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“Then what is this?”
“Can’t I be nice to you without you questioning why?”
“No. When have you ever been nice to me except for the past, like, twenty minutes?”
“That’s fair. I just.” He pauses mid-sentence.
I glance up to see a woman with her notepad out, waiting for us to order.
I want to tell her to go away so Kyson will finish his sentence, but my manners won’t allow me to be rude.
“Welcome to Monkey Mike’s Pizza Paradise. My name is Jana, and I’ll be your server this evening. Do you want the game lover’s special?”
“Yeah. Sure,” Kyson answers. “Just pepperoni. We’ll take Pepsi to drink.”
“Coming right up. I’ll bring your drinks and your tokens so you can play while you wait.”
“I forgot all about this place. Do they still have the stage with the animatronics?”
“Yeah, but most of them don’t work, so they rarely turn them on. Why?”
“No reason.”
He grins widely at me as he remembers. “That’s right…we came here, and you were terrified. Didn’t you cry and throw-up on the dancing monkey?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lie, but the faint blush staining my cheeks gives me away. Those singing animals were scary. I don’t care what anyone says. They were the stuff horror movies are made of.
The server brings our drinks and game tokens in two plastic cups. One for Kyson and one for me.
“What do you want to do first?” I take a sip of my soda and slide out of the booth, leaving his jacket in my seat.
I observe him scanning the crowd. Probably looking for his friends and his ex-girlfriend to avoid them. We end up at a claw machine. “Pick something.” He flashes me his charming smile, his dimples fully on display.
My heart flutters in my chest, but I ignore the excitement that builds every time he looks at me, like his prey.
“Hmmm.” I tap my chin, examining my prospects. “The panda bear with a pumpkin on his head is cute.”
“It’s as good as yours. I’ll have you know around here they call me the claw master.”
“And here I thought you were royalty.” I grab his mouth and squish his lips. “I’m the king around here,” I mock, and he rolls his eyes.
“I sound like a dick, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
He grips the joystick and aims for my panda. It’s a total miss. The claws don’t even touch my bear. Several tokens later, I’m no closer to being the happy owner of a stuffed panda wearing a pumpkin on his head, but we’re having fun. I crack jokes about his lack of experience and not being coordinated with his hands and eyes.
“You have no idea what these can do.” He wiggles his right fingers and I try not to think about what he’s implying.
“Move over and let me show her how a real man operates machinery.” Remy shoves Kyson to the side.
“It’s fine. I think our pizza is on our table.” I grab Kyson’s hand before he punches his so-called friend.
“Isn’t that sweet? They’re holding hands,” Gauge starts in.
I go to drop Kyson’s hand, but he squeezes mine harder. “Fuck off, Remy.”
“Whatever, cousin fucker.”
