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“No, it’s okay,” I say. “Strange enough, I didn’t really know her that well. I’ve kind of looked after myself my whole life, for the most part.”
He stares at me for a moment, no doubt dying to ask more question but he keeps it simple. “Do you miss it? New York, I mean?”
“Yeah,” I nod. “But it was either stay there without the ability to pay for it or come here to live with dad…”
“Tough choice.”
“He promised me it’d be worth it. Not sure why that promise felt more legit than every other one but here I am.” I take another bite to avoid Junior’s inquisitive eyes, licking my lips to get as much of that delicious cheese flavor I can. “But… I kind of like it around here, too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, everyone’s so nice and welcoming in the Midwest.”
He shakes his head. “They just want in your pants.”
I laugh, nearly choking on my soda. “Well, I guess that explains it then.”
“I mean… I don’t want to speak for everyone, but…” He scratches his cheek, smiling wide. “Once word gets out that all it takes to get you to go out on a date is flashing you, they probably won’t be so nice anymore.”
My jaw drops. “Yeah, that and straight-up blackmail.”
“I did not blackmail you…” he defends. I sit back, staring hard. “Okay, there might have been a little blackmail.”
“Uh-huh.” I cross my arms, holding back a laugh at the back of my throat.
“Hey, the age-old trick and coffee, compliments, and condoms didn’t work. I had to improvise.” He fires another grin, this one sparking a wave of warmth from my head to my toes.
I wipe my lips with a napkin, strategically getting my damn smile out of my system before pulling it away.
“Come on.” Junior stands up from the table and grabs my hand, pulling me along with him towards the arcade games.
He takes me across the room into the skeeball corner and reaches into his pocket for some quarters. “You can go first.”
The change clinks loudly in the machine and it comes to life, rolling nearly a dozen balls down towards the front all in a line.
I grab the first one and pause, feeling a sting of self-consciousness as Junior’s eyes stay locked on me. My palms heat up and I feel the sweat gathering on the heavy ball before I roll it hard down the aisle. It veers to the left and nets me a mere ten points.
After a few rolls, I get the hang of it and the feeling of Junior’s eyes on me doesn’t bother me as much. Goosebumps prickle on my neck, lulling me into an even warmer security blanket but I can’t lose focus now. I have to remember who he is and the driving motivation for why he even brought me out here.
He wants to fuck me.
After a few rounds, we have a line of tickets more than four times his height.
“And what exactly does this win me?” I ask him.
Junior gathers them up. “Let’s go see.”
We walk across the room to the prize counter where Frank stands with his permanent smile.
“Quite the haul tonight, Junior.”
He feeds the tickets into a machine and I watch as the numbers tick up at a fast pace. I feel Junior’s eyes on me but I try not to pretend like I don’t.
“Looks like…” Frank turns to the prize wall and points towards a line of teddy bears. “One of those.”
“She’ll take it,” Junior says, looking smug.
Frank pulls the bear off the wall and hands it to me. “For the lucky girl.”
