Page 13 of Once Upon A Player
“Nah. Just you and me, bro. Unless you want to go out later. The lads and I are going to Hydra.”
“Once was enough.”
He doesn’t bother hiding his shudder, and I laugh. My brother might be a genius, but he hates socializing. Although, to be fair, since he started going out with Alice last summer, his people skills have improved.
Marginally.
“I’m guessing you don’t want Hydra V.I.P. tickets to celebrate our birthday, then.”
“Fuck, no.” He shoots me a horrified glare, and his drunken noodles drop off his chopsticks. “We can go to my local. I’ll bring Alice.”
I groan. “It’s our quarter century, Harry. I’m not getting rat-arsed at the Slurping Toad, all right? I’ve hired the rooftop for the party—I told you that months ago, remember? Anyway, don’t you think Alice’d like to go someone different for a change?”
“She likes the pub.” Harry frowns, obviously clueless. “She doesn’t do nightclubs.”
Although I could probably persuade him to change his plans so we can celebrate big for one night, it’s not worth it. And if I’m honest, I enjoy hanging out with my brother at his local, where there’s less chance of being spotted by fans or the paparazzi. Sometimes I forget there’s more to a social life than being seen in exclusive clubs and partying with the stars.
I take a swig of beer to disguise my choke of laughter. If Violet could’ve read my mind then, she’d give me one of heryou’re so up yourselflooks. The way she did that first morning we met.
“Fine, you win. The Toad it is on Friday night. I’ll drag Will along, you bring Caleb. Mac’ll be there—she’s home next weekend.”
I know that for a fact, since she’s coming to the Hydra party on Saturday. Our sister might be in her second year studying medicine at university, but she also inherited the same social genes I did.
Harry visibly relaxes and digs into his food with renewed relish. “How long before you know if you can play again?”
“Another month.”
“Reckon you’ll get the all clear?”
“Yeah, course I will.”This is Harry.When we were kids, we shared everything, despite being so different. And although for a few years, things weren’t so great between us, over the last ten months we’ve got back on track. Due to the confidentiality clauses, I can’t tell him about the possible transfer, but at least I can drop the facade. “I don’t know. It’s killing me.”
He folds his arms on the worktop and gives me one of his intense gazes. “What’s the official prognosis?”
“I shouldn’t have a problem.”
“What’s your plan B?”
Flippant responses flash through my mind, and I discard them all. “Yolanda reckons I could have a successful career as a model.”
“Right.” He nods, but it’s obvious he can’t think of any worse career than parading in public. Although I’ve never minded strutting my stuff in front of the cameras, and I enjoy the various sponsorship deals that Bec’s negotiated for me—some of them don’t even require that I go shirtless—I can’t say doing it full-time appeals.
Which is why plan B isn’t an option. I didn’t bust my balls getting into the club of my dreams just to see it all go to hell. I’ve accepted that I won’t make the preseason tour later this month, but my kneewillget better and Iwillplay again. End of story.
“What about you? Still on track for total world domination?” I’m only half joking. His RPG is doing phenomenally, and since he expanded into the States,The Plains of Exitiumhas been nominated for loads of international game awards.
“Getting there.” He grins at me. “Next time you come over, I’ll show you what we’ve got planned for the next expansion.”
“Cool.” The lads and I often play TPoE. Hell, practically everyone I know plays it. Even our dad’s a fan now, which is bloody mind-blowing considering how devastated he was when Harry turned down going to university in favor of hanging out in his best mate Caleb’s basement so he could “mess about with coding.”
Not that Dad thought my choice of career was any better when I was signed up at seventeen. Only difference is he still doesn’t think much of it.
He’s not likely to change his mind now.
Harry jabs his chopsticks in my direction. “I’ll give you a clue. The Empress of the Fire Mountain discovers her true heritage. It’s epic.”
Considering the Empress already commands a dozen dragons in her arsenal, I’m intrigued, but know better than to ask for more details. When it comes to his world, he’s fiercely protective, and before he started dating Alice, he never shared insider info with me.
Thank God for Alice. She didn’t just bring Harry back to the real world. She annihilated the memory of his one and only previous girlfriend, who’d hung between us like a malignant specter.
