Page 37 of Dungeons and Drama

Lucas claps more than a DM probably should. “Amazing.”

In my peripheral vision, I see Dad slip back to the storefront. I guess he was listening to me again. He must have a sixth sense for when I’m going to sing. Or his ears are attuned to my voice. It’s still hard to reconcile this with the way he acted in the past.

“Hear, hear!” Fred calls out. He’s become a particular fan of mine. I’m pretty sure Sophia rolls her eyes, but I don’t pay much attention.

“See!” I tell Hoshiko. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

As soon as John starts his turn, Sophia slides her hand up Nathan’s arm. “I need some new dice for the game. Can you help me look?”

“Sure.”

They get up and disappear through the door to the front. The group turns to me as soon as they’re gone.

“I still don’t understand why you’rehelpingNathan get closer to Sophia,” Anthony asks.

“We’re just…doing each other a favor.”

John shakes his head. “If you’re doing him a favor, then you should be keeping her away from him. He’ll thank you later.”

“You know she’s going to come back with new dice that Nathan bought for her, right?” Lucas asks.

“Does she pay him back?”

“Uh,no.She’s always using him to get stuff. That’s theonly reason she gave him any attention to begin with—his employee discount and willingness to pull out cash whenever she’s around. She’s probably worried you’re going to take away her gamer bank account.”

“Are you serious?” Revulsion boils up in me, and I peek over my shoulder to double-check they haven’t come back in. She’s using Nathan for his money? Not that he has a lot of it, as far as I can tell, but that’s even worse. “I didn’t know she does that. That’s horrible.”

Anthony nods slowly like I’m a little kid who can’t understand difficult concepts. “Uh-huh. Which is why the last thing we want is the two of them getting closer.”

I bite my lip, worry gnawing at me. Suddenly I see my plan with Nathan in a whole new light. I don’t want to give her more opportunities to take advantage of him.

“Maybe I should go interrupt them….”

“Please.” Lucas shoos me away. “Otherwise she’ll keep Nathan there all night and we’ll never get anything done.”

I swallow my nerves and walk to the front display case of fancy dice that Dad has by the registers. “Hey, we need you guys for the game.”

“Just a second, deciding between these two,” Sophia says over her shoulder.

I come to Nathan’s other side and tug him away. “Don’t buy those dice for her,” I whisper.

He blinks in surprise. “Why not? I don’t mind.”

An idea comes to me suddenly. “Actually, you should buymesomething instead.”

“No way. You have your own employee discount.”

“I’ll pay you back later, but if you really want her to thinkI’ve taken her place as your new crush, then you can’t buy her anything.”

I’m only half sure what I’m saying makes sense. I don’t have time to analyze it; I just know I can’t let him buy anything for her tonight. It’ll weigh too heavy on my conscience otherwise.

He nods slowly, so I must not be saying total nonsense. “Smart.” He looks back at the huge display where Sophia is pretending to look at dice but is really watching us. “What kind do you want?”

“Doesn’t matter. Knock yourself out.” I give him a flirty smile, kiss him on the cheek, and stride back into the game room before I can fully comprehend what I did.

I bring my fingertips to my lips. I just kissed Nathan. I mean, notkissed-kissed him, but my lips were on his skin. Ican’t believe I just did that.

Lucas and Hoshiko are chatting when I return to the table. Lucas is speaking animatedly, with a look of adoration on his face. It’s pretty cute, actually. But I don’t have time to think about them. I’m still stuck on the fact that I kissed Nathan. My heart speeds at the thought.

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