“Stop!” he shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Stop the game! Conspiracy!”
“Thad,” Ren says, dragging a hand down his neck, tugging at his bandana. “Come on.”
“Nope,” Thad says as footsteps come toward us. “You and Joni can’t be trusted.”
“Kindly step away from our runner,” Sasha says as she reaches us, Stevie behind her.
“Your runner?” Ren says. He looks down at me. “Sure you made the right call there?”
“It’s notfunny,” Stevie says. “You two are standing out in the open,conversing. Whose team are you on?”
“Yours,” I say as Leo comes hurtling out of the trees and halts next to her. “Totally yours.”
Stevie and Leo turn to Thad and Sasha and they all mutter together. I hear bits of it:Do we put them in jail? Switch teams?When I look at Ren to try to parse his reaction, he flashes a suppressed smile at me, shaking his head.
They break apart. “We’ve decided to give you eachonemore chance,” Leo says.He holds up a finger when I start to smile. “But if either of you are found so much asbreathingin the direction of the other, you’re out.”
Sasha leads me back toward the swing set, glaring over her shoulder at Ren. “If you could refrain from distracting any more of our team members, that would be excellent!”
“Yes, Captain!” Ren calls back. When I catch his eye, he winks.
Stevie complains that talent is split unevenly between the teams, but we finally win the following round, Sasha racing back to our camp with the blue flag raised in triumph, and we have to call a tie on the next when Stevie and Leo both end up at the middle point with each other’s flags at the same moment. He grabs her, tossing her over his shoulder and pretending to carry her in the direction of blue’s jail. When he sets her down, she swats at his chest, then kisses him once, quickly, and runs back over to us.
During round six, I follow Stevie into the trees along the side of the yard. The stars are fully out now, any remaining gray in the sky gone, and we make our way down the slight slope, staying well into the woods, the flashlights Oliver handed out aimed at the ground. Since we were accused of sabotage, Ren and I haven’t crossed paths again. But just as Stevie and I head toward the place where the woods meet the yard and the firepit comes into view, there’s a crunch of leaves underfoot next to us and he pops up out of nowhere, tagging Stevie.
I narrowly skid away, retreating down where the path curves toward the lighthouse.
“Ren!” Stevie growls loudly. “How the hell is someone as tall as you so quiet?” As he drags her toward blue’s jail, which is really just one of the wicker chairs around the firepit, she shouts, “Run, Joni! Avenge me!”
It’s enough to give me a new burst of energy. I yank the hood of Ren’s sweatshirt over my head and dash between the trees,keeping my flashlight tucked up into the too-long sleeve, despite how dark it is. Something about the soft, well-loved hoodie buoys me, like I’m absorbing from it some of whatever confidence Ren’s using to slink around so skillfully.
I pick a careful, quiet route deeper into the forest, head uphill again so I might be able to tag Stevie out of jail from behind. I make it back to where I can see the house, the distant orange glow from the windows lighting up the deck and the patio below. At the firepit, Leo is pacing while Stevie sits in one of the chairs, arms crossed.
I shuffle sideways through the trees, crouching low, an eye on the firepit, waiting for the right moment to strike. If I can free Stevie, maybe we can create enough of a distraction that Sasha can swoop in and grab the flag. I haven’t heard any commotion, so I assume she hasn’t been spotted yet—
A hand wraps around my arm, and I jolt back, colliding with a hard chest. I twist fast, pulse hammering in my ears, to find Ren behind me. I thought I’d been so sneaky, keeping my flashlight off, blending in with the trees. Apparently, Ren is sneakier.
“What the hell,” I say. “Whyareyou so quiet?”
He reaches up, plucks the hood off my head. “Don’t think it would be a problem if we were on the same team,” he whispers, eyes luminous in the dark. He steps back, nods me in the direction of the patio.
But I don’t move. “You’re not really going to take me to jail, are you?” I say. Maybe if I can keep him here long enough, not alert anyone else to our whereabouts, I might be able to convince him not to give me up to his team.
Something flickers in Ren’s eyes, his smile faltering. “That’s the game, isn’t it?”
“You could break the rules, you know.” I take a step closer to him. “This one time.”
I fiddle with one of the drawstrings on the hoodie, trying to ignore how much the smell of it comforts me.Ren notices the movement, looks down at it and back up at me. He’s suspicious, but making a run for it would be futile.
There’s a rustling near us.
“Ren.”Thad’s voice rings out.
Ren seems to weigh his options, peering over my head in the direction of Thad’s voice and then back down at me. Make us known and win the round, or hide like this longer and risk being caught and accused of conspiring again?
I widen my eyes up at him, attempting to appear innocent, and he grabs my hand, tugging me over to a huge, mossy tree. He leans me up against it, grips my upper arms like he’s trying to keep me there, one of his knees just between mine as he stills our bodies.
“He’s not as quiet as you,” I whisper, and Ren presses a finger to my mouth.
