The Game: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 3)

We draw names from a hat to pick the teams. Roman, by default, gets me first pick. Walker’s the leader for the other team and pulls Cadence from the hat.

She smiles over at me shyly. Emerson see’s this and if looks could kill. I think he might be a little jealous that she’s on Walker’s team.

“Quick, Roman. Pull the next name.” Emerson shifts the weight on his feet. I cross my fingers, hoping that they can be on the same team together.

Roman grunts at Em’s impatience and pulls out, “Emerson.”

Em’s face falls slightly, but then he claps Roman on the shoulder as he stands beside me. He gives me a small side hug. Alessandro’s eyes are on me and Em. I don’t like the way he watches me. Not every guy around me wants to date me.

Alessandro’s lips tilt on one side. The way he looks at me under his lashes has me feeling a little flushed. I look away just as Walker pulls out a name.

“Grady.”

Roman draws, “Alessandro.”

I look over to him again and he smirks. Oh, god. Walker draws again.

“Hunter.” I’m a little crestfallen he’s not on our team. But he winks over at me as he high fives Walker. Oh, actually this is gonna be fun with us on different teams.

I watch as the two left… Jace and Asher stare at the hat. They eye each other. Fuck, I don’t want them to fight on who Roman draws out next. It’s at random. It’s not like he’s doing it on purpose. But it’s awkward that they are the two left. Jace smiles over at me, and I hold my breath. Asher tilts his head at me and gives a small smile.

Ugh, be still my heart. Seeing them both there is hard. I have feelings for them both and now I feel like this is going to leave one out if we don’t pick him. Even though it’s just a game.

Emerson notices the stand-off. Even Walker’s watching Roman as he puts his hand in the hat to draw the next name, but he’s taking a painfully long time to do so. Em takes my hand and pulls me in close and whispers.

“This is a little tense, and I don’t even know why.” I snort, holding my hand to my mouth as I try to hold in the laughter. He doesn’t know about Asher. About my butterflies for them all.

“So, who is this guy and the suit?” he nods over at Alessandro, then to the guy in the suit standing nearby, who’s talking into an earpiece. He’s a bodyguard for a mobster son… there has to be a reason he has three of them. And I don’t wanna know.

“Someone you would want to forget after tonight.” I whisper back. The puzzled expression he gives me makes me laugh a little. I purse my lips as I press my finger to his forehead and he relaxes.

“He’s the son of a powerful mafia boss.”

He looks to Alessandro, then to me, and back to him. I raise my brows when he burst out laughing. Why’s he laughing?

“Nice play, Mila.” He turns to Alessandro.

“Hey, I’m Emerson. I’m over at Ridgecrest.” Holding his hand out for Alessandro. Who takes it and shakes it.

“Alessandro, I’m over at Royale Academy.”

Em looks to me as if to say, you think you’re funny. No, I’m just sick of lying.

“Mila just said your dad’s a mafia boss.” Then chuckled. “She likes to mess with me a lot. But I’m not falling for that.” Em looks down at me. “And I’m the king of England.”

“Oh, but he is.” Alessandro smirks.

Emerson just laughs and clasps his hand on Alessandro’s shoulder.

“Oh, you’re a funny too. We are gonna get along just fine.” Alessandro raises his brow at me, and I shrug. What can I say? Emerson is… well, he’s Emerson. He’s never claimed to be smart.

“Jace.” Roman calls out and I turn, almost forgetting what had been happening. Roman holds up the piece of paper with Jace’s name on it and he whoops loudly before joining us.

Asher looks a little deflated, but when he sees me, he smiles. But it’s not an innocent smile. It’s a worrying one… what does he have planned?

We all get suited up, and the owner—Jake—gives us our laser guns and the rules. Showing us how to aim and shoot the chest pieces and how it all works. How the points are tallied for the game Walker chose. It’s pretty simple. First team to fifty kills is the winner. So we just have to not be killed and kill the other team to win… yeah, that seems easy. Once we are shot, we go back to the start and Jake will be there to count us down until we can get back into the game.

I like these rules, because I have a feeling I’m going to be the first to die and then I would be stuck on the sidelines for the rest of the game. Maybe Walker thought the same. The boys can play the other version later and all kill each other while Cadence and I eat all the candy.

I’m so nervous I think I need to pee. I’ve never done this before, but I’m so excited. I just don’t want to be the first one shot.

We enter the doorway into the laser tag area. The blue lights make everything darker and there’s glow in the dark paint on the walls and beyond on any obstacles.

My heart’s pounding as the countdown starts and I run. Hiding behind a fake boulder. Making sure my gun is ready to go, I look to see where the other team is. I’m on the green team and Walker’s team is blue. Our equipment shows who’s who.

“Go,” yells Jake and everything moves so fast. The guys are grunting and yelling. But there’s also some laughter coming from all around me. I keep looking out, trying to work out who’s who as they run past me. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

That’s until I see a player peek out and I take my chance. Their chest changes to red after I shoot at them. I did it. I get excited and jump up and down. This isn’t so hard. I watch as Alessandro stands up with the red chest. My mouth drops open.

I just shot my teammate.

“Mila,” is all he says as he laughs on his way to the meeting point to reset himself. I can’t believe I shot him. I was too focused on shooting someone. I didn’t even stop to see who it was.

Roman comes up beside me. I’m glad to see him. I don’t want our team to lose. I want to win for him.

“I’m terrible at this, sorry. You would be better without me on your team. I shot Alessandro.”

He squeezes my hand. “I don’t care how good you are or if we win. All I care about is that I’m with you. Thank you… for everything.”

I kiss him. When he pulls away, I look down at his now red chest. I look behind him and Hunter has a huge grin. He puts his hands up and chuckles.

“Cheap shot, sorry.” Then he runs off laughing.

Roman tilts my chin up to him.

“Was worth the kiss. Now you want to get someone who’s not on our team?” I chuckle and nod. I would love to shoot someone not on my team. That’s how this game is supposed to go.

“There’s a room over there with a bit of a maze. I saw Walker go in there before. Want to get him?”

Oh, hell yeah. I wanna go get him. Get up from my spot and quickly kiss Roman before I run and dart to the other room. The obstacles here are like a maze, just as Roman said. It’s also quieter in here. I can hear my heavy breathing and my footsteps as I make my way through the wooden obstacles. Where is he?

I squeal when Walker jumps out and shoots me. “Gotcha, Mila,” he chuckles deeply before running off to find someone else to kill.

“Ugh, I’m seriously terrible at this game.” I mumble to myself as I make my way to the meeting point to reset myself.

Cadence is there with Grady. They both smile as I approach them.

“This is so much fun. I’ve shot four green players already, Mila.” She laughs, bouncing on her toes.

“This is the third time I’ve been here,” Grady shakes his head.

“Well, now I don’t feel so bad. This is only my first time here. But I have shot one person… my teammate.”

Cadence stops bouncing and bursts out laughing. Grady chuckles, but I give him my best stink eye and point at him.

“Sorry, Mila. I shouldn’t have laughed. It’s just… we have colors.” Pointing to her chest where it’s still red. “How did you not see your own teammate’s chest before you shot him?”

I shake my head and laugh. “I was over eager?”

That lands a laugh, even from Jake. Their chests turn blue and they both run back into the game again as I wait for mine to turn green.

Jake shows me the security screens of the whole laser tag. I can see Cadence stalking after Roman. Asher and Hunter teaming up against Alessandro. Jake and points to a screen of the maze. No one appears on the screen there.

“He was hiding there.” I look in closer to where I’d been shot by Walker. “No one’s in there right now, but if you crouch low and hide behind there. You can ambush someone easily. Or you could just run in there, guns blazing. Either way, it’s just good fun”

I smile at Jake. He’s not old. Maybe thirties? But he’s nice and very helpful.

“Thank you. I think I will take your advice.”

He gives me a friendly smile. “Have fun and look for blue chests before you shoot.”

I let out a deep breath and shake my head, but I can’t wipe the grin from my face. Last week, we were too busy looking over our shoulder and wondering when Johnny and Carlos would strike next.

But today, we are all relaxed, smiling and laughing. Having fun. Just like we used to as kids.

I hold my laser gun in my hand, salute Jake as I run back into the game. I went into full kamikaze mode. As soon as I see a blue chest, I shoot and run towards them. When it turns red, I whoop loudly. Hunter stands there dumbfounded. I grin wildly at him and run to find another blue team member. Didn’t realize how big this place was until you’re lost in the laser tag maze again. I hide where Jake told me, waiting for a blue player to come past me.

When I see one, I jump up to surprise them. One shot is all it takes, and Grady’s chest glows red.

“Far out. I’m officially the most shot at player in this game.” I laugh. At least I’ve only been out once. I finally killed two blue players and I feel like I’m on top of the world.

I hide back down again and wait, feels like forever, but it’s probably been only a few minutes. I hear someone approaching, but they’re coming from a different direction, and I can’t pinpoint exactly where they’re gonna come out from. This maze is easy to get lost in.

As soon as the footsteps are close enough, I jump out. Only I don’t expect to see their laser gun pointed right at my chest. Just as mine points to his.

I look up and see Asher. He grins.

“I got you, Mila.”

He hasn’t shot me yet. I don’t know why. But I’m going to use that to my advantage.

“No, you wouldn’t shoot, poor little old me.” I bat my lashes at him and he chuckles.

“Mmm… looks like we have a standoff.” Asher grins.

“Is that so?” I cock my hip and look up at him. In the blue lights he looks good… so handsome. He always looks good, especially when he doesn’t have a shirt on.

I lick my lips as he moves closer. He taps his gun gently to my chest and I take a step back, as if that would stop him from being able to shoot me.

“You like me too much to shoot me,” I flirt. Looking up at him through my lashes.

“Ah, I think you have me confused with Hunter. I have no qualms about shooting you. No matter how much I like you, I also enjoy winning.”

He moves a step forward, and I take one back. Fuck. As soon as I shoot him, he’s gonna shoot me. I just know it.

“But you haven’t shot me yet. So there must be a reason for that.”

I keep backing up until my back hits a wall. My heart races. The way he’s looking down at me in the dark room is making my butterflies dance low in my belly… very low.

We stand there, watching each other. Our breathing is the only sound between us and the race of my heart pounding in my chest. The laser guns are still pointed at each other’s chests. Only now we’re so close they almost touching. The blue of his and the green of mine glow between us.

“Asher,” I warn. This is not the time or place for this. Hell, I still need to speak to him about what dad said this morning. About asking his mom to marry him. because that will complicate things between us.

“Mila,” he purrs. Fuck. I’m so fucked right now.

“Shoot me,” he takes my hand that’s holding the laser gun and presses it firmly to his chest. “Or can’t you either?”

He bites his lower lip as he bends down to my ear and whispers “You like me too much to shoot me.”

I gasp at his words. And I wanna wipe that smirk right off his face. He pulls away from me slightly. His chest goes from blue to red when I pull the trigger. I don’t speak, just frozen in this place between him and what’s out there. I watch his expression change to one of shock that I actually did it. His eyes darken as I smile at him. My mouth grows dry and I swallow and try to right myself and my emotions.

He doesn’t move, he just stands there and stares at me. The butterflies in my stomach growing stronger by the minute, and I want them to stay away. Just for tonight. This is Roman’s special party. I can’t be doing this right now.

“We can’t. Not here. Not now. We need to talk… later” I beg him and I see the tick in his jaw as he glances behind him.

Asher shoots my chest, and it turns red.

“What the hell, Asher. You can’t just shoot me”

He doesn’t say a word. He’s upset with me. For stopping this… again and again. I’m upset that we keep ending up like this. I feel guilty for wanting him… only now our faces are so close our breath mingles. My breathing speeds up and I swallow the lump in my throat. I don’t know what to say. He’s affecting me in a way that my mind screams to kiss him, but my heart says no wait, not here. Not tonight.

His free hand grips the back of my neck, and he’s warm lips crash into mine as I let out a gasp. My hand grabs his chest, to push him away. But I don’t. I pull his body flush to mine chasing the ecstasy that is his kiss.

I moan as his tongue meets mine. All sense of space and time disappear. I drop my laser gun and put my arm around his neck. Pulling him closer to me, chasing the kiss, the need, this thing that has been building up between us for so long. And now it’s tipped over. I can barely breathe as he devours me.

I know this is wrong. In the back of my mind. But no one can see us here. I will talk with Hunter and Roman about Asher. I have to now, how can I give this up. I can’t. It’s been building for so long, and now it’s tipped over. I can’t stop kissing him.

Roman gave me a half blessing when he was outside Alessandro’s house.

But Hunter, he hasn’t given me his blessing. I can’t do this. I shove Asher away. And touch my swollen lips.

“I’m not sorry, I know you’re not either. They will understand. They feel it too. I love you.” Asher’s big dark eyes are full of emotion.

My heart’s exploding with the words. I love you. When I open my mouth, there are no words. I take Asher’s hand in mine. Hunter and Roman are behind him. Staring at us and I can’t even see their expressions in the dark. But from the way Roman is standing… he’s not happy. My stomach drops.

The guilt I feel eats up all the happiness I had from that kiss. Those words.

Roman storms over and grabs the back of Asher’s top. He pulls him away from me and I reach out to stop him from falling on the floor. But Hunter’s there to catch him. Roman hauls me over his shoulder and stomps away. I turn just in time to see Hunter slam his fist into Asher’s face.

“Don’t,” I yell out to Hunter. But Asher just smiles and nods that it’s okay. It’s not okay. This shouldn’t be happening. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed him. I knew this would end badly, but I didn’t walk away.

Fucking butterflies.

Everyone looks at us and stops what they are doing. They follow us outside of the laser tag area and into the bright lights of the arcade. I blink a few times to get used to the light.

Roman gently places me on my feet. His hand large and warm cups my face. I can’t look him in the eye. I’ve ruined his party. I kissed Asher.

“Mila,” he pulls my face to look up at him. He gives me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. He’s not mad, but he’s not happy either. I shake my head.

“I’m sorry, Roman. I didn’t mean for it to happen like that. It’s never happened before.” He just grunts. A tear slips from my eye, and he wipes it away with the pad of his thumb. That only made way for more tears.

“Don’t cry, Mila.” He whispers. “I’m not upset with you. I’ve known this will happen for a long time. Just seeing it…” He lets out a deep breath. “It was hard. But you want him, yes? He means a lot to you?”

I nod. “Yes, he does.”

“Then that’s all I need to hear.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me to his chest, hugging me tightly. “Don’t cry beautiful, I understand. I love you, and if you want him, then he’ll be yours.”

My mouth drops open, and I sniffle a little.

“But right now, you’re mine. He’s gonna need to learn to share.”

I think Roman’s gonna need to learn to share too. But that’s for another day.

I hear yelling as Hunter and Asher exit the laser tag. I turn to see blood running down Asher’s face. He’s bleeding.

He meets my eyes and smiles. But another set of tears come. I don’t want them to fight over me. This isn’t what I had planned. I hate this. I hate I love them all. My eyes widen at that thought. I have never admitted that before, even in my head I’ve never thought about it. But I do. I love Asher, Roman, Hunter and Jace.

“It was worth it, Mila.” Asher calls over to me. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Shut up, if you know what’s good for you.” Walker warns him.

Everyone’s quiet and I realize then that I’ve ruined the whole party vibe.

“Well, this has been entertaining.” Alessandro smirks at me. “I think your fourth has become your third.”

Jace curses and looks between Asher and me.

Fuck.

I look at Hunter and he shakes his head with a small smile.

“We need to talk about this. It’s all good, babe.”

Asher smiles as he presses some tissues around his nose. He holds his hand over his heart and nods to me. My phone rings and I look down to see my dad’s name on the caller id. Fuck… how could I forget? He’s gonna be my stepbrother.

Why do I suddenly feel like I just made everything more complicated than it needed to be? Why does he have to be my stepbrother?

How am I gonna tell my dad? How do I tell Kate? Why do I get myself into these messes?

But I look over at Asher, and I realize he’s worth the mess.

“I’m going to be grounded forever.” I mutter.

Asher smiles.

“Me too, but at least we’ll be grounded together.”