Free Ineligible Bachelor by Kathryn Quick Page B

which is getting shot in the mask. So no shooting at anyone’s head. Being marked, or shot by a paintball, can leave a welt at close distances.”
    “So if anyone gets marked, they are out?” Freddy asked.
    “Yeah. And ‘wiping’ is an automatic disqual. That’s when you attempt to remove the spot where you were marked. But a bounce is legal, and you can stay in the game.”
    “Define ‘bounce,’” Freddy said.
    “It’s when a paintball hits a player but does not break.” He pointed to his partner. “Jerry will take the ladies back to the far edge of the field beyond the woods, and we’ll find a place to protect the flag.”
    Everyone moved to join their teams.
    “Stay inside the base for now.” Max gestured to the large rectangle they stood inside, outlined with red landscaping paint. “Once we start, and you’re outside the base, anything goes. A few more things. If you get tagged, you raise your marker over your head to signifythat you’re out and move straight to the dead box.” He pointed to a second red-outlined rectangle at the edge of the field. “That’s it over there. When you’re hit, you get there and stay there until the match is over. And do not give in to the urge to shoot anyone coming by.” He nodded to Jerry and then turned. “Everyone ready?”
    Cheers went up from the women.
    “Then let’s play some paintball.”
    They all began to walk away from the base when Jade’s marker went off, shooting a paintball straight onto the ground. She shrieked in surprise as dirt rose from the dry ground around her. “Sorry,” she said, “my bad.”
    Jerry started toward her when Lori waved him off. “I got this,” she said and then proceeded to instruct Jade on how to shoot, along with proper safety measures.
    “Hey,” Freddy called out. “You’ve played before?”
    Lori shook her head and continued to help Jade.
    “She’s army. She knows how to shoot,” Logan reminded Freddy.
    Freddy nodded. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot.”
    Once the instruction was over, Max raised his hand. “Let’s try this again. Ready? Game on!” The ladies shouted in delight and began walking off with him to their starting point.
    Freddy looked down at the ground. “The game is on now, right?” Max nodded. She dropped to one knee, pretending to tie her shoe. “You two go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
    “You sure?” Logan asked.
    “I’m a minute behind you.”
    She watched them walk off, and once they were out of sight, she took off running in the direction the women had taken.
    She had no trouble finding them. Their laughing and chattering like chipmunks made them all pretty noisy targets. Staying back enough for her not to be heard, she tested her paintball marker ona tree, hitting it with three shots. At least now she knew what it felt like to fire it. Then she approached the ladies as quietly as possible. To her luck, Lori was last in line as they followed a pathway. Perfect, because the war vet had to go first.
    Taking aim at Lori’s rear, Freddy got off four quick shots, two of them hitting the mark. “You’re out, soldier-lady,” Freddy shouted before turning and running off as fast as she could, hearing paintballs fall well short of her retreat as the women fired back at her.
    So much for the marksman,
she thought triumphantly as she sped off to find Logan at the opposite end of the course. One down, five more to go. No one was capturing Logan’s flag today if she could help it.
    Freddy peeked around the side of the structure in which she had hidden the flag. About eight feet high and ten feet wide, it was basically a box with a three-foot-square opening in front. It had been peppered with paintballs over the years, giving it a psychedelic eighties feel.
    “Do you see anyone?” Logan asked. He dropped to one knee beside her, paintball gun in hand.
    Freddy suddenly let out a few blasts from her gun, the paintballs hitting the small bushes across the way. From the underbrush, a rabbit