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Problem is, I need to get through the entire freaking day and another set of challenges… whatever they are.
Viv keeps her smile in place, which makes me feel better about the situation, and grasps my hand after we all eat breakfast and head to the area Cyrus asks us to be in.
I note that there is another area where Sheila—Viv’s potential new supervisor—and Lillian and a few other people are setting stuff up. I see vests and… yup, those are paintball guns.
I send up a prayer that I get to actually compete in this challenge because if I have to sit back while there’s a paintball war, I’m going to be so bummed.
“Alright, for your next challenge, there is a course out in the woods behind you.” He gestures toward the area to our right and we all look like we’re going to be able to see what he’s talking about. “We will put you in two groups, the red team versus the yellow team! For those of you who wish to opt out of this and be part of the cheering squad, that’s more than fine. This competition will show us who can work as a team and plus”—he winks at all of us—“it’s a fun time!”
Everyone makes their way to the vests and everyone gets fitted except the people that have decided to sit it out. I hear Marion berating Damian. “You shouldn’t compete. It’s bad for your heart!”
“Woman, I will do what I want to do. You go have a coffee and cheer me on.”
Marion rolls her eyes at him and then grabs him by the vest. “You better have updated the life insurance policy like I told you.” She then gives him a smacking kiss on the lips and walks away.
“Man, I like her,” Viv says with a smile. “Speaking of, honey pie.” I smirk at her use of that obnoxious nickname. “Did you update your life insurance policy?”
By the sarcastic grin on her lips, I know she’s giving me shit, but it also makes me pleased that she’s not totally weirded out by what happened before. Maybe she’s on board with this.
I tug at her vest straps, tightening them a little too snug. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
She hums and reaches for my straps, giving me an even bigger pull and I grunt at the loss of air. “I just want to make sure you’re… protected.”
“Mm-hmm.” I take a chance and lean down, smacking a kiss on her lips. I grab my paintball gun that they gave me and look down at the red vest, eyeing her yellow one. “Better watch your back out there, Capello.”
She winks at me and grabs her own gun, making me have all sorts of visuals. “Same to you, Moore.” She spins on her heel and marches to her new team and I watch her go, not sad in the least about the view.
Viviana dressed for a paintball war will stay in my mind for a very, very long time.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You want to really have some fun? Take a girl paintballing. Girls have aggression, let her get it out on other people, then she won’t be mean to you.” – Chris
VIVIANA
I’m not cut out for this. I’m not even close to being cut out for this! I duck behind a tree, following Abigail, who also got put on my team. Unlike me, she’s giggling as she runs through the trees, shooting the red team members and yelling her victory with every hit.
I was feeling pretty confident about things when I was getting my vest on and even when they’d given me the paintball gun, but now… the hesitation is real.
“Ah!” I scream in my helmet, the mask fully covering my face, as paintballs come whizzing by my head and hitting the tree behind me.
“Get down, let’s regroup!” Abigail yells to me, and I follow her behind a fallen-down log.
“Come out, come out wherever you are!” I recognize Archer’s voice and sigh.
“What a cocky butthead,” I mumble.
“We need to eliminate Archer and Jeff. Archer is the showboater.” I nod my head in agreement. “Jeff is the sneaky one, he’ll be the one that tries to catch everyone else off guard.”
Another yellow team member stumbles over to us, panting. “What’s up, guys?” he mumbles through his helmet. “Did anyone else think this would be as strenuous?”
“No,” I answer, once again questioning my sanity and, quite frankly, Cyrus Hansen’s sanity.
“Glad I’m not alone.” I don’t remember if this guy’s name is Matt or Mike, so I just nod, and Abigail signals us to move.
I follow her because I’ve never been in a fight like this and I’m hoping this will be my first and last one.
“Oh, honey pie… come on out. I won’t hurt you.”
