Page 5 of I Think We’re Alone Now

“Get a room!” someone called out, pulling us both from the haze we were in. We jumped back, separating, looking around us guiltily for whomever commented. I didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean anything. We were in the arcade after all, an area full of teens and kids, and we needed to be on our best behavior. I also needed to stop acting like she was some girl I was on a date with. I was her hired help. And her brother was my best friend.

There was a moment of awkwardness as we stood there, neither of us knowing what to do or say. What did you say immediately after the most amazing, and most inappropriate, kiss of your life?

“Tokens?” she asked, breaking the silence. She held her hand out expectantly, and I reached into my pocket, placing some in her palm. She beamed up at me, the fire still in her eyes, but now there was also a mischievous look there. There was so much more to Elle than I had ever realized.

“What are we playing for?” I asked.

“Bragging rights isn’t enough?”

“I think the stakes need to be upped. Loser owes the winner an Orange Julius.”

“Those are some serious stakes,” Elle said, with mock surprise. “Are you sure you’re willing to take on such a thing with your record?”

I barked out a laugh. There was the girl I knew—rubbing it in my face that I have never once beat her at this game. I knew I was rusty at it—years posted overseas at an army base did not lend itself to arcade time—but I still couldn’t help but feel a competitive rush facing off with her like this.

“Oh, I got this,” I challenged.

Without another word, she dropped a token into the slot and let the balls roll down into the bullpen. She turned to me, and with a waggle of her eyebrows, grabbed a ball and effortlessly rolled it up the ramp, hitting the little ball-hop perfectly. The ball swooshed into the fifty-point ring without even hitting the sides.

“Be prepared to make mine a large,” she said, winking at me.

My dick twitched all over again, and I knew I was in serious trouble. And not just because I was about to have my ass handed to me in Skee-Ball.