Page 24 of Love on the Waiver Wire

“Do the others know?” I ask.

“Yeah, they know. They just don’t use it. Here, I want to show you something.”

Around the corner from the main room is a darkened room with neon blue lights running along the ceiling. In front of us stands multiple ski-ball machines, and to the left, there are various arcade games. On the right sits even more arcade games.

“Oh wow,” I say, walking into the room further.

“Want to play a game?”

“I’m not sure you want that,” I chuckle.

“Why not?” he smiles, his teeth so bright under the neon lights, and I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or a wish, but I just want him to touch me.

“Competitiveness runs in the Warner gene,” I tell him, pressing the button on the ski-ball machine for it to dispense balls. When it doesn’t, I stand, looking at him with confusion.

“It may be a special room, but they still want your money,” Owen chuckles as he pulls out his wallet, grabs a dollar bill, and inserts it into my machine. He does the same with his, and they light up, the ski-balls sliding down the ramp.

“I’m a champion at this,” I say more to myself than him. I haven’t actually played in forever, but I want nothing more than to beat him at his own game.

Owen grabs a ball, aiming it for a moment before letting it go. It flies into the top hole, and the screen flashes with a large “fifty.”

Wanting to one-up him, I take another second to aim, letting the ball fly up the ramp. It barely misses the one-hundred hold, instead sliding down into the ten.

“Oof, good attempt,” Own smiles, grabbing another ball.

By the time we’re done, my ass is thoroughly whooped, and Owen has the biggest smile on his face.

“I’m glad I can be a source of amusement for you,” I say, trying to sound annoyed. But I’m not. For as annoyed as I am that I sucked, I’m just enjoying this time with him.

“Me too,” he says simply as he moves to one of the arcade games.

“Have you played this before?” he asks.

“I don’t think so,” I lie.

Owen inserts fifty cents into the machine before positioning himself behind me, coming in close. “So you’re supposed to run at the enemy knights. You see them? You’re going to want your lance higher than theirs to win.”

His hand covers mine as he helps me navigate the game, taking down a couple of enemy nights before he moves beside me, his arm still touching mine. The connection feels warm, and it sends a shiver through me, heat pooling in my lower belly.

“You ready?” he asks as he inserts change into his side and grabs the joystick.

I nod. “I think so,”

And I continue to absolutely obliterate him.

“I thought you said you didn’t know this game!” he says, throwing his hands up at the end.

“Leo was obsessed with it as a kid. We used to go to the old cinema a town over just to play it. He beat me over and over, but then I got good,” I shrug.

Owen laughs, his eyes lingering on mine for a beat too long to not feel intentional.

I look around, exhaustion settling in as I fight back a yawn. “Do you want to go home?” Owen asks. My eyes widen and I’m about to fire back when he adds, “Not with me.”

Looking down at my shoes with guilt, I nod. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.

“I need to text the girls. We all leave at the same time,” I check the time, realizing that two hours have gone by and none of them have texted me. I always hate being the first one to call it, but I’m about to pass out.

I shoot them a text before letting Owen lead me out of the room and back into the main club.

---