He chuckled, pushing his floppy hair out of his eyes. “Actually, I was going to say because I don’t get to see you.”
“Oh…that, too.” Flirting failure. She’d totally missed that one. Ben: one. Katie: zero. “Well, maybe I could come in during the week sometime. For that cup o’ joe. You know…so you can see me,” she explained, just in case it wasn’t obvious enough that she was flirting.
He laughed. “Yeah, I got the inference.”
Inference? She’d never heard anyone use that word so casually. He wasn’t just good looking but smart, too.
“And that sounds like a good idea,” he added. He slid her finished coffee onto the counter between them, along with a scone on a plate.
Katie blinked. “Oh, I didn’t order a scone.”
“I thought you loved them.”
“I do,” she said.
His mouth quirked into a smile. “Then it’s on me.”
“Thanks, Barista Ben.” Her cheeks tingled with heat.
“You know, sometimes people just call me Ben. Consider it like an alias or something.”
“What? And miss the perfect opportunity for alliteration fun?” I can be smart, too, she thought, and flashed him what she hoped was a flirty smile.
Someone approached the counter behind her to order, so she had to leave, but it was probably for the best. She was all out of flirt moves. Not that she’d done a great job, but she hadn’t thrown up or run away screaming, so she counted it as a win. It was all thanks to that article, “Flirting 101.”
She headed back to her station with a bit of swagger in her step. When she sat down and took a bite of her flirting scone, she noticed a new message flashing on her screen.
She took a sip of her coffee—Barista Ben really did make the best coffee—and read it. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one making progress. Alex was ready to move forward with Lexi.
After a moment, she felt his gaze on her. When she looked at him, he raised his eyebrows, like “so?”
Sighing, she typed a response. Step three? Group date?
Katie glanced at Lexi. She supposed it had been long enough. She didn’t know why she was delaying the next step. Besides, she was supposed to be putting herself out there, too, right? Maybe a group date was exactly what she needed.
There was a magical tinkling in her headphones, announcing Pizzalover’s return to their team’s location. The sorceress appeared in a swirl of dark smoke, having transported from miles away, when in reality, Trevor had never left his seat across the table.
“Hey everyone, I’m back,” he said once his mic reconnected with the team.
“Did the wizard in Swamp’s End have anything for you?” Alex asked.
He shook his head. “I only got to talk to him for a few minutes before he was approached by one of the tavern wenches and left. He told me he hasn’t heard anything.”
Everyone grew quiet with this news, considering what it meant. They were still no closer to finding the key, and they didn’t know what to do next.
“Maybe we should split up,” Katie said finally. “We could spread out to the four corners of Caroon and look for anything unusual. We’ll cover more ground that way.” But even she was uncertain about this idea.
“We have to try something,” Trevor said, “because my friend gave me some bad news. Three out of the five entry positions are already taken. And that’s not all.” He hesitated, his focus honing in on Alex. “One of the teams that already qualified is CrushU.”
Katie heard the squeak of plastic and saw Alex’s hand tighten over his mouse.
Lexi glanced at everyone’s expressions. “Who?”
“SonicWarrior’s team,” Katie told her.
She eyed Alex, wondering if he was thinking about the possibility of meeting him in Vegas, of going head to head with the guy who betrayed his brother. Did he want revenge?
“Don’t worry,” she told him. “We’ll get in.”
He leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “How?”
“We’ll find a way,” Trevor said. “I’ll continue asking around, but for now, I’ve got to get to work. Sorry, guys.”
“I should go, too,” Penny said. “Mom’s bugging me to finish my homework.”
After they all said goodbye to Penny, Trevor packed up and left for work. When Katie went to close the private message that Alex had sent her, she could feel him looking at her. When she turned to face him, he eyed her expectantly; maybe there was even a hint of a plea.
Katie sighed but thought, Why not? “Hey Lexi, what are you doing tomorrow? We should do something.”
“Sure,” Lexi said. “Like what?”
“It’s supposed to be a nice day. Why don’t we do something outside? Maybe paintball.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Yeah, great idea,” Alex said, sounding a little surprised.
It wasn’t normally the kind of thing Katie would suggest, but well, she was going to Step six: Try new things. And Alex had looked so upset when he learned SonicWarrior had made it into the tournament. She figured it would cheer him up.
“So just the three of us?” Lexi asked.
“Well, paintball is kind of a team activity,” Katie said totally casually—at least, she hoped. “Hey, Alex. I’m sure you have a guy friend you could ask to join us. We could do a doubles thing.” She turned her own expectant eyes on him.
“Like a double date?” Lexi asked, looking a little reluctant.
“More like a group thing,” Katie assured her. “I can invite Leah and Oliver.”
“Sounds good,” Alex said. “I can’t really think of any guys off the top of my head to invite.”
“We kind of need even numbers for teams.” She widened her eyes at Alex. “You sure you can’t think of anyone. Like maybe one of your single guy friends?”
Alex looked like he was thinking for a minute. Finally, he shook his head. “Nope. Can’t think of anyone.” It was like he wasn’t understanding on purpose.
Katie gave him a blank look. “No one? Not one guy friend?”
“Well, most will probably be busy, seeing as how they’re single, and it’s the weekend.”
Ugh, really? He was just going to leave her hanging when the group date was to help him get closer to Lexi?
“Well that’s okay,” Lexi said. “There’ll just be five of us.” She shrugged like “no big deal.” When neither of them disagreed, she excused herself to go to the restroom.
The moment she was out of earshot, Katie gave Alex a look. “What was that?” she hissed.
Alex shrugged. “What was what?”
“Thanks.” She crossed her arms. “Why do I always have to be the fifth wheel?”
“You’re not the fifth wheel. It’ll be fun. It’s a group thing, right?”
“It’s a group date and you know it. And me without a date, like usual.” Katie scowled, but her next words were cut off when the espresso machine kicked in, filling the café with its high-pitched whistling. Then an idea hit her.
She glanced at the counter where Barista Ben was making a latte. Wasn’t she supposed to be working on getting a date herself? Wasn’t that the whole point of the New Katie? No one could make her the outgoing person she wanted to be. She had to do it herself.
“Actually,” she said, a slow smile growing on her lips. “I don’t need your help finding a date.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
Instead of answering, she slipped her Bodaciously Bold lipstick from her pocket and reapplied. Turning, she marched straight up to the counter. By the time she got there, her palms were sweaty, her chest was heaving, and even her lips were shaking as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Hey, are you free tomorrow?” she asked Ben.
He leaned on the counter. “Yes, I am.”
She liked how he didn’t ask “why,” because it made her feel more confident to open her mouth again. “We’re going to play paintball. Do you want to come?”
“Sure.” He grinned. “It’s a date.”
“Cool,” is all she managed, because she thought she might pass out if she used up any more oxygen on words. Grabbing a coffee cup sleeve, she used the Sharpie by the register to write her number down on it. She passed it to Ben before she turned and walked away, trying out one of Alex’s “I’m too cool” walks.
On her way back to the computers, she noticed Lexi had returned from the bathroom. She must have seen her epic dating score because her eyes flicked from Katie back to Ben, narrowing slightly.
Katie gave her a triumphant smile. However, Lexi was anything but impressed. A wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows, and a frown formed on her full lips, tugging at her dimples. Confused, Katie looked to Alex, but strangely, he seemed even less impressed. He scowled, his mouth twisting like he’d bitten his tongue, then turned and walked away.
Chapter Six
Katie ran through the trees, dodging underbrush and ducking beneath branches. A burst of rapid shots sounded nearby. The air whistled near her head. Milliseconds later, bright pink paint sprayed across the wall of plywood behind her.
Rounding a tree, she ducked behind it. She pressed herself against it hard enough that she could feel the bark scratch through her coveralls, like that would help hide her better. She peered around the trunk and saw Ben heading her way. Even with the mask, she could tell it was him by the way his hair flopped around while he ran.
He scanned the trees. When he spotted her, he waved his gun like it was a friendly hello. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to shoot you now.”
“Ha! You’ll have to catch me first.”
Pushing away from the tree, she weaved through the sparse forest, in and out of wooden bunkers and sheets of corrugated metal that acted as cover. A couple shots fired close by. Ben cried out. Maybe he’d been hit, but just in case he was trying to trick her, Katie kept moving.
She surged forward, ignoring the stitch in her side. Through her fogging lens, she spotted safety ahead: a bunker made of stacked tires. As she heard another round of paintballs go off nearby, she dove for the structure.
She hit the ground hard, rolling in the grass to a stop. The next few rounds thunked heavily against the tires, and she curled up behind them to avoid the splatter. The shots died off as the enemy realized they were wasting ammo. She was safe. For now.
Dropping her gun, Katie massaged the stitch in her side as she caught her breath. Her heart was racing almost as fast as when she’d asked Barista Ben to play paintball. While they might have been on opposite teams, trying to annihilate each other, it was still a group date.
Something rustled in the bushes nearby. Katie rolled onto her back, groping for her gun. She scrambled to cock it and aim.
Her eyes flitted over the trees around her. Camo coveralls peeked between trunks. Her finger grazed the trigger just as a green armband flashed in the afternoon light.
Lexi gasped when she saw Katie’s gun and raised hers in a sign of peace. “Whoa there. Watch the friendly fire.” Her voice came out all muffled from the mask, but her amusement was clear.
Katie groaned and flopped back on the ground. “That was close.”
A paintball whizzed by. Lexi dropped to her stomach, worming along the ground until she was behind the bunker with Katie.
Somehow, they’d ended up on the same team. In fact, all the girls did. Alex wanted to be on Lexi’s team, but Lexi wanted to be on Katie’s, and both Katie and Ben wanted to play together. After they’d all gone around in circles, trying to decide, Leah threw her hands up and said, “Why not girls against boys?!” So now no one was actually playing with their dates. Not that Lexi really knew she was on a date, which made Katie wonder if it counted at all.
“Any luck out there?” Katie asked.
“Yeah,” Lexi panted. “I just took Ben down.”
“That was you? Thanks. I thought I was a goner.”
Lexi checked her ammo. “Alex got the drop on me, though. I had to fall back.”
“Well, at least you got one of them,” she said, thinking Lexi really was good at everything. Katie hadn’t “killed” anyone yet. But then again, it was hard for her to win when she’d been curled in the fetal position for most of the game.
“I barely made it out of enemy territory alive. It’s a real battlefield out there,” Lexi said.
Katie’s stomach flipped at the words. Suddenly worried, she propped herself up on an elbow to face her.
“Lexi. I’m so sorry. I only suggested paintball because Alex loves it. I wasn’t even thinking. Are you okay with all this? You know, because of your dad?”
Lexi gave her a look so flat she could tell even through the mask. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not going to be overly sensitive about it anytime the topic comes up or we watch a war movie or play paintball. You can relax.” She pushed Katie’s shoulder playfully. “Actually, this was a great idea. It’s a lot of fun.”
Katie nudged her back. “Good.”
They fell into silence as they listened for the crunch of twigs or rustle of leaves. Neither of them seemed to be in a hurry to get shot at. Distant pop pop pop sounds interrupted their silence. Oliver laughed and Leah screamed. Katie assumed that meant it was just her and Lexi left on their team.
After a while, Lexi shifted positions again, turning to face Katie on her side. She picked at a blade of paint-stained grass. “So are you and Alex a thing?”
The question caught Katie off guard. Lexi hadn’t shown a lot of interest in Alex so far, at least not that Katie had seen—and Katie had been around a lot. For the last few weeks, she’d spent most of her free time helping Lexi to level up and playing Alex’s personal matchmaker. Maybe Lexi liked what she’d seen of Alex so far. That had been the plan all along, to help Alex and Lexi get to know each other. So why was Katie hesitating now when Lexi was finally showing interest?
Katie wished she could see the expression under Lexi’s mask. “Umm me and Alex a thing?” She laughed. “No. I mean he’s my best friend, but nothing more.”
So then why did it make her heart squeeze painfully when Lexi’s eyes smiled beneath her lens and she said, “Good?”
Pop. Pop. Pop. The tires next to their heads thundered with shots. They ducked, reaching for their guns.
“Our position has been compromised.” Lexi giggled. “They’re closing in on us. We need to split up.” She got to her feet, ducking low. “I’ll draw his firepower and try to take him out. You head into enemy territory this time. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.”
Before Katie could answer, Lexi was off, darting through trees, firing at the enemy. Katie crawled in the other direction. When she’d scurried behind a row of bushes, she scrambled to her feet and began to run. She didn’t know exactly where she was running to because she was terrible with directions.
Her random path brought her to a row of buildings made of plywood and barrels. She was pretty sure this was the other team’s side because she didn’t recognize anything. Gaze roving over the new area, she watched for movement. When she couldn’t see any signs of life, she crept toward the buildings.
Pressing her back against a plywood hut, she held her gun at the ready and peered around the corner. The coast was clear. She paused a moment to catch her breath and gather her nerve. Once she was ready, she had to force her feet to move away from safety and into the open.
It was quiet over here. Her footfalls sounded like drumbeats to her ears, her breathing like a siren. She hadn’t gone far before a noise tickled her straining ears. A scrape, maybe the scuff of a shoe. It sounded close by.
Sneaking up to the next break in bunkers, she peered around a steel drum. She blinked. It was Alex.
His back was turned to her. He was bent down, tying his shoelace.
Katie grinned triumphantly. She usually never got the drop on him. He was too good. Too competitive. Well, not this time.
She acted cool as she pointed the gun at him. She was about to say “Point-blank,” which was
nicer than actually shooting someone at point-blank. Then a twig cracked beneath her shoe.
Alex’s head snapped toward her. She barely had time to blink before his hand shot out to push her barrel away.
Katie flinched, and the gun went off. The paintball went wide.
She backpedaled, trying to put distance between them, but Alex reached out and gripped her gun. He tugged, and it slipped out of her hands. Tossing it aside, he reached for his own gun.
No! She’d been so close. She couldn’t let him win this time.
Lurching forward, Katie kicked his weapon. It skidded across the ground, stirring up dust. If only she could get to hers first.
Searching the area, she spotted her gun sticking out of a bush. She’d barely taken three steps toward it before she felt arms wrap around her.
A yelp escaped her as her feet left the ground. She was taken down swiftly but softly. Far too efficiently, she found herself lying on her back, staring up into Alex’s mask. Behind his lens, she could see his eyes smile and feel his body shake on top of hers.
He was laughing at her! Now she really wanted to shoot him.
Shoving him in the chest, Katie tried to worm away. The hilt of her gun was poking out of the shrub, so close that it was practically mocking her.
She reached for it. Her fingers grazed the grip, could feel the cold metal, but Alex grabbed her, dragging her out of reach again.
Katie grunted, squirming away, suddenly desperate to beat him, to prove something to him. But what? That she could be good at his interests like Lexi? Why did it matter so much?
As they struggled and wrestled on the ground, her mask was knocked half-off. She felt like she could finally breathe.
Alex pinned her legs beneath his so she couldn’t move. He grasped her wrists and held them above her head. She felt his muscular weight settle on top of her, and because she was so much smaller—not to mention less athletic—she knew she was beat.
With his spare hand, he slid his mask up enough so she could see his cocky grin and his eyes twinkling. “Looks like I win.” He laughed again, and his breath tickled her cheek.
Playing Her Secret Crush Page 7