Except, he had.
I shook the thoughts from my head as my attention was caught by a single-story brick building. The sign over the door, surrounded by flashing yellow lights, declared the place to be Pyrrhic Victory Arcade. I made an excited sound in the back of my throat. I’d walked past the spot more than once, but I’d neverhad enough money to spend on the games inside. I used to love them as a kid, begging Mom to take me there only for her to whine about the cost. Finally, she had given in, and she’d let me stay for a few hours while she shopped. It was one of the few fond memories I had of her.
Eddie glanced around me to see what I was pointing at. “Do you want to go?”
“Do I?” I shouted, causing him to slam on the brake too hard as he was about to go.
The car behind us honked and sped around us, the driver’s arm out the window with a less than friendly gesture as he screamed something.
I gave him the finger right back. Fuck that guy.
“Some people’s kids,” Eddie mumbled.
I fluttered my lashes at him and placed my palms together in prayer. “Please, oh please, oh please. Can we? I’ll give you the best blowjob when we get home. I’ll shove your dick so far down my throat, you’ll come directly into my stomach.”
He coughed and swerved the car into the arcade parking lot, nearly taking out a trash can in the process. As soon as he found a spot near the back of the lot, he spun toward me and waved me out of the car. “Let’s go, let’s go.”
I whooped as I jumped out the door.
Eddie moved fast, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and dragging me toward the front of the arcade so we could get in. Snow drifted down, and as soon as we got through the doors, we were met with more heat.
I laughed as he nearly tugged me off my feet in excitement. “You want a blowjob that bad?”
“When you mention that kind of deep throating,” he whispered. “Then, hell yeah. Do you see any blood on me?”
“Nope. Me?”
He shook his head, then gestured to the room full of noisy machines, and I didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes. He was as excited as me, and I didn’t think it was only about the blowjob, either. His gaze was full of wonder as he perused the room, and I noticed the moment it landed on motorcycle racing machines.
“Beat you to it. Last one there is a loser.” I shot past him, slapping him on the arm, and laughed when he shouted, “Hey, not fair!” I rushed toward the yellow bike and hopped onto it.
“We need cards first. Hang on.” Eddie walked over to a machine and fed it cash before he took two cards that came out of the slot. Then, he was back, handing me one. “You tap it here—” He laid the card on a reader. “—and the game starts. Hurry up, I have ten seconds for someone else to join.”
I quickly slapped my card against the reader and it beeped, letting me know I was now part of the race. I slipped the card into my pocket before placing my hands on the handlebars, ready to kick his ass. Eddie was taking the game seriously, though, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his feet firmly planted to take his weight every time he moved the bike from side to side.
The race started, and I bent forward, completely focused. I was competitive about this type of shit. Sexy or not, I wasn’t going to let Eddie win. I refused. This belonged to me.
The bike race was fun, especially when he tried to crash into me a few times, but I managed to escape his attacks.
I sent him a glare. “Cheater.”
He laughed loudly, poking his tongue out at me, and the small loss of attention on the game made him crash. “Fuck.”
This time, it was my turn to cackle as I took the lead, the end coming closer and closer. I caught him out of the corner of my eye as he leaned to the side to turn. He crashed off the bike onto the floor with a groan. Game forgotten, concern spiked through me as I jumped off my bike and rushed around to him.
“Eddie, are you okay?”
He pushed me on the chest, and while it wasn’t hard enough to hurt, I fell on my ass. He jumped to his feet with the kind of grace I’d never seen Eddie have. Then, he was back on his bike and crossing the finish line before I realized what had happened.
He pumped his arms in the air. “Winner!”
I gaped at him as I got to my feet. I shoved his shoulder. “Oh my God, you are such a cheater!”
“I won.” He slid off the bike and did a little dance in front of me, and I shook my head, half amused and half irritated. Ugh. He was so...Eddie. “Whatever. I won’t fall for that in the next game.”
We moved on to basketball, and I was shit at it, so once again Eddie won. This time we got tickets out of the machine. The next game was a zombie one where we took a padded hammer and hit zombie heads each time they popped out. It was easy and entertaining. We laughed like crazy every time one exploded from its hole with a scream.
One game after another, our laughter grew, and happiness expanded through my chest, making me feel floaty. It’d been so long since I’d had a good time.
