Tactical Heart

by S. K. Rose

  I’m starting to think this date won’t be as torturous as I thought. She’s smokin’ hot and clearly loves to play some games, even if they’re just arcade ones. This is off to a good start.

  I spread out my arms and motion for her to pick out a game. She skips across the room, giving me plenty of time to admire her ass in those tight jeans. She comes to a stop in front of a large screen with huge sci-fi looking guns. It’s an alien shooter game called Invasion, one of my favorites. She picks up a gun from the rack and raises an eyebrow at me.

  “I’ve always liked big guns,” she says with a grin.

  I flex my arm and pat my pathetic excuse for a bicep. “Try not to be too impressed then, Freckles.”

  She snorts with laughter. “Okay, now that’s just sad.” With an exaggerated pout, she shakes her head, but her lips snap back into that beautiful smile. “First one to die buys dinner,” she challenges.

  It’s my turn to chuckle. If I wasn’t so competitive, I’d consider letting her win, but smokin’ hot chick or not, that’s just not how I’m wired. If Dad were here, he would smack the shit out of me.

  Still, she seems awfully cocky. I imagine in her little group of girlfriends she’s hot shit when they have arcade night, but against someone who’s spent the better part of their life playing shooters? Freckles, here, doesn’t stand a chance.

  Picking up the gun to her right, I smirk and insert money into the machine. “You know how to play? I can give you some pointers.”

  Her mouth twitches. “I’ll manage.”

  I almost feel bad that I have to kick her ass. It’s a nice ass.

  The game starts up, and we both raise our guns and aim our crosshairs at the monstrous aliens that come flying toward us. I glance at her screen a few times to see how she’s holding up, but when wave after wave of aliens start to come at me, I need all my focus to stay alive. After several close calls and an epic battle, the first boss goes down, and I let out a howl of excitement. I’ve never actually been able to beat the boss before, so this is a personal best for me.

  For a second, I worry that Scarlett might be bored having to watch me play from the sidelines; she couldn’t have survived for longer than a few minutes, but I have to keep my eyes glued to the screen if I want to get on the leaderboard. A bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face as I’m mobbed by a group of armored aliens, and five minutes later, I finally get the black screen of death. Letters flash across the screen, telling me to put in more credits if I want to continue. Damn it. I was so close to making it onto the high score list.

  I turn to my date. “Sorry that took so long, I actually—” My mouth snaps shut as I see her taking on the horde of aliens that just finished me off. The gun moves faster than a whip as she takes them out one by one, no hesitation, perfect precision. Not only is she not dead, but she still has at least half her health left.

  There’s only one plausible explanation─Scarlett is a gamer.

  Not a fucking social gamer either, but a legit one.

  Scarlett’s sexy, sassy, and a gamer. I’ve met girls with one, maybe two, out of the three qualities, but she’s the whole damn nerd girl trifecta—I might as well be on a date with a unicorn.

  My jaw drops, and I could swear she begins to shoot in slow motion. With her hair blowing behind her, she turns to wink at me. With a grin, she points the barrel to the ceiling and cocks the gun to reload. With her finger on the trigger, she jerks the gun to the right and blows away two more attackers. In the game, she picks up a grenade and tosses it at an alien spacecraft, laughing maniacally as it’s blown to bits. I shake my head, and time speeds back up.

  Reaching down, I carefully adjust my pants since my dick ship is raised to full mast. I’ve watched a lot of porn, and yet, this is hands down the sexiest thing I have ever seen.

  Move over lesbian girls on a yacht, Daddy has new spank bank material.

  It’s another fifteen minutes before she’s finally taken out by the queen alien—the final boss in the game. She types something strangely familiar into the scoreboard, and I watch as her name shoots to third place on the leaderboard. With a scowl, she drops the gun back into the rack and tears the sucker out of her mouth with an audible pop. She glances down at my empty hands (that are also hiding a boner).

  “Guess I like...won the game,” she sasses with a flip of her red hair.

  I pick my jaw up off the floor. “Uh, yeah. What the hell was that?”

  She shrugs. “Pretty sure that was me kicking your ass at Invasion, cowboy.”

  “Yeah, no shit. It was just...surprising, that’s all,” I admit.

  She rolls her eyes. “Why, because I’m a girl?”

  “Well, kinda, yeah.”

  “I think you’ve learned a valuable lesson in sexism here today, Kane. Never underestimate the power of the vagina. ” With a mocking smile, she pats me on the shoulder.

  I press my lips together to keep from laughing. “Consider me schooled. Loser gets to pick the next game—unless you’re scared that is?”

  “You wish.” She smirks. “Lead the way.”

  I make my way to the side of the arcade where I’d caught a glimpse of my favorite game when I was looking for Scarlett. I stand beside the machine that flashes obnoxious neon lights and pours music from its speakers.

  She looks over at the machine and back to me incredulously. “Dance Dance Revolution? You aren’t serious.”

  I nod slowly with a toothy smile. “Oh, serious as a heart attack.”

  I step onto the metal platform and nod for her to join me. I’m introduced to a vulnerable side of her as she gives me an apprehensive look.

  “I’ve never played ‘cause I’m not very coordinated...” she admits.

  “It’s just for fun.” I hold out my hand to help her onto the small stage. “Trust me.”

  She crinkles her nose but accepts my hand, and steps up beside me. I explain the basic objective of the game and show her what to do when the arrows line up on the screen. She jumps around the platform, hopping from one arrow to the next with a giggle as she practices.

  With a smile, I select an easy but fun song for us to play to. The upbeat music starts up, and I tap each arrow with ease. As the music begins to pick up the pace, Scarlett’s giggles turn to grunts beside me. I hold back my laughter, knowing it will only make her feel self-conscious. Arrows fly faster across the screen, and I’m starting to work up a sweat.

  I can’t help but drag my eyes away from the screen when I hear a string of curse words from my right. Scarlett is yelping as she smashes on each arrow, arms flailing wildly at her sides. She’s hitting maybe one out of five at the right time; her score is abysmal, but the smile on her face tells me she’s still having the time of her life. My shoulders relax, and I turn back to my screen to keep playing.

  When the song is over, I see my final score and shoot finger guns at the screen. “Nailed it!” I brag as I bounce my shoulders and do a little dance. Stopping abruptly, I jerk around and remember all too late that I’m on a date. How embarrassing.

  By the look on her face, though, I worried for nothing. She’s looking up at me with something akin to awe. “Kane, you were amazing. My score is seriously pathetic, but you kicked ass!”

  My chest puffs out with pride. “Nah, it was nothing.”

  She laughs. “You’ve got to show me how you do that sometime. I just tripped all over my feet.” She blows out an excited breath. “God, it was really fun, though, thank you.”

  Sometime? Does that mean she’s already thinking about seeing me again?

  “You’re welcome. Where to next, loser?” I tease.

  Her eyes flick to the right as she thinks. “Not another shooter, don’t want to embarrass you again.” I grunt but let her continue. “Oh I know. Let’s race!”

  “I’m game, prepare to eat my dust, Freckles.”

  She waves me away. “Hush now, dancing queen, this way.” With a quick flip of her hair, she weaves through games again.

 
“That nickname better not stick,” I grumble, following at her heels.

  My lips twitch when she stops to straddle a plastic motorcycle. Her lower back peeks out from beneath her shirt as she stretches forward. Now that’s a view I could get used to.

  I hop up on the second bike and give her a pointed look. “It’s about to go down.”

  She flips me off with one hand as she puts quarters into the game with her other. The game does a countdown, and we take off on the raceway. For the first few loops, she’s hot on my heels, but I weave back and forth to prevent her from passing me. On the last loop, I feel my lips curve into a victory smile. The finish line comes into view on the screen and another bike suddenly bucks into mine. I spin out and into the dirt, and Scarlett shoots ahead to steal first place. She throws her hands up and wiggles on the plastic bike.

  “How exactly did that dust taste after all?” she asks in a phony sweet voice.

  I slide off the bike and move to her side. She squeals when I jerk the bike toward me and hold it there, her leg is pressed against me as her body balances to stay upright.

  “That was a dirty move,” I growl as I look up at her devilish face.

  She leans down until her face hovers in front of mine. “I have lots of dirty moves,” she purrs. I wet my lips as I search her hazel eyes. I look for something I won’t find, permission to ravish her right on this cheap bike. To hell with onlookers, this girl has me fucking heated.

  “Is that so?” I murmur. Sexual tension crackles between us.

  She runs a tongue across her bottom lip before biting it.

  Universe, give me the strength to control myself around this redheaded vixen.

  Wrapping my hands around her petite waist, I lift her off the bike and drag her down my body as I set her down. For just a half a second, I feel her press her body closer against mine before stepping away. I bite into my fist as she sashays away.

  Fuuuuuuck me.

  7

  Kane

  We navigate toward the section of the arcade that has games that give out tickets. Making it a competition as to who can win the most, we jump around on games, from Skee ball to Wheel of Fortune, and that weird machine where you try to knock off coins.

  Each time we pass the giant machine with stuffed animals and a giant claw, she eyeballs it but keeps her distance.

  “You waiting for it to ask you on a date, or do you want to give it a try?” I taunt when I catch her staring at it for the third time.

  She swipes at my arm. “Shut up. It has a cute little dragon in there, but it’s a total scam. Not going to waste any more money than I already have…” She glares at the machine like they’re age old enemies. I smother a laugh as I think about all the times she’s probably been thwarted by that claw.

  “C’mon, I know the trick to those types of games. I’ll win it for you.” There’s so much confidence in my voice that I almost believe the bullshit I’m spouting. The only trick up my sleeve is taking a shot and praying like hell I get lucky.

  In fact, if my life had a motto, that would be it.

  “That’s sweet, but you don’t have to. Honestly—no “chick trick” or anything, I don’t need the damn thing.” She glides over to the next arcade game.

  My eyebrow raises a notch as I watch...

  Not a chick trick? Does she think I’m stupid? Everything is a chick trick.

  Her eyes sparkle with amusement when I slide a hand around her waist and guide her to the game. I boast as we walk, “Look here, it’s a challenge to my dating skills at this point. The lady wants a dragon, and that’s what the lady’s going to get.”

  “Don’t get all medieval on me.” She groans.

  “Fear not, milady!” I stick a few dollars in the machine and begin to toggle the joystick.

  Eight dollars and zero dragons later, I let out a string of curse words. “Stupid, fucking, piece of trickery, bullshit ass hunk of—” I stop when there’s a strangled noise from my left.

  Whipping around, I find Scarlett poorly trying to hide her snort behind a cupped hand.

  My voice gets deadly low. “Are you laughing at me?”

  She shakes her head, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

  “You sure? ‘Cause it really looks like you might be laughing at me.”

  She shakes her head again and squishes her lips together. “Just waiting for your cool trick,” she grits out, unable to hold back the laughter any longer.

  I tap my foot and glower at the machine. It’s making a fool out of me, and I refuse to let it best me. Light glints off the metal claw as it slowly turns in place.

  It’s mocking me.

  “C’mon, you’re so close!” Scarlett eggs me on, and I know exactly what I need to do to secure the win.

  Looking in both directions, I make sure the coast is clear. When I place my hands on either side of the machine, I hear Scarlet’s worried voice in my ear. “Kane, what are you doing?”

  Ignoring her, I use all my strength to wobble the machine back and forth. Suddenly, a red light starts flashing and a piercing siren blares from the machine.

  Oh god, we made it angry.

  “Run!” Scarlet screeches as she clutches my arm.

  Grabbing her hand, we make a run for it. I almost knock a kid on his ass as I shove past him with a hiss, “Move punk!” I head to the back of the arcade where I first laid eyes on Scarlett. I duck my head between the curtains of the photo booth and find two scowling little girls posing for their picture.

  Shit.

  “Hi girls,” I say breathlessly, as my lungs struggle for air. “Do you think we could take pictures for a little while, pretty please?” They stare at me unblinking. The girl furthest away speaks up first.

  “We were here first.” She sticks out her tongue and crosses her arms.

  Her friend crinkles her nose. “Yeah, plus you’re uuuuugly.”

  Ouch.

  Damn, girls have gotten a lot meaner since I went to grade school. Scarlett pokes her head in beside me and gives a suspiciously sweet smile to the two brats.

  She points to the open bench beside them. “Sweetie pie, I think you’re sitting in pee.”

  As they flip to look at each other, there’s a click, and a flash of light brightens the booth. Shoving past us, the girls run out screaming. Scarlett chuckles evilly and slides inside after me. Out of breath from laughing and running, we sit side by side in the dark photo booth.

  “Think anybody saw us?” I whisper. I lean across her lap and peek my head outside the curtain nervously.

  “Who? You mean old man Winston?” She snickers. “I think we’re safe, he’s not as spry as he used to be.” There’s a small clink right outside the booth that startles me. “Down boy, don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the seventy-year-old owner,” she mocks as she reaches her hand out of the curtain and brings back a strip of pictures.

  She holds it out between us. In the girls’ first three pictures, they’re smiling and making silly faces—the last one makes us burst into laughter all over again. They’re staring at each other, jaw dropped, eyes wide, in raw horror from the thought of sitting in pee.

  Scarlett tears off the last picture and waves it in the air “Totally keeping this. Whenever I have a bad day, this will cheer me up instantly.” She sticks it in her purse and turns to me. “So you want to?”

  “To…?”

  “Take pictures?”

  “We’re fugitives in hiding,” I scoff. “Of course I want to take pictures.”

  She grins and rummages through her purse for her wallet. Once she’s put in the money, Scarlett scoots closer to me and starts barking orders.

  “Okay, we’re gonna do a cute one first—pretend you’re having fun rather than hiding out as a wanted arcade criminal.”

  “Don’t have to pretend,” I admit. She’s facing the camera, but I see the corner of her mouth lift into a smile.

  She glances over at me through her lashes. “You’re supposed to be looking at the camera, not m
e.”

  I slowly nod. “I know, but I really like this view.”

  There’s a small click and a flash of light.

  The tips of her ears turn red. “You’re quite the charmer, Kane...?”

  “Decker.”

  “Kane Decker.” She breathes as if my name is worthy of being on her sweet lips. “You should know, I’m not a normal date. Not a normal girl for that matter.”

  I nod again. “Think I figured that out when you whooped my ass on Invasion.”

  She laughs, and there’s another click followed by a flash of light.

  “I figure I should be up front now. I’m outspoken, a hardcore gamer, an eccentric artist, a twenty-sided die level nerd,” she explains, fingers twisting in her lap. “And I won’t apologize for me being me, not ever.”

  Another flash.

  She swallows, hardened eyes gazing into mine as she bares her truth. She’s nervous I won’t understand her interests or nerdy quirks.

  What she doesn’t realize is she just described my perfect girl.

  “That’s fine with me, but only if you understand I won’t apologize for this.” As the camera goes off for the last time, I reach up to brush my thumb across her cheek and press a soft kiss against her lips.

  I half expect her to jerk back. It’s our first date, and I’ve never been this forward in my life. But I have to know if she tastes as sweet as the candy she eats. I need to know if this chemistry goes both ways.

  She doesn’t push me away or slap me.

  She sinks into the kiss with a sigh, as if she’d been waiting her whole life for me. I kiss her deep, slow, something, I hope, she’ll remember with a smile when she looks back on our first date. I want my lips to say everything it’s too soon for words to say.

  She pulls away, buzzing with energy. With my hand still on her neck, I can feel that her pulse matches my erratic one. I have to tamper down the burst of adrenaline that floods through my veins.

  When I finally find my words, my voice is like gravel. “You ready for some crappy arcade pizza? ‘Cause my criminal behavior has left me starving, and I think I owe you dinner.”