I doubt they’ve ever taken a machine out of here.
I followed Spencer further in as she moved toward the back. “Why the name?”
She flicked on another switch on the way, all of the games whirring to life at her command. “It’s a weapon, mostly in fantasy games. But I didn’t name it, obviously.”
The beeps and flashes from the games were hard to adjust to, stimulus coming to nearly every sense at this point. I felt like a startled deer, but Spencer navigated the place like a pro.
Once she got to the back counter, Spencer dropped my hand, gripped the edges, and hopped up, sliding herself across. When her feet hit the ground, she flicked another switch. This one turned on white, fluorescent overhead lights that mellowed out the deep, saturated colors of the video games.
“Better?” Spencer smiled back at me as she shoved her motorcycle helmet under the display case.
“Significantly.” My shoulders dropped, and my chest loosened just enough to take a deep breath. I made my way through the arcade and told the token counter.
From the same shelf that she set her helmet, Spencer pulled out a bright yellow vest. As she unfolded it and slipped her arms in, I couldn’t stop my eyes from following her flexing biceps, the wings of her sword and scales tattoo shifting around her shoulder as she slid the uniform on.
Once it was in place, I saw the name tag. Reaching across the counter, I grabbed the metal and twisted it in my fingers. “Can I have one?”
“A uniform?” Spencer laughed.
With a nod, I smiled at her. “And a job too.”
Scoffing at me, Spencer started to set up the register. “You can take that up with Dom.”
I rolled my eyes. “Who died and put her in charge of everything?”
“You can take that up with her too.”
Not wanting to let thoughts of Dom poison this place, I turned on my heels, examining the sea of video games before me. “There’s so many of them. It’s crazy.”
Spence grunted her acknowledgement, her attention focused on the bills she was counting. Not wanting to distract her, Idrifted closer to the video games, looking for some way to keep myself busy.
I recognized some of them — mostly the classics. Space Invaders, Mortal Kombat, Terminator. But one particularly bubbly cabinet caught my eyes.
It was bubblegum pink and had a graffitied font overhead.Body Shot.
The preview of the graphics was cool: animated women dowsing zombie-men in alcohol that melted them away.
Just as I reached my hand out to filter through the character selection, coins clattered behind me, breaking me from my daze.
“Feel free to play any of them.” Spencer smiled, gesturing to the bucket of tokens she’d placed on the counter.
Raising an eyebrow, I gawked at the dented gold bucket. “You guys still use coins? A little archaic, no?”
“More like classic. Besides, tokens let players reload faster than juggling some flimsy player card.”
Spencer smirked watching closely as I walked closer and grabbed the tokens. Her eyes flicked from my chipped nail polish to my exposed neck and then to my face.
I winced as I took the weight of the bucket into my hand, the old metal handle digging into my palm. Taking a few steps away, I turned back to Spencer. “Are you going to join me?”
Spencer leaned on the counter. “I assumed you’d want a break from me by now.”
I bit my lip as I considered it. I should have been bored of her, should have wanted my space from saviors. But I couldn’t help how fascinated I was by them, nor the fact that they were becoming a source of comfort for me.
“I just don’t want you to feel left out.” I shrugged, failing to hide the warmth in my cheeks.
Spencer looked around behind the counter, trying to figure out how much work she still had to do to set for the day.
Then, clicking her tongue, she slammed her hands down on the counter and hurdled the display. “Well, if a pretty woman asks me to spend time with her, I’d be a fool to say no.”
