Page 85 of Tactically Acquired

“And it’s against the rules,” Baldy argued.

“He’s right,” Thumper grinned. “But this is cute,” he said, pointing between the two of us. “I never really thought I’d see the day when Slider would trade in his wings.”

“His what?”

“His wings. His flight wings,” he reiterated.

I still didn’t get it.

“Because single men fly solo. So, he traded in his wings and— never mind.”

I was about to ask Baldy what the hell Thumper was talking about, but he was already out the door. I growled in frustration, stamping my foot. “He is so frustrating!”

“Yeah, it’s such a pain when someone won’t listen,” Thumper nodded.

I spun around and narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you implying I don’t listen?”

“Me? No, I would never do such a thing.” He smirked at me as he backed away. “Don’t forget that list.”

That stupid list. I walked over to the window and looked outside. Baldy was walking along the edge of the property, looking around. Hell, I could do that. It didn’t look that hard. I cocked my head to the side as I studied him, and then an idea sprang to mind. I looked over my shoulder and grinned.

Woody did want a live-action film.

“This is stupid,” Spencer hissed.

“It’s the opposite of stupid. This is what Woody wants and we’re going to give it to him.”

“Bullshit,” he muttered as we opened the door and snuck outside. “The only thing you want to do is cause trouble.”

I crept along the side of the house, careful not to let anyone see me. When I got to the edge, I lowered my sunglasses and peeked around the corner, spotting Baldy on the far end of the property near some trees. He was just a small blob from here, which was perfect because it gave us enough time to get over to him and get some good shots.

I turned back to Spencer and grinned as I pushed my glasses back up. “Okay, we’ll run over to the barn and then duck past those trees. Once I’m sure no one’s watching, I’ll run to that cluster of trees behind Baldy and then wave you in. You can run behind me, and then we’ll hop, skip, and jump behind each cluster of trees until we get to him.”

Spencer shot me a confused look. “Who taught you to give directions?”

“What’s wrong with my directions?”

“Those trees? The cluster of trees behind Baldy? That’s really informative. I’m sure nothing will go wrong with directions like that,” he scoffed.

Rolling my eyes, I chose to ignore his inane comments. “Just follow my lead.”

“Whatever you say. I’m just along for the ride anyway,” he muttered.

When I was sure no one was watching, I took off at a sprint for the barn. At first, I was running really fast, but then I realizedthe barn was much further away than I thought and I started to lose steam. Not to mention, the aches and pains from the accident were blooming all over again. Maybe running wasn’t such a good idea. Pretty soon, Spencer caught up and jogged alongside me.

“What are you doing? Why are we slowing down?”

I pressed my hand to the ache in my side. “I didn’t realize the barn was so far away.”

“How could you not realize that?”

I nearly collapsed as I came to a sudden stop, bending over to suck in air. Then my head swam and everything spun. “Ooh, I feel really dizzy,” I mumbled.

“No shit. You feel dizzy after getting in an accident? You had a freaking concussion!” he said, grabbing my arm and holding me.

“Well, you didn’t stop me!” I gasped, standing upright and forcing the dizziness aside. If I blinked really slowly, the world started to right itself again.

“Since when can anyone stop you from doing anything?”

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