AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was Elizabeth. Except I wanted more than little glimpses of sunshine from her. I wanted so much sun that I’d forget what the clouds looked like. I was greedy like that.
“The train was nice,” she finally admitted.
“Okay, I need to confess something.”
She perked up. We stopped by a row of bushes with little purple flowers blooming at random places. “Oh?”
“I know I told you I’m an expert at dates, planning, and overall seduction, but that train ride was for me. This next part is for you.”
Elizabeth looked like she was trying to be mad, but her eyes fell and she smiled at her shoes, then worked her lips to the side and glared. Except it wasn’t an entirely serious glare. “You mean you dragged me on that thing for your own enjoyment?”
I shrugged. “I thought there was a fifty-fifty chance you’d like it. But I can’t come here without riding the train. Sorry.”
“So what is your brilliant plan to seduce and charm me, then?”
“The penny arcade, of course.”
She stared. “Do I look like someone who plays arcade games?”
“You look like someone who needs to.”
“I’m going to choose to be offended by that.”
“Come on, we can walk there.”
Just at that moment, Elizabeth lost her footing and nearly fell. I snatched her hand and helped keep her upright. When she tried to take her hand back, I gripped her a little tighter and smirked. Her eyes met mine. I thought she was going to say something, but her cheeks just went red, and she let me keep holding it for the few minutes we had to walk to the arcade.
I put some bills into the ATM and got tons of quarters for us, then traded a few of my quarters in at the main desk for a few dimes and pennies for some of the older machines. The penny arcade was a semi-outdoor, semi-indoor sprawl of buildings just off the main strip of town. Each little room had dozens of games ranging from very old machines that let you tap buttons to make a puppet clown dance or shoot targets with air rifles all the way to modern dance games with neon lights and HD displays.
I walked us down the main strip past the hundreds of different little kid stationary rides they had outside. I watched Elizabeth as closely as I could to see where her eyes were drawn. She wasn’t paying any particular attention until we passed a room full of claw games. I noticed her do a double take and her pace slowed, so I yanked her hand and headed straight inside.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“These are stupid,” she said quietly.
“Nothing stupid about it. You give it money and it gives you entertainment. How is that different from paying to see a Broadway show or an opera? Does anybody call those stupid?”
“I’m pretty sure nobody in their right mind compares claw games to operas.”
“Then they aren’t seeing the big picture.” I handed her a quarter and gestured. “Show me what you got, Lizz.”
She snatched the quarter from me and went to the nearest machine. It was full of big plush stuffed animals. I was amused to see her move around the case before she even put the quarter in. She spent a solid two minutes examining the placement of all the animals, kneeling to get a better look, and then she eventually gave the whole machine a discreet little nudge with her thigh. It shook and one of the animals tumbled down to a different position.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Just watch.”
She produced a hair-tie from thin air as women sometimes did, put her hair into a ponytail, and then inserted the quarter. She got in an athletic stance over the controls, and started feathering the stick with tiny taps of her fingertips, leaning and bobbing her head to make sure it was moving exactly where she wanted.
“I didn’t realize I brought a professional claw machine operator here,” I said.
“Shut up,” she hissed.
She actually took a steadying breath like she needed to regain her focus, then gave the stick one last tap. The claw wobbled into place. She watched it sway from side to side, then hit the button at a seemingly precise moment. It dropped, got a perfect grip on the stuffed animal, and then slipped free before even lifting it an inch.
“Shit!” Elizabeth said, slapping the machine with both palms.
“Hey it was a—”
She stuck her hand out for another quarter.
I fished one out of my very full pocket and handed it to her.
Thirty minutes later, she was sweating lightly, hunched over the controls, and still trying to get the brown teddy bear she’d been trying to grab. My heavy pocket of quarters had grown lighter, and she hadn’t so much as considered walking to another machine.
I leaned against a nearby machine, watching it all with fascination. I alternated my focus on wondering what the hell she was doing to admiring her firm ass and the way it was mesmerizingly round. I spent some time wondering how far a quarter would bounce if I flicked it at that ass. Probably halfway across the room. Hell, it might even ping up into the ceiling and break some glass.
