Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, #4)(35)

I watch her face as she seems to ponder that for a moment, her chest rising and falling faster than it did only moments ago. I wouldn’t be opposed to getting into Reese’s pants right here, right now. “Fuck,” I mutter, shifting on my feet.

“What?”

I sigh. “Nothing. I just hate wearing cups.”

I feel the tip of her gun jab me in the groin, tapping against it. “Why’d you wear this? You afraid someone’s going to go after your prized body part?”

I’m about to tell her that I’d like her to go after my prized body part but without the weapon, when a female giggle sounds outside. Quickly pulling our masks on, I hunch down to squeeze in next to her and look out the small window.

And struggle to stifle my laugh as we watch a couple climb the hill opposite us, the female in a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a shirt that’s tied to the side. “Daisy Duke is playing paintball? What a f*cking moron. Why didn’t he make her wear more clothes? That’s gonna hurt when she gets hit. ” The guy is turning this way and that, scouting the area for people.

“Yes, it is,” Reese agrees, and I hear the wicked pleasure in her voice as they disappear into a hut. “Come on.” Without waiting, she’s darting out and around the corner, her gun aimed and ready.

“They’re yellow!” I hiss, trying not to be too loud in case there are any reds nearby. She doesn’t hear me, though. Or she doesn’t want to. She keeps moving forward like a little ninja, silently leaping over bushes and avoiding branches that will crack. Picking up speed but not nearly as gracefully, I reach her seconds after she stops at the side of the hut. She holds a single finger up to her mask, to warn me.

I don’t think there’s any worry, though. From the sounds of it, they’re preoccupied.

Doing exactly what I was thinking of doing only five minutes ago with Reese.

And by the way Reese is creeping around the corner, she’s about to prove why I was smart to be worried.

Damn, I love this chick.

Leveling my own gun, I step in beside her as the soft, rhythmic thump against the wall inside picks up. It’s obvious the guy is drilling Daisy Duke, and it’s making my own discomfort all the worse. I can’t help it. It’s normal for a guy to get off hearing that kind of shit.

Reese seems to stall for a moment. I’d do anything to see the expression on her face right now, to know what’s going through her head. She snaps out of it, though, and raises a hand to silently count down from five on her fingers.

And then we both leap into the doorway.

They were smart enough to keep their masks on at least.

The chick’s shorts are on the ground, her bare legs wrapped around the guy’s hips while he’s plowing into her, his pants hanging below his ass. All in all, a lot of vulnerable flesh on display.

With a delayed battle cry, we open fire, pelting them from head to toe with paint. I focus more on the guy’s back, but Reese holds no prisoners, unloading on his ass and her thighs as howls and shrieks of pain compete with the clicking of our guns.

My gun is out long before Reese’s, but she doesn’t look ready to let up. Finally, I grab her by the arm and pull her out. We run down the hill to screams of “You *s!” carrying through the forest. I keep pulling her along until the valley and the hut are no longer in view and I can’t run anymore because I’m laughing too damn hard.

Leaning back against a tree, I struggle to catch my breath. “I can’t believe we just did that.” We’ll get kicked out of the game and possibly banned from this place if the couple reports us. Then again, they’d have to admit to what they were doing in there and, while there’s no “no sex” rule in the handbook, I’m thinking it’s frowned upon by the referees.

“It’s their own damn fault!” she mutters, her breaths just as ragged as mine. “Did you see her? What if there were kids around? What a twat!”

Another bellow of laughter explodes out of me. “I haven’t heard that word in forever. She has clearly offended you with her sense of adventure.”

“That wasn’t a sense of adventure. That was no sense at all,” she growls between breaths. “What an idiot for coming dressed like that.”

Between the midday heat, the mask, and the running, sweat is pouring off me. I’m dying to take my mask off but I’m not about to risk losing an eye. “Come on. Let’s get going before a real opponent catches us.”

She sighs. “I’m done with playing for today.”

“What? Forget it! I’m not quitting until we find that flag or I’ve been shot.” I’m competitive by nature. I also haven’t had this much fun in a long time.

In answer, Reese points her gun at my crotch.

And fires.



With my arms folded across my chest, I watch Reese duck out of the changing room, her furtive eyes checking this way and that as she makes a beeline for my waiting car, tossing her bag of dirty clothes and gun into the trunk. Tucking a strand of freshly washed hair behind her ear, she cocks her head and looks at me somewhat sheepishly. “Will you survive?”

“Not sure. You’ll need to take it for a test run,” I smirk, pulling her into me, the smell of the soap from her shower catching my nose and proving that, yes, my dick is still able to at least stand.