That doesn’t help. So… what would… I do?
She’d make it yet another game. Warcraft wouldn’t work here. She needed to match the right mattress to the right people like a puzzle. She scanned the room again and grinned.
“Follow me,” she told the couple, her gaze fixed on the bed in the far corner.
It was the biggest, comfiest-looking bed on the floor and could easily fit four.
“Let’s start here, but this may take some time,” Elli told them as she faced the young couple, her hands clasped at her front. “Getting a bed is important. You’re going to spend at least eight hours in it per night.” She glanced at the sleeping child. “With precious items. This is vital.” She straightened her shoulders. “So hop on in. Just like you would if you were going to sleep. Try it out. All three of you have to be comfortable. Maybe even take a nap.”
The man intoned, “Excuse me?” His brows shot right up at the suggestion as he looked between Elli and his wife.
“Absolutely. How can you buy a bed when you don’t know how it’ll fit into your family?” Elli leaned in and caught sight of the sleeping child. “She?”
“He,” the woman corrected.
“Well, in five years he’ll be walking, talking, and going to school. No matter how old you get, your parents’ bed is the most comfortable. Makes you feel right at home and loved.” She patted the mattress. “Give it a go.”
With care, the mother climbed onto the bed. After a moment, she curled onto her side, her arms cradled around the baby. The woman sighed.
Elli broke into a grin. They both looked so peaceful. She swung her gaze to the father. He’d worn jeans, a black shirt with stains around the shoulder where their baby’s head had likely rested. He didn’t frown like Leonard, but his expression remained doubtful.
She gestured to the mother and baby. “Get in with them. Like you always do.”
“John,” the mother murmured. “You should really try this.”
A small smile broke out on the man’s face, making him look a bit sheepish. “We might be sleep-deprived.” His mop of brown hair fell across his face as he glanced at his wife.
After another second, he shrugged, then climbed into the bed. He stretched out and then reached for his wife’s hand.
Elli wandered over to the other beds as the small family settled in. She kept an eye on them, but let them lounge there, eyes closed, smiles on their faces. Thankfully Leonard stayed away. She got the feeling that, while lying on the beds was encouraged, napping probably wasn’t.
After about twenty minutes of wandering and trying to look busy, they finally woke up. “Miss?” The feminine voice reached out to her.
Elli swallowed before turning. A sale would be good. It could mean the difference between success and failure in this quest. The couple’s fingers were still tangled, and now the father looked a lot less grumpy than he had.
“Have you made your decision?” Elli remained a good two feet away from the edge of the mattress, both hands to her own fluttering stomach.
“We’ll take it.”
Pride swelled in her chest until she remembered what her boss had said. She was supposed to keep track of sales.
He hadn’t exactly walked her through the paperwork that needed to be filled out. He’d only showed her where to find it. But paperwork was predictable. She could barrel her way through it.
So Elli nodded at the couple. “Sold!”
TANEESHA
Taneesha shoved her hands into her thin hoodie’s pockets. “Is there a reason we have to go to…” She glanced up at the sign above the store. “… Dungeons and Die? Stanley’s is closer to my house.”
Bobby pushed the door open with his shoulder, causing a digital bell to ring. She had to tilt her head to meet his gaze when he faced her. The height difference only reminded her how much larger than life her younger brother was. Sure, they had the same angular face. They were almost the same shade of dark brown, and no one would mistake them for anything other than siblings. But she looked up to him, always, even though he was her “little” brother. He was the youngest and he did what he damn well pleased. She envied the hell out of that.
He grinned, indenting the dimple in his right cheek that had allowed him to get away with all kinds of shit when they were growing up. “Because our usual haunt smells like rancid nuts and mothballs. This one doesn’t.”
“Fair point.” Taneesha bumped her shoulder into her brother’s as she pushed her way through the glass doors and tried not to laugh. Like old bookstores, board game places had a distinct… fragrance. Cardboard and plastic weren’t so bad on their own, but they tended to keep the scent of the unwashed masses. Especially in enclosed places that didn’t have good air circulation.
“Still,” she said, “you have to admit Stanley’s is familiar and homey. And he gives us discounts because we’ve been going there for eons.”
“If familiar and homey means—what? What is it?”
Taneesha had stopped just inside the doors to take the place in. Dungeons and Die reminded her of movie-perfect record stores, except with games stacked neatly and displayed with care. There were gaming Easter eggs along the walls. A glass case with controllers lined up by generation hung to her left. Right next to it were dice. If she’d had to imagine and create the perfect game store, this would have been it. Popular… novice games were walled off right at the front on a shelf. The deeper one went into the store, the games increased in difficulty and geek cred level of addiction. It was perfect.
“Nothing,” she said, warmed and surprised by the setup. “I just wasn’t expecting something this nice.” Like most geeks, she liked what she liked and had fought hard to find her tribe so she didn’t have to be a square peg in a round hole.
Bobby rocked back on his heels then rolled his shoulders. His shirt stretched across his chest. It read, “Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?” above an image of one of the kids from Stranger Things, Dustin. Her brother had gained weight and had made an attempt to turn it into muscle. He was halfway there. “Your expression tells me you approve.”
She looked around the store again. They weren’t the only chocolate drops in the room, which she couldn’t say about Stanley’s. She had to stop herself from twirling around in the aisles.
“I’m going to reserve judgment for now,” she said in a flat tone.
He snorted, and rammed his shoulder into her as he passed. Payback: the little brother edition. Yeah. A day with Bobby was exactly what she had needed to shake off the stress of work.
“Asswipe,” she muttered, gravitating toward the back wall.
This, too, was a change from their regular store. The owner had laid out a “New and Recommended” display. That could make or break the store. Had they decided to follow trends without substance? Or did they keep their regulars in mind?
Before she could appreciate the offerings, she caught sight of another display: “New and Pays the Bills.” It consisted of the current it games, which changed every season—three stacks of each—but she found herself laughing.
“See,” Bobby said, watching her. “You like the place.”
His eyes glinted with triumph. Her brother was a braggart on the best of days, insufferable on the worst.
“Horrible marketing.” She lifted her chin and tried to fight a smile. “The owner is shaming anyone who picks these games, don’t you think? Like saying these are the games for noobs who only buy what’s popular.”
“Board game people are a different breed. We get the joke.”
She could agree there. “What are we getting? I’m feeling perverse.” She gestured to the pays-the-bills rack. “Let’s buy one of these.”
“You shame me. You shame the whole family. Stand here and think about what you’ve done.”
“I do not shame the family. You know I’m the favorite child. Except for that one time Mom asked me why I was letting my hair go natural and I told her because I said so.”
Like the bu
tthead he was, Bobby flicked at one of her curls. It was the weekend, and that meant her wash-n-go routine. And that meant her hair looked liked Tracee Ellis Ross’s.
“Don’t touch my hair. You might piss it off. You don’t want to see her when she’s angry.”
He tsked and picked up a game from the keep-the-lights-on rack. “For the record, Jamal is the favorite and we both know it.”
“Because he’s the middle child. They wanted to make sure he got attention.”
Bobby shook his head, a touch dramatic. “So petty. I’m so proud.” He glanced over his shoulder. “All that said, what’s going on with work?”
And the other shoe drops.
She called her brother all the time, and they traded war stories, of sorts. Shot the shit, mostly. Depending on the week, work would be a huge topic. She purposely kept everything surface level, because things had been hashed and rehashed with Michelle then Aditi then Christina then Elli, via text if not on the Slack channel. They all had their brand of advice and a “that sucks.” Though Michelle had a bullet point plan at the ready if asked.
Thinking about the way her bosses and colleagues had brushed her off reminded her she should feel lucky to be employed. That pissed her off. She couldn’t keep bathing in the injustice of it all or she’d blow her top. The last thing she needed was to go from forgettable to invisible to Angry Black Woman at her job. No one would care, much less consider the fact she had valid complaints. They could barely believe she knew how to write code.
No matter how understanding Bobby was, she needed to forget just to survive from one work moment to the next with her sanity intact.
“It’s good,” she lied without blinking.
“Uh-huh. So what you’re saying is you need a distraction? A force of good in your life?”
Her brother was aware of her work problems, probably more than the average Joe, but he still believed in fixing things—all the things. It was in his wiring. More than once, he’d encouraged her to start her own company. Or move to Germany or someplace—anywhere that embraced her as both a black woman and a coder. Taneesha hated to be cynical, but she doubted that utopia existed just yet.
“I thought that was the general understanding when I called you,” she said. “That’s also why we’re going to blow a Saturday afternoon buying and then playing a whole bunch of games. When will I be done teaching you the ways of life, grasshopper?”
“Uh-huh.” He handed her a couple of boxes he’d picked up while they were talking. “Go buy these. If I find anything else good, I’ll bring them over.”
She arched a brow, because Bobby and accommodating were two words she wouldn’t usually put into a sentence together. The two siblings got along because they could both be stubborn, asinine for laughs, and sarcastic.
“Put your credit card on the top box. You’re paying.”
He didn’t put up much of a protest. Her suspicions grew. Separating Bobby from his money was like trying to convince a Winchester not to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. In short, it involved an ugly fight. Something was going on, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Taneesha braced herself as she made her way to the counter. As they had shopped, people had left with their wares. There was no line. No one manning the counter. She dropped the purchases down and with forced cheer, and maybe too much strength, slapped the bell.
“Bobby, you jackass. I told you not to hit the bell like that.”
The owner of that voice came out of the back room. His mouth formed an O shape when their gazes locked. Her brows went up, because she was struck by how… cute he was. The Texas sun had kissed his skin to a dark golden shade. His bottom lip was nice and full. She blinked and shook her head to chase away the thoughts.
“Not Bobby.” He smiled and her hormones gave her a nice little gut twist. “You’re not Bobby.”
Her heart did a flip and she had to tell herself he probably gave everyone that same crooked smile. Really, she had to stop reading Aditi’s fantasy and erotic romance recommendations if this was how she reacted to a cute smile.
“I’m not Bobby,” Taneesha said, “but there was that one summer when he had moobs. Puberty, it’s a hell of a thing. Other than that we don’t look alike.”
Of course, Bobby had to interject from across the room, “That’s because you’re adopted. Mom and Dad didn’t want to tell you. Hey, Diego.”
Diego chuckled. “I see the resemblance. The humor, I mean.”
He leaned against the counter. “You’re the sister who works at Maniac Games?”
Hell. Could she not escape the questions about work? “Actually, it’s Starwisp now.”
“I heard about the acquisition, but I wasn’t sure when it was going through.”
“Oh, it’s a done deal.” And I’ll likely end up putting paper clips on stacks of documents instead of coding.
He tilted his head. “Will they still keep Galactic Assassin going?”
“It’s one of the reasons they were interested in buying Maniac.” She tried to smile pleasantly but it felt like she was only baring her teeth. “Where they take it from here… I can’t say.” Because they’ve practically locked me out.
“I got the update about the upcoming expansion. All the fanboys—”
“Fanboys?” Deep internal sigh.
He tilted his head to the right. “… And fangirls were flailing about it. But, man, they gouge you with the monthly subscriptions.”
If she had a dime every time someone told her that… “Good to know.”
He tilted his head to the left now and squinted at her. “Am I doing that awkward conversation thing? Where I’m digging myself deeper into a conversation you don’t want to have?”
The honesty was so unexpected that she had to laugh. “A little.”
“Alrighty, then.” He pulled the boxes closer. “Do you have any questions about these games? Some of my customers have written up walkthroughs and other minutiae about them. I keep a list of websites where you can find them.”
“And you hand them out?”
He shrugged. “To people who want them. It started off as a general curiosity.”
“What do you mean?”
“The mathematics behind board games.”
“A lot rely on probability.”
“Exactly. I wanted to get better so I asked some designers and then customers to help explain it.”
“And then what?”
“I learned about math. One day I’m going to apologize to my algebra teacher. I told him I would never actually use it once I became an adult.”
She shook her head. “And I fangirled for my math teachers.”
“You must be a really good gamer.”
She blinked, surprised. “Yeah. I’m good.” She braced herself for some backhanded compliment, like she’d have gotten from the brogrammers.
“Then you might find some of the equations they used of great interest.”
Her shoulders climbed down from her ears. “Sure, I’ll take a copy of the site list. Never know what you can learn.” She glanced at her brother. He seemed a bit too interested in the wall.
She brought her attention back to Diego and pursed her lips. Fate hadn’t brought her to a store where the clientele was diverse, the games more than decent, and the owner cute and not a dick. Her conniving brother had.
She couldn’t exactly call her conversation with Diego flirtatious, but now it clearly struck her as… a setup. The rest of the world didn’t see her, but her brother did. He’d be exactly the person to push her out of her protective shell.
Diego disappeared through the office door to get the printouts for her. Bobby literally had his hands behind his back as he whistled. He was fooling nobody. Diego might not be in on the setup, but her brother was up to his neck in this contrived meeting.
“Bobby?”
“Huh?” The universal question from a lying-ass liar.
She crossed her arms and rested her hip against the counter. “W
hat’s the deal here?”
“Huh?”
Exasperated, she said, “Bobby.”
He scratched at the back of his neck. “I may have talked about you a few times.”
A few times could mean a several hundred. “Why?”
“I’ve gotten to know Diego.”
She put a finger to her eyebrow and hoped that would keep the twitch to a minimum. “And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”
“Did Mom just come out of your mouth?”
Taneesha put her hands on her hips and glared.
He glared back. “I was standing here this whole time. You were drooling.”
She whipped her gaze to the office door and released a pent-up breath when she didn’t see Diego. “What are you talking about?”
Bobby mouth flattened in a grimace. “You like games. He likes games. He’s nothing like the numbnuts you sometimes bring home.”
“Get out of my love life.”
He put a hand to his chest. “You have one?”
“You won’t have any life soon.”
He grinned and whispered, “I’m just trying to make the obvious love connection. He’s a good guy.”
She knew a lot of good guys. Most of her co-workers would call themselves exactly that, even after making harmless jokes about women being more attractive when they didn’t speak. “I don’t have t—”
“Make the time,” he finished before she could. “Give someone a damn chance before you veto the idea of him.”
Taneesha bristled. “So now I—”
“I’m not one of the dicks you work with. I know what you want. You want what our parents have—a family. But I get it. It’s tough to date. Tougher to find someone you can talk shop with without getting a bunch of ‘my dick is bigger and I’m smarter ’cause I’m a man.’”
“What makes Diego a good guy? I hate that term. It’s a rose with all the thorns.”
“Whatever I tell you won’t matter. See for yourself.”
Geek Actually Season 1 Omnibus Page 10
