Trying Love, Again

Chapter 18- ---Arcade

We've been driving for some time, and as usual the drive was interactive. I tried my best not to gawk too much at his beautifully structured face, but I could catch a glimpse of him from the corner of my eyes. Kiitan was the type that hold an engaging conversation. Occasionally, we sang along to the music that played from the car stereo. I was an enjoyable experience.

I could not help but steal a glance at this gorgeous man. And he was into me? How? I should definitely stop thinking lowly of myself.

"What are you thinking about?" He observed my face for a sec, then his eyes were back on the road.

"Oh! Nothing." I said tearing my gaze from him.

I feared he could read my mind, and knew what I was thinking. Don't mind me, blame it on the amount of science fiction movies I watch. And right now I feared he was telepathic.

"Are you sure?" He doesn't look convinced.

"Yeah, of course." I assured him. "Where are we going by the way." I asked at last.

"You'd see when we get there."

He made a detour into a parking lot. "We're here." Then turned off the ignition.

I glared at the building in front of me. "Game Arcade?" Unfasten my seatbelt as I saw him do the same.

He got out of the car, walked round it until he was at my side of it to get the door.

Hmmm, gentle man much?

I hopped out of the car. And muttered "thank you" to him.

"Excited?" He shut the door, pressed the lock button on the car keys as he heading for the building as casually as possible.

"Maybe, it depends. What game are we playing?" I said following behind him trying to match up his pace. When he saw my struggle he slew down, till we were working side by side.

"Paintball." He said as he opened the door for me to go in first.

Why was he such a gentleman.

"It's just the two of us." I said once I was inside.

"Two can also play this game. It'll be fun, don't worry."

Trust me that was far from what worried me. I wasn't worried about the game. Rather, it was the proximity of our closeness that worried me.

We got to the reception, followed the procedures of registration. We got all the gadgets needed for the game. We wore our paintball overall, and took off our shoes to avoid paint splash.

I sat on one of the long benches in the room, load my gun. I picked up the paintball gun I'd set down beside me earlier. The paintball gun has a loader attached to it to insert paintballs into the gun. The last time, I didn't know how to reload my gun with paint and that cost us our first game.

Kiitan was on the other long bench across to me, filling his gun with ammos we were given.

The ammunition used in the gun, were spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye. In a nutshell, Paint.

"Have you played this game before." He tried to keep small talks.

"Of course, I have played with Beth and our other friends. We were in teams." I said as I put my paint google on immediately. And handed him the other. It was the type used in labs and wood shops, it served as a safety devices that players are required to wear at all times on the field, to protect them from paintballs.

He put his paint gun aside before taking the googles from me. But still continued with the conversation even as he wore it. "Oh really? So who won the game?" He questioned.

I've filled my paint gun with pellets, so I tucked the rest in the pod packs we were given.

When I was done with that, I answered him. "The guys won unfortunately." I pointed to his Pod pack "You'll need that."

He patted it. "All packed."

"So there were guys." He asked passing me the elbow and knee pads.

"Yes, three of them and three girls. So we were evenly divided. That was my first time. I haven't really played a two man paintball before. This would be the first time as well." I felt like I was talking too much, then I stopped.

He placed two gloves on the little space beside me on the bench. Honestly putting these gloves on I felt like I was in the military force and I was preparing for war.

"And you? Is this your first time?" I kept the questions coming.

"Not exactly." He said.

"I'm all ears." I took the jockstraps which was to protect sensitive or vulnerable anatomical areas from painful hits and injury.

"I'll tell you after the game." He sent a huge smile.

The game field was scattered with natural and artificial terrain, which players use for tactical cover. When we were on the field I started to strategize. I had no team so I had to be on full alert. I needed to understand my strengths and weaknesses. Since we were just two and there was no strong sniper, I choose to go on the attack, and take my opponent out.

Our match was Capture the Flag, two teams compete to reach the other side of the map and return the other team's flag to their own base. There were two flags a red on and a yellow one. Mine was the red flag. I sighted his flag on a visibly obvious location at the rear of a his territory. Mine was hidden up at the extreme end of my territory where it could only be seen from one angle, and I'd have to find the flag, then knock it down. According to the game. Once you're tagged while carrying the flag, it is returned to its original place.

I already had a game plan set up. Take him out. I had figured out where I could make my strong side. I planned for attacks. Wait, tell me why I wasn't in the military again. Cause I'm so damn good at this.

When the buzzer when off, we moved into the Live Fire Zone. There was about to be a showdown.

As the game went on, in an attempt to stop him from getting back to his base with my flag. I held my gun at a steady level, and taking a shot at him aiming for  the back of his neck. But he turn at about the same time and the ball impacted him on his temple. Splashing little paint in his eye.

Paintball impacts to the hands, knuckles and fingers can be extremely painful and temporarily debilitating.

I had a foreknowledge that a paintball can cause bruises and welts, players could feel a slight sting, while most hits are insignificant. The pain is usually minor and typically faded quickly. But then the severity depends on the speed of the ball, the distance the ball travels, and where it hits on ones body.

When the buzzer buzzed again, it was to announce the end of the game. A winner could not emerge due to the incident. The impacted eye had to be attended to.

He could drive in his state, he asked if I didn't mind driving us back to his place instead. I didn't have to deliberate so much on it. We got into the car and left.

A/N: Do you love this chapter? Remember to vote, vote, vote. Follow my profile. Also comment, comment, comment. Thank you for keeping up. 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗