by K. F. Breene
Perry looked at Sean cockeyed. Sean just shrugged. “Sounded cool.”
Krista winked at Perry and the other guy who she’d never met, but had made fun of for his weird belt buckle, and started off at a fast jog. Sean was right behind her. Krista motioned for him to go to the left and run. They would have to divide their shooting.
Onward they went, loving it, the thrill of it, being on the same team and showing off for each other. Sean had obviously continued the routine because he was keeping pace with her easily. So she sped up to make it more interesting. They were bounding over objects and swerving around trees like a couple of frightened deer, having the time of their lives. The beach was nice, but she missed all the green of Seattle. This felt like home.
There was a rustle off to their right. Krista motioned for Sean to cut back and head around, giving it a wide birth. She angled that way as fire broke out, but seemingly not pointed in their direction. It looked like one guy was shooting toward three or four others. One region must have made a stand together. Dumb.
Sean ducked behind a bush; Krista did the same. They waited for the solo guy to get taken down. It looked like he took two guys with him. They waited longer for the other guys to laugh and start moving around, getting comfortable again in their ring of bushes. And then, when the white flag guys started walking off, Sean gave the signal.
They both started sprinting toward the two remaining guys. Krista took the one on the right, leaving the one on the left for Sean. When he started firing, she did likewise. The guys were so surprised by the blast of activity, the one closest to Krista shot his teammate. He was trying to get his gun up and pushed the trigger too early.
Hopefully he wasn’t a hunter.
Shocked stares replaced white flags as Sean and Krista swept by them, hardly slowing. Krista gave them a wave and looked to Sean, who quickly dove into a bush. She immediately threw herself behind the two guys they had just shot.
“What are you doing?” It was that tall guy with the flood pants.
“Hiding,” she said, looking at Sean crouched behind foliage. He did some fancy finger work, telling her he found three guys huddling not far from where he was. Krista was to run around them, he would cover her.
“Gotta go, guys,” she said as she sprung up and started running at a breakneck pace.
She spotted the prey as she ran. They were huddled behind a tree and a cluster of bushes, looking around to determine what that strange thumping sound was. How long has it been since they heard someone running?
Krista brought her gun up to shoot when she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Without thinking, she reached out, grabbed a tree branch, and swung herself around. As she let go, falling into some scratchy bushes, she heard rapid fire hit the tree she had just run by. It was a narrow miss, but she didn’t have time for the replay. After the bone jarring thunk and tumble landing, she popped up like a Prairie Dog and shot at the moving object.
It was Ron from New York. He was flying solo. Well, now he was flying back to base because she got him with all three shots, center mass. And based on how he clutched his chest, it looked like it stung.
Shooting sounded behind her—Sean must have thought her firing was at the group. She bounded up and was off, hoping to get to Sean in time to shoot someone—this game was great for aggression.
When she got there, he was huddled behind a tree as a stocky fellow with an intense comb-over went whole-hog firing at him. It was an easy shot. Right in the back.
Upon impact, the guy arched his back and turned around with his mouth open. Krista was already running by. Sean popped out to join, keeping pace with eyes constantly roving.
They spent the next ten minutes running around, using hand signs, smiling, and looking for people to shoot. As they ran, they became less cautious. If they got shot, it wouldn’t have really put them out. Krista nearly wanted to shoot at Sean just to see if he would dodge in time.
Finally, they heard, “PLEASE REPORT BACK TO BASE,” over the loud speaker.
Sean and Krista both slowed to a stop.
“Is that it?” he panted.
“You need to keep running compadre,” Krista said, hardly out of breath.
“How do you stay in such good shape?” he asked, bending over and putting his hands on his knees.
“My question is, if it wasn’t for us, would anyone have been shot? All the other teams were just sitting around, hiding.”
Sean shrugged. “Good way to keep points.”
“Our way was the better way to win, though.”
“Our way is always better, Geegee, don’t you know that by now?” Sean said with a laugh.
They walked back to base, taking their time. Krista didn’t want to leave the seclusion of the trees. Sean wanted to catch his breath. After a few yards, Sean asked, “Where are you going?”
Krista stopped and blinked at him. “Back to base? Following you? I don’t know…”
Sean smiled and walked in the opposite direction. “Base is this way, Pet.”
She had no idea where she was, having no sense of direction, so she let Sean lead. She hadn’t felt this close to him in so long, it put a lump in her throat. Also, the unique term of endearment. She definitely didn’t want to leave the seclusion of the trees.
But the woods couldn’t last forever. As they walked out of the trees, they were met with all the regions lined up, talking and laughing and wanting to get off of their over-burdened feet. L.A. region had everyone accounted for but Marcus, who either got injured and was on his way to the hospital, or was still out in the trees somewhere sitting very still.
Bob eyed Krista as they walked up, noticing the lack of paint, and looked at Sean with a smirk. What he was thinking was clear. Sean played hero.
Krista wondered if she tripped and accidently shot him in the face, if she would get in trouble…
“There he is.” Janice pointed.
Marcus was walking out of the tree line laughing and joking with one of the guys from Texas. Neither of them had paint on them.
“Everyone that did not get shot, please step forward,” The ref said.
Sean and Krista walked to Marcus. The guy from Texas was it from his region, and there was one guy from New York—Krista was happy to see it wasn’t Blake. Everyone was counted and told they had the rest of the day off. Dinner was at 7, cocktail hour started at 6.
“I could have guessed you two would be unscathed,” Marcus said as they started walking back. Georgie and Donald fell in with them.
“How did you make it?” Krista asked.
“It was great, doll. I climbed a tree. I sat there and shot people as they wandered too close. No one ever thinks to look up.”
“I certainly didn’t,” Sean said as he leisurely reached his arm up to put it around Krista’s shoulders. It wasn’t until the last second that he caught himself and put it back down, slightly embarrassed.
It seemed so natural that it only caught Krista’s attention when he stopped and pulled it back down. No one seemed to notice but the two of them, thankfully.
“What about you guys?” Georgie asked.
“Did you follow the strategy?” Donald added.
“No, actually,” Sean replied. “We went with Geegee’s strategy. We were always on the move. We figured they were used to objects running away if they hunted, so we ran toward them.”
“Except if they were ex-military,” Donald countered.
“Hadn’t thought of that.” Krista pondered.
Sean just shrugged. Didn’t really matter to him.
“How did you know what to do? I mean, together?” Georgie asked. “Dean and me tried to work together, but as soon as we yelled back and forth, we got hit right away.”
“Navy Seal hand signs,” Sean stated as they entered the lobby.
“Where did you learn Navy Seal hand signs?” Donald asked in disbelief.
Krista answered, “I thought it would be cool to know them once, so I looked it up and lea
rned it. Then I made Sean learn it when we lived in San Francisco. So really, it could be gibberish, but it was the same gibberish, so it worked.”
“And you let her teach you something you probably never thought you’d use?” Marcus asked Sean.
“She was naked. How could I say no?” he answered with a laugh. Krista punched him on the arm. It was actually true, but he didn’t need to advertise it. They were getting a little too liberal with their personal information.
Sean, Marcus, Janice, and Krista all got off on the fifth floor. The others said they’d see them in a little while. The boys, who were rooming together, headed to their room. Janice and Krista headed to their own. Krista wanted a nap before dinner. Plus, she had to get ready. No time to spare.
Sean wasn’t allowed to follow.
Chapter Eighteen
It was twenty minutes to six and Krista was in a bustle to finish up. She did her hair in a loose curl. It was casual, but still elegant. For makeup, she did a smoky eye and neutral blush and lip. She walked out of the bathroom in her black bra and panty set with the intention of putting on her dress and heading down. Instead, she walked out, saw Sean sitting on the bed waiting for her, and froze.
He looked up, his eyes flashing as he held her. His eyes traveled slowly over all exposed flesh, working down her body, lingering on her lacy panties, then back up, lingering on her breasts, and then mouth.
Krista quickly stepped back into the bathroom. The only other option was just as quickly step closer to him. She didn’t have much control left, so she had to exercise it while she did.
“Privacy?” she asked loudly.
“That’s what a bathroom is for,” he said with a deep, husky voice.
“Well, I need to put on the dress. Would you mind f-ing off so I can do that?”
“Not at all.”
Krista peeked her head out and caught him still sitting on the bed, looking her way with a small smile. When he met her eyes, his mouth twitched up into a mischievous smirk.
“Busted,” he said quietly. His phone rang as he was getting up.
“Hello?” he asked, slowly sauntering into the outer room. Janice must’ve been elsewhere or she never would have let Sean in the bedroom part of the room.
Krista snuck out, grabbed her dress, and ran back to the bathroom. She eavesdropped to Sean’s phone call as she slipped into it.
“What’s up?...I’m in Krista’s room. She’s getting dressed…The red one…I don’t know, it’s red. And sparkly…Marcus, I don’t know about these things. It was on the bed. She’s putting it on now…Hang on—Krista?”
“What?” she yelled.
“Is the red dress the conservative one, or the slutty one?”
“Conservative.”
“Marcus?...Yeah, it’s the conservative one…I’m sure it will. She looks good in anything—wait, here she comes now…” Sean took the phone away from his ear and looked at her. His eyes, once good-natured, turned soft. “You look beautiful, Krista. As always.”
She smiled like a dumb girl. Hearing you’re beautiful is always nice.
“Thanks,” she muttered sheepishly.
Sean smiled at her, let his eyes travel her body again, then turned back to the outer room and put the phone to his ear. “Marcus?...Yeah, she looks great…I don’t know what frumpy is…”
“Tell him I do not look frumpy!” Krista yelled as she looked for earrings.
“She says she doesn’t look frumpy…I don’t know. Listen, we’ll be down in fifteen or less…Yeah, fine…What?”
Sean glanced back toward Krista then hunched slightly and went out of view.
“It wasn’t my idea,” he said lowering his voice.
Krista naturally listened harder.
“No—I tried but you know how she is…” He must have been talking about the dunk tank. “I don’t know. She made the best of it, I think, but it got to her. Then that fuck-stick Blake’s comment… I know. I’d love to rip his arms out of his sockets and beat him with them. Tory heard about it and was furious. If Krista wanted to, she could sue for sexual harassment, and no matter what attorney Tory found, she would win…I know. Ron apologized to her, so that was good, but it just reinforced how she was feeling the whole time here, you know? I can see the strain on her…Yeah, listen, I’ll see you in a while. She’s bound to be finished…” After a pause Sean sighed dramatically. “Fine. Krista, what shoes are you wearing?”
“What?” she called. She didn’t want him to think she heard the whole conversation. It was important to be sneaky when one was up to no good.
“Shoes—what kind of shoes?” Sean walked back into the room.
Krista held out her foot for inspection. As he looked at them with a furrowed brow, he said into the phone, “Red ones… Christ Marcus, I don’t know. They have a heel, they’re red, and I can see her foot a little…“
“Tell him the peep-toe, three inch heel. They match the dress perfectly.”
“I hate this,” Sean said to Krista while holding his cell phone away from his head a little. Then he haltingly repeated what Krista had said. “Why don’t you just—“ Sean apparently got cut off, then rolled his eyes. “Fine. Krista, wear the black strappy ones.”
“I don’t have those. I left them at home.”
“She doesn’t-- … Krista, Marcus had Jasmine put them in your bag. Wear those instead. And hurry up, there is too much estrogen crossing my path, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”
Krista groaned and went back to her bag. Marcus was getting way overbearing now. She found the shoes he was talking about, but before she could drag them out, Sean asked, “Did you find them? Because if not, there are some silver ones.”
“Tell Martha I found them.”
Sean smiled and relayed the message. “He called you a homophobe.”
“Tell him Martha is my mom’s name. If I called him Mary, then that’s another story.”
“Marcus?...Yeah, Martha is her mom’s name. Be pissed when she calls you Mary.” Sean paused a second and laughed. “Alright man, see you in a bit. Oh and hey, how do the other girls look?...Hmmm. Alright, see you down there.”
“You can’t wait to check them out yourself?” Krista asked casually, pretending she didn’t have her heart in her black strappy sandals with the four-inch heel.
“I can wait for that, yes. I was wondering if you would be the belle of the ball.”
“Uh huh.”
“I wanted to be prepared for how many people turned and looked when we walked in.”
“Oh, you’re going to walk in with me this time?” Sarcasm.
Krista was trying to get her necklace fastened while trying not to be upset, when Sean stepped up behind her and took it out of her hands.
“Yes,” he said quietly as he slowly whisked her hair away from her neck. He let his fingers trail across her exposed skin, giving her shivers of delight. He clasped her necklace to fasten it, and then stepped a hair closer and looked at her reflection in the mirror over her shoulder.
“I’ve been trying to give you some space. I didn’t want everyone to think we were sleeping together. Instead I think I made you feel isolated.”
Krista turned around and looked up at him; into his vivid, fathomless green eyes. She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. How had she lived without this man? Why couldn’t she just make the leap again?
“So now you don’t care if they think we are sleeping together?” she asked softly, tilting her head up as she looked longingly at those full, kissable lips.
Sean broke out in a sweat.
“No. But more importantly, they realize we work well together, and they realize you aren’t just a pretty little puppet I control,” he murmured, his head dropping slightly toward hers.
“Not everyone realizes that,” she whispered.
“No, not everyone. Rome wasn’t built in a day…Krista, do you want to cross this line? I feel like you still aren’t sure.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I do want to, bu
t…it’s complicated.”
Sean closed the gap between them, but instead of the lustful kiss filled with desire she was expecting, he gave her a light, supportive kiss. Then took a step back, his soft eyes still locked with hers.
“If you aren’t sure, I don’t want to push this. I will wait for your decision about us, good or bad.”
In frustration, Krista shook her head. “Look, Sean…I just don’t know that I can trust you for the long haul, you know? But maybe we can keep it physical and I’ll come around?”
The heat went out of Sean’s eyes. “I really messed up, didn’t I?”
“Can I lie and say ‘no’ so I can get some action?”
Sean gave her a sad smile. “No, Pet. It doesn’t work like that. I wish to God it did, but you’ll just shut down. We are all or nothing, both of us.”
Krista sighed, the wetness between her legs suddenly out of place. “Let’s get out of here. How is Marcus doing with your intel?”
“Better than good, actually. The guy’s current best friend is the biggest bitch in all the company. She also works for New York.”
“So…you’re in.”
Sean’s smile blotted out the sun. “I’m better than in. Snake in the grass.”
“Why do you hate New York so much?”
“I don’t hate them. But they are the big cats. They are the Titanic. I want to be the iceberg. Well, I mean, without death. I want to be the big gun on campus. Uh, also without death…”
“Yikes. Forget I asked.”
They were walking toward the bar for cocktail hour. There were a lot of guys standing around in their usual clusters, most with a beverage of some type in their hands. As they walked into the hollow area of the hotel, crossing the open space toward the happy hour-goers, Krista remembered what Sean and Marcus were talking about.
“What did Marcus say about the other girls? Am I overdressed?”
Sean had chosen to wear slacks and a loose fitting, long sleeved, button down shirt. She could barely make out his pecks or biceps, which usually stood out in anything. He still had a smooth, easy saunter as they drew closer, ever confident. More and more eyes turned their way at the progression.