AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kiki flopped into the bean bag, its sides ballooning around her. She giggled with glee and settled deeper into the folds.
“Red.”
“Gotcha.”
I pulled out a bottle of the finest merlot I had, not because I was trying to impress her, but because it was the first time I felt like I had a special occasion to drink it on.
Next, I moved to the pantry, which was built into concealed panels in the wall.
“And what kind of snacks do you like?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shrug. “Whatever you’ve got, I’m not picky.”
“Er, there’s kind of a large selection. You can look, if you’d rather.”
“I’m super trapped by this beanbag, just bring whatever looks best,” Kiki said off-handedly. “I trust you.”
I trust you. Had lovelier words ever been spoken?
I grabbed as much as my arms would carry — Pringles and Red Vines and popcorn and Good & Plentys, on and on and on.
With bursting hands, I waddled back over to Kiki and placed the treasure trove in her lap.
She gazed down in surprise.
“Wow. You were serious.”
“Yeah, this is a real snack-friendly household.”
She snorted, and began sifting through the snacks as I pulled a table in front of her bean bag and threw a pillow onto the floor opposite her.
“What should we play?” she asked. “You’ve got options?”
“Oh sweet, naïve Kiki. Do you see how many snacks I just grabbed? You already know I’ve got tons of games.”
“Good point. In that case… any chance you have Monopoly?”
I beamed. “You know I do.”
I jogged to the other wall, tugging it open and scanning the racks of games, at last locating Monopoly.
Removing it from the cabinet, I ripped the plastic off the box and carried it back to our little settlement.
“Here we are,” I said with a flourish. “As you command.”
She leaned forward eagerly — well, as much as she could, so deep in the bean bag — and caught my eyes.
“You know I’m gonna murder you in this game, right?” she asked so casually it took me aback.
“I’m pretty competitive.”
“Well, that makes two.”
Oh, this was gonna be fun.
As she bit into some chips, I set up the board and distributed our money, remembering the starter amounts even these many years later, and we agreed on the usual house rules. In no time, we were ready to play.
“Okay,” Kiki said, rubbing her hands together. “Game on.”
We each grabbed a die to see who’d go first and the game was off.
Turns out, Kiki was as good as she said. Within only about twenty minutes, she was whooping my ass.
“Damn,” I wailed. “I thought I was supposed to be the businessman here.”
She snickered, garnering a railroad as she did so. “You thought wrong, my sweet, naïve pal. I’m just not an official one yet.”
“What do you mean?”
Kiki’s pale cheeks turned pink. “Oh, well, um… I have this fantasy. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
“As embarrassing as a passion for board games?”
She smiled. “That’s true. Um, yeah, so eventually, if I can save up enough money, I want to move to Washington and open up a general store, or some kind of small business, and just serve the community and make enough to relax at the end of the day.”
“Why Washington?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“It’s stupid.”
“You don’t have to put down your dreams,” I gently contradicted her. “Not with me.”
“I guess it’s because Washington seems quiet. Like, peaceful. I don’t know. Maybe I just saw it in a magazine once.” A blush broke over her cheeks.
I shook my head. “No. I mean, you’re right. It is. I’ve been to Seattle before. There’s a big city, sure, but then past that, it’s a bunch of forest and beautiful trails. I loved it, actually.”
“Really?” Her eyes shone with hope.
“Of course. I went there a couple of times. Maybe I can take you, someday.”
At this, she turned her head back to the board. Shit, had I gotten too comfortable and said too much?
Kiki cleared her throat, changing the topic. “What about you, Tate? What do you wanna do, if you don’t love the Vegas life?”
I thought about it, about if I should tell the truth or not. What would she think? I realized that her opinion of me mattered more than just about anything else I could dream up.
I decided on the truth.
“If I had my druthers, I’d move out to Silicon Valley and do tech. Either start my own company, or be a major investor. Not in dumb shit like game apps or useless social media, but stuff that really made a difference. Hell, I wouldn’t even care if I turned a profit. God knows I’m set on money. I just want to make the future brighter, and I think innovation is the way to do that.”
Kiki inhaled. “Wow, that’s kind of amazing.”
“Nah, it’s nothing,” I replied, chewing on the inside of my cheek and trying to seem casual, given her compliment.
