Jenny

I really wanted to take my hands off the steering wheel and rub my face, because I knew this was going to be the longest night of my life. Some other life form must’ve taken over my body in that school parking lot. I was in way over my head, and about to drown in the undertow.

A part of me just wanted to go with him, so that I could figure out a way to convince him not to go back home. Another part, and I stress, a very tiny part, might’ve been seeking out the thrill. 

That tiny little asshole betrayed me. 

I was so nervous that the backs of my legs were sweating. I could feel them sticking to my leather seats. Without having his friend with us, it felt a whole lot like a date, and I wasn’t prepared for the pressure of it. I also wasn’t about to mention the whole date thing to him though. He would give me so much crap for it. 

Nightfall was upon, and my headlights shined bright against the open road. We only passed a few cars. For the most part it was dead on the two-lane road. I had absolutely no clue where we were going. I had to just trust his direction, which left me following Smithfield’s Way right out of town.

“You want to tell me where we’re going now? It’s probably a good idea for the driver to know where they’re driving too. For safety reasons, you know?” I pleaded, but I was obviously getting nowhere. His snide remarks and unreadable face gave me no clues as to where this train was stopping.

My body stiffened when I felt his hand embrace my thigh. “What would be the fun in that?”

Breathe Jenny, just breathe. 

“Take a left,” he told me, his hand still resting on my leg like it was no big deal. My body was already burning like a wildfire. I didn’t need to feel the burning urge from down under. I was pretty sure that wasn’t sweat between my legs. 

After making the turn, I caught sight of a few signs up ahead. I had no clue where we were exactly, only that I’d never been there before. There was no sign of anything remotely memorable about the place. 

Draven finally removed his hand from my thigh, and I breathed loud enough for the world to hear me. It was like a little weight was lifted. I already wasn’t prepared for the night, and I didn’t need the added sexual tension. Especially since the tension was one-sided.

“Pull in there,” he pointed to the gravel parking lot. “Any chance, you’ve got a twenty?”

“Any chance, you’ve got a job?” My tone was clipped. “And selling drugs on the street isn’t considered a real job.” I laughed at my own joke.

“How about selling my body, is that considered a real job? Give me twenty, and I’ll show you what I can do.” He said seriously. I snapped my head around to catch a glimpse of his facial expression. “I’ve got jokes too, Jenny baby.”

“Very funny.” I reached into my wallet and pulled out a twenty. It was a good thing I brought some money or else the two of us would be shit out of luck. “What is this place?” I asked, trying to glimpse through the dark windows of what looked like a storefront. It was secluded and in the middle of nowhere.

“Wait right here,” he told me as he jumped out of the car. It was dark, there were maybe six cars in the parking lot, and we were miles away from home. It felt more like a scene from final destination than a night of fun. 

I kept the engine running while Draven slipped inside the dirty building. Several things were going through my head while I waited. I was wondering if he was in this place doing something highly illegal, and if I was aiding and abetting him in the crime.

Several minutes passed before he came strolling back out. There was a snarky grin on his face and I knew he was up to something. It wouldn’t have been Draven if he weren’t.

The car door opened and he poked his head inside.

“Cut off the engine, and come on,” he told me. 

“Where are we?” I questioned, and it wasn’t too much to ask.

“Come on Jenny. Live a little,” he said before slamming the door closed.

God help me.

I followed him around the building to the backside, lingering very closely to him. Surprises weren’t really my thing, and I wasn’t in the mood to be blindsided.

We followed a little pathway that was covered by a metal covering, and that was when I noticed the lights. They must’ve been thirty foot in the air and looked like they lit up acres of land. There was a tent set up with a guy standing behind a table. Tons of equipment was laid out. 

“We’re paint-balling?”

“You need a little thrill in your life right?”

My face lit up. This was something I always wanted to try, but we had nothing like this in Borders. I’d never even heard about this place. The scared feeling that I had before getting out of the car was gone, replaced now with excitement and adrenaline. This was cool as hell.

“Have you done this before?” I asked. He must have if he knew exactly where this place was.

“Not sober,” he winked. I knew he wasn’t kidding.

We grabbed everything from the table we needed and suited up. I suddenly wished I’d worn more clothing. It was a warm night, but I knew this was a dangerous sport. It was going to hurt getting hit, and it made me cringe just thinking about it. 

The man behind the table told us a few safety tips, and showed me everything I needed to know about my gun before releasing us through the chain link fence.

“Okay,” Draven said in a serious voice. “We are going to stay on this course here, since you’re a newbie. Don’t go past that yellow caution tape.” I nodded. We looked like we were about to go skiing with our extra large safety glasses. “On the count of three you run to the left over there, and I’ll take right. When the big buzzer sounds, then the game is on. Yell surrender when you’re out of ammo. Got it?” 

I felt like I was all hyped up on sugar, and really it was just an adrenaline buzz from hell. “I think so. What happens if we get shot?”

“Since it’s just the two of us, we are playing with numbers. In the end, we will count the paint shots on our bodies. The person with the most hits wins.”

“Does it hurt?” 

He didn’t reply, just laughed like a hyena. 

I knew my fate was sealed.

“Don’t hold back, Jenny.” His eyebrows rose. 

“You’re going down Lepage.” 

“One… Two… Three,” he said and we dashed off in our directions. 

I could feel my heart pumping in my throat. The wind blew my hair back as I made my way as fast as I could to the nearest cover. I could already hear the sound of his gun as the paintballs came barreling towards me. 

“Damn!” I winced as I felt a ball skim my thigh. It hadn’t even hit me full on, and it had a lot of sting to it. A direct hit was going to hurt like hell. When I’d asked him to take me out, getting shot hadn’t been what I thought would be on the agenda. I thought maybe a party, or even illegal fighting, but not this.

My breathing picked up as I lifted my gun over the wooden protector and aimed my gun in his direction. I fired off a few shots and realized very quickly that I was going to suck at this. I had no aim whatsoever. The shots I fired off hadn’t landed anywhere near him

There was a roll of old tires just to the left, so I darted quickly behind them, shooting rounds the entire time. Surely something was bound to hit him. I peeked through the hole of one of the tires and caught sight of his leg showing from behind the barricade where he was standing. It was a much easier shot. And with a few rounds, I got him. I knew I did when he cursed loudly. It made me laugh so hard. Especially since he thought he was going to get out of this unharmed. 

One point for Jenny.

Seeking him out, I knew I needed to get just a little bit closer. It was going to be a long run to the next little station. It was now or never. So I held out my gun directly in front of me and let the shots fire in his direction as I sprinted like my life depended on it. You would’ve thought that I was running from the big bad wolf. 

He caught me twice in the crossfire. Once on the inside of my thigh, which I couldn’t figure out how he hit me there, and again on my shoulder which didn’t seem to hurt as badly as my leg; he was a freaking good shooter. 

“You give up yet?” He called out as I sat perched behind a tiny wall. His voice was to my right, so I peeked out trying to catch a glimpse of him. My gun felt much lighter so I knew I was almost out of ammo. I needed a couple more good shots before this game ended. I wanted bragging rights. The game was about to get dirty. 

I kneeled down on all fours and army crawled the few feet to the next barricaded area. I heard him take a few shots, but nothing hit me. 

I was in the perfect spot. He couldn’t hit me, but with the little cut out hole, I had the perfect shot at him. One wrong move and I was going to nail him.

“Only one way out Lepage. You can run but you can’t hide.” I was laughing hysterically. This was the most fun I’d had in such a long time, and the biggest rush ever. I hadn’t thought I’d like this, but it was actually loads of fun.

Huh, having loads of fun with Draven Lepage was something I never thought would happen. Not even if hell froze over. 

It showed you what happened when you stepped out of your box.  

He fired a few more shots, and I heard them hit the board in front of me. 

“Surrender,” he yelled.

“What, no?” I groaned standing up from behind the wall. 

I started to pout and walk away from my hiding area when he yelled. “Just kidding.”

He started shooting right at me, and every hit hurt worst than the last. I raised my gun in his direction and fired back at him draining my gun of every single paintball left inside it. I hit him just as much as he did me, until we both were out of ammo.

“You big ass!” I yelled.

The two of us stood face-to-face covered head to toe in bright pink paint. Despite the fact that every inch of me was burning from the sting of the shots, it was the best time I’d ever had. Even though it lasted maybe twenty minutes. It was awesome, and I hoped deep inside that he’d bring me back.

“Let me count you,” he said lowering his goggles to his neck. There was a wide grin on his face, and it was the most genuine smile I’d ever seen from him. “One, two, three, four, five, ouch!” He said pointing to my thigh. “That’s going to be a nasty bruise. Six, seven, eight, nine, and ten… You know I’ve kicked your ass. Turn around.” He told me, and I turned slowly. “Eleven.” His finger touched the butt of my pants.

“My turn.” I glared, and counted the markings on his body. “Seven. Shit.”

“I’m the champion, baby. You can’t beat me,” he heckled slipping his arm over my shoulder. “But you did good for a first timer.”

“Draven Lepage, was that a compliment?” I feigned surprised, pressing a hand to my chest and batting my lashes at him.

“Moment of weakness,” he confessed and squeezed me a little tighter. 

Oh, I was weak all right. If he only knew…

We put our equipment back onto the table and went back to the car. The two of us had paint everywhere. “We should’ve brought a change of clothes,” I told him.

“We can always get naked.” There was a sexy tone to his voice and I thought for one second that he was serious, but that didn’t last. “You know you want me,” he laughed.

“Get in the car.” I was exasperated. He was always so full of crap, that it was hard to find any form of seriousness inside him. When I wanted him to be serious he couldn’t. Not usually anyway. “Are you hungry, because I’m starving?”

“Not really,” he said as he climbed inside the car. 

“Dinner is on me.” I tried to sound lighthearted, but I knew he could see right through me. He knew I was trying to feed him, and he agreed in Draven fashion. He didn’t like a handout, but he wouldn’t turn one down either. Not when it came to the important stuff, like eating. 

“Okay,” he agreed shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. 

“Then point me to the nearest pizza place.”