Page 1 of Off Her Game
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“Where’s the rest of it?” Tori Duarte fanned through her empty wallet. She show-and-telled its vacant pockets to the police officer across the counter.
The officer’s eyes didn’t deviate from his computer screen. Smells of coffee and cigarette smoke floated off him. “Musta been confiscated.”
“That was mine.” She needed that two hundred and ninety-eight dollars.
He shrugged. Arguing was pointless. The attitude? Nothing new. Cops profiled her based on one glance at her Cuban heritage. Besides, the cop had drawn the shortest straw in the crap-jobs lottery, condemned to hand out personal effects when people were on the way out in the witching hours.
“Take a seat. They’ll call when they’re ready for you.” He extended a bony index finger toward two metal benches along the wall. Six taped-up crayon pictures of Christmas trees clung to the gray cinderblock wall. “Take me down” had been scribbled in pen across one. Although the graffiti came off as disrespectful, the holiday had come and gone over three months ago.
She met the gaze of the only other bench occupant. And nearly sucked in a breath. Her fellow detainee was gorgeous, with messy, short, dirty blond hair, deep blue eyes, and…Oh my fucking arm porn. His black T-shirt stretched tight over his biceps.
She plopped onto the unoccupied bench, landing with her back against the cold wall. Goosebumps studded her arms within seconds.
“They stole your money, too?” The guy propped his cheek on a hand, his elbow on the bench arm. Men in Tori’s world of computer geeks didn’t come in models like this—earring in his left ear, dark jeans, leather jacket slung across his lap, and the body of a man who didn’t live on fast food or have an aversion to working out.
“Assholes,” she muttered, fingering the three mini hoops along the edge of her left ear. “What’d they get you on?”
“Wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. This time, beneath the cool confidence, she noticed he looked a little disheveled—uncombed and unshaven.
“That’s the story of my life,” she mumbled. “Wrong place. Wrong time.”
A more comprehensive assessment of him and…no way. He wore a vintageZoneworld Warriorshirt? Melt her heart and set flame to her panties. A fellow video gamer? Maybe he’d been caught in the same police raid as she.
You cannot be into a random guy at a police station. That’s beyond desperate. He could’ve picked up the shirt at the thrift store.
“Gum?” He held open a Doublemint pack in offering.
“Sure, thanks.” The spicy spearmint coated her parched taste buds.
Her phone dinged. She opened up the homepage to read the message from one of her eGaming team members who’d checked in at the Washington D.C. hotel where she planned to travel via train tomorrow for the competition.
Dibs on the bed by the window.
She bit back a smile as she typed.Sure. Try not to rack up the porn bill again.
Alex’s enthusiasm over qualifying for the WorldGaming Championship this year had him packed last week and scheduled to arrive a day early. She loved him to pieces, but she and Quan never missed an opportunity to remind him what happened the last the time Alex arrived early to a competition and got bored. As the trio comprising the Dynasty team, they’d been gaming together long enough that they behaved like siblings. And, even though internationally ranked, gaming didn’t pay much, so they bunked together. It wasn’t anything new since they were all roommates anyway.
“You’re a Trekkie?” His eyes were bright as he glanced at her home screen background image icon.
Was that a judgmental tone, or was he a fan? “Yeah. So?”
Perking up, he looked her square in the eyes. “The latest movie just popped up off preorder on my TV. The opening scene…great a second time around, but wouldn’t do it justice without a kickass sound system.” He left out thewhich I’ve got,but it hung there, implied.
She imagined him with the total gaming setup—monster high def screen, comfort seats, and a surround sound system that’d knock her socks off. Hook her up with a headset and a gamepad, andthatwas the stuff of fantasy. In reality, the guy probably had two roommates and rented a one-bedroom in Queens.
Wait a sec. The movie released in digital yesterday. He’d preordered?Oh my God.Hewasa sci-fi geek.
“You asking me to see your big-ass sound system?” she asked.
“Beats Tinder. One detainee to another, at least we already know about our arrest records.” A smile teased the corners of his mouth. He leaned forward and said low, “Would you judge me if I admitted my nightmare is an exposed public toilet in jail?”
Giggling, she shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t judge you in the slightest. I’ve got to pee like a racehorse, but no way was I going in the holding cell. No way. And have you seen the restrooms up the hall?”
“Me too. No way.” He leaned back to rest his head against the wall.
“You likeZoneworld?” Her eyes darted down to his shirt.
