Page 6 of Reignite Me

“Who are you, and what have you done with Ryker? Don’t act like something that you’re not, Ryk.”

“This is the real me, tigress. Just let me show you, please?” In the dark night, I can see the sincerity in his eyes.

Sighing, I nod and allow him to open the door for me to get in. Good Lord, this BMW is nice. I’m honestly intrigued to see where this new side of Ryker has come from. He gets in on the driver’s side, starts the engine, and pulls out of the parking lot.

Neither of us speaks the entire way, until I realize the parking lot we’d pulled into. Turning to stare at him, I ask, “What’re we doing here?”

“Reliving one of our favorite memories.”

My eyes sting with tears as those memories start to surface. He brought me to our favorite hole in the wall arcade. When we were younger, the owner, Benny, would let us stay well past closing just to play. Benny used to tease me about loving Ryker and told me he expects an invitation to our wedding. Are we an open book to everyone except ourselves? Damn.

Making our way towards the door, I notice that all the lights are off. “Ryk, it’s closed.”

“Don’t worry, little tigress. I have a way to get us in.” Pulling a key from his pocket, he dangles it in front of my face.

“How the fuck did you get that? And does Benny know you have this?”

“Yes, Benny knows. He gave me this key when we were younger. That’s how we got in when he wasn’t around.”

Unlocking the door, he ushers me inside, and I’m instantly blinded by the harsh flashing lights from the arcade games. Pinball machines, foosball, Skee-Ball, Pac-Man, and more line the walls, but that’s not the only thing that catches my eye. In the back corner, I notice an old booth with two place settings and a pizza stand. I turn to Ryker, who comes up beside me, placing a hand on my lower back, and guides me to the booth.

“Before I kick your ass in some games, I figured we needed some greasy pizza like the old days.”

“How is that possible when no one is—”

Benny cuts my words off, coming from behind me holding his famous supreme pizza. Oh Lord, I missed this. Can’t wait to take my first bite.

“Welcome back, kiddos. Thea, make sure this one locks up when you’re done,” Benny says after placing the pizza on the stand.

Benny reaches for my wrist, tugging me up off the booth and into a massive bear hug. He places a kiss on the top of my head then whispers, “Have fun, kiddo. Make sure you don’t let this one win too many.” With that, he releases his hold and lets me slide back into the booth and heads off to the back.

After he leaves, Ryker serves us a slice of pizza before saying, “It’s nice to have you back, Thea. I’m sorry for everything that happened. Losing you was the dumbest mistake I ever made. I’ll never forgive myself if I lost you again.”

“Ryker, you don’t have to say—”

“I do. There’s so much I would’ve changed back then, but now that I’m older and wiser, I realize that I lost something special. If you don’t feel the same for me anymore, I understand, but I’ve loved you since we were in elementary school. Back then, I was too much of a pussy to say anything.I was worried I would lose my best friend if I told him I loved his sister. But I don’t give a shit anymore. These feelings have consumed me for too long.”

Sure, he dropped the bomb, but it’s four years too damn late. He should’ve been honest with me from the start. He reaches out to grasp my hand, his thumb tracing over my small tattoo on the side of my pinky. It was a small Pac-Man ghost, while he had Pac-Man; they were Ryker’s idea for my eighteenth birthday gift. We chose our pinkies because we always made pinky promises growing up.

Glancing down at our matching tattoos, they’re a gentle reminder of what we once had, what we could have again. Or something more.

“How do I know you’re being real with me? And why now? Would you have reached out to me if we didn’t have the photoshoot?”

“I didn’t know you were going to be in the shoot today. You were on the list of people I was going to reach out to for the club opening, but today allowed me to cross that off the list. It took way too long for me to realize that you’re all I want. All I need. So, please, give me a chance?”

Gazing into his beautiful eyes, to see the sincerity again, it causes me to get lost in them while I try to come up with a response. I mull over the pros and cons of what he’s truly asking, but the only con I can come up with is Nick. But it’s clear that Ryker doesn’t give two shits about Nick’s opinion, and seeing as everyone and their dog's sister can see that we’re meant to be, maybe it’s worth a shot.

“Okay, I’ll give you a chance. But for now, let’s eat, and then I’m going to kick your ass in Pac-Man.”

“Oh, you’re so on.”

“What’s the wager?” I ask.

“If I win, you’ll buy dessert. If you win, I’ll buy it.”

Seems like a normal wager, thankfully. I hold out my pinky, which he links with his, our version of shaking on it.

We continue eating our pizza, catching up over everything that’s happened in the last four years. Though Nick has kept us both up-to-date on the events that have taken place over the years, it’s nice to hear it directly from Ryker.

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