seen her in yet. She even wore a little bit of make-up, the black eyeliner highlighting her startlingly blue eyes. My chest did a weird flip-flop, and I wasn’t sure why.
Okay, maybe I did know why, but I was trying to ignore it. It was only yesterday that I was at her place, and I still didn’t know how to feel about her admitting to checking out my arse.
Women rarely checked me out, so to have Afric compliment me like that was, well, it wasn’t unpleasant. I’d spent so long seeing myself as this plain, unnoticeable bloke that it was kind of shocking to have her compliment me. Even if it was only my backside she’d been complimenting. It gave me hope that once Annabelle discovered the truth, she wouldn’t be completely horrified by the real me. Perhaps I wasn’t as plain and unnoticeable as I thought I was.
“Hello! Sorry, I’m late. There was a delay on the Tube. Typical,” she said as she reached me. “Have you been waiting long?”
“Not long. You look nice.”
She patted her windswept hair. “I do? Oh, well, there’s no particular reason for that.”
I frowned at her odd statement. “Shall we go inside?”
Afric nodded, glancing at the entrance and biting her lip. She seemed nervous, which was unusual. “Just give me a minute.”
I studied her. “Is everything okay?”
She was still staring intently at the entrance. “What? Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”
“You sure? You seem—”
“What do I seem?”
“Tense?” I hedged.
She deflated, blowing out a heavy breath. “I just haven’t been here in a while.”
“Are you taking part in the tournament or something?”
“No, but my ex, Dev, probably is, and I haven’t spoken to him since our break-up.”
Oh. She was nervous about seeing her ex-boyfriend. Now it all made sense. Something about the show of vulnerability warmed me to her. “When did you two break up?” I asked.
“About six months ago.”
“We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to,” I said in a gentle voice.
Afric shot me a determined look. “No, I want to go in. I have to. He’s not stealing this place from me. I just need to reclaim it.”
“Well, in order to do that, you’ll need to actually step inside.”
She narrowed her gaze. “I know that.” Still, she didn’t move. I gave her a moment to prepare herself, and as we stood there, a man in a suit strode by, bumping into Afric without stopping to apologise. I caught her by the elbow and made sure she was okay. Then, feeling strangely bothered by his rudeness, I walked after the man and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, shooting me a questioning look. “What?”
“You should watch where you’re going,” I said. “You almost knocked my friend over back there.”
He glanced at Afric, then at me. “Whatever, mate. You two were blocking the path.”
With that, he turned and left. “Dickhead,” I muttered as I returned to Afric.
She smiled up at me. “That was rather chivalrous.”
“I just can’t stand rude people,” I said.
“You live in London, Neil. This city is full of rude people.”
“Well, it bothered me how he didn’t even stop to apologise. Are you okay?” I asked, looking her over.
“I’m fine, but thank you.” She took a deep inhale and straightened her shoulders. “Right, let’s do this,” she said, but she still didn’t move.
I bent my head to look her in the eye. “Do you want me to go in first?”
She swallowed then nodded, and feeling protective of her at that moment, I led the way into the gaming sphere. Afric followed close behind me, and I took the place in as we entered. A good number of people were gathered for the tournament, and computers were set up all about being used by lots of people with headsets on, completely absorbed in their gaming. I eyed the race car simulators surrounded by large screens, impressed with the setup. This place certainly meant business.
“Do you want a drink?” Afric asked. “I’m getting one.”
“A drink sounds good.” Strangely, her nervousness about bumping into her ex made my nervousness about flirting fade a little.
Afric grabbed us two Red Bulls, and several people waved to her. She said hello, but she didn’t stop to chat with them. Instead, she led us over to sit on a bench. I took a swig of the tangy-sweet drink. “I probably shouldn’t be having this. It tends to give me heart palpitations.”
“Right?” Afric agreed. “It’s good for staying alert during a gaming marathon, though.”