Page 40 of Call My Bluff
“But he misspelled his own name on a biology final once, so he doesn’t deserve to keep it,” a blond interjected, stepping forward. “I’m Beckett. And you’re... Pixie?”
“Olivia,” she corrected as she shook the hand he offered. “Pixie is kind of an inside joke.”
“Got it, got it,” Beckett replied. He bobbed his head as he spoke. “Well, it’s about time to suit up. Everybody ready?”
There was a general murmur of consent from the group, and they moved as one toward the counter to retrieve their vests and guns. Noah grabbed two vests from a pile and set the larger one on the ground before turning to drape the other over Olivia’s head.
“So, remember what I said in the car? We’re playing free-for-all first—every man for himself, unlimited hits. Then we’ll play capture the flag with our team at the end. Sound good?”
Olivia nodded, already feeling adrenaline surge through her veins. “Sounds great,” she replied.
Noah snapped a buckle on each side of her hips and then yanked on a strap to tighten the armor to her torso. The sudden change of momentum caused Olivia to stumble forward, and she caught herself with both hands against his chest.
She closed her grip around a fistful of his work shirt, tugging him impossibly closer, and he made a sound that seemed like approval. Then he angled her head back with both hands, deepening the kiss even more, and she felt her knees turn to jelly. Her hands took on lives of their own, going everywhere and nowhere all at once, and he made another noise when her palms found bare skin beneath his shirt. She vaguely knew she was breaking one of her own rules, but she didn’t care. She felt inexplicably greedy—like maybe she’d been starving all this time and hadn’t known it.
The only clear thought in her mind was that she didn’t want him to stop.
“Steady now,” he said, and Olivia blinked to find Noah’s full,present-dayattention fixed on her. There was amusement in his eyes now, but if she focused hard enough, she could still imagine the heat that had been there on New Year’s Eve.
Except... she wasn’t imagining it. He raised one hand and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, and she felt something stutter traitorously inside her chest.
Stop it!she told herself.He’s playing a game, remember?
Fortunately, a buzzer sounded somewhere overhead, and a deep, electronic voice announced a two-minute warning before the next game.
Noah ducked down and grabbed his vest from the floor before strapping it on, seemingly unaffected by whatever moment they’d just had. He snatched her hand in his. “Come on,” he urged. “This will be fun.”
A doorway with red lights around the frame revealed the arena beyond, and Olivia remembered why she was there as their group followed about a dozen other players inside. The guys ahead of them quickly dispersed, and she did a cursory scan of her surroundings as her eyes adjusted. The arena was set up like an old warehouse, with barrels and barriers of all types outlined in eerie fluorescent piping. The balcony of an upper level glowed orange above her head, but she didn’t see any obvious way to access it. Finding one would be objective number two.
Objective number one was still holding her hand.
“This way,” he whispered, and he took her with him toward what turned out to be an alcove, partially concealed by a stack of wooden crates.
“One minute!” the computerized voice warned.
Noah pulled her into a crouch behind their barricade. “You nervous, Pix?” he asked.
Olivia merely hummed in response, which he obviously took as confirmation.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” he assured her with a cocky smile.
She exhaled slowly, and her index finger tensed near the trigger of her gun. She was here for one reason and one reason only—and itwasn’tto play damsel in distress. “What happened to ‘every man for himself’?” she asked.
Noah shrugged—a motion she could only see because the dimly-lit sensors on his shoulders moved up and down. “I know, but I can make an exception.”
“Aww! Thanks, honey bug,” she cooed.
There was no indication he even knew she had tilted her gun up from her hip. The lights in the arena flashed once, twice...
“Get ready,” he told her, and the starting buzzer echoed in her ears.
The next sound was the firing of her weapon, and the sensors on his vest lit up like the Fourth of July.
“Don’t worry. I am,” she replied.
“What the—?”
But Olivia didn’t stick around to answer. She was already running through the dark.
