Wyatt

"Gimme this," Colby whispers seductively, and her face is so close to mine that we're breathing the same air. I'm momentarily distracted by the wild gleam in her eyes and the feel of her fingers brushing against my chest.

Big mistake.

She wrests the rope I'm holding from my hands before I even have a chance to recognize this was her objective all along.

Hell, you beguiled pinhead, focus!

She backs away from me, winking before she turns to tiptoe toward the stirring guard.

I can tell from where I'm standing in the shadows before the brick wall, that he isn't totally awake. Probably just enough to be a problem for us. Colby continues forward, undeterred. When she steps into the halo of light surrounding the flagpole, I suck in a breath.

She looks like Catwoman, adorned in dark fabric that hugs every damn curve. Her platinum blonde hair spills from beneath the stolen knit cap, falling down her back and rustling in the breeze that's making me shiver.

'Cause it's definitely the breeze that's giving me chills.

She slows as she approaches, casting a grin a mile wide over her shoulder, and I'm about to follow her over when Mari grabs my wrist.

"Let her have a shot at this," she says quietly. "That girl may surprise you."

"Hey," rasps the kid from the ground, sitting up slightly. "What're you—"

"Shhh," Colby breathes, bringing a finger to her lips. She plants her feet on either side of the now sputtering freshman's hips, gently shoving him back toward the ground. "Stay down."

I can barely hear her, and it takes a concerted effort on my part not to go sprinting over there, but I hold my ground and let her do her thing. Besides, truth be told, I'm kinda mesmerized watching her. This is a bold, take-charge side of her that I haven't seen in a while.

I think I've missed it.

"I was hoping you'd be here," she continues. "Jason is it?"

"You can call me whatever you want, baby," he mumbles.

"Mm mmm," she purrs, shaking her head. "Keep it down. We don't wanna wake your friends." She leans toward him. "I want you all to myself."

His eyes go wide, and I stifle a laugh. That poor idiot looks like he's about to wet himself.

"Let's play a game, you and I," she says, pulling the rope from within her jacket. I hadn't even noticed that she'd stuffed it in there.

"W-w-what kind of game," he stammers.

"Well," Colby says, unraveling the rope. "It starts with you folding your hands together. I get to tie you up," she adds flirtatiously.

"Oh, mercy," Mari says, snickering quietly and fanning herself. "I don't think you boys even needed to come."

Colby proceeds to tie the hands of the imbecile freshman, all the while cooing and bantering. I glance around, only to find my teammates jaws on the ground. Everybody's spellbound by the little vixen in black, who definitely brought her A-game tonight.

I smile. That's my girl.

Across the way, I finally spot what was supposed to be Team Distraction. A lot of help they've been. Ari motions to me, signaling that they're ready to proceed.

"Alright, stop drooling," I say. "Let's go help." I indicate a target for half the members of our team and then rush in to help Colby finish with her mark.

We swarm, catching the remaining guards while they sleep, and Nash claps a hand over the mouth of the one that's now wide awake.

"You're not gonna say a word when I remove my hand from your face," Nash says. "If you do, we'll take pictures, and we'll send them to everyone at your school to show them how badly you've failed."

We proceed to tie the four supposed flag guards together, hands behind their backs. They sit, watching as we proceed with our objective for the evening. They're steaming and angry, but they don't make a peep. The prospect of having pictures taken is just too frightening.

Ari curses under his breath. "The line is locked. We can't lower the flag down."

"On it," Nash says. He whips a pocket knife from his jacket, placing it between his teeth, and scurrying up the pole.

"Oooo baby, look at you go," Mari swoons from beneath him. "Just drop it once you've cut it loose!"

Nash obliges, reaching the top of the pole in record time and slashing the flag free. He drops it and it falls with a hefty thud to the earth.

I turn to Colby, who's beaming. She's had quite a night, alright.

"What was that?" I ask, pointing toward her stewing victim.

"I just thought I'd have a little fun," she says. "Besides, I wanted to help. Why, are you jealous Dodge?" She smiles slyly, placing her hands expectantly on her hips.

"So what if I was," I say, my smile matching hers. I take a step toward her.

"Help! Help us!" one of the hogtied idiots wails.

It's only then that I notice two bouncing lights moving in our direction.

"Someone's coming!" Ari screeches. "Run! Different directions, everyone! Every man for himself!"

Well, shit.

Nash tucks the flag under his arm and makes a beeline for Mari. The two of them go tearing off, not wasting any time. All around us, people dart off into the darkness.

"C'mon," I say, grabbing Colby's hand. "We gotta jet." We take off in the opposite direction from Nash and Mari, racing toward the brick wall that now feels very high. "Here." I bend and offer Colby my clasped hands. She places her foot there and I boost her to the top of the wall.

I jump then, clutching the top of the wall with my hands and running up the side, the toes of my boots digging into the grooves of the brick wall for purchase.

"You okay?" Colby asks from the other side.

"I'm good," I say, landing next to her. "Let's go, B."

We race around the perimeter of the school hand-in-hand, avoiding the lights that I swear are placed every few feet. It's gotta be the best lit building in all of Texas. We reach the front of the school, and I know we're in trouble. It's a damn parking lot. Not a hiding place to be seen for hundreds of yards. If we try our luck at racing across the wide open lot, we'll be spotted for sure.

"Let's wait this out behind those bushes," I say in a hushed tone, pulling Colby alongside me. We move toward them, crouching down beneath a window and trying to catch our breath. There's just enough room to squeeze two bodies in the space between the school and the tufts of green, leafy branches.

Colby shivers next to me, so I wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer. We lean back against the wall, our knees tucked up to our chests, and she rests her head against my shoulder.

"I'm glad you came, B," I whisper. "This is the closest call we've ever had when we've come here, but it's also been the most fun. You're one hell of a felon."

She giggles, tucking herself nearer to me. "I'm glad I came, too. Reminds me a lot of our glory days."

"Same here," I say. "Hey, do you hear—"

"Footsteps, yeah."

We both fall silent and make ourselves as small as we can in our tenuous hiding place. Light flashes across the bush, temporarily blinding me, but we remain statue still. There's dead silence. Maybe he'll leave, maybe he'll—

A hand clamps down on my upper arm, hauling me to my feet.

"Aha!" says the security guard. "Boy are you in trouble. And you." He points a finger in Colby's face. "Get outta there."

Colby climbs out from behind the bushes, her eyes meeting mine. Only, I don't see fear or worry. I see...amusement?

...

"We've sure learned our lesson, sir," Colby says. We're seated on the curb, some twenty feet from our shabby hiding spot. Andy and CJ are also here, having been caught somewhere along the way. The security guard scribbles something on a notepad while we wait for the police to arrive.

Yep. The police.

Hell.

This is not how I saw tonight ending.

"How's about you let us go?" Colby continues flirtatiously, batting her lashes.

"You're not my type, sweetheart," the guard says, not even bothering to look up.

"How's about you let us go, sir?" I say, doing my best to imitate Colby's tone. The guard glances at me.

I wink.

"Now you're just being a smartass," he says, turning away from us. Colby snickers, so I guess my effort wasn't a total loss.

The police cruiser rolls up not long after, and two officers hop out.

"Hey, Jesse, I'm letting these two go," the guard says to one of the officers, indicating Andy and CJ.

"What?" Colby demands. "Why are you letting them go?"

"I don't see the two of them trying to flirt their way out of an arrest. The two of you can go entertain the folks down at the station with your antics," he says, not even sparing us a glance.

CJ and Andy stroll away from us as Colby and I go through the humbling experience of being cuffed, standing side by side with our hands behind our backs. We seat ourselves in the back of the cop car, and Officer Jesse slams the door.

The two officers appear to be in no hurry to go anywhere, standing there casually chatting with the douchie guard that couldn't find it in his heart to let us go.

I hang my head. I never woulda brought Colby if I knew we'd end up getting tossed in the slammer. What in the hell was I thinking?

I was thinking I wanted to spend time with her. I was thinking it'd be like old times. Instead, here we sit—arrested and handcuffed.

"I'm sorry, B," I say. "I never meant to end the night like this."

She rests her head on my shoulder, like it's the most natural thing in the world. "I wouldn't change a thing, Dodge."