Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Oh, that guy,” I say. “He doesn’t look like a gamer.”
Will chuckles. “No, he doesn’t. Jamie’s pretty cool for a programmer.”
“You in or what?” Ethan throws a controller at me.
I lift it and nod. “Sure, why not? But if we lose because of me, I don’t want to hear it.”
“You’ve never played a video game before?” Will cocks his head at me. “I don’t buy that for one second.”
“I’ve played them at my friend’s houses, but I never owned one.”
Ethan and Will exchange a strange look as if they think I’m either a weirdo or lying. I can’t tell which.
After Will sets up the game, he plops down on the other side of Ethan, controller in hand. “You ready to kick some mage ass?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Huh?”
“Mages. That’s who we have to fight in the game. They’re magicians. I’ll explain as we go. Just don’t get us killed.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Great. No pressure or anything.”
Will chuckles.
Midway through the game, I turn the wrong way down a dark hallway in the castle and get my character killed.
“Dude,” Will groans. “What the fuck? You just fucked our team. We won’t get the points we need to advance.”
“I told you I don’t know how to play this shit,” I spit back.
“Get off his ass, Will.” Ethan clicks the buttons on the controller with his eyes fixed on the screen. “We can make it up to the Grand Mage’s spell room without him.”
Will sighs. “Yeah, but we would’ve gotten enough points to buy new gear.”
“It’s only a game,” I point out.
Will’s mouth opens wide, but he doesn’t respond. He’s too busy throwing magic at his opponents that are trying to block them from entering the stairwell. After they reach the top, they have to fight the Grand Mage, but they don’t advance to the next level. Both of their characters are killed with a blast of magic, forced to start the level over.
“Fuck.” Will throws the controller onto the carpet like a spoiled brat.
Ethan lets out an exaggerated sigh and then gets up from the couch. “We should go. I’m sure Dean wants us out of his apartment.”
Will glances over at me for confirmation.
“I have to call my girl. She lives in Chicago and has been waiting to hear from me all night.”
“Coach and Jamie are from Chicago,” Will says. “I wonder if they know each other.”
“Kat knows Coach. Mickey repped her dad and now her brothers.”
“Oh, right.” Will nods. “We’re playing the Caps soon. I hate Duke Baldwin.”
Ethan nods in agreement. “Dickhead.”
I don’t agree or disagree.
After they gather their gaming equipment, I walk them to the front door.
“See ya at practice tomorrow,” Ethan says.
Will tips his head to me.
Once they’re gone, I remove my phone from my pocket. Kat answers on the second ring.
“Hey, Kitten.” I lean my back against the door. “How was your day?”
She sniffs as if she’s crying. “Okay, I guess.”
“What’s wrong?”
Dead silence.
“Kitten, c’mon, talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I don’t feel good. I’m tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “For a second there, I thought you were crying.”
Another awkward pause and then she says, “I need to see you, Dean. Your birthday is coming up. I want to visit for the weekend.”
“That’s two weeks from now.”
“We have to plan it around your schedule,” she says so low I struggle to hear her.
“What’s going on? You sound different. Are you upset with me for not calling back right away? Because if you are, I’m sorry, baby. I got caught up in everything that’s going on here. I swear I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m fine, Dean.” She sniffs again. “Just sick, that’s all.”
“Okay, but if something is bothering you, you would tell me, right?”
“Of course,” she whispers. “Hey, I’m gonna hang up. I need to get some sleep. Call me tomorrow.”
“I have practice in the morning. I’ll call you after you’re done work.”
“Sounds good,” she says in a hushed tone. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Kitten. Night.”
“Night,” she says and then the line goes dead.
What is going on with her? Lately, Kat hasn’t been herself. It’s as if the distance between us is tearing us apart, and I don’t know how to fix it.
Chapter Twenty-One
KAT
Silvia sits in the chair next to me, nodding at my stomach. “How are you feeling?”
“The morning sickness is getting worse. I threw up twice already today. I’m so frustrated I want to rip my hair out.”
Laughing, she clutches my wrist. “Don’t do that. I think Dean likes you with hair. So, what about Dean? Have you gotten the balls yet to tell him about the baby?”
I shake my head. “He booked my flight for his birthday. I have to tell him in person. This isn’t the kind of news you drop on someone over the phone.”