AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glanced sideways at her, smiling, and swallowed it whole as she drank her own. We set our glasses down in unison and Ronnie snatched the four of them up. She wiped the bar and then set about pouring two glasses of tequila to replace them.
She let Maria take hers and then as I tipped mine back against my lips, she struck with her first question. “What are you doing here, Evie?”
I choked on the tequila and coughed. “Why wouldn’t I be here? Annie raised me.”
“You didn’t seem to care about that when you left. You were only worried about yourself back then,” she said, folding her arms over her chest.
It took everything I had not to groan again when I realized her outfit was near identical to my own. The only difference between them being she wore an old denim vest over her tee shirt.
“I’m here to pay my respects,” I said. “That’s all that matters.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “If you say so.”
“Ronnie,” Maria interrupted, clearing her throat. “When are we starting the service?”
My mother stared blankly at her. “In a few minutes. We’re just waiting for Adrian and the boys to finish their game in the corner.”
The mention of the Alpha’s name set my teeth on edge, and my hand tightened dangerously around my glass. “He’s playing pool? This is supposed to be a wake to honor Annie. She was one of the elders, and your new husband can’t even stop his game to pay his respects?”
“Easy,” Maria hissed. “You’ve been gone too long to talk like that.”
“You should listen to your friend. Maybe she’ll keep you out of trouble.” Ronnie laughed once without humor and started walking back down the bar to where Sloane stood chatting with someone I couldn’t see.
I forced myself to close my eyes and take a deep breath. If I wasn’t careful, someone was going to set me off and all hell would break loose. A raging wolf in the middle of a pack that despised her was nothing but a recipe for chaos.
“Why don’t we go blow off some steam on the other side of the building. Walk around the old arcade games, and then come back for the service?” Maria offered. “How’s that sound?”
“Better than sitting here getting stared at.” I sighed, slipping off my stool.
“Good.” she hopped off with me and looped her arm through mine again, towing me back toward the door I’d entered through.
Instead of going outside, she turned us abruptly to the right at the end of the bar and slid open the sliding glass door with one hand, gesturing for me to step through ahead of her.
I did, and as she shut the door behind us, we were plunged into a muted silence, bathed in the haze of the dim pink, blue and green neon lights lining the walls. Safely tucked away in The Neon Arcade.
Some of the games were still lit up, resting on their timers, but most things were dark. Waiting for the next morning when the local kids would come traipsing through the door to spend their allowance, or whatever changed they’d stolen from their mother’s purse. The Neon catered to all types.
“Do you remember spending our summers here? Flirting with the guys, threatening the little kids who tried to beat our high scores?” Maria chuckled.
“MCR and EVC always and forever.” I laughed. “Ronnie lost her shit when we carved that into the side of the Miss Pac-Man game. I wonder if it’s still there.”
Maria smiled and turned on her heel. “Let’s find out.”
Trailing her down the first aisle of games, I could almost hear the echoes of our laughter, and smell the stale syrup from our sodas. The Neon arcade was our kingdom, our world.
Pausing at the next aisle Maria crouched in front of the Ms. Pac-Man machine and slid it just enough out of place to reveal the side panel.
“Do you have your phone?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah.” I fished it out of my back pocket, and clicked on the flashlight, shining it over her shoulder.
“Look!” She cheered, tapping the side panel. “It’s still here.”
“I’m surprised. I thought Ronnie would’ve erased all signs of my existence the moment I left town. She was so happy I chose to leave.”
“Youchoseto leave?” chuckled a deep voice from the shadows.
I jumped turning my flashlight in his direction and every thought inside my head came to a screeching halt.
