Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
All right. So maybe I was a complete asshole. Wasn’t the first time. Wouldn’t be the last.
The girl stomped her foot. “You don’t have to be so rude.” Then she turned and flounced off.
“Making friends, I see.”
Danica grinned at me from where she was wiping down a table while Little Miss Thang had moved back behind the bar. She glared furiously at me before going back to her phone.
I grinned at Danica. “I do my best.”
She snorted. “Right. You do your best to piss as many people off as you can. Pretty sure you think they’ve made pissing people off an Olympic sport, and you’re determined to win gold.”
I barked out a laugh. Which got Little Miss Thang back to glaring at me. Only now, her anger spilled over to Danica. That wasn’t happening. I met her gaze while I continued my conversation with Danica. The look I gave her was probably not very pleasant.
“Well, you know what they say. Better pissed off than pissed on. I mean, that’s not really my thing, but I could do it. Honestly, though, she didn’t take the hint so I had to go the not-so-subtle route.”
“Just be careful of your coffee if Jordan serves it. Not saying she’d put laxative in it. Not not saying it either. Or maybe salt.” She looked off, as if pondering which would be worse. “I think I’d prefer the laxative.”
I sketched her a two-fingered salute and we both went about our business. It was one of many reasons I liked Danica. She knew when to leave a man alone, and she didn’t throw herself at me either. Hell, I knew she wanted me. What woman wouldn’t? But she never let on like she did. Which, I’ll admit, was part of the draw. It was also the reason I didn’t pursue her. Once the chase was over, I’d get bored and she’d get hurt. That was the last thing I wanted.
With a shrug, I turned my attention back to the chat. There were currently twenty-three people other than me. Questions flew around with some of the more seasoned players hanging out answering most of them. I was there to moderate and step in if things got heated. Mostly everyone behaved. Sometimes there were questions no one could answer and they’d turn to me. Looking at the string of chatter I’d missed while interacting with Jordan and Danica, I frowned. Looked like I needed to get them back on track.
SoulHunter15: I can’t believe they won’t let me on the e-sports team. I’m better than half of em.
JustMadness: Bro that’s sick. Gonna do something about it?
SoulHunter15: Nothing to do.
JustMadness: Merc a bunch a motherfuckers, bro. That’ll teach em. lol
OK, that wasn’t going to work.
Wylde: Soul, join me in a game. We’ll walk through some things together then pop in. You ace the battle and they won’t be able to keep you out.
SoulHunter15: You’d do that?
Wylde: I aim to please.
I didn’t, really, but this was my channel and I thought of all of them as kids. I knew some of them, and they were my age or older, but there were plenty of kids on here. Especially during the local e-sport season. Everyone was looking for an edge and I was happy to provide and support the gaming community. Violence, though necessary in my line of work with my club, was never condoned on my server.
It was with supreme irritation I DM’d with the bastard.
Wylde: Madness, that’s one. You don’t get another.
JustMadness: Jesus, bro! Can’t take a fucking joke?
Wylde: Keep it up. Just itchin’ to ditch your ass.
JustMadness: Fuck you
He left the server. I frowned. Looking into his profile gave me very little, so I started digging a little deeper. After thirty minutes, I knew I wasn’t going to find anything from here. I needed my setup at the clubhouse, but I needed to square things with SoulHunter first. I opened another direct message.
Wylde: Soul when do you want to start? Give me a day and time and I’ll be there.
SoulHunter15: Don’t matter. They ain’t gonna let me in.
Wylde: We’ll see. Day and time.
SoulHunter15: Maybe tomorrow?
Wylde: What time?
SoulHunter15: I get home at 3. How about 3 30?
Wylde: I’ll be here. Looking forward to it. We’ll do our best to get you in.
I stared at the screen for a while, wondering if I’d gotten control of the situation. I seriously doubted it. Troublemakers like JustMadness didn’t slink off into the night. They came back when they thought you weren’t paying attention. Taking him down would take time, though. Right now, my focus needed to be on SoulHunter. If I could redirect the kid and give him something else to aim for, maybe I could avert whatever disaster Madness was trying to push the kid toward. And I had no doubt it was intentional.