, and I should be able to shoot anyone walking by before they see me.

“Found you.” Adam’s deep voice rumbles against my back, sending a shiver down my spine. I gasp in surprise and spin around to find him smirking at me. Why does he have to be so damn hot all the time?

“Want to team up?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Nope.” I shoot him in the vest, my gun registering the shot with a trill, and then I take off with a giggle, leaving Adam slack-jawed behind me.

“You’ll pay for that!” he shouts.

“What’s the matter, big brother? Did someone finally stand up to you?” Sara taunts. Her voice comes from my left, and I sneak behind another wall before someone can shoot me.

From then on, it’s as if the floodgates are open. The boys weave in and out of the walls, teasing and jeering at each other. Sara and I team up since we’re outnumbered by the boys, despite their protests, and the rest of the time is spent laughing and cursing when we’re hit.

It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long while, and a small part of me twinges at the idea that this is how sibling relationships should be. Filled with teasing and lighthearted fun. I’m sad that I never got to have this type of bond with my sister. Our parents always discouraged silliness when we were little, and we got used to playing by ourselves.

A buzzer sounds when our time is up, and the lights come on to help guide us out of the room. Sara and I are shoulder to shoulder as we walk, joking about how many times we were able to sneak up on the guys. I feel as if I’ve made a new friend today, and that is something to celebrate all on its own.

The guys are still laughing. Even Adam has a giant grin on his face as we get out to the lobby. The screens hanging on the wall change, and the list of stats from our game pop up as they’re registered. We were randomly assigned names at the beginning, and we all check the labels on our guns.

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