AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He just nodded and muttered something about needing to go. Before I could say another word, he was heading out.
I sat there, confused by the strange conversation. Most of the time when a guy approached me, especially here, he at least tried to shoot his shot and attempted (but mostly failed) to flirt with me. Most days I was in no mood to entertain fragile egos, but sometimes I was just horny enough to agree to a one-night stand. But this guy didn’t even try. He just had a normal, albeit a bit awkward, conversation with me. That was a first.
A few moments later, I put my headset back on and queued up for another game. While I played, I couldn’t shake the feeling therewas something familiar about that guy. Maybe I’d seen him around the café before, or he could’ve been one of Casey’s friends. For now, though, I tried to push it out of my mind. It was time to celebrate. I finally hit Masters, and I would let nothing ruin this moment. Not my intrusive thoughts, not the strange guy, not even the fact that I had an early shift at the warehouse tomorrow.
So, I queued up for a few more games after that one before eventually heading out.
My roommates were already asleep when I got home; it must’ve been past eleven. I slipped into my room, flopped onto my bed, and stared at the ceiling, the buzz of finally climbing to Masters settling in my bones. I was going to be proud of getting that silly little rank in my silly little game, despite the voice in my head that tried to put me down.
The only other person who knew about my little crusade to become better than my ex at this game was my best friend Casey, so to distract myself, I texted her a screenshot of my account, showing I had finally made it to Masters.
Now I can proudly say that I’m better than Michael at NLA.
Casey
LET’S GOOOO! You did it, Em!
Now what’s next? Are you going to keep playing NLA or quit while you’re ahead?
I pondered that for a second.
I wanna keep playing, honestly. My first thought after reaching Masters was to queue up for another game. Sure, I wanted to get to Masters cuz I wanted to beat Michael’s rank and prove I wasn’t stupid, but I still genuinely love playing NLA, you know?
Casey
I know and I’m happy to hear that. I was worried we wouldn’t be having any more gaming dates when I get back from Italy.
Yeah, I can’t wait for you to get back. I miss you too much. Why did you have to do a full year abroad
And with that, I decided to call it a night. I peeled my work clothes off my body, trying not to look at myself too closely in the mirror. Michael had never missed an opportunity to make me feel insecure about my body, but I was slowly learning to love myself again. The fact that I’d stopped wearing baggy clothes and was feeling better about how I looked was a miracle after the mind games he’d played on me. I was still working on accepting that my belly would never be flat. One too many late-night gaming snacks and a slower metabolism as I entered my mid-twenties were to blame, of course, but what can you really do? If a girl’s gotta stress-snack, she’s going to stress-snack.
As I finally got under the covers, my mind wouldn’t stop replaying my conversation with the guy at the café. There was something about him that was still nagging me. He looked kinda cute, and he seemed nice. Maybe if I hadn’t been pissed at my teammate, I could’ve had a normal conversation with him. He looked like my type, too—tall, lean, and supposedly good with his hands. My mind briefly entertained the thought of a one-nightstand, the idea of him in my bed sending a small thrill through me. I probably would’ve asked him out myself if I hadn’t been so angry.
I shook off the thought immediately. I didn’t need another guy in my life, especially not after everything with my ex. Especially not another gamer. For now, I was content with my new rank and finally achieving my goal of being better than Michael at the game he broke up with me over. Besides, I was way more content with the battery-operated boyfriend who lived in my nightstand than I had been with my ex. I smirked at the thought, the tension in my body finally beginning to ease as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 2
Alex
I walkedout of the gaming café, shaking my head. What just happened? I had congratulated a girl on hitting Masters, and then proceeded to have the most awkward conversation of my life. She didn’t even know who I was. Then again, I shouldn’t have expected that she would.
Every time I blinked, I saw her hair in that messy up-do, her hoodie hugging her frame, and those intense brown eyes that seemed to pin me in place. Her gaze was sharp—almost unnervingly so. All of her was intense, really, not just her eyes. And the first thing those eyes noticed about me was the wrist brace. Fuck.
I couldn’t stop fidgeting with it. I injured my wrist last week, and since then the brace has been a constant reminder that I couldn’t do the only thing I was good at in this world—play NLA. A dull ache still throbbed in my right wrist.
By the time I reached my apartment, I was in a foul mood, but I had a job to do. As I walked into my bedroom, the only light was coming from the numbers on the clock on my shelf: ten twenty-one P.M. I was late for the stream.
I flicked on the bedroom light and the mess on my desk immediately caught my eye. An old coffee mug, wrappers, and junk scattered around. The sight of the chaos only added to my irritation. I never let a mess like this pile up but the injury had thrown me off balance. I cleaned everything up, splashed cold water on my face over the kitchen sink, and made a fresh cup of coffee. The clock read ten twenty-nine just as I sat down behind my desk in my ergonomic chair to boot up my PC.
When everything booted up, I went over my stream settings and then pressed the ‘go live’ button without a second thought. Less than thirty seconds later, viewers started pouring in and the chat began filling with messages.
“Hey guys, sorry I’m late for the stream,” I began, trying to sound more cheerful than I felt. “I went to the gaming café to hang out with some old friends and got held up. I had the weirdest encounter on my way out.”
The viewers in chat were quick to ask questions.
VampireMommyFeet
what happened?
