Page 26 of Players Love Hard
It spells out, You Lose, Jamer.
Fucking bitch. How is The Queen this good? And how does she know my screen name? Only gamers and hackers from my inner circles know who I am.
“Everything okay?” Shannon asks.
I spin the chair around to face her. “Yeah. Sorry if I woke you. It’s early. You should go back to bed.”
She shoves her hair behind her ears and yawns. “What are you doing?”
I grip her hips and pull her down to sit on my lap. “Looking for The Queen.”
“Oh.” She sounds surprised. “How come?”
“So, I can shut down her website. So, I can make her pay for the shit she’s doing to my friends. We lost our last game because everyone on our team is fighting. And it all started with her.”
“What does she have against you guys?”
“We assume one of us dated her. I’ve been looking for her since the first edition of Dethroned. I was hoping she’d quit… I should have found her by now.”
She presses her palm to my shoulder and smiles. “You’re the smartest guy I know, Jamie. If anyone can find her, it’s you.”
“She’s beating me,” I admit. “Always one step ahead.”
“Maybe you just need to find the reason for her hatred.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, thinking over her words. “How do you suggest I do that?”
“Can you catfish her somehow?”
I laugh in her ear without meaning to.
Shannon smacks me on my bare arm, and it stings a little. “Don’t laugh at me, Jamie. It’s not a bad idea. Isn’t there some way to use your super nerd skills to lure her into a trap?”
I consider her question. “Yeah, I guess.”
“This is a first,” she coos, running a hand through my hair to push it off my forehead. “I’ve never seen you so unsure of yourself.”
I stare into her green eyes, and my pulse races, my heart slamming into my rib cage. She’s beautiful and smart, sexy without even trying, and I’ve never liked her as much as I do right now. She just called me out on my shit. I’m acting like a scared boy running away from a girl.
The Queen is another coder with legit skills. But I’m better. I just have to act like it.
Two days later, we’re hanging out in the living room of our house when our cell phones ding with a notification from the Dethroned app. A look of horror crosses each of our faces. Who will The Queen dethrone next? A chill rolls down my spine as I open the app to read her latest post.
Dethroned
November Edition
* * *
Mirror, mirror, on the wall who’s the douchiest of them all? I was planning to give this week’s D-Bag Award to Preston Parker, Mr. MVP and captain of the men’s ice hockey team, for his scandalous affair with his coach’s daughter.
* * *
But the Kane twins have stolen the throne. Their latest shenanigans make you wonder…. can two princes share one crown? Or in this case, one girl?
* * *
XO,
