Kade's Game (13 page)

Her response is delayed, but she finally answers.

"Yeah.  Um... I guess I'll see you guys later."

I guide her to the Range Rover, relishing the smile I've put on her face.  The thought of pushing her against the side of the SUV and making a show comes to mind.

Groaning inwardly, I help her into the passenger side and make my way around.  After cranking the car, I look over to see she's still staring at me.

"They're still watching," I say, promising that they're completely shocked and floored.

But then I see it.  The look I've been desperate for
—a hunger so fierce that I can't wait to be swallowed up.  When her gaze falls to my lips, staring at them like she has to have more, I decide this is the moment I've been waiting for.  But some wild, chick song starts blaring, stealing my perfect fucking moment.  What the hell is that?

Though I'd like to punch my steering wheel, the song has me laughing.  I never pictured her listening to something like that, and usually her phone is on vibrate.

"Hello," she says, sounding annoyed.

Her eyes flick to me, and she shakes her head while continuing, "He's not... no.  I don't trust you."

I tilt my head, curious as to who she's speaking to and why she's looking at me.  Then she lets out a snort of derision, further piquing my interest.

"Fine.  Play nice," she says, handing me the phone, and I can't help but chuckle, confused by the whole chain of events.

I barely get my ear to the phone when I hear Josh talking.

"Come on back and get yourself ready to hang out with the boys.  My friends and I are going skeet shooting.  Just tell her you're going with me, though."

"Sure," I say, not really wanting to leave Raya, but I have no intentions of pissing off Josh.  Considering I've seen how scared he is of Raya—which dumbfounds me—I'm starting to think he's all talk.  "We'll be back in about five minutes or less.  I'd like to eat some pie first."

I grin when I get off the phone, and her smile mimics mine as she moves in a little closer.  By the end of the weekend, Raya Capperton will officially be mine, and this game will be over.

Had I realized going
skeet shooting with four Marines would be so scary, I would have probably turned into a bitch and told everyone I wanted to stay with Raya.  Since I'm stuck out here, sweating my balls off despite the cold air, I try to act like a man.

More than once one of Josh's
friends
has shot too close to me.  I'm pretty sure they wouldn’t actually shoot me, but it's starting to screw with my head.  Since they don't give me a gun very often, I'm a little unnerved with the balance of things.  I'm losing more badass points by the minute, but I refuse to let them see they're getting to me.

Dirt flies up beside my leg, and I swallow hard, somehow managing not to flinch.

"Sorry," Bud—Josh's friend—lies.  "Gun went off too soon."

I would believe that, if it wasn't the fifth time.

"You should probably have that seen about.  Having so many premature climaxes could be problematic," I retort, instantly regretting my quick wit when the man holding the gun glares at me.

I should have a gun, too, if I'm going to say something that bold.  Marine.  A fucking
Marine.  I really need to learn to shut up.  If not for the guns, I would stand a chance.  The guns change things immensely.

"What'd you say, rich boy?" he growls.

Rich boy?  That's the best insult he has?  I really wish there were no guns around.

"Chill out, Bud," Jared, the only sane one of the four says.  "Shoot at his feet again and I'm telling Raya."

Bud scowls at the guy, and then he cuts his eyes at me, silently threatening me.

"You can't tell Raya you guys were here," Josh says as he shoots and shatters a skeet, making orange clay rain from the sky.  I really wish he
didn’t have such a good aim.  "She'll have my balls in a jar," he adds, his attention on the new clay flying in the air.

He shoots it down as well, making it look easy.

Jared chuckles while making his way over to me.  He's not the same ghastly size as the others.  I suppose he doesn't eat nails with his cereal in the mornings.

"Don't mind them.  Josh isn't used to Raya dating.  And Bud's had a thing for her for years.  He's just jealous."

The other one, Mark, seems to be content just shooting, even though he makes sure to mention something about my attire every chance he gets.  I didn't realize you needed camouflage for skeet shooting.  I wonder if anyone has ever told them the skeets can't tell if they're camouflaged or not.

"Raya and I aren't dating," I murmur, taking a slow sip of beer and wishing it was whiskey.

He smiles to himself, not really saying anything, but I can tell I must be pretty transparent.

"No one would come to shoot with Josh unless they've got it bad for Raya," he finally says.

I suppose that's why he can see through me.  Had I known my day would go this way, I might have kidnapped Raya and taken her home before her psychotic brother accidentally killed me.

I checked for shovels earlier.  Found none.  That gives me little reprieve, though.

I decide not to say anything more on the matter.  I'm not talking about how I feel about Raya with anyone but Raya.

"I think this is a bit overkill, wouldn't you say?" I ask, motioning to the dramatic setup Josh went through to scare me shitless.  "He loads his gun with the barrel pointed at me every time."

Jared snickers, and I notice Josh smirk as he shoots down another skeet, proving he's listening in.

"Josh is into theatrics, and he's crazy protective over Raya.  She's the type to take whatever you say and swallow it, no matter how bad it hurts.  She won't stick around for you to run over her, but she doesn't fight for herself
, either.  Josh takes it upon himself to weed out the ones who don't really care about her before they can hurt her."

I now understand why Raya has had only one boyfriend.

"How'd he miss Jeremy?" I drawl, sipping on the beer again.

Probably the wrong thing to say.  Everyone gets quiet, and Josh's jaw tenses as he slowly lowers the gun from the air.  Jared stays beside me, his eyes trained on Josh like he might do something stupid.

"Jeremy is the reason I started checking them out," Josh says, working hard to hold back his rage.

Subject change is necessary.  I turn back to the only one who doesn't look ready to rip me apart and pretend as though no one else is around.

"If Raya doesn't fight back, then why is Josh so scared of her?"

Just like that, the tension breaks, and everyone starts laughing.

"It's not so much Raya, as it is her fa—"

"Don't," Josh warns, interrupting him and silencing him with a glare that seems to speak to Jared.

Jared clears his throat and loses his smile for a minute.  What was he going to say?

"Her what?" I prompt, too intrigued to let it go.

"Just don't piss her off," Mark, the Camouflage Nazi, interjects through laughter. "The last time Josh did, pictures of him passed out drunk and sucking his thumb made it around base.  Found them as a screensaver for every computer there."

Josh glares at him, but the three men cackle like he doesn't matter.  How would she get pictures of him on every computer at their base?

"Not to mention, she'll interrupt poker night," Jared adds with a smirk, igniting a few more chuckles.

I start to ask questions as Josh moves to let Bud take over shooting.  That bastard better not point that gun this way.  Josh doesn't drop his gun, but he lowers the barrel to the ground.  His eyes are serious, despite the newly lightened air.

Jared steps aside when Josh comes to me, looking determined to get something off his chest.

"Look, you seem cool enough, but Raya isn't the kind of girl who can handle being someone's fun time.  You're rich, and I'm sure you've played this game on girls like Raya before.  You've got balls of steel for coming here.  You've got even bigger balls to have stuck the day out.  Since you don't seem to be scared of a few shotguns, you should know I have a whole arsenal at my house."

I don't react.  I can't because it'll provoke him.  Someone's fun time?  A girl like Raya?  Never mind.  I have to react.

My teeth grind as I crack my neck to the side.  "If I had ever known a girl like Raya, I wouldn't be so fucking sunk.  So to say 'girls like Raya,' you're doing nothing but pissing me off.  If I wanted a 'fun time,' I'd throw a party.  It's college.  Someone always wants a fun time.  If I didn't give a damn, I would've left the first time that stupid fucker over there shot beside my feet."

I point to Bud who whips around, gun in hand, and Jared, Mark, and Josh all yell at him to point it elsewhere.  The drunken idiot does so.  Thankfully.

Josh turns his attention back to me, studying me.  Jared's amused grin doesn't go unnoticed, and Mark's grin bears the same intrigue.  Josh doesn't scare me
—as long at that gun stays pointed at the ground.

He finally nods slowly, seeming to digest my words.  "Fine.  But remember what I said.  Don't fuck her over the way that tool did.  It took her a while to recover from that."

The breath that comes out of me almost hurts after being held for so long.  I passed the test.  Thank God.

Ah, shit.

Suddenly the barrel of his gun is up against my crotch as Josh offers one last warning.

"If you
screw around on her, you'll lose the ability enjoy life.  If you know what I mean," he threatens, seeming to revel in the power he has over me right now.

I hold my composure, even though my cock is curled up and crying in fear.

"I wouldn't fight you on it."

Josh seems amused by that, but Jared has turned pale beside me.

"Christ, Josh!  Put it away, you psycho ass," he scolds.

Josh rolls his eyes as he points the gun to the side, looking as though he's about to pull the trigger.  "It's empt
—"

His words are cut off as a
boom
erupts and the gun jerks around in his loosened grip, dropping to the ground just as a loud scream rings out.  Yeah... My dick just fell into a fear-induced coma.  That could have been me.

Bud is on the ground, holding his ass as he cries in pain.  Josh's whole face turns white, and Jared and Mark look torn between being horrified or bursting out laughing.

"It's bird shot," Josh says quickly, acting as though that makes it okay.

The others burst out laughing
—except for Bud, of course, who has pellets all in his ass.

My lips twitch, but I'm still recovering from the fact my balls were almost blown off.  I'm glad he didn't squeeze that trigger to prove a point when it was still trained on my manhood.  I'm also glad I just emptied my bladder ten minutes ago.  I'd have pissed myself otherwise.

Josh looks back at me as Mark and Jared go to pick up a wailing Bud, helping him to a vehicle.

"Oops," Josh says apologetically, his eyes flicking to my balls.

Oops
?  What the hell kind of Marine doesn't know when he's carrying a loaded gun?

Bud gets pushed into the back, staying on his stomach as the guys help him in, both of them still laughing at the man who is now crying.

"We'll take him to the hospital.  Might not want to tell Raya you threatened to blow his dick off before she even gets to use it," Mark calls out, making Josh shake with anger.

Stupid
dick.  Why'd he go and say that?

Involuntarily, my eyes lower to Josh's gun, hoping it really is out of bullets this time
—in case he points it at me again.

"Seriously, though," Jared says, still laughing at Mark's comment as he looks at me.  "Don't tell Raya we were here.  Especially now."

I really can't wait to get to know Raya a little better.  This is definitely rousing my curiosity.

"You can't tell Raya we're scared of her either," Mark says, his voice carrying louder than necessary.

What the hell?

"It's not her.  It's her
—
"
Jared's words are cut short by Mark's elbow to the ribs, making his sentence turn into a loud
umph.

Josh rolls his eyes while turning to me.  "Let's go, pretty boy."

This place is trashed.  Beer bottles, boxes of skeets, and so much more litter the open field we're in.

"Don't we need to clean this up?" I ask.

Josh waves his hand, swatting my question away.

"I'll do it later.  Mom's already sent me four texts.  Raya's worried and wants you back.  Mom says she's pacing the house and driving her crazy."

Raya wants me back.  I can't help but grin.

Josh studies me, but I can't lose my smile, even though I'm pretty sure it's only pissing him off.  But surprisingly, he smiles, too.  Then he rolls his eyes.