Do I want a relationship with her? Or do I want to start distancing myself before this can get too serious?
I frown at the second option. I definitely don’t want to stop seeing her. Even the thought of that makes me annoyed, imagining not having her easy laugh ringing in the air or her moans pressed against my ear. Fuck that option.
And when Dani shoots me a grin and playful wink, that thought eddies completely from my mind.
Fuck pulling away, I like us right where we are.
But I can also be honest with myself about the fact that I don’t feel the need to push for something bigger with her. It’s not just that I have a lot going on in my life, it’s that Ilikewhere we are. I like the casual thing. It’s more fun, and way easier to navigate than a label.
Plus, I know where Dani stands. So it’s kind of a moot point. But I feel better thinking through Max’s question and confirming whereIstand on things—not just where Dani clearly wants to put me.
"Alright boys, I'm ready for you now," she says coming over to stand in front of us. She gestures at the two remaining boxes of liquor that need to be carried inside, silently asking for our help. It takes no time at all to get everything moved inside.
And then she's standing in front of us, hands on her hips and a grin on her face. "There are about a dozen kids working the field right now that like to end their shift with a game, so if you guys are up for it, the field is ours."
I clap my hands together in glee. "Definitely. I can't wait to kick your ass."
A look of mischief crosses her face as she jerks her chin toward the equipment area. "Go suit up. I'll see you on the field, and we'll see whose ass gets kicked today."
* * *
"How many snot-nosed teenagers do we have left?" I hear Max call.
I peek around the stack of tires I'm hiding behind, my gaze sweeping across the field and over to the crow's nest on the opposite side. We've already taken out two of the six opponents on our way up the turf, and we're guessing there's at least two guarding the flag on the high ground.
I spot movement in front of Max's hiding spot.
"You've got someone at 11:00," I say, just loud enough for him to hear.
He gives me a sharp nod before quietly moving around the barrel he was crouching behind. I aim my gun where I saw the movement, ready to offer cover fire as Max bolts the twenty feet to the next barricade. No one fires, though, and it takes him less than ten seconds to spot the kid hiding behind the tree and take him out with a quick burst of shots. I capitalize on Max's gunfire by sprinting to the same blockade he's hiding behind, the sweat starting to trickle down my back in the thick suit.
"There's probably one more covering the flag up there, right?" he asks, his eyes darting around for the lone gunman.
"That's what I would do. There should be only two others on the field, and if I remember my competitive dodgeball days correctly, as a teenager I only ever wanted to be the aggressor. So it's unlikely they have more people guarding their flag than hunting ours."
Max nods in agreement, his body already readying to sprint toward the crow's nest.
"Let's split up and each take a side," I tell him. "I'll take left, you take right. If one of us spots the gunman, make a bird sound to alert the other."
Max's head drops back with a sigh. "Why the fuck would I make a bird sound? Do you evenknowhow to make a bird sound?"
I can only stare at him in shock. "Of course. Don't you?"
He shakes his head in a way I've come to interpret ashow did we ever become best friends?
"Just… call out if you see the guy," he says with a heavy sigh. "Good?"
"Sure, if you want to be boring," I grumble.
He doesn't even respond. He just takes off.
I let out a sigh of my own and dash in the other direction.
I'm nearing the crow's nest from the right side when I see a flash of something, immediately before hearing thepop popof a gun going off.
"Kakaw,kakaw!" I scream in a panicked voice, throwing myself behind another stack of tires.
"Dude, Ihearthe shots! At this point the call is kind of redundant."