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A look of confusion crosses her face. “Skee-ball?”
“Or air hockey. Though air hockey doesn’t get you the big fluffy bear like skee-ball does.”
Her confusion deepens. “What are you talking about?”
I told her I was going to do something I’ve never done with any other date. “I’m taking you to the biggest arcade in New York City. Somewhere I’ve always wanted to go but haven’t ever made time for.”
She blinks. The surprise is impossible to miss. “An arcade? Like for teenagers in the 80s?”
I chuckle as I weave through traffic and get onto the freeway toward Brooklyn. “Yes. Except it’s for adults, and it’s basically the opposite of the fashion show I could bring you to.”
For a moment, she looks at me like she doesn’t approve, and just like when I told her to take off her underwear, she shrugs. “Okay. Take me to nerd heaven, Emery.”
Chapter 22
Madison
The Game Factory is not the little hole in the wall arcade in the mall that I’d imagined. No, it’s an experience, and the warehouse-sized building is more than a little daunting.
When we walk inside, I realize that we’re both overdressed, and I’m showing far more skin than anyone else here, but Emery doesn’t seem to care. I try to ignore the fact that if I bent over, everyone would get more than a glimpse under my skirt.
There’s an excitement in him I haven’t seen before. I’m reminded of the fact that Peter Pan might be his Beauty and the Beast. Maybe there’s a child hidden deep inside him that’s desperate to do things like spend an evening playing 80s video games.
There are arcade games everywhere. Adults of all ages laugh and drink around us in this business built on nostalgia. I never really played video games as a kid since I was too busy practicing for pageants or reading, but I can understand why people were drawn to them. They’re all just another escape, no different from the worlds I traveled to between the pages. Emery takes us to the bar first, where he buys us both a beer and gets a handful of tokens to use on the machines.
Grinning, he passes all the machines and leads me to the back wall where there are dozens of skee-ball machines, many of them already in use. “Let’s play a game, Madison,” he says.
“That’s what you do at arcades,” I respond instantly, but I know he’s suggesting something else.
“I mean, let’s make this more interesting. Whoever gets the high score gets to ask the other person any question, and they have to answer truthfully.”
How bad could it be? “Okay. But remember that if I win, you have to answer truthfully, too. Even if you’d normally lie about it.”
Emery nods. “Cross my heart.” He puts three coins into my machine and then hits the button, letting the balls loose. I take a breath and pick up the first ball as Emery starts his machine. It’s hard not to flash anyone in the process.
I’ve only played this game a handful of times as a kid, so I just try to hit the fifty-point hole in the center. It’s simple enough, and even if I’m not very good, it’s still fun. I manage to get one in while the rest fall to the ten-point hole at the very bottom.
I glance over at Emery as he sinks another ball into the fifty point hole. And another. And another. What the…
“How are you this good?”
Emery smirks at me as he sinks the fourth in a row in the fifty-point hole. “I have a skee-ball machine at my house.”
“That’s not fair! You knew you were going to win.”
He misses the last ball he throws, and it falls to the ten-point hole. “I didn’tknow, but I might have been more than a little confident. I mean, you could have had one of them in your apartment, too. They’re not expensive.”
“You’ve seen my apartment. It’s literally three rooms. Where would I hide a skee ball machine?”
Emery bends down and collects his stack of tickets and then collects my two. “I guess that’s true. Oh well, a deal’s a deal.” The way he says it like he didn’t just cheat has me gritting my teeth. Then he asks his question, and it wipes away the frustration, replacing it with embarrassment.
“Now you get to answer a question. What’s the dirtiest fantasy you’ve ever had?”
The blood races to my cheeks as I realize why he made me take off my thong. He’s going to turn tonight into some kind of twisted, teasing-filled game night.
Just like last night, my instinct is to push him away. I shouldn’t want to go down this rabbit hole with him, but the very moment the thought enters my mind, I feel the familiar throbbing. For some reason, the thought of baring my fantasies to him turns me on.
I bite my lip as he stares me down with that smirk on his face. The one that knows just how much power he has over me. He steps closer to me, and his hand goes to my waist, his thumb slipping under my top as he holds me tight.
