table. “Ready?”
I pointed at the tokens. “I thought you said we were only playing three games.”
“I lied. And I’m picking competitive mode.”
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t alternate turns. We play our own sides. High score wins.”
Then he shoved the tokens in and the machine flashed and beeped.
Shit.
I managed to last, oh, maybe one minute before I was run through by a ghost.
Nolan kept playing.
And playing.
So I started dropping tokens in every time I lost and restarted with a new game.
I had improved, but I wasn’t anywhere near Nolan’s level—the man was still playing on that first token.
After I dusted all the tokens in both stacks, I stood. “I’ll grab us champagne.”
He might’ve grunted a response.
Thankfully I didn’t have to venture far to find a cocktail waitress. I downed a glass, then carried two flutes back to the room. The other couple had left, so I parked myself in one of the Space Invaders chairs. I read through the instructions on that one so I’d be prepared.
Nolan said, “Are you fucking kidding me? I got through that vortex. The damn handle stuck. Stupid machine.”
“Having trouble with your joystick, Lund?”
He smirked, but he didn’t move his eyes from his game.
Then the familiar sound of the game ending came from his side of the table.
“I’m out. Next game.” He pushed back and loomed over the table, then peered over to check the floor. “Where are all the tokens?”
“It’s a ghost in the machine.”
“What?”
“The ghosts in the machine have them.” I sipped my champagne. “I kept losing to them.”
“That was twenty bucks’ worth of tokens! That should’ve lasted us all night.”
“What can I say . . . I was a little quick on the trigger. It’d been a long time for me.”
A moment passed and Nolan granted me that panty-dropping grin.
Good lord. If I had any more champagne, I might do just that.
Simmer down, Gabi. You’re still not his type.
“I brought you a glass of champagne.”
Nolan picked it up, studying the bubbles before he drank. “I should save myself the headache tomorrow and stop drinking now.”
“Or you could pop four Excedrin before bed and enjoy the free booze.”
“Is that your trick?”
“Yep.” I tilted my glass at him. “Although, I’ll probably pop four more when I get up since I’m coaching and refereeing tomorrow.”
He took a sip. “Do you take any days off?”
I couldn’t afford to. Instead of sharing that tidbit with the billionaire heir, I deflected. “What about you?”
“I’ll probably go into the office and catch up on a few things.” He frowned at the game console. “Not feeling Space Invaders.”
“Great!” I jumped up. “I found a better game anyway.”
“Lemme guess. Air hockey,” he deadpanned.
“Ding ding! We have a winner. I have two tokens left so I’ll even pay.”
“Generous of you, Coach.”
I practically had to drag him to the machine.
Maybe it was bad form to crack my knuckles before we started.
We went back and forth a few times. I scored first.
And second.
My joy was short lived because he scored seven times in a row.
Seven times.
He beat me.
Me: a professional hockey player.
Nolan’s brash grin had me growling at him. “Don’t feel bad, Welk. I beat Jax all the time too.”
“But . . . how?”
“You’re focused on offense. You leave your slot open.”
“Excuse me?”
He laughed. “I didn’t mean for that to sound dirty.”
“Sure you didn’t,” I teased back. “We need more champagne.”
We found two seats at the bar. I looked around as the bartender refreshed our flutes. I hadn’t seen Liddy in a while and Nolan’s family were gathered across the room. “You don’t have to sit with me if you’re supposed to be with the Lunds.”
“Still trying to get rid of me?”
“Well, you are hopelessly annoying with that beating-me-at-games thing tonight.”
He leaned in. “We’re tied. You beat me at pool twice. I beat you at Ms. Pac-Man and air hockey.”
The waitstaff got busy and neither Nolan nor I felt like talking as we waited for service.
Until he felt like jumping right in. “Earlier, after you accepted my apology, you said it wasn’t the first time you’d been on the receiving end of assumptions. What did you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m calling bullshit on that.”
I groaned. “Maybe I was talking out my ass in a show of camaraderie and commiseration and hoped it’d just float right over your head.”
“God, woman, you baffle me.”
“Honestly, Nolan, there’s nothing baffling about me not wanting to share some of the shitty things people have said to me that haunt me way longer than they should.”
He poked my arm. “That’s exactly why I want