I didn’t have any idea what the money was for, and in truth, I was scared to find out.
But despite all of my other questions, her concern for my safety was one thing I knew to be true. She’d had every right to leave me alone with Gabe, to throw me to the streets for Dom, but despite only knowing me for a short time, she’d proven her loyalty again and again at every turn.
“Okay,” I drew in a shaky breath.
“Okay?” Her brow hitched, hope bubbling under the surface of her concern.
“Okay.” I nodded, holding her gaze.
Before I could say anything else, the machine began to rattle. Some teenage twerp banged his fists on the booth. “Hurry up in there!”
With a sigh, Spencer ripped the curtain back to reveal a boy no older than fourteen puffing out his chest to impress the girl shrinking behind him. His confidence faltered as Spencer stepped out of the machine, towering without meaning to. “Sorry, kids. Booth’s broken.”
“Don’t forget your photos!” The machine chirped as two strips dropped into the slot outside the booth.
“That’s bullshit!” He pointed to the photos as I grabbed them from the machine and stuck them in my pocket.
But Spencer shrugged, pulling one of her millions of keys from her ring and putting the machine into maintenance mode. “Sorry. It gets fritzy when you punch it. Try asking nicely next time and see what happens.”
He grumbled as he stormed off across the arcade, but his friend laughed.
Once they were gone, Spencer intertwined our fingers and gave me a little squeeze. “Think you’ll be okay the rest of the day?”
“I’ll stay out of trouble.” My gaze drifted to the floor, until she lifted my chin with a finger.
“I didn’t ask about staying out of trouble, Bunny. I want you to be okay. That’s my priority.”
Her eyes glimmered with fierce protectiveness as she held my gaze. It was like she could see right into the deepest parts of me and tell if I was lying.
I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the tingle of electricity that buzzed beneath my skin where she touched me. “I’m okay. Promise.”
Satisfied, she brought me back around to the prize counter, refilled my coin bucket despite the chorus of children protesting that it was their turn, and set me back onto the arcade floor. “Just a few more hours, and then I’ll take you home.”
I didn’t stray far from the counter, though. In all honesty, it was adorable watching Spencer help the kids out. She would hype up the number of tickets they’d saved, no matter how small, and help them pick out the best piece of junk in the prize buckets.
When a little girl no older than seven wandered up with a measly three tickets, I watched her slip her a prize from one of the big buckets so that she could impress her older brother.
Even when the kids were being bratty, Spencer kept a smile on her face that made them want to do better.For someone with a rough childhood, she sure does have a way with kids.
She was right that the hours passed quickly. Maybe it was the lack of natural light, or maybe just that I was enjoying her company, but before I knew it, six o’clock was approaching and the arcade was finally clearing out.
At some point, I’d moved closer to Spencer, sitting with my legs crossed on the prize counter while she flitted between doling out prizes and fixing up machines. As she finally got a breakfrom the chaos, leaning up against the counter next to me, I studied her face. “You really like this job, don’t you?”
“Running the local arcade like a one man show?” She scoffed. “Wasn’t exactly what I pictured during career day at school, but it’s alright.”
“Oh, don’t play coy with me.” I nudged her with my knee. “I can see how you light up around the little snot monsters.”
At that, the corners of her lips curved up. “They’re alright I guess.” Then, with a deep breath, her playful mask dropped for a second. “I think it’s just nice to get to be a bright spot in their days. If I’m being honest, I counted on stuff like that a lot as a kid. A hot meal at school and a few hours where I didn’t have to think about what was going on at home… it got me through a lot.”
Her gaze grew distant for a second, and all I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms. But before I could even respond, her concentration was broken by a buzz on her phone.
“Umm….” Angling the screen away from me as she read the text, a hesitant frown painted her lips. She looked at me before scanning the arcade floor. “Think you could man the fort for a minute? I just need to take a quick phone call.”
I wanted to ask who she was calling, but it felt too presumptive. Especially after the tender admission she’d just made.
“Sure.” I nodded, “But only if I get to wear the vest.”
“It’s yours,” she chuckled as she pulled it off her shoulders and tossed it over to me. “I’ll just be a second!”
