Page 36 of Ink & Ambition

“Ladies. Let’s roast ‘em.”

Nobody told me how badly paintballs hurt when they explode against your body. If I’m not completely bruised tomorrow, it’ll be a small miracle. On our last round, Keith took Sydney down with a ruthlessness that astounded me.

Devon was hit by Danika and Alex shot her while I used my opening to get Keith out of play. That left only Alex and I on the playing field.

Hiding behind a large pile of hay, I catch my breath and assess my surroundings.

“Come out, sunshine,” Alex taunts from what sounds like twenty yards away. Probably near the large wall painted to look like a school bus. “I just wanna talk!” He continues to shout and I know it’s a tactic.

I skirt a little bit down the hay pile until I’m farther away from where I picture Alex to be standing.

“We can call a truce if you want,” Alex’s voice is more distant, confirming what I thought. I had mapped the playgrounds out as soon as I walked into the arena so I know that if I keep walking around this hay pile, I can skirt along the outskirts toward where he’s standing and surprise him from behind.

Unfortunately for me, my aim isn’t very good. If I want to win, I need to be in front of him. Or at the very least, close enough to get a direct hit from a short range. Alex says something else and the more he talks, the more it confirms to me that he has no idea where I am.

Smiling to myself, I hear him shout to the guys waiting on the sidelines to help him out with my location but Danika protests loud enough that they don’t even consider doing it. I keep crouched as I walk around the outsides of the arena, keeping close to the out of bounds line but never crossing it.

For a second, I peek my head up and I see Alex standing exactly where I thought he’d be, looking back and forth for me, but I crouch back down before he gets a glimpse.

“I have a proposal, sunshine. Wanna hear it?” He sounds exasperated, but there’s still a sense of amusement to his tone.

I keep moving, slow enough to not be heard, but fast enough that I’m on the other side of the school bus wall in less thana minute. I stand up to my full height and Alex stands directly in front of me looking in the opposite direction. I could shoot him right then and there but there’s something about shooting someone in the back that doesn’t sit well with me.Not when I can shoot him right in the face, I think menacingly.

“If you wanna hear my proposal, you gotta come out,” Alex repeats, starting to turn in my direction and the second his eyes meet mine, I immediately pull the trigger, splattering his black jumpsuit with pink.

“I think we’ve heard enough,” I say with a smirk and I resist the urge to blow into the barrel of my gun even though Ireallywant to. Distantly, I hear the sound of cheering coming from Sydney and Danika, and I can’t help the grin that erupts onto my face.

Alex’s face is still so shocked, I take a mental picture of the expression to save in the back of my mind. After a second, the shock transforms into something else entirely. Pride? He steps forward, placing his gun in the side holster and holding his hands up in surrender.

“Very well played,” he says with a bow of the head.

I give him a nod in response. “You too. Valiant effort.” We take off our helmets and start walking toward the exit. “You know, I’m kind of surprised we were able to beat you considering you come here all the time.”

“Maybe I let you win.”

I stop, but Alex doesn’t. He keeps walking, but he looks back at me with a sneaky smirk on his face. “Alex Reginald Prescott, you did notletme win!”

He stops, whipping around. “Reginald? That’s not my middle name.”

“I know, I don’t actually know your middle name, but I needed one to make my statement more effective.”

“AndReginaldis what you came up with?”

I shrug, we continue to walk in silence until we reach the exit door where our friends are waiting on the other side.

“It’s James, by the way. After my grandfather.”

“Alex James Prescott,” I say. “Sounds very dignified.”

He scoffs. “Yes, that’s me. The dignified-est.” Alex opens the door and I’m immediately swept into a hug by Danika.

“You did it, babe! We crushed them.” She tightens the hug before releasing me. I take a step back out of the embrace.

“Yeah, well, Alex let me win,” I say with a defeated expression.

“Hey, hey. I never said that. I’d never let you win. I’m too competitive for that. I must not have been on my A game. Must’ve been distracted by something. I don’t know,” he mutters, walking off toward where Keith and Devon are standing buying waters.

I roll my eyes with a slight grin before turning back toward Danika and Sydney. “This was fun and all, but now I’m exhausted, bruised and completely dirty, so I think it’s time we call it a day, yeah?”

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