The next night, Kya was late for work. I should probably have been mad at her, but instead, worst-case scenarios ran through my mind. My dad tells me she needs the same standards as everyone else, but I worry about her.
Pop!
There was a burst from the back office as Dad cleaned guns blocked by chopped paintballs. That loud noise didn’t bother me, but when something soft brushed against my shoulder, I jumped and whirled around with a scream.
Kya stood behind me, her finger poised in the air from tapping my shoulder.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I said with my hands covering my heart.
“I see that. Need to change your pants?”
Before I could say anything, she held up her other hand. A gift bag dangled on her finger.
“For you.” She thrust it at me. “Early birthday present.”
I hesitated, then reached for it. The pink bag sprouted yellow tissue, blooming out like spring flowers. Not something I’d normally associate with Kya and kind of out of place at Splatterfest. But call me a gift slut, because it improved my mood.
“I texted you.” She perched her butt on a stool behind the counter. “You didn’t answer.”
“Dad confiscated my phone.”
“Again?” She nodded toward the bag. “Open it.”
I glanced at the computer screen but pulled the paper from the bag and peeked inside. My heart thudded.
Tickets lay on the bottom.
I held my breath. Stuck my hand inside. Pulled them out and read.
“How? How? How?” I squealed.
She grinned the smile that made boys stumble over their feet or offer pretty much whatever she asked. “You don’t want to know.”
No. For once, I didn’t. “My parents will never let us go,” I moaned, kissing the tickets.
“Don’t worry. I already cleared it with your mom,” she said. “She’s coming to Seattle with us. She’s going to come to the tradeshow, but you and I are solo for the party!”
“No way!” I squealed and hugged the tickets to my chest, then tucked them back in the bag and busted into a dance step.
“In like skin,” she said. The shine in her eyes gave away how pleased she was.
I stopped dancing midstep. “But wait. Aren’t you supposed to go camping that weekend?”
Kya lifted her hand and made a symbol. Two fingers entwined. Me and her. Best friends. Sisters before misters. Buds before studs. “I canceled. You’re more important than a boy.”
I jumped up and down again and then grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in close for a giant hug. She allowed a longer squeeze than usual before wiggling out of my grasp.
“James will be pissed.” She flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder. “He’s on a mission to find you the best gift ever so you’ll fall madly in love with him. But I win!” She raised her hands in the air and jogged in place to break an invisible victory ribbon.
Now wasn’t the time for another lecture about being nicer to James. “James is not in love with me,” I told her.
She scowled toward the back of the warehouse where James was working.
“And birthday presents aren’t a competition,” I added gently.
“I’ll tell James to get you a gift card for clothes,” she said. “Then we can go shopping and get new outfits for the party.”
“Fat chance of that.” For a boy, James oddly prided himself on his gift-giving skills. “And the show is before my birthday.”
“Well. We have to go shopping. We need killer outfits for the party.”
That would be painful. Her idea of an appropriate outfit and my idea of an outfit were two entirely different things. We had to deal with crap from boys in paintball already. We didn’t need to dress like girls from beer commercials.
She gestured her head toward the bag. “I did good, right?”
I clapped my hands. “Best. Present. Ever. We are going to rock that party.” I reached for Kya again, wrapping my arms around her, not caring about overdoing her hug quotient for the day.
“Seriously? Hot lesbians?” said a deep voice from the other side of the counter. “This place is better than I thought.”
We’d been so absorbed in our conversation, we hadn’t noticed a couple of boys approach the other side of the counter.
I glared at them over Kya’s shoulder and let her go. The one who spoke was big. As in linebacker-sized, kind of built like my brother, Indie, with the same man-swagger. I imagined it must cost his parents a lot to feed him. Mom complained about feeding Indie all the time.
I had an urge to give the boy the finger but decided against it. I could almost hear Dad’s lecture about the proper way to conduct myself with difficult customers. Secretly he might be pleased if I stood up to the Neanderthals, but I took my job responsibilities seriously. I didn’t flip off customers, even if they asked for it with a cherry on top.
“Can I help you?” I coated my voice with ice, picked up the gift bag, and slid it on a shelf under the counter.
The boy leered as if we were wrapped around a stripper pole and not wearing oversized Splatterfest T-shirts. His eyes fixed on Kya, but that was to be expected. Her weird combination of sharp features somehow worked together to make most guys her personal slaves. Long, thin nose. Pointy chin. Big eyes that seemed to look right inside people’s souls. She even had vampish incisors that were wicked when she smiled. She could have been one of those high-fashion models who wore alien-like clothes and still made people want them.
“We’re here for the two o’clock league. Glad we’re early. That was smokin’ hot.”
“For real? How hot can a hug be?” Kya placed both hands on the counter and leaned forward. “And, FYI, her dad owns this place.” Kya looked him slowly up and down. “He’s also an ex-cop who doesn’t like it when customers say inappropriate things to his daughter. He’s been known to aim paintballs at private parts.”
He didn’t look away. I saw her notice that too.
“Have you filled out your liability form?” I asked sweetly.
“Grace could totally kick your butt out there.” Kya nodded toward the arena.
“But she’s so little. And cute,” said the boy behind him. I’d almost forgotten he was there, the way he quietly took up space.
I glared at him. “Seriously?” I hated the cute label. Like a bunny rabbit. Or a baby chick. Especially in comparison to Kya’s exotic looks. Everyone said we made odd BFFs.
“So is a honey badger, but don’t let it fool you,” Kya said. But she didn’t take her eyes off the linebacker. He kept his eyes on her, not the least apologetic or intimidated. He had cojones, I’d give him that.
I straightened my back and stood taller. “I’m not that little,” I told the taller boy. “And definitely not cute.”
He grinned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it as an insult.” His looks improved when he smiled.
“Hmmph.” I handed him a waiver form to sign and pretended to see something urgent appear on the computer screen.
“Some paintballs hurt more than others,” Kya was saying to the linebacker. “Especially if you know where to aim. I don’t suppose you thought to wear a cup?”
She was testing him. She never worried about saying proper things to customers or the wrath of my dad. I glanced at the guy, and the look on his face was perfect. His hands moved down.
“Her dad has nothing to worry about.” He winked at Kya. “I’m harmless. I’ve never played paintball before. I’ll probably suck. Levi’s the one who plays.” He gestured at the taller boy.
“Only outdoor. Woodsball,” he said to me and slid his waiver across the counter. I glanced at the signature. Levi Lewis.
“I’ve never run into female ballers. Especially cute ones.”
I narrowed my eyes again, but he smiled and winked.
“Good luck, Romeo,” Kya interrupted. “Gracie doesn’t let guys get close on or off the field.”
My face warmed. He’d been talking about paintball, not dating me.
He tilted his head. “You’re a force to be reckoned with?” he asked and crawled under my skin a little more.
“Careful of our Levi,” his friend said. “You don’t want to piss him off.”
Levi lifted his middle finger. My heart skipped a beat. I wasn’t sure if it was fear or intrigue.
I made a mental note to shoot him first if I played against him.
James walked out from the back room holding the cordless mike he used to talk to players in the arena. He almost tripped over something on the floor and made an oomph sound as he righted himself. He tended to move like a puppy with oversized paws and was the polar opposite of agile. His forte was brains, not brawn. I lifted my hand, and he grinned and pushed his glasses up his freckled nose.
James trotted closer. “Hey, Grace.” He put the mike down on the counter.
“What’s the matter, James, I don’t get a hello?” Kya said without taking her eyes off the linebacker. James glanced at him and then Kya.
“She writing a book on how to flirt using only her eyeballs?” he asked me.
Kya lifted her middle finger but didn’t look at him. The linebacker seemed confused but the word flirt noticeably lit up his eyes.
I clicked Levi’s name into the computer. “You can go get your coveralls over there.” I pointed to the locker room and glanced up as he walked off, pretending not to notice the perfection of his butt.
James pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at me, distracting me from perverted thoughts. I caught the box out of reflex. “Nerds!” I cried a little more enthusiastically than necessary.
“That’s not a nice thing to call James,” Kya said without looking.
James snarled his upper lip. I wished they would make up already. I shook the box to hear the magical clacking Nerds before shaking a pile of colorful candies into my mouth, crunching into an explosion of tangy flavors, and smooching my nose up at the sensation.
“My name is Lucas Lewis,” the linebacker said to Kya, turning his back on James and me.
“His parents have awesome alliteration skills,” James said under his breath. “Loathsome Loser. Hey, look! I can do it too.”
Luckily, Lucas wasn’t paying attention to us. His eyes were on Kya and I think, even through her oversized T-shirt, he sensed the new push-up bra she’d invested in. It made me uncomfortable the way he practically devoured her with his eyes, but she didn’t seem to mind.
James held his palm out and I filled it with Nerds. He threw a handful in his mouth as we watched Lucas and Kya flirt.
“You’re on the Lasers,” Kya told him. She slid a waiver form his way.
“Hallelujah. Another L word. His parents will be loopy. Lucas Lewis on the Lasers,” James mumbled.
I bit into my Nerds and threw James a warning look. His mouth sometimes burbled out thoughts he should keep inside his brain.
“You two brothers?” Kya nodded at where Levi had been standing.
“Cousins. He got sent to live with us because his parents think he’s a badass.”
“Badass?” I asked, but the two of them didn’t even look at me. They exchanged low words I couldn’t hear.
“There’re coveralls in the room over there,” I called to Lucas. He glanced at me and I pointed to the room Levi disappeared in. “You’ll need a mask too,” I said, raising my voice. “Put the coveralls over your clothes and then go to the training room and wait for the rest of the players.” I poured more Nerds directly into my mouth. “Go get suited up.” I nodded my head at James. “He’ll take you.”
James gave me a dirty look but walked away and Lucas followed. When they were out of hearing range, I turned to Kya. “What the hell?”
“I want to play that guy,” Kya said.
“You might get the chance. Dad said he might need us. Some of the guys can’t make it tonight.” I pretended to shoot an imaginary paintball at her. “He’s hardly a match for you.” I glanced over to where he’d disappeared. “Newb.”
“I didn’t mean in paintball.”
“Gross,” I said, even though I’d known what she meant.
“He was hot.” She nibbled at her thumbnail.
“Hot? What about Brady? Your adoring boyfriend? Remember him?” Kya’s boyfriends had short shelf lives but still…
“Brady is a boy,” Kya said.
“I think that’s kind of the point,” I said.
“Well, unlike best friends, boys are replaceable.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Lucas is hotter than Brady, don’t you think?”
Her current boyfriend was on the chopping block. My turn to raise my eyebrows and make a face. We could totally communicate through facial expressions, but she ended our discussion by turning away. Then she bumped my hip with hers. “So how about those tickets?”
My exasperation with her dwindled. “You’re the best.”
We were already on the Lady Grinders’ radar. Going to the VIP party in Seattle would give us a chance to firm up a spot on the team by impressing them in person. We could show them how much we wanted it and how dedicated we were to the sport. The party could literally change our lives.
I couldn’t wait for the chance for the two of us to shine. I wanted it so badly my hands shook with excitement.