Page 11 of Off Her Game
“I know. I suck. Sorry.” She swiped aside a few of Alex’s discarded clothes and the swag he’d picked up to make a spot on one of the double beds.
“You’re usually one of the last players standing. I haven’t seen you do this since the time Chris What’s-his-name distracted you at the Daytona playoffs.” He pulled out the lollipop and stared at her over the top of his glasses. “Who got your panties in a wad this time?”
Was she really that predictable? “Noah Harrison messed me up. Didn’t you see him at my station?”
Alex’s eye went so wide behind the glasses they looked as if they’d pop out of his head. In a hushed tone, he asked, “A Game Lord spoke to you? You’re messing with me.TheNoah Harrison? The guy who hates social events is actually here?”
She nodded. “He’s pretty hot in reality. I got a date out of it.”
He touched both sides of his head and pulled them away in a mind-blown mime. “You have a date. An actual go to a restaurant and have sex afterward date withhim?”
“You don’t think I’m hot enough for him?” She waved at herself.
“You know I think you’re hot. Is this you finally saying yes to me?”
“Not willing to ruin the good thing we’ve got going. Besides, your idea of a great date is frozen pizza and cheap beer while playingVisionquest Warrior Twelve. I’ve got standards.” She bit back a laugh when he gave her ayeah-so-whatshrug. “He’s taking me to a restaurant in the city day after tomorrow as his way of apologizing. He was sweet about it after I bitched him out.”
“The Game Lord distracting you is a decent excuse for messing up, but you better get something outta this. Like inside info onZoneworld Two.”
Great minds do think alike.
“You think he’d autograph something for me?” Alex asked. “I’d die to have him sign myZoneworld Oneoriginal soundtrack CD case.”
“Why in the world did you want the game soundtrack on CD and not digital?”
“It was a two-part box set. I like to workout to it. It’s got a good beat.” He examined the lollipop as if it’d become fascinating.
“You haven’t stepped foot in a gym since high school. Admit you wanted the commemorative poster that came with it.” She laughed and threw a pillow at him.
“Oomph,” he groaned when it hit his stomach. “Maybe. Hey, you hear from Conjur on their plan for your game?”
“Nothing.”
The door opened and closed. Quan dumped his backpack and put his hands on his hips. “Got anything you want to tell us, Tori?”
“About?” She waited. With Quan, he might be upset about her play failure downstairs, or Mr. Obsessive Compulsive might be having another meltdown about the refrigerator rules since she stuck leftover pizza in the mini-fridge. Tall and lean in slate-gray jeans and a gray-marled T-shirt he radiated the epitome of cool. Quan was an avid runner. He ran almost ten miles several times a week and entered races a few times a year.
“I ran into Alonzo, the dipshit, downstairs coming off the floor.” Quan’s eyebrows rose. He pushed his good-luck sunglasses higher into his spiky pomaded hair.
Oh no.
“He told me you played onhisteam night before last,Selene.” Color spread across Quan’s cheekbones.
Her Stadium nickname. Super oh crap. Tori chewed on the inside of her cheek. What more could she say?
“What were you thinking? You played in the Stadium? It’s a con. They send out a scout who dangles the carrot of making a little easy cash for a night of eGaming. All it takes is once and then the Game Master owns you. I warned you never to do it.” Quan fisted his hands and then relaxed them. His voice softened. “How far in are you?”
Tori fiddled with a few pens on the bed next to her. “It’s bad. I shouldn’t have gone, but two months ago Jar invited me. You remember him? He’s the guy who won second down in Florida last fall. I didn’t think it was what you were talking about, but I was wrong. I’m working a new angle to get out of it.”
Quan sat next to her, put his arm around her, and pulled her into his side. “You should’ve told us. I don’t know what we can do, but we’ll figure it out. We’ll get you free of it. Alonzo said you went to jail the other night when they raided the Stadium. That true?”
She nodded. “Emma bailed me out. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Hate that I didn’t have the cash for rent last month.”
“We covered you. Alex is raking it in off his new app, the one you helped him write. I’m doing okay.” Quan squeezed her shoulder. “We can always go to Plan B. Move to Sierra Leone, make apps, and disappear.”
“There’s always Plan B.” Sounding better to her by the minute.
Alex said, “She got distracted by Noah Harrison today. The Game Lord, himself. He asked her out on an I’m-sorry date.”
Quan whistled and pulled away from her. “What would he think about you getting arrested for playing his game on an illegal circuit?”
Not what you’d think.
“It’ll probably be a one-time thing, anyway. I’m good at scaring off guys.”
