Page 39 of Sinners Reunion

Jim spreads all of us out and raises a starter pistol. “Now remember! Gun safety is imperative. Know what you’re shooting before you shoot. Pink, red, and yellow are fair game, but orange is off-limits!”

The pistol fires, and we’re off.

Couples dart in every direction. Some take off running, but King and I hang back and study the lay of the land. In fact, we’re the only people to stop and assess.

“The stream is that way,” I say. I point to our left. “I can hear it already.”

“My beauty,” he says with a smirk, and we start in that direction. “I knew I could count on you for the big points. You were always a fair tracker.”

“Learned from the best, and that’s the only compliment you’ll hear from me today, so eat it slowly.”

He laughs, and it sounds like something I want to commit to memory. I wish it didn’t. I wish time had been cruel and that he’d become some wrinkled, aged, and wretched thing. Instead, he’s still as beautiful and enigmatic as ever.

“I’m surprised you’re being so amenable today,” he says. “I figured you’d insist on being Blayne’s partner for this excursion.”

I shrug and step over a massive root. “I felt bad for Ice Pick. Figured I’d throw him a bone. Plus, I rubbed one out this morning so I could focus.”

“That should last you through lunch,” he says. “Then what?”

Before I can answer, he throws out his arm and stops walking. He brings his finger to his lips.

“Do you hear that?” he whispers.

A wisp of red hair falls into my eyes as I shake my head. I brush it away, as if clearer vision will help me hear better, sort of how turning down the radio makes driving feel safer. I listen, straining my ears, but I only hear the distant rush of water.

King closes his eyes to concentrate, but it’s the same look he makes when I’m doing a really good job sucking him off, so my mind goes there because it’s just wired that way. I remember a time he made that same face while we were in the woods, and nope, I won’t make it to lunch. The ache is already back between my legs.

“Do you ever think about that time we murdered the couple by that waterfall?” I ask. “It was so romantic.”

I’m shocked when he whispers, “All the time.”

“Really?”

He nods and finally opens his eyes. “Yes, really. Now focus. Listen again and tell me what you hear.”

His hands land on my shoulders, and he turns me so that my back is against his chest. He’s in teaching mode, which would piss me off if he were anyone else. His lessons always have a way of leaving me smiling, though.

He pulls me closer, and I feel his heart thumping against my spine. His warmth. His⁠—

“You really are thinking about that time in the woods, aren’t you?” I say with a grin.

“Close your eyes and listen.”

My eyes close. The stream whispers to me, but so does something else. A faint whimper. It could be mistaken for a bird, but it’s definitely human. I open my eyes and look up.

Fifty feet above us, a woman stands on a wooden platform attached to the tree. It’s small and narrow, almost like a tree stand, but the large red bullseye beside her shows me what we’re meant to do.

“It’s like a dunk tank,” I whisper, “only she’ll fall onto limbs and rocks instead of water. But that’s only fifty feet. She has a chance to survive that.”

King readies the shotgun and holds it toward me. “Survival odds are based on receiving care after the initial injury. I see no ambulance on standby.”

“Good point, but don’t you want to take the kill? You’re usually so greedy when it comes to murder.”

He pushes the shotgun into my hand, and I accept it. If he’s feeling generous, who am I to spoil his good mood? I ready my aim and release the safety.

“I got a kill in recently,” he says as I place my finger over the trigger.

“Do you mean when you fucked Ice Pick’s girl and killed any dream he had of a happy life?” I take a deep breath and let it out. “That was shitty of you, by the way.”