Page 26 of Ravaged By the Dark

“Go get changed. You can’t go in your PJs.” J.J. cheered as he ran out of the kitchen. He was like a miniature tornado that had swept through, making her giggle.

“This better not become a habit. You trying to buy my affections through J.J.?” she lifted her eyebrow at Arek.

Arek smiled wide. Her pulse pounded hard in her ears as she looked into those mischievous blue eyes. He placed his hands on his chest. “Me do something so devious? Never.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

Arek walked over and bent, placing a hand on either side of her chair. His intoxicating scent mixed with his earthy aftershave invaded her nose, making her head fuzzy with how near he was. She wanted to grab his shirt and drag him closer. He was wearing a different one from last night, but it didn’t matter, she wasn’t able to get enough.

“I don’t need to buy your affections. We both know there is something between us.” His face was directly in front of hers, and she held her breath, the thudding of her blood making it hard to focus on what he was saying. He laid a chaste kiss on her lips and stood just as J.J. ran back into the room.

If out-of-body experiences were real, she was having one right now. This amazingly sexy man couldn’t be real. Her luck didn’t run that way. She had a list a mile long of shit that had gone terribly wrong over her life.

“Come on, Nae Nae. You are holding us up!” J.J. grabbed her hand, dragging her out of her seat.

She wanted to enjoy this, she really did, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that her life was screwed up. The other shoe was bound to drop, and she was simply delaying the inevitable.

The three of them walked into the arcade, and every one of Renee’s senses was assaulted. Laser and strobe lights flashed to the music, and her stomach rumbled at the strong scent of fresh popcorn. Cold air blasted from large vents, making her shiver at the sudden temperature difference, and it was almost unbearably loud with the kids yelling, the music thumping, and the unique noises of the arcade.

“Wow,” J.J. yelled. He stood with his mouth open as wide as his eyes as he stared at the space around him. This had to be a kid’s dream come true. Kiddie crack was how she saw it. J.J. took off running through the throngs of people.

“J.J., wait!” she called after him.

“It’s okay, go catch up. I’ll get the coins and find you guys.” Arek offered, and she mouthed a thank you.

She dodged a pair of kids running and then had to crane her neck to see past the many groups. She was starting to get nervous when she spotted J.J. watching two kids race motorcycles. The sound was loud as the tires pretended to screech on the pavement.

“Nae Nae, look! It’s so cool.” J.J. pointed to the massive screens showing a highway with the two bikes racing along, dodging traffic. A siren sounded, and the top of the screens flashed that a police car was giving chase.

“Don’t be getting any ideas. You’re not getting a motorcycle ever if I have any say over it, and if you ever drove it like that, I’d have to…never get you ice cream again,” she threatened.

J.J. rolled his eyes at her, the exact way she would do to him.

“Don’t be such a square.” Renee’s mouth fell open.

Where the hell did he learn that?

“J.J. I found that Pac-Man game I mentioned,” Arek called out as he found them. “And no one is playing it right now.”

“Can we go play?” J.J. smiled up at Arek like he was his whole world, and Renee bit her lip. Worry wiggled in the back of her mind.

She needed to have a serious talk with Arek. She couldn’t allow J.J. to get any more attached if Arek was not planning on sticking around long term. It was a tough conversation considering they were just getting to know each other, but she couldn’t risk J.J.’s heart being ripped out. He’d already had too much of that.

Besides, Arek opened this door by first dropping by her school and now her house. It wasn’t like she tried to con him with a cute kid. At this point, Arek was entrapping her with his affection for her brother—she was well within her right to have the conversation.

She watched as J.J. grabbed one of the small stools and pulled it over to the game to stand on as Arek waited patiently. It took a few tries for J.J. to get the hang of it, but once he did, she had to admit he was better than she would’ve been.

She leaned up against the game and smiled as the boys played. She yawned when they hit round ten, and Renee wandered over to the Donkey Kong. This was a game she’d played once or twice in her teens. She was still terrible, and she groaned as the monkey killed her with a rolling barrel again.

“You done trying to play this,” Arek asked teasingly.

She gave his arm a swat for the insult.

“Where’s J.J. going,” she asked Arek as she watched him walking toward another machine.

“While you were busy pretending to play over here, those other boys were impressed with J.J.’s mad skills. They asked him to join them. Don’t worry, we’ll stay close, but he seemed like he could use some time with people his own age.”

A sadness pulled at the corner of her lips.