“Yeah, okay,” he says, tilting his head back, giving me access. I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from doing something ridiculous, like whimper at the sight.
I rub my wrist against his throat and behind each of his ears. I can’t smell right now because I already took my pills before leaving, but just knowing he smells like me, leaves my inner alpha feeling much more at peace.
“Thank you.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go before they think we’re doing something weird in here.”
I snort, getting out of the car and walking around it. I still have no idea about Shiloh’s past but I can’t deny the pull I feel when I’m around him. I can’t ignore the feelings that are quickly growing inside of me.
I like him. I like Shiloh so much. Whatever we have, it’s something special. It feels like the swirling feelings they talk about in romance novels. I never thought this type of thing was destined for me, but with Shiloh it just feels right.
“Hello, Shiloh,” Maki says, bowing his head. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“You too, Maki.”
“You guys know each other?” Rin asks, looking between his boyfriend and Shiloh.
“Yes,” Maki says, “he referees some of our home games. When I first joined the team, Shiloh once threw out one of the players on my team for unsportsmanlike conduct.”
“I would have loved to see that,” I find myself saying without meaning to. Rodney gives me a knowing look that I pointedly ignore.
“You probably can,” Shiloh says with a small laugh. “I think I went viral for a bit.”
I make a note in the back of my head to look it up later when I’m back home. The six of us walk into the arcade. To the left of the door is a little hallway that brings you into a bar and dining room area. Right in front of us in the arcade, an open space filled with games. This place is for adults so it’s filled with college-aged people hanging out and playing games. To the right is a little hallway that’ll bring us to the laser tag arena.
“This place is huge,” Shiloh murmurs, looking around with wide eyes.
“That’s what she said,” Rodney says. Then he wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. “Nope, that didn’t even make sense.”
Rin wraps an arm around Maki’s waist as we walk down the hall. “I’m totally kicking your ass.”
“I thought we were planning on being the same team.”
“Right,” Rin says and I can’t help but chuckle.
“You’re all so dumb.”
“I was told you are what you surround yourself with,” Shiloh says with a shrug, giving me a little private smirk.
“Oh,” Rodney says, looking between me and Shiloh. “I like him, Kei. Please don’t fuck this up, okay? We need someone around who can go barb for barb with you.”
“I’ll do my best.” I say it like a joke, but in reality, nothing could be closer to how I really feel. I want to do my best when it comes to Shiloh. I want to make sure he’s never hurt again, even from myself.
The six of us walk up to the counter. There’s a woman waiting for us. She has us sign a waiver, saying this place can’t be held accountable if we hurt ourselves while in the arena, the same type of thing you’d sign if you were going to a paintball arena. Since this is an adult place, the arena is set up to actually take a beating. There’s walls we can climb, things we can hide inside, the whole nine yards.
The employee helps us into our vests and explains how the guns work. Then she gives us a rundown of the arena and the different ways we can play.
For our first round, we decide to couple up, two on two on two. The point of this round is to take down as many people as possible. Once hit, you have to make your way back to your castle before you restart. We declare no camping the spawn areas.
We also have a limited amount of shots and if we want to refill, we have to head back to the castle.
All six of us enter the arena, walking into the middle and looking around. There are ramps and walls and hallways. It’salmost like a tiny village, each corner of the room containing a giant castle.
“The fourth castle is off-limits,” Rin says. “Maki and I will take that castle, Shiloh and Kei will take that one. The last one is Rodney and Gayle. Let’s all go to our castle and I’ll count us down. Team with the most kills after ten minutes wins.”
“Got it,” Rodney says, grabbing Gayle’s hand and running away, already talking strategy with his boyfriend.
“Come on,” I say with a sigh, pulling Shiloh towards our castle.
