Page 76 of The Apprentice
I settled in as he began to drive. The afternoon sun was close to being swallowed by the darkness of the night.
Every so often Daire peeked over at me with a smile so sweet I could only offer one of my own in return. His home was in a busy part of the city and there were cars everywhere, so I wasn’t sure how long we were going to travel, but I didn’t mind the drive. I relished the chance to finally be out on a date with Daire.It was a situation I’d never expected to experience, but here we were.Fuck. We were together. It was surreal.
We drove for thirty minutes before he pulled into a parking lot. The moment I realized where we were, I quirked a brow back toward Daire.
High Tech Laser Tag.
“Laser tag?” I chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever played.”
He raised our hands so he could kiss the back of mine. “Then, your first time will be with me.”
“It already was,” I teased, earning a laugh from him. “Why are we dressed in suits for laser tag?”
“Well, to be honest, I was going to take you somewhere nice for dinner, but I thought this would be a good idea.” He released my hand to stroke my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. “You’ve been trained to be Sloan’s apprentice all your life, boy, but you never had the chance to be young and have fun. We can kick ass and look good doing it.”
“By shooting a bunch of teenagers?”
He laughed again. “Don’t underestimate them. They’re good.”
“Ah, you’ve been here?” I shifted in the seat so my body was facing him. “The truth comes out, Daddy Daire.”
He shrugged—unashamed. “It’s good to let off steam and have fun. Remember that, Fifi.”
I stared at him for a second before I burst into laughter. “Every time you call me that, I can’t take you seriously. You’re a grown-assed man in your forties calling me Fifi.”
“Hey!” He pinched my arm playfully, and I twisted away from him, too amused to do anything but curl up and laugh until it hurt. His smile said he wasn’t upset with me, but I forced myself to stop and wipe the tears from my eyes.
“Sorry. I like you calling me Fifi, I do. It’s just funny.”
“I know,” he murmured, running his fingers through my hair. “But it’s worth it just to hear you laugh. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen you this happy, Fionn?”
I paused, ruminating on his words. How longhadit been since I’d laughed like that? Too long. The pressure and stress of being Sloan’s apprentice had taken its toll on me. Daire was right, I never really had fun growing up. It wasn’t Sloan’s fault, but rather my own desire to make my uncle proud. Sloan had offered to send me to college, but I’d turned him down, eager to start learning everything. Fun hadn’t been in my vocabulary.
“Come on.” Daire tugged my hand gently before letting it go and stepping from the SUV. I followed him out, and he met me as soon as I closed the door. Once he locked the vehicle, we walked into the boxy brown brick building with flashing LED lights illuminating the business name.
Inside was dark and foggy, smoke machines giving it an eerie atmosphere. The lights blinked red, blue, yellow, and green, while loud music pounded from big wall speakers. The large room was crowded with people of all ages, and to the right was a bar and tall tables and stools. I’d never been to a place like this. I felt like you needed friends to play laser tag, and I never had anyone. All my life, I grew up around men older than me or just as interested in the mob as me. We never had time for games.
“Food first or laser tag?” Daire asked.
I glanced at him with a wide grin. “Tag.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Prepare to lose, boy.”
I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. “Whatever, old man.”
His eyes widened. “Did you just .... Never mind. We’ll handle this inside.”
He drew me in for a hard kiss, and I relaxed into his embrace before he broke away and strode toward the cashier. I watched, a little starstruck over my boyfriend, because that’s what he was, wasn’t he? Boyfriend. Partner. Either way, he was mine, and Ididn’t know how I’d become so lucky. As much as I’d wanted this to happen, I hadn’t actually expected that it ever would. But here I was, on a date with Daire.
He came back with some tickets and linked his fingers with mine again before dragging me toward a door to the right. A man stood out front and he took the tickets from Daire, gesturing for us to go inside.
“The next game is about to start. Gear up with the rest, and we’ll let you into the arena soon.”
Daire thanked him, and he led me through the door and into another room, this one with bright overhead lights on to help us see. There was already a group of people dressed in vests and helmets with lights attached. They all held obviously fake lime green automatic rifles. Daire led me to two lockers that still had vests, helmets, and a laser gun, then slipped off his suit jacket.
“Come on, boy, let’s show these amateurs how it’s done.”
A young man no older than me turned toward us. His shaggy blond hair stuck out from under his helmet and his grin stretched across his entire face. “Hey, Daire! Brought us some prey this time, huh?”
