Page 42 of Forbidden Game

“Seriously?” My voice is low and harsh as I pull Parker to the side, leading him to the private back room. Technically, it is reserved for the top esports teams, but I got access for Parker, considering his level of notoriety.

“She bombarded me! I couldn’t just ignore her without her turning it into a story,” he whines. “Plus, it’s Genevieve. She’s interviewed us a bunch of times. I know how to field her questions.”

It’s true. Genevieve is one of Justin’s top reporters for Gamer Weekly. He tends to send her to most of the esports events because her looks get her around the red tape more often than not. If I’m not dealing with Justin, I’m dealing with Genevieve.

Still, it makes me uneasy. With the recent drama of the false disinheritance, Parker’s upcoming participation at the Divizion Championship Series, and this being his first live match…there’s too much at stake.

I let out a sigh.

“I’m sure it was fine.” Or at least, I hope. “Great job, by the way. The run went smoothly.”

Parker peels off his mask and grins at me.

My stomach does a little flip.

When Parker wears his mask—when he is English—it is so much easier to think of him as just my client. When he takes it off and forces me to confront that boyish grin, it makes everything muddied. Lines begin to cross, and my heart gets confused.

“I totally crushed it! Didn’t shave off any extra time, but I could have.”

“I know. But we don’t want you showing your hand this early,” I remind him in a hushed tone.

Mathias instructed him to just play as expected, to not do anything flashy. We want to save that for the championship so no one has a chance to counter his improved times. Parker still has eight weeks, but he’s already five minutes faster in practice than his current publicly recorded run times.

“What about Jace? Did he have anything to say?”

“He was impressed. Definitely a little jealous of all the fangirls you have.”

“He certainly seemed distracted by my girl, that’s for sure.” Parker grabs a water bottle from the mini fridge and twists it open before guzzling half of it down. I watch his Adam’s apple bob with the movement.

I’m so distracted I don’t completely comprehend what he just said.

I brush off the comment, pulling out my phone to text the other reporter to see if we can move up the interview.

Once I get confirmation from him, I give Parker a nudge with my elbow, not realizing he is still drinking his water. The liquid goes sloshing.

“Shoot, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He looks down at me with a bemused expression, using the back of his hand to swipe the water from his lips. It’s a simple movement, but it sucks the air from my lungs.

Come on, Sydney. Focus.

“I got your interview moved up. Let’s knock it out so we can dip early and relax before the party tonight.” I force the words out.

“Sounds good.”

He slips his mask back on, and the storm of emotions within me calms to rolling waves.

I really need to get myself under control, or I don’t know how I’m going to make it through these next few weeks.

NINE

PARKER

I stumble into the hotel room a little after midnight. Exhaustion tears at my body as I lie on the ground in the middle of the lounge area.

“I told you we didn’t have to stay at the party that long,” Sydney muses as she steps over me.

“Tell that to all of the people who kept coming up to me,” I groan.

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