Brett frowned. “Not nervous. It's just been a long time since I played this.”
“It's been a long time for me too.”
“Yeah, but you just talked a big game. Now I feel all kinds of pressure not to lose. I'm a hockey player, Penny. I'm competitive.”
“Well, then, I hope this doesn't ruin your night.” She raised her eyebrow, and his jaw tensed. He wasn’t kidding. A spark lit in her midsection. She liked that look on his face, especially since she’d put it there. Determination mixed with a bit of pride and annoyance. Now she wished both that he wasn’t injured and it wasn’t the off-season so she could see more of this fire in his belly on the ice.
"Let's make it interesting. Winner gets to pick the ice cream flavour.” Penny watched Brett for a reaction. She hadn’t wanted to go to a restaurant where she would feel pressured to waste money, but she’d gladly spend a few dollars on dessert.
Brett shrugged. “I hope you like peanut butter.”
Damn it.She did, but she wasn’t going to admit it. “I hope you like cookie dough.”
He scoffed, and they delved into customizing their soldiers. Penny chose a sleek, agile build, her character's armour a vibrant shade of blue with a red visor. Brett went for bulk and strength, his soldier clad in intimidating black and looking like a walking fortress.
“Compensating for something?”
“Yeah. A working leg. The rest of me functions just fine.”
Penny snorted. “I’m sure it does.” She leaned forward and stared a little harder at the screen.
“What map do you want to play?” Brett asked, and she moved her arrow to the top right corner. “Ah, you're an Ice Age girl. You weren't traumatized as a child with Alberta winters.”
“I don't think you can complain about it if you still choose to live here.”
Brett chuckled. “No, it's fine now. I have a car with heat. I don't have to walk two kilometres to school in waist-deep snow.”
“They didn't plow the sidewalks?”
“We didn't have sidewalks.”
“Wait, where did you grow up?”
Brett tapped the settings on the screen. “Ever heard of Crossfield?” Penny shook her head. “It's just north of here. Small farming community.”
“But everyone in your family . . . they seem like the antithesis of farmers.”
“Are you saying farmers aren't smart?”
Penny scoffed. “No. But it just seems like your family would have lived in the city or something.”
“My mom grew up on a farm in southern Alberta. Raising a family outside of the city made her feel close to her roots.”
“So she liked growing up in the boonies?”
“I think she just wanted to inflict the same torture on her kids that she had to endure.”
Penny laughed. She understood that sentiment. Her parents were always lamenting the fact that modern conveniences were making their children soft.
"Ready to get schooled?" Brett pursed his lips, and Penny worked not to bust out laughing.Who said that?
"Talk is cheap, babe. Let's see if you can back it up.”
The map was mostly open spaces, which Penny loved because sniping had always been her strategy.Find a high vantage point and scope him out.She maneuvered her character with fluid grace, ducking behind cover so Brett hopefully wouldn’t catch on to what she was up to.
Brett's approach was more direct, his character barreling through the map with the confidence of a tank. Penny tried to take him by surprise, but Brett was catching up too quickly. She hid and prepared to gun and run. When he approached, she ducked out and started shooting. Gunfire rattled through the speakers, but Penny's quicker reflexes won out, and Brett's character crumpled to the ground.
"First blood to me," Penny gloated, a triumphant smile on her lips.
