She's Got Game Read online

  Predictably, the second the game ended, Dustin started talking about partying back in his suite. Since he lived near Charlotte, he’d driven to the hotel and apparently brought an entire bar packed into his trunk. It was on the tip of my tongue to say no when Holly looked at me pleadingly.

  “Just for a little while? It would be nice to blow off some steam.”

  Since finding out about Lucas, Holly had largely sequestered herself. Other than that celebratory drink with John in New York, who she’d known for years, she talked to me and Shannon, but avoided going out or even talking to her family. She kept saying she’d tell them once the situation was resolved. The fact that she didn’t want to spend the evening in our room was a good sign. I preferred to work on blog posts for later in the week and crash early, but I couldn’t deny her a break from reality. She’d never go without me. After all the times she and Shannon acted as my wing women, I owed her this one night.

  I tilted my head a fraction of an inch toward Dustin, asking a silent question. Holly’s eyes followed my movement, then widened.

  “Oh, no. I want to get drunk.” She lowered her voice, pulling me in closer. “Come on, Gwen. My boyfriend turned out to be a lying thief, I’m couch-surfing because I don’t have anywhere to live, and I just got eliminated.”

  Instantly, I felt terrible. I didn’t realize this game knocked her out of the competition. Since I was standing right here, of course I knew she’d come in third, but I’d assumed she got the entire next day to make up lost ground in the overall rankings.

  “I’m really sorry, Hol. I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s fine. I’m okay, I think. It happened like two minutes ago. But I’d also like to cut loose tonight, and I want my best friend to come with me. Especially since you’re moving on, and I’m not. Please?”

  Fair enough.

  “We’ll be there,” I said to Dustin, then turned to Tom. “What about you? You in?”

  He shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  After dinner, Holly and I went back to our room to freshen up before heading to the party. I spent an extra-long time on my hair and makeup, not because I cared, but because I didn’t want to be the first one there. I only put my brush down when Holly threatened to leave without me. Better to show up together. Safety in numbers and all that.

  Dustin greeted us at the door with a cup of beer in each hand. I needed to stay sober to keep an eye on Holly, but took it, anyway. Easier to nurse a drink for several hours than to explain to Dustin that I didn’t trust him not to get my friend drunk and take advantage of her. I barely trusted him not to have slipped something in the drinks.

  People filled the suite, which was roughly three times the size of the room I’d rented on the floor below this one. That must be what happens when you don’t need to spend money—or airline miles—on a plane ticket.

  A lot of the other guests looked familiar, having been at the tournament. In the far corner, Tom talked to Michelle from our morning game. Dustin flitted here and there, making sure no one ever ran out of alcohol. He must’ve invited some friends from home or the bar, though, because there were far more girls my age in this room than had been at the competitions in Charlotte, New York, and Boston combined. Excellent. More females meant less unwanted male attention directed at me.

  “Who are you looking for?” Holly’s voice broke into my thoughts.

  “No one,” I said. “Just checking out the room.”

  “Uh-huh.” Her voice carried a hint of amusement. “He’ll be here later.”

  Sometimes I hated how easily my friends read me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you don’t. And you didn’t seek Cody out with your eyes constantly, at every game table, all day.”

  “I did not!” The words came out louder than intended. A couple of people glanced our way, so I lowered my voice. “You know I can’t get involved with Cody. I don’t care if he’s here or not.”

  Shannon would’ve let it drop. She liked to make her point, then walk away to let it simmer. Not Holly. “I know you like him, I know he wants more than a hookup with you, and I know if you gave up being so afraid, you’d want that, too. What I don’t know is why you won’t admit any of that.”

  I shot her a withering look. “Yes, you do. (a) You’re wrong, and (b) he’s my number one competition. Even if he wasn’t, I still don’t sleep with gamers. Not anymore.”

  “I know that’s your rule, Gwen, and I get it. I even understand why. Don treated you like shit. But we’ve all had bad dating experiences. Should I swear off men forever because Lucas screwed me?”

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” The goal was to walk the line between “joking” and “supportive,” but it came out more “manhater.”

  Despite what some people thought, I didn’t date women because I disliked men. That’s not what bisexuality was about. Plenty of men were perfectly lovely. Including my wonderful father, the best man in the world. Avoiding relationships wasn’t about avoiding men. It was about self-preservation. About never feeling the way my father looked every day for a year after Beverly walked out on us. Or the way I felt when I saw her.

  “Not now, sure. But a year from now? Two? You won’t care if I lock myself away and refuse to date anyone forever?”

  “Sounds smart. You can’t get hurt if you don’t make yourself vulnerable.”

  “That’s true. But when your only reason to avoid dating is because you’re afraid, you won’t be happy, either.” She drained her cup while I studied my fingernails. “Mingle. I’m going to flirt with every guy here to remind myself I’ve still got it.”

  “Have fun.”

  Still wanting to keep an eye on her, I navigated to the corner to chat with Tom. He’d been joined by Angel, a gamer from Florida and also one of the first people I’d met when I started hitting national events. One of the aforementioned lovely men I knew. He was hot, ridiculously nice, and made almost any game more fun. That also described his husband, who tended to avoid parties in lieu of recharging his batteries alone. I was sorry to miss him, but after living with introverted Shannon for three years, I understood.

  “Good game earlier,” Angel said, referring to the second match, when I beat him by one card.

  “Thanks. I got lucky on the last die roll,” I said. “How are you guys?”

  “Hanging in there. Looking forward to tomorrow,” he said.

  “I need to leave soon,” Tom said. “There are way too many people.”

  “Honestly, I’m surprised you came.”

  “Me, too. Dustin badgered me into it. He’s made it his personal mission to find me a woman.”

  I laughed. “That should be interesting.”

  “It’s funnier if we don’t tell him I’m gay.”

  Angel chuckled. “It’s not just you. He’s trying to get everyone laid, including himself. He asked me earlier if Gwen might sleep with him.”

  I snorted, almost inhaling beer into my lungs. “What did you tell him?”

  “That you don’t want gonorrhea.”

  “Ba-dum-bum.” Tom drained his drink. “And on that note, I’m outta here. Need my beauty sleep.”

  We wished him a good night, and I went to refill my cup. I’d still have my wits about me—limiting myself to two beers —and I’d still be able to watch out for Holly. Speaking of Holly, she stood in the middle of the room talking to Dustin. I went over in case she needed to be rescued.

  Before I got to them, Dustin climbed up on the couch and waved his arms. “Okay, everyone, it’s time to play a game!”

  Someone in the crowd groaned.

  “C’mon guys! We’re all gamers, right? Isn’t that why we’re here?”

  Holly whooped, and I joined her, more out of solidarity than any interest in playing whatever drinking game Dustin concocted. He seemed more in the mood for drunken Twiste
r than, say, a rousing bout of Clue—where I would totally own him and love every second of it.

  “It’s time for… TRUTH OR DARE!” Dustin roared.

  A few people cheered.

  Nope. No way. I shuddered at the type of dares some of the guys in this room might come up with. Grabbing Holly by the wrist, I tugged her toward the door.

  “You’re not leaving, are you?” she asked.

  “Yeah, come on. We don’t want to find videos of us doing naked limbo on YouTube later. Let’s get out of here.”

  She stopped dead, shaking her bangs out of her eyes. “No. I’m having fun.”

  “You want to stay and get drunk and make out with Dustin and his friends? Knock yourself out.”

  “I want to hang out a bit more. It won’t be that bad. C’mon, please? Half an hour. Just pick truth, and you’ll be fine.”

  The room was starting to clear, so maybe this game wouldn’t turn into the hot mess I feared. With a sigh, I refilled my cup and sat cross-legged on the ground. “Twenty minutes.”

  “Fine. Thanks.”

  The game started off tamely enough. Dustin asked one of the non-gamers if she’d ever made out with another girl. Yawn. One of the girls dared a guy to tie a cherry stem into a knot with his tongue, which was hilarious because he couldn’t do it at all. Cody entered at some point, sliding into the circle with a beer, but I didn’t make eye contact. Holly nudged me, as if to make sure I noticed him. I started to say something, but then Angel dared her to twerk to a ridiculous song, which caused her to fall into my lap.

  Laughing, she moved onto the floor beside me, then took a long drink. “Gwen. Truth or dare?”

  Uh-oh. The plan to only take ‘truth’ went out the window when Cody arrived. From the look on Holly’s face, she totally intended to ask about my feelings for him. She would absolutely call me out if I lied. Not that I even knew what the truth was.

  My mind went immediately to our moment in New York City, when he almost kissed me. My pulse quickened. I couldn’t answer any Cody-related questions. Not in front of a group, and especially not with him sitting five feet away.

  Before stopping to consider the ramifications, I said, “Dare.”

  A wide smile split her face, telling me instantly I’d made a mistake. Whatever she had in mind, I wasn’t going to like it.

  “I dare you to kiss Cody,” my traitorous friend said.

  Well, crap. My eyes shot daggers at her. Sure, she’d had a few drinks, but she knew how I felt about kissing gamers. Specifically, she knew how I felt about this particular gamer, against my better judgment. I needed to stay away from him until I got my emotions under control. How did I avoid someone with my lips pressed to his?

  Answer: I couldn’t. Which meant I had to suck it up and do it. I would kill Holly later.

  At the sound of his name, Cody edged forward, moving from his spot near the back wall closer to the circle. His face matched my maroon tank top. From the way he avoided my gaze, it appeared that he didn’t want to kiss me, either. As I’d suspected all along. Incurable flirt.

  He paused about a foot away, shifting from one foot to the other. “I don’t mind if you don’t.”

  Everyone clapped and jeered.

  My face grew so warm, it must mirror his. To hide my embarrassment, I swigged my beer, wishing I’d opted for something stronger. Like arsenic. “Okay, okay, let’s be adults about this. Kissing someone on a dare doesn’t mean anything.”

  Turning toward Cody, I brushed my lips against his face like a butterfly, so fast he may not have felt it. He didn’t move or react. Static electricity flared up, making me jump backward, one hand to my mouth.

  Then I turned back to the group. “Happy now?”

  Holly shot me a withering look. “Come on, Guinevere. That’s not a real kiss, and you know it.”

  This was the problem with long-time friends. They knew when to whip out your full name to shame you. To save face, I shrugged. “The dare was a kiss. I kissed him.”

  “Dude, did her lips even make contact with your face?” Dustin asked.

  Cody eyed me. I shifted my gaze away, waiting for him to call me out. But he surprised me. “Yeah. It was a kiss.”

  “Sorry, not good enough. Not when Nadia over there showed everyone her boobs, and I basically gave you a lap dance.” Holly insisted.

  Dustin agreed, and soon everyone was clapping and chanting. “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”

  All I wanted was for them to shut up. That’s why I did it. Like a puppeteer pulled my strings, I leaned forward, closing the gap between me and Cody a second time. My brain screamed that this was a bad idea, to quit the stupid game and walk out, but my body wouldn’t listen. Maybe it was the alcohol, or the general tiredness that came from playing games for twelve hours. It would’ve been awkward to be the first person to refuse to play along, but it wasn’t like being one of The Girls never made things uncomfortable. I could leave, put up with the comments for one day, and forget about the entire party by the time my flight landed tomorrow night—but I didn’t want Cody to think I was afraid of him. I didn’t want everyone in the room to think I was afraid of him. Or that’s what I told myself.

  While I wasn’t going to run, I couldn’t quite bring myself to kiss this guy for real. Not even when I told myself it might be awful, exactly the thing I needed to forget about him once and for all. So many hot guys turned out to be terrible in bed, thinking that good looks were enough to get a girl off. Idiots. Giving a woman an orgasm took skill, patience, and a type of consideration that didn’t exist in many of the better-looking players I’d crossed paths with.

  With all of these thoughts swirling in my head, I leaned toward him and looked up, closing about ninety percent of the gap. Cody was several inches taller than me. He could at least help me out by bending down so I didn’t have to jump toward his face.

  Finally, his lips touched mine. Warm, soft. He tasted like breath spray, and I drank him in. His mouth moved slowly, gently. Not the Hoover method I’d been half hoping for. In fact, this was pretty nice. Nicer than expected. Especially without the static electricity. Well, not static anyway, but I absolutely felt some sparks.

  Okay, no. This is a real kiss. It’s time to pull back.

  Just another second, I told myself. My lips parted, wanting to drink him in while I had this one and only chance. Tomorrow, I’d find someone else to help me forget him, but tonight, this moment belonged to us. His tongue darted in, sweeping my lower lip before moving in to explore my mouth. My tongue caressed his.

  And all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe. Not in a breathless, happy, this-kiss-is-so-amazing way. I gagged, and Cody jerked backwards. The hurt look on his face would’ve been comical if not for the fact that my throat swelled, cutting off my air supply.

  Dustin snorted. “What did you do, bro?”

  Everyone else was laughing, but I couldn’t speak. My hands clawed at my throat. I gasped for air. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Only dry, ragged heaves.

  That got Holly’s attention. “Oh, shit. Cody, did you eat peanuts?”

  Suddenly, everything made sense. I staggered to my feet, desperate for my purse. My purse held my lifeline. Cody reached out to stop me, but I shoved him away. Too far. No air.

  “EpiPen,” I gasped out, before falling to my knees beside the couch. The world went black.

  * * * *

  When I came to, I lay flat on my back. I’d expected to be on the couch in the suite where I fell, but found myself lying in a hotel bed. Not my room, probably, due to the lack of clothes piled on the floor and the king-sized bed rather than two doubles. Holly sat in a chair beside the bed.

  “What happened?”

  “You kissed Cody and passed out because it was so awesome.”

  I forced a smile. “No, really.”

  “He ate a peanut butter candy bar right bef
ore joining the party. When he kissed you, you went into anaphylactic shock. You couldn’t have known.”

  Ugh. I couldn’t have known, but that’s what I got for kissing some random guy without thinking first. “So I passed out in front of everyone? They must’ve thought that was hilarious.”

  “Naw. You scared them. Luckily, I knew where you keep your EpiPen. As soon as you passed out, I gave you the shot.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Then Cody carried you back to his room.”

  “Why not our room?”

  “His was much closer. Carrying an unconscious person isn’t as easy as it looks on TV. I know you wouldn’t want to go to the hospital, so we went for a nearby empty bed. The one in Dustin’s room was…um…occupied.”

  “And probably also needs a healthy dose of disinfectant before I’d go near it.” She smiled at my bad joke. “Thanks.”

  “That’s what friends are for.” She held out a damp washcloth I hadn’t noticed. “You’ll need to rinse well with mouthwash later, but for now, wipe out the inside of your mouth. Get any remaining peanut residue.”

  “I should be fine, since I didn’t actually ingest anything.” She glared at me until I took the washcloth and did what she suggested. It tasted as good as you’d expect a wet towel to taste. But better than going to the hospital eight hours before the competition resumed.

  “Maybe. Now take this.” She handed me a bottle of Benadryl. The EpiPen allowed me to breathe, but wouldn’t stop the allergic reaction. The medicine should help. I’d feel terrible tomorrow, but I should be okay without a hospital visit.

  Dutifully, I started drinking. “Thanks.”

  “Cody was pretty worried. He wanted to call an ambulance, but I convinced him you’d be okay. I know how you feel about emergency rooms. We should let him see you, though.”

  “I guess I could text him,” I said begrudgingly. I didn’t have a ton of sympathy for the guy who almost killed me with his lips, even if he didn’t mean to do it. Mostly I hated myself for giving into peer pressure and kissing him in the first place. “Do you have my phone?”