Remington's Tower

by Katharine Sadler

  Harrison gave me a little squeeze. “You don’t want me, Remy. You want that idiot who just stormed away.”

  I gasped. “How do you know that?”

  “I have eyes, baby. Besides, I don’t do the dating thing. I do the let’s have a good time tonight and pretend we don’t know each other tomorrow thing. And you’re too much of a good girl for that.” His gaze was snagged by a girl jogging by in shorts and a sports bra. She noticed him and smiled when he winked at her.

  I wondered if I could be the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. The truth was I hadn’t been out in the world long enough to know what type I was. I considered going home with Harrison for some uncomplicated fun and a chance to experience sex, but just the thought of kissing him when I wanted Worthy made me feel wrong and a bit dirty. I slumped. “Yeah, I am a good girl. And I’m a virgin.” I slapped a hand over my mouth. “Oh, my god, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I seem to have come down with some sort of virus of the rambling sort.”

  Harrison laughed. “It’s okay. I like your honesty. Most people are pretending to be someone they aren’t.”

  “I like you, too, Harrison. I like you so much, I’m going to bring you back to my suite and introduce you to all the hot girls who live there.”

  ***

  I guess I had a romantic vision of studying in my dorm room and reality is a jerkweed that will kick you when you’re down. It was Saturday and I didn’t have to work, so I’d planned to spend the whole day studying, but Frankie wanted to chat. I’d also slept in probably later than I should have, met Byron for lunch, and unpacked the rest of my clothes. So, it was now after seven and I was finally getting down to studying and Frankie, who’d managed her time much better and was done studying, wanted to chat.

  “I mean, I barely talked to him at all and he just made this arbitrary judgment about me,” Frankie said, interrupting my reading about cellular structure for the third time. “You don’t think I’m too nice, do you?”

  I really regretted ever bringing Harrison around to meet my suitemates. “You already told me you don’t like him, so why do you care what he thinks?”

  Frankie dropped her head into her pillow and mumbled something.

  I considered ignoring her, since I couldn’t actually hear what she was saying, but I kind of felt bad for the girl. She’d had a rough few first days. Some guy had shoved her into a wall and she had a gnarly bruise on her side. She claims he didn’t even realize he’d done it, said she’s invisible. “Frankie, I can’t hear you through the pillow.”

  She looked up at me, her face flaming red. “I think he’s really cute.”

  I spun around in my chair and faced her. “You said you don’t like him.”

  “I don’t like him. He’s horrible. He’s so flirty and I’m pretty sure everything he said was a lie.”

  I bit back a laugh. “He’s not a bad guy, Frankie. It’s okay if you like him.”

  “I don’t like him,” she said, sounding somewhere in the ballpark of snippy, though I’d never heard her be anything but sweet as pumpkin pie before. “I’m just, you know, attracted to him, or whatever.”

  “And you care what he thinks of you,” I said.

  She gave a little growl and dropped her face back into the pillow. “What is wrong with me?”

  “Nothing is wrong with you. You can’t control hormones, sweetie. We’ve established that you don’t like him, so you probably only care about what he thinks because you feel the need for him to be attracted to you in return.”

  She pulled her face out of the pillow and looked at me. “You really think so?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I do.”

  She sniffled. “Okay. Sorry to interrupt your reading.”

  I spun around and returned to cellular structure. I loved learning and, even if I didn’t, I wasn’t going to fail college and risk getting sent back to live with my uncle.

  “Hey, ladies,” Bell said, sticking her head in the door. “I heard there’s an ice cream party going on downstairs if you’re interested. It’s freee.” She actually sang the last part.

  I should have refused and kept studying, but really, who turns down free ice cream?

  “I’m in,” I said. “Does this mean we’re going to meet our other suitemates tonight?”

  Bell shrugged. “I haven’t seen them. My roommate’s always with her boyfriend, and the other two are MIA.”

  “Have you met any of them?” I asked Frankie. I was nosy, I admit it.

  Frankie nodded. “I have a class with Selene. I tried to talk to her, but the professor walked in and Selene shushed me.”

  “She shushed you?” I asked.

  “She did it politely,” Frankie said, dropping her eyes to the floor.

  “Well, in that case…What about after class?”

  “She ran off, saying she had to get to work,” Frankie said. “I guess she’s not very social.”

  Bell put an arm around Frankie’s shoulders. “Don’t take it personally, sugar. She works crazy long hours, and I think she’s really stressed about school.”

  Frankie nodded, and wrapped an arm around Bell’s waist. “More ice cream for us.”

  I followed them out and down the hall to the courtyard. There were crowds of people milling around and about five tables of ice cream and toppings. I spotted Harrison standing by a tree, flirting with some girl in denim shorts and a halter top. I didn’t want to interrupt his game, so I headed for the ice cream, but he shouted my name and waved me over.

  “Aren’t you a sophomore?” I asked when I got to him. “Pretty sure this party is for freshmen only.”

  He looked around with an amused smile, and denim shorts girl glared at me like I was the one who’d interrupted her flirtation. “Really? I don’t see any signs forbidding upperclassmen.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. “Have you gotten any ice cream, yet?”

  “Yeah, let’s get some ice cream,” denim shorts girl said. Harrison ignored us both and stared at something over my shoulder. I turned to see a crowd of students and had no idea who he was eying up.

  “Hello, Harrison?” I said. “Want to get some ice cream?”

  “I’m not here for ice cream,” he said. Denim shorts girl giggled like he’d made a joke. “I came to see if you and your friends wanted to go to a party with me tonight.”

  “What kind of party?” I asked.

  “I love parties,” denim shorts girl said in a breathy voice. “And I’m a lot more fun than her.” She looked me up and down like I had something grotesque stuck to my clothing. I checked, but I was gross stuff free.

  Harrison looked at her like he’d forgotten she was standing right next to him. “I’m sure you do and I’m sure you are, but this is a private party.”

  “Those are my favorite kind.” Denim shorts girl ran a finger up Harrison’s arm. He shuddered and shook her off.

  “I can only bring one person, sorry,” Harrison said. When denim shorts girl kept looking at him hopefully, he sighed. “You seem really nice and you’re gorgeous, but I can’t take you to this party.”

  Denim shorts girl should have been mad at Harrison, since he was the one who’d dissed her, but she turned her angry face to me. “When you get bored with the hippy,” she said to Harrison. “Come find me. I’m in room 312.”

  She stuck her chin in the air and stalked off. I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or be annoyed. If I thought being called a hippy was an insult, I might have gotten irritated, but I’d been called much worse.

  Harrison watched her go and shook his head. I wasn’t sure if his expression was relief or regret, but he turned back to me without a word about her. “It’s not a party, exactly. It’s more like a paintball tournament in the dark. A bunch of my friends and I go about once a month, and I thought you girls might like to join us.”

  My heart pounded with anticipation, and I had to swallow hard not to start jumping up and down in excitement. Growing up in the mountains of West Virginia in a family of men who lo
ved to hunt, I hadn’t had much choice about learning to handle a gun. I was a pretty good shot and I’d been dying to try paintball. “Yes, please,” I said, trying to sound demure. I didn’t want him to know I was excited or that I knew how to shoot. No reason to let him know ahead of time that he was going to lose. “I would love to give paintball a try. Do those little balls of paint hurt when they hit?”

  Harrison smiled wide enough to crack his face. “Hell, yeah, they do. Do you think Frankie and that other girl want to go?”

  Oh, no. “Look, Harrison,” I said. “I like you. I really do, but stay the hell away from Frankie.”

  He didn’t even bother to try to look annoyed. His smile turned predatory with wolfish enjoyment. “You scared I’m going to debauch her?”

  “She’s a nice girl, Harrison, and she’s my friend. She’s not some girl you just sleep with and toss aside.”

  Finally, he looked annoyed. “What makes you think that’s all I want?”

  I just stared at him. I might not know much about living in the real world or modern social mores, but Harrison had told me himself that he didn’t date and I was pretty positive Frankie wasn’t a casual hook-up kind of girl. “Frankie’s the kind of girl you date,” I said. “She’s not the ‘good time tonight and pretend I don’t know you tomorrow’ kind of girl.” I bent my fingers to make air quotes where needed.

  Harrison smirked. “Maybe she doesn’t know what kind of girl she is,” he said. “Maybe she needs someone to help her find her way.”

  “No, no, no,” I said, hoping he was joking. “I like you and I like Frankie, and I don’t want to have to choose sides when it goes bad.”

  “I never leave a woman unhappy,” he said.

  “How would you know?” I asked. “If you don’t stick around to find out?”

  He grinned. “I’ve never had any complaints.” He must have seen the genuine concern on my face, because he shook his head and got serious. “Don’t worry, Remy. I have no intention of tarnishing that angel’s halo.”

  “Remy, you’ve got to get some ice cream,” Bell said. I turned to see her and Frankie strolling toward us, both with big bowls.

  “I’ve got something even better,” I said, giving both her and Frankie encouraging smiles. Frankie’s gaze seemed to be stuck on Harrison, so I poked her shoulder. She re-focused on me, her cheeks pinking a bit. “Harrison’s invited us to play paint ball in the dark, tonight!” I said. I couldn’t help it, I jumped up and down a couple of times.

  “Really?” Bell said. “That sounds like one of my worst nightmares. I’m going to stay here and enjoy a second, and maybe a third, bowl of ice cream.”

  I scowled at her, but she just smiled sweetly. “Frankie, you in?”

  Frankie nodded. “Sure, I’ve never played before, but it sounds like fun.”

  Bell stepped toe to toe with Harrison. “How do I know you aren’t going to drive my friends down some country road, murder them, and cut their bodies up into little pieces?”

  Harrison looked at me, but I just shrugged. Bell made a good point. “Um, you have a scarily vivid imagination,” Harrison said. “But I promise I have only the best of intentions. Remy’s brother knows me, call him.”

  “He’s my cousin,” I said. “And how do you know him?”

  Harrison shrugged. “I’ve seen him around. He’s played paintball with us a couple of times.”

  I really didn’t want to call Byron and tell him what we were doing, but Bell was glaring at me and tapping her foot like a worried mother, so I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dialed. My cousin answered freaky fast, like he’d been waiting for me to call, or he was watching me and had seen me take out my phone.

  “Hey, sis, what’s up?” he asked, sounding way too chipper.

  “Do you know a guy named Harrison. Harrison…” I looked at Harrison.

  He rolled his eyes. “Hunt.”

  “Harrison Hunt. Seriously? That sounds like a total porn name.”

  Harrison gave me the finger and Byron laughed in my ear. “I said the same thing when he told me his name. Yeah, I know him.” He sighed. “Please tell me you aren’t going out with him, because I have to tell you, sis, Harrison is the player’s player and I really—”

  “No, I’m definitely not even remotely interested in Harrison in any romantic way.” As much fun as it would have been to tease my cousin, I just wanted Bell to let us go play paintball. “He wants to take me and Frankie to play paint ball in the woods.”

  “Who’s Frankie? Please tell me you aren’t already seeing someone.”

  Again, I was beyond tempted to tease him, but I managed to restrain myself. “No, she’s my roommate. About the paint ball…?”

  “Yeah, it’s all good. I’ve played before. Just let me talk to Harrison right quick.”

  For all his book-learnin’ Byron still talked like a country boy when it suited him. I handed the phone over to Harrison and he listened, said yes three times, hung up and handed back my phone. “We’re all good.” He looked at Bell. “Satisfied, mother?”

  Bell gave him a sweet smile. “As I’ll ever be, I suppose. Have fun, children.”

  We hugged Bell goodbye and got in Harrison’s car. I sat in the back, so I could share Frankie’s ice cream. “No, really,” Harrison said. “I’ll just chauffer you ladies to paintball. And don’t bother offering me any ice cream. I’m just the driver.”

  “Oh, I’m sorr—” Frankie started, but I elbowed her in the side. She looked at me with wide eyes, and I gave her an apologetic smile. It was easy to forget how sensitive she could be.

  “Are you going to whine this much during paint ball, Harrison? Cause if you are, I’m signing on with the other team.”

  “I’d love it if you joined the other team, Remy, because then I could kick your ass,” Harrison said. “Harrison Hunt is my father’s and my grandfather’s name, and it in no way sounds porny.”

  “Harrison Hunt, the third,” I said in a sultry voice, waggling my eyebrows at him in the rearview mirror.

  He shook his head and chose to ignore me.

  Luckily, Harrison stopped to pick up two more guys so I didn’t have to keep trash-talking him all the way to the paintball field. The other two guys were tall and thin, but they looked tough. They chatted with Harrison about some class the three of them had together, and Frankie and I enjoyed her ice cream in peace.

  About twenty minutes later, the sun had set and Harrison turned down a bumpy dirt road and started driving into the forest. “Um,” I said. “Where exactly are we going?” I was comfortable in the woods, but I’d expected us to end up in a more civilized locale.

  “This is Herc’s property,” Harrison said. “He and I went to high school together, and he lets us use his woods for our paintball tournaments.”

  “Will he be playing?”

  Harrison’s brow twisted. “He usually doesn’t. Worthy said he’d stop over early and try to talk him into it, but I haven’t heard if he’s been successful or not.

  My heart skipped a little. “Worthy?” I asked. “Worthy’s involved in these paintball tournaments?”

  Harrison choked back a laugh. “Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that?”

  “And he’s going to be here tonight?”

  Harrison shrugged. “Probably. But he’ll be on the other team.”

  Harrison parked the car in the middle of nothing, as far as I could tell, and everyone piled out. It was pitch dark, and I couldn’t see anything. Frankie stumbled out of the car with me, and clung to my arm. “Is it too late to back out?” she asked.

  “It’s fine,” I said, trying to sound calm, but wondering what the hell I’d gotten us into.

  Harrison’s laugh erupted next to me, and I almost jumped out of my skin as he grabbed my elbow and led me away from the car. I grabbed Frankie’s hand and pulled her with us. After a few moments, my eyes adjusted enough that I could make out trees and bushes in the light of the full moon. We followed Harrison to a barn, and got outfitted
with coveralls, full-face goggles, body armor, gloves, and yellow armbands. Harrison explained that the enemy would be wearing red armbands. One of Harrison’s friends handed us each high-tech paintball guns. “Where is everyone else?” I asked, since it was just the five of us in the barn.

  “They’re already in the woods,” Harrison said. “We’re a bit late, so they’ve probably got a gnarly ambush set up for us.”

  Despite my mixed feelings about running into Worthy, I couldn’t help the excitement I felt at finding out what kind of ambush they’d set up and how I’d elude it. “Stick with me,” I said to Frankie. She looked badass in her paintball goggles, and her eyes crinkled like she was grinning under her face mask. She seemed to have a secret wild side.

  Harrison and his friends took off at a run, hooting and hollering, and acting like idiots. I kept Frankie close and followed them at a slow jog. We were on a dirt path wide enough for a four wheeler, so there was no worry about tripping on tree roots or getting hit in the face with branches. The scent of earth and pine filled my nostrils, and I felt something inside me relax in recognition of a beloved, familiar place. A couple hundred yards in, the trail narrowed and we saw our first camouflaged blind. We slowed to a walk and tried to make out any signs of trouble in the dark. A whoop made Frankie jump and my heart beat faster. The sound had come from our right, so we headed that way. About ten feet farther on, the forest was lit by man-made lights strung up in the trees. I pulled Frankie back into the dark forest, where we wouldn’t be such easy targets, and we continued to head in the direction the sound had come from.

  The farther we got into the woods, the more lights we found. Frankie and I were just about to step into a circle of light when I heard a twig snap. It could have been a squirrel, but we weren’t in any hurry, so I pulled Frankie down into the bushes next to me, and we waited.

  Not more than ten seconds passed before a male figure moved into the light. I couldn’t see his armband, because he was turned away from us. “Get ready,” I whispered to Frankie. “You take the shot as soon as you see his armband.” The guy wasn’t much smaller than a barn, and I didn’t see how she could miss him.