When the paintball tourney at the Outdoor Palace was over, I stayed to help clean up. Sticking around to help was professional courtesy more than anything, since Dad knew the owner and they helped each other out when they could. Lola had taken off early to meet her boyfriend at a concert, so there was only me and Don, the owner. Helping Don also took my mind off the fury bubbling inside me. Kya hadn’t shown up or answered any of my texts. Mad was an understatement.
When we finished cleaning the bunkers and guns, Don told me to take off. He locked up and headed out to his office behind the arena. If he was anything like Dad, he’d be there for a while, finishing paperwork and other business-owner things I didn’t have any real desire to learn about.
He turned up the music on his speakers and I smiled and threw my gear bag over my shoulder, heading out to the field that acted as the parking lot.
Because I’d waited too long for Kya—who stood me up—I’d arrived late and gotten a crappy spot in the field and had a bit of a hike. It was dark, but lights in the arena lit up the lot. As I headed to my car, I saw a bunch of the boys hanging around a hatchback propped open. They laughed over music. A couple of red tips burned in the darkness. Don would be out soon and was not the kind of guy you wanted to piss off smoking illegal substances on his property.
I hesitated, fighting off a panicky sensation about being all alone. But the guys had to be ballers, so shaking off nerves, I kept walking, no choice but to pass them. I lifted my chin and lengthened my stride, shoulders back, fingers gripping my keys. Their faces weren’t visible, so it was easier to pretend they weren’t there. I could tell they’d seen me but I kept my eyes fixed on my car.
“Hey, it’s Paintball Chick,” one of them called. It sounded like Steve Blender’s friend, Cameron. “Where’s the hot one?” he called, and they laughed.
“Kya Kessler,” Steve said. “She didn’t show up tonight.”
“The one with the exquisite ass? She’s doing Lewis right?”
“Not anymore. I’m next.” Definitely Steve’s voice.
I saw their faces. Four of them, all holding bottles of beer. Hurrying my footsteps, I called, “Kya wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.”
“You sure about that?” Steve asked.
“You better watch it or Lewis will kick your ass,” another guy said.
“He’s puking in the bush. He’s not going to kick anyone’s ass.”
Lucas had shown up for his first tournament game. Loud and obnoxious. If he was puking, that meant he’d been drinking. Not cool.
“She’s not bad-looking,” one of the other guys called.
A flutter of nerves sped my steps up.
“Maybe after a couple of beers,” another answered.
“She looks like an elf and she’s flat as a board,” Steve said. “Ten beers maybe.”
The rest of them howled. My stomach tightened, even as I told myself it didn’t matter what they said. My cheeks were on fire though. Humiliation sped my breathing up. I put my head down and forced one foot in front of the other, almost at my car.
“I’d do her,” another voice said, a hard edge to it. “I’m not fussy.” I squinted but didn’t recognize the guy. Steve laughed and high-fived him. They were walking closer to my car.
I clenched my hand into a fist, clutched my keys, and didn’t say anything. Steve hated me because I kicked his ass in paintball. I wanted to get away. Quickly.
“Not so tough without that Canadian loser around to protect you,” Steve said. “He beat the shit out of some dork kid at his old school? Big hero, right?” He took a sip of his beer and didn’t take his eyes off me. He’d reached my car and was leaning against the driver side, blocking my way.
“Screw off,” I said through clenched teeth. “Get away from my car.”
“Aren’t you the tough one?” he said. “You like Canadian bacon?” He grabbed himself in the crotch and curled up his lip. “You’ll like my meat then.”
My heart pounded faster, but I squeezed my fist, trying to remember Dad’s self-defense tips.
“I can give you more than bacon.”
Steve’s voice had an edge that made my pulse race. He stepped aside and held out his hand as if to let me get to my door. I clicked it open and skirted around him, grabbing for the door handle. Fingers dug into my shoulder. Hard. A sound popped out of my mouth and I dropped my bag but my foot automatically kicked back, aiming for his private parts and connecting. I made a fist, threw my elbow back and up, and it connected with his nose. There was a flash and then someone else grabbed me and pulled my arms, locking them behind my back. I stomped on a foot and he oomphed and swore.
Steve grabbed my ponytail and yanked my head back, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand while the other guy held me. I inhaled deeply with fear and pain, not believing it was happening, and I struggled, but the grip on me was iron-tight.
“Let me go.”
Steve ran a finger along my cheek. I jerked my head away but he laughed and then stuck out his tongue and leaned forward, licking my cheek. The wetness, the awful smell, and the horrible implications made me feel sick to my stomach.
Steve reached for his belt buckle and jiggled it around and the inside of my brain froze. I couldn’t think. Move. Comprehend.
“Leave her alone,” a voice growled from behind me. “Seriously. What are you going to do? Gangbang her in the parking lot? Let her go.”
Steve swore under his breath and stood taller, looking past me.
“She kicked me in the balls and gave me a bloody nose.” He spit on the ground in front of me. My heart pounded, my breath quickened. “She needs a lesson.”
“You scared the shit out of her, what’d you expect?”
Lucas stepped in front of me, putting himself between Steve and me. “Her dad’s an ex-cop, Blender. Don’t mess with her.”
“I thought you left,” Steve growled at him.
“I was busy,” Lucas said. “Let her go, man,” he said to the guy behind me.
“Busy puking.” Steve laughed.
Lucas towered over Steve and almost doubled him in width. “Let her go,” he said again. “You not only have to worry about her dad and brother, but you don’t want to piss Levi off. Trust me.”
Steve took a quick step at me and threw his hands up in the air. “Boo!” he screamed.
I cringed but managed to keep from crying out. He grinned an ugly smile, reached out, and squeezed my nipple. It hurt and it made me want to barf.
“Nothing worth playing with here,” he said, pressing his face up to mine. His breath was horrible and bile rose up my throat.
“Dude,” Lucas said in a low but hard voice. “Let her go. Now.”
Steve nodded at the guy behind me and he pushed me by the shoulders so my body slammed into the car. Steve whacked his hand on the hood of the car beside my head.
“Boo!” he screamed again.
Lucas reached over and pulled him away. I met Lucas’s gaze. “Get out of here, Grace,” he said quietly. “These guys have been drinking.”
Shaking so badly I could barely open my car door to get inside, I fumbled and managed to get in and lock the door behind me and start the car. Pressing my foot hard on the gas, I peeled forward out of the parking lot.
I glanced up in my rearview mirror and then drove, holding my breath on and off until I got back into the city. As soon as I could, I pulled over to the side of the road. I put the car in park, dropped my head to the steering wheel, and breathed deeply. In and out. In and out. My hands shook and tears ran down my face but no sound came out. I kept breathing deeply until the shaking stopped.
What would have happened if Lucas hadn’t shown up? Deep down inside lurked a niggling feeling that somehow, someway, I’d brought this on myself. That I’d done something to deserve it. Rationally I knew it was wrong, but it was there.
Shame. I thought of Kya. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t.
When I pulled into the driveway, I turned the car off but didn’t move for a minute, remembering how scared and how defenseless I’d been forced to feel. I got out of the car slowly, thinking about whether to tell my parents. Dad would go ballistic. Indie would probably beat the crap out of him. He might even jeopardize his position with the police.
They might try to ban me from playing paintball with Steve. That would mean no more tourneys. I needed to keep playing with Lola. Consequences mishmashed up in my mind.
I couldn’t say anything.
The only person I wanted to talk to was the person I’d been furious with earlier.
I wanted to talk to Kya.
I wanted to hug her a little bit tighter.