We had two options to win the game—defend our flag and eliminate the opposition, or take their flags while not losing ours.
Fortunately, our teams were about even. Two teams of five and one team of six. Jake said we would need to trim that team first. He and Archie debated a plan as we moved to where our flag—blue—was placed.
Coop bumped my shoulder. “As much history as you and Jake watch, it always kills me that you don’t want to plot strategy on these.”
“You know strategy as well as I do, and you don’t leap into these debates either,” I pointed out, and he shrugged.
“Archie lives for this shit. Jake and Bubba work together well because of all the years of football. So why mess with a good thing?”
I grinned. “And it’s fun to watch them go all alpha.”
“That it is,” he admitted. “They aren’t even doing it to impress you. They really care how this comes out.”
“You care,” I told him. “You like to win.”
“So do you,” he began but paused when Archie glared at us.
“You’re supposed to be paying attention,” he reminded us.
“Oops,” I intoned with wide eyes. “We’re in trouble.”
The playful tone was the right thing to do, because Archie grinned and shook his head. “Keep it up, babe, and I’ll get into this spanking thing you like.”
Yeah, my pussy might have clenched at that threat. “Not sure that’s a deterrent,” I teased, but out of deference to seeing him smile, I focused on their plan. I had to admit, they had worked out a good one.
And that ten-mile run earlier might not work out in my favor if I had to play bait, but that was what they wanted me to do. Lure out their players so Jake could take a higher position and knock them out. In the meantime, Coop would go with Archie to nail the red flag first. Ian would stay to defend our flag.
We did have little headsets and radio control. I wanted to laugh at how serious they were, especially when we went with call signs, but I had to admit, there was a certain amount of thrill to this whole idea.
For the next two hours, it was a blast. We weren’t the only one who went after the red team first. The green team had also gone after them. They were the team with the six members, and they took enough body shots—I managed to knock out one on my own, even with Jake covering me from above—that they were out of play. Archie snagged their flag in the melee and took out a green team member at the same time.
But almost at once, our aggressive play turned defensive, because the green team came after us. Three of them moved together in a triangle pattern, and they nearly got me. I had taken four of the five hits needed to eliminate me from play.
Jake fell back with me and took two hits meant for me, then we took out one of our assailants. Buying time for Archie and Coop, we went on the run and kept their team after them.
Two on two, we were racking up the shots.
I got eliminated just as Archie claimed their flag and the buzzer sounded through the whole place.
Hot and sweaty afterward, the guys were still riding high on their victory. “My place tonight,” Archie announced. “Jeremy already picked up the cats, and we’re going to finish moving the last of your stuff out, babe.”
It almost felt too soon, but we went back to my place long enough to shower and change. I packed up an overnight bag and my toiletries. All our cars were coming with us, which meant we were driving separately. The bed had been stripped down to the mattress, and there were new boxes.
I would scold Jeremy and Archie later, but a part of me was truly grateful. Leaving the apartment was bittersweet. I’d grown up here. I had a lot of bad memories here.
But I had good ones too. This year? This past year with them had been the best. This was where we’d become us, even if we’d had to go to Colorado to really sort it all out. This was where I’d slept with Jake and Coop the first times. Archie had told me he loved me for the first time in his Ferrari right outside. Coop and I had grown up here. It’d also been the site of an amazing birthday I was never going to forget. I met my father here for the first time.
So many memories.
The guys trickled out, and for once, they let me have a couple of minutes alone in the place. With the cats gone, the art off the walls, and everything packed, it held an element of emptiness I wasn’t expecting.
As much as it had been my home, it wasn’t anymore.
My home was out there waiting for me.
Blowing out a breath, I turned off the lights and headed for the door.
It was time to leave the apartment in the past and take the memories with me. Still, I hesitated at the backdoor and glanced at the kitchen one more time.
It was one more goodbye in a couple weeks of goodbyes.
I locked the door and headed to the parking lot, where my family waited next to their own vehicles.
Joy invaded the bittersweet, and I grinned.
“French toast for breakfast tomorrow?” I asked, and Archie grinned.
“Like Jeremy would make you anything else.”
Chapter Fourteen
Painting the Roses Red
Coop
Breakfast at Archie’s was everything you could want, right down to the fact the cats wandered through the dining room while we fell on the feast Jeremy prepared for all of us. None of them were on the table, though I’d caught Tiddles eyeing it with his tail thrashing like he
