The Jock's Blackmail

#29: Regerts

"So...this is it..." Leo stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah. It was good, right?"

He nodded as well, a rueful smile on his face. "It was nice knowing you, Jus."

"You too, Leo." My mouth twisted into a sinister grin. "Prepare to go down!"

A cheer went up from behind me, and I raised my arms at the side as I stared at Leo smugly. He snorted. "Oh, we're prepared. Prepared to taste sweet victory!"

There was a cheer that followed his declaration as well.

I narrowed my eyes at him and started backing up as I made a gesture that said, I'm watching you. Leo followed suit and in response to my actions, he bowed at the waist and pretended to twist an imaginary tall hat off his head with one hand. Out of my peripheral, I could see Aubrey waving around two middle fingers at our opponents.

"Welcome back everybody!" Private Detective Lawson hollers into a mic that boomed his voice out the large speakers that had been set up around the park. "Welcome back to the Annual Department Battles of this year!"

This time both teams cheered. Standing behind me was the police department, my dad surrounded by his fellow officers. On Leo's side was the fire department, his dad being the chief. Mr. Bracci stood tall above his men and was a bear of a man. He spotted my dad and made a motion of running his thumb across his throat with a sneer on his face. Dad retaliated by shooting finger guns at him. Leo was giving his dad a look then caught my gaze and rolled his eyes. I pointed to my own dad to tell him that I knew what he was feeling.

How did I get here, caught up in a competition between the Police Department and Fire Department? Well, this had been a thing in our town for as long as I could remember, an activity for officers and firefighters with their families, but in all the years that dad had been an officer, I never attended. Leo was shocked when he found out.

Leo:
Duuuuude!! My dad's the chief at the fire dept.

Me:
Yeah, I know.

Leo:
Yeah!!

Leo:
Wait...

Me:
??

Leo:
Is yoir dad officer Grant?? Officer Tyler Grant???

Leo:
*your

Me:
Yeah...

Leo:
Do you know He and my dad has this little friendly beef with each other? And that they always duke it out at the Annual Department Battles?

Oh, I knew. There was a reason I didn't mention Leo's name when dad asked about my crush.

Leo:
Not that you would know cuz you apparently nEVER BEEN TO A SINGLE ONE!!

Me:
WELL I'M SORRY IF WATCHING POLICE OFFICERS AND FIRE FIGHTERS PLAYONG AROUND ISN'T MY CUP OF TEA!!!!

Leo:
YOU'RE COMING TO THIS YEAR'S BATTLE!!

Me:
WHYYYYY???

Leo:
BECAUSE!!!

He honestly didn't need to convince me. I would go either way because apparently, he went every year.

And here I am.

The detective went on. "After our activities this afternoon, we'll head on back to the picnic tables over there and have a nice dinner prepared by your wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, fiancè's, or whoever you brought along with you that isn't participating- Jerry! Did you bring your grandma? I know she makes amazing cherry pies!"

A guy from the fire department hollered that his grandma was absent but sent some of her pies. Another cheer went up. Detective Lawson nodded then continued. "So now, ladies and gentlemen! For our first activity the small children will have to sit out, but don't worry, we have something for them to play with too, but for the adults!" He paused. "PAINTBALL!"

So the Battles began.

And I regretted every second of it. I had bruises from paintball, mud on my legs from the relay race leaves in my hair from capture the flag, and was drenched in lake water from the kayak race. Aubrey and I tipped over, and we were disqualified after that, so we ended up helping mom and the rest get dinner ready.

The sky darkened and the fire department won, but there was no real bad blood between the officers and firefighters. Instead, there were good-natured insults and name callings. Dad told Mr. Bracci that the police department will win next year. Sitting in front of a bonfire in the middle of the picnic tables, I smiled as I watched Aubrey interact with a boy her age, clearly interested in him. And if my judgment was right, he returned her interests.

There was a nudge on my shoulder, and I turned to look at Leo. He was holding out a s'more sandwich to me.

"Thanks," I said as I took it from him and bit into its sweetness.

"Good?" He asked, and I nodded, still chewing. "Told you I make some pretty good s'mores."

"And I told you, I'm pretty sure you can't make a s'more wrong." I shook my head.

Leo raised a brow. "You'd be surprised."

As if on cue, Mr. Bracci let out a sharp cry and was glaring at a charred piece of marshmallow he was obviously tending to. It was beyond salvaging.

I nodded then. "Your dad would."

"Right?"

There was a pause in our conversation as we watched my dad give Leo's dad shit for his charred marshmallow. Then Leo spoke again. "So...happy you came?"

I felt a smile curve at my lips. "Just a little bit."

He smiled back and my heart squeezed painfully.

You have no idea what you're doing to me, do you?