Draw the Line

chapter twelve

"Oh, shit. Sorry I didn't realize you had company." Cooper's voice has a distinctly flirty edge to it, and I can practically see him winking at Josie right now just by the sound of it. I stand up and drop my bowl into the sink, walking out just in time to see her eyes widen a little in amusement as he does just that.

I clear my throat, leaning against the door frame as I cross my arms. "What's going on?"

"Doesn't anyone check the group chat anymore?" Penn rolls his eyes as he drops the big ass bag hanging from his shoulder to the ground. "It's CTF time, baby."

That perks me up. I could use a good CTF game to burn off this nervous energy.

"You got more ammo for the guns?" Luke questions, already closing the book in his lap.

"Guns?" Josie squeaks. She's wide-eyed as she scans the crowd of my teammates standing around her like she's suddenly rethinking whether or not she's safe here.

"Paintball guns." I nod, but her eyes only flick over to me for a second before she turns away again.

Jesus. What the fuck did I say to her on that phone call?

"You want to play, Josie?" Luke grins. "It's paintball; it should be right up your alley."

She perks an unamused brow and shakes her head. "No, thanks. I'm good here."

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun." He stands up and drops his textbook onto the coffee table. "I'll even let you get a free shot in on me for vetoing that podcast idea you loved so much."

Her lips quirk at the thought but flatten back out quickly, trying not to smile. "It wouldn't be a freebie, Luke. I'd shoot you fair and square. But no thanks, I'll just wait here and finish the outline."

Perfect.

"I'll hang out, too," I say, stepping up to the couch.

Her eyes widen as they find mine, and when my lips pull up into a grin, she looks back at Luke. I can see her mind working; what's worse — being stuck in here alone with me or being out there in the middle of a battlefield?

She stands up beside Luke, eyes narrowing as she glares at me. "Never mind, I'll play."

Josie is really fucking bad at this.

She's not even holding the gun right, and since she's hiding behind Luke's car, sitting down on the driveway against his tire trying to figure out how the lock on the trigger works, she's not paying attention to anything going on around her. Namely the fact that I'm walking up behind her.

"Hey, Melons."

She gasps so loudly the sound echoes down the street, which definitely just gave away our position, but when I kneel behind the car next to her, she ignores me as I scan the area with my gun, ready to shoot in case her noise drew any attention toward us. It's clear, for now, at least. When I turn back, she's narrowing her eyes at me as if she's trying to decide how she wants to react. When I lower myself down beside her, she sighs heavily and looks back down at the gun in her lap.

"Go away, Micah."

"Is this about the phone call?"

She doesn't look up from the gun, but her brows raise slightly.

"So it is." I nod, tilting my head back to rest against Luke's car. "I was really fucked up, you know. I don't remember what I said, so if it was stupid, or rude, or overly sexual or something, I'm sorry."

"You don't remember?" she says, but her voice is too soft, too sweet to match her pissed-off expression, and when her eyes finally lift to meet mine, I can tell she's been thinking about this for the past four days. That's why she hasn't replied to any of my Instagram DMs.