Game Changer Read online

  Parking in a visitor’s spot, I pulled the visor mirror down and checked my makeup. I wasn’t one who needed things to be perfect, but the chance to stall a little and calm my erratic heartbeat was something I needed to do.

  Why I was nervous was beyond me. It wasn’t like this would be our first time, and I always felt comfortable with him. But the risk that he would turn me away was something I feared. So the nerves never subsided as I pulled up to his condo, pizza and beer in hand.

  The doorman was expecting me and allowed me to go right up, punching a code into the elevator keypad so I could go all the way up to the penthouse. Damn, this place was swanky. I mean, I remembered it being upscale when I was here for the party, but I thought that was just something he did for that night.

  My nerves didn’t seem to lessen any as I stared at my reflection in the elevator doors, my arms shaking with the weight of the pizza and six-pack—not because they were heavy, but because I was anxious as fuck. I could only hope I was doing the right thing.

  The ping of the elevator signaling my arrival made me jump just before the doors slid open. Be brave. Be brave and have fun, I repeated to myself and held my breath as the panels slid aside, revealing his private foyer and double-entry doors, which were standing ajar, obviously waiting for me to come in.

  Nearly walking on my tiptoes, I eased my way through the doors and looked around. The place was much bigger than I remembered—way too big for a bachelor.

  “Liam?” I called out, setting the pizza and beer on the large bar in his kitchen area.

  “Oh, hey.” The sound of his voice and the surprise of his head popping up from the couch had a high-pitched screech bellowing from my throat before I could control myself.

  “Mother of fuck, Liam!” I said with an attempt to catch my breath. I was thankful I’d set the food down already, or it would’ve likely become a floor decoration. “You really have a bad habit of sneaking up on people.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t hear the elevator chime. Was just killing time playing Mario Kart,” he said, holding up a red DS and snapping it shut as he rose from the couch. “You brought beer too? Score.”

  “Yeah. Hope Yuengling is cool,” I said with a shrug. I really didn’t know why, but I was feeling awfully self-conscious. It wasn’t like me to feel like I wasn’t being myself.

  “For sure. So glad you didn’t bring one of those girly light beers. It’s like drinking piss water.” The shriveled-nose look he gave me was cute.

  “And you’d know what that tastes like?” I joked. He ignored my comment and made a show of pulling some paper plates and napkins down from a cabinet, plopping them on the top of the pizza box.

  Scooping it all up, he gestured with his head toward the balcony and said, “It’s a beautiful night to eat out on the terrace. You game?”

  “You know I’m always game,” I said with a nod, picking up the six-pack and following him out.

  Man, he wasn’t kidding. The view up here was just as breathtaking as I remembered it being nearly two years ago. The lights of downtown Tampa shimmered beneath us while a light breeze tousled small strands of my hair about my face.

  Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath of fresh air, allowing the warm wind to engulf my senses. Upon opening them, I found Liam slowly approaching me, a look of caution evident on his face.

  I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me, but the smile on my face suddenly felt permanent. I felt happy, content, for the first time in so long. It was just the two of us on top of the world right now, and it felt so right—so perfect.

  Setting the beer down on a nearby table, I contemplated whether to kiss him or not. Yeah, we’d kissed several times before, but now I was bound and determined to make the man remember me. I just had to embrace the challenge—balls to the walls—and make it happen.

  Grabbing his Doctor Who shirt, making sure not to damage its beauty, I brought him close to me. Our lips nearly touching caused a flicker of warmth to run through me. I ached for him.

  “Liam,” I whispered.

  “Maci,” he responded back with a half smile.

  “The pizza’s getting cold,” I said in a normal voice, lightly pushing at his chest and reaching for a bottle of beer.

  “You’re evil,” he joked, laughing and accepting the now-open bottle of booze. Taking a swig, he shook his head and added, “So, so evil.”

  Our playful banter had the little flutters going wild in my stomach. Just his grin did that to me. When I first officially met the man, he was so cocky and entitled—missing the whole geeky nature I loved about men. But once I got to know him, the more I realized I had just pegged him wrong… all wrong.

  I liked that he chose to be the Phantom for the New Year’s masque.

  I liked that he wore geeky t-shirts to work and everywhere in between.

  I liked that he read Sci-Fi.

  I liked that he killed time by playing Mario games.

  I liked that he didn’t flaunt his money, though the apartment was a tad highbrow.

  And most of all, I liked how I felt when I was around him.

  The fizzing noise was loud in our quiet space in the clouds as I popped the top off my bottle of beer and nearly began to guzzle. I had to calm myself down somehow, and Yuengling always did the trick.

  We ate in silence, just enjoying the beautiful weather and view of the city. Everyone looked so busy, so rushed, as headlights and taillights sped through the streets like tiny little ants frantic to get to their destination. It felt so good to just sit for once and relax. No one relying on me. No one needing me to do something for them, get something for them, be something for them. I was just me. And he was just him. And we were just here—for now, anyway. Soon, I would complicate things by trying to get the numbskull to remember the special night we shared so long ago. And he would remember, or my name wasn’t Maci Layne.

  “Hey, Liam,” I said, breaking the silence. He looked over at me with a relaxed, serene look on his face. “How would you like to play a little game?”

  His eyebrow quirked up at the mention of playing me again, and I could almost see a bit of hesitation in his eyes. “Wouldn’t you rather talk? Wasn’t that the whole reason for this beer bribery anyway?”

  “Nah,” I said with a small wave of my hand. “This was just to get you to invite me up here so I can kick your ass in a little PvP action. Plus, we can talk while we play if you want. I know that makes me feel a bit more comfortable at least.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, sitting up and turning so he was facing me. “What’d you have in mind?”

  “I name the game, you name the stakes.”

  “Oh, we’re going to wager then?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair and hiding his blush. I figured this whole gambling ploy would be another way for him to remember that night. Was he actually blushing? “I’m not really sure of what to bet on?”

  “How about… us?” I said, pushing the hints as far as I dared to.

  “Us? What do you mean exactly?”

  Getting up from the chaise, I slowly made my way the few steps to him and stopped, forcing him to look up at me. Trying hard to make sure my voice didn’t shake, I asked, “What do you want, Liam?”

  Snaking his hands around me, he settled his palms on the small of my back and whispered, “You.”

  “Is that your wager?”

  “I’m not going to sleep with you over a bet, Maci,” he said more sternly this time. My heart dropped. He had no problem sleeping with The Black Cat over a bet. But when it was me… really me… he didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

  Attempting to deflect his refusal, I mustered up a weak joke. “It’s not like you have a chance of winning anyway, Mr. Allen. So you might as well stop being such a paragon. Try being a renegade for once.”

  With a sigh, he stood face to face with me—well, more like face to chest with his height. Pulling at my braid, he forced me to meet his eyes. “And if you win?”

  “If I win, you get to
buy me coffee for a whole month,” I said, more chipper than before to hopefully lighten the mood.

  A loud laugh thundered from his chest before he asked, “Is that it? Hell, I could buy you coffee for a whole year if you want.”

  “I just want a month,” I affirmed while wrapping my arms around his skinny waist and beaming up at him.

  “Very well,” he said, grabbing one of my hands and leading me into his game room. The place was huge, with a sixty-inch flat panel and surround sound. In the center were several plush, black couches that sat in a semi-circle all facing the large screen.

  Continuing to drag me along, he led me over to a huge wall of shelves filled with every game you could possibly imagine. My panties were creaming up at just the sight of it all, the memories coming back to me from when I was last here. I’d remembered he had a lot when I was here for the party, but things were dark and I was a tad drunk, so now I was able to really, truly take it all in and enjoy this man’s privileged life as a gamer.

  “Pick your poison,” he prompted, letting go of my hand so I could browse the titles. But I didn’t need to search for the one I wanted because I was certain he would have it.

  “I already know which game I want to play,” I said, turning my back on the wall of wonder and winking at the awkward, adorable man standing in front of me. “Seven.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Liam: Deadly Games

  My laugh could’ve been heard from fucking China, and I couldn’t help it one little bit.

  Wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes, I tried to figure out what her plan was. She had to have known why this was so comical to me. The stern look on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest told me she completely understood and didn’t think it was funny. “Maci, I know you’re aware that my company developed that game. I know Seven inside and out. Hell, I even know what little glitches and quirks it has. Are you purposefully trying to lose this bet?”

  “What makes you so sure I’m going to lose? You’d be surprised how big of a motivator free coffee is for me, Liam.” Dropping her arms, she took a few steps and approached me. Standing on her tippy toes, she traced a single finger over the stubble on my cheek as she whispered, “And I will win.”

  “You keep distracting me like that and you just might.”

  “Superpowers aside,” she said as she walked past me, patting me once on my ass and approaching the cabinet that held my controllers. “The sooner we start this, the sooner you will be calling me master.”

  Her confidence was probably the sexiest thing about her, and I suddenly felt the dire need to win this bet. Yeah, the angel on my right kept telling me how wrong it was to play this charade with her again, especially after the New Year’s party. But the devil on my left threatened to pummel the angel’s ass and told him to shut the hell up, cause getting some Maci love was just too good to pass up on.

  I was torn. I wanted her, so badly. But not because of a bet. Not again.

  Grabbing the game off my shelf, I brushed the devil aside and came to the conclusion that I would let her win.

  Without asking, she grabbed my controller, the only controller I ever use for this particular console, and tossed it in my direction. Considering it was separate from the slew of other controllers may have tipped her off, but I still couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made the connection that I was the one she challenged that fateful New Year’s Eve.

  One thing I loved about her gaming selection was the sound. This particular game had some really graphic sounds that were bitchin’ on the surround-sound system in this room. Made me thankful I didn’t have any immediate neighbors. The unit below me was used for storage.

  While I got everything turned on and set up, she walked to the far wall and dialed down the lights, allowing the glow of the flat screen to illuminate the room. If I thought she looked good in direct light, she looked even more phenomenal with the luminosity of my game gleaming in her eyes and reflecting off her radiant skin.

  I watched her every move as we sat next to each other in front of the screen, her eyes aglow with amazement. Yeah, I couldn’t help but be a tad proud of my setup in here.

  As soon as the sound of Seven’s intro chimed through the speakers, Maci elbowed me and said, “Get ready to have your balls handed to you.”

  “Hah. I’m not sure how to shit-talk with a girl,” I said as I waited for her to pick her sin.

  “You know how I feel about gender stereotyping. Just treat me like one of the guys.”

  I couldn’t help but notice this was a trend of hers—echoing comments she’d made in the past. She really didn’t like being treated differently for being a beautiful woman.

  “Yeah, not happening. I’m a total asshole to my guy friends.”

  “And you’re an asshole for picking lust too. You seriously want me to jump your bones, huh? Even in the game?” I couldn’t help but laugh at the conversation playing out. The game was based on the seven deadly sins, and she didn’t bat an eye when she chose sloth.

  “I love the power that the lust character holds. Lust is all about loss of control, so surrounding my opponent with chaotic winds, disorienting them from their true path in the game, is a pretty powerful weapon. What the hell do you plan to do with sloth anyway?”

  “Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” she said as our characters dropped onto different areas of the course. “What gave you the idea of building a game around the seven deadly sins anyway?”

  Running through a rundown neighborhood, I spotted my first checkpoint as I answered her question. “One of our developers was obsessed with The Devine Comedy. So, after about eight different sucky pitches, he finally came up with something gold.”

  Before she could respond, I watched her raise her gun to her head, and—

  “Fuck!” she cursed.

  “Wrath is around somewhere. Fight it, I’m right behind you.” Within seconds, I saw him. Wrath had the ability to manipulate the minds of other characters so they would eventually take their own life—the ultimate expression of hatred directed inwardly.

  Thankfully, he didn’t see me coming as I used him for target practice. I was just in time too. Maci’s character dropped her weapon.

  “Man, he snuck up on me. Thanks. But why not let him take me out? You would’ve won,” she asked as she picked her weapon back up and followed me into an abandoned church.

  “But what fun would that be if you succumbed minutes after starting and I wasn’t even the one to take you out?” I answered with a laugh.

  “It’ll suck for you when I win then. That was your only chance of survival.”

  “We’ve leveled up, but so have the other four,” I said while peeking around a corner. “There’s a hole down at the end of this corridor that leads to an underground area. C’mon.”

  Several minutes passed as we made our way through the belly of the underground city. Having her next to me, absorbed just as much as I was in one of my favorite games, made me realize just how much I wanted Maci—not just to fuck her again, though that was nice from what I recalled. No, I wanted nights like this to last forever. Relaxing in front of the console, playing games and talking shit. It was perfection to me.

  Suddenly, my character felt a little weak, and I noticed it was hard for me to take each additional step. There was Maci’s character, sloth, pointing at me.

  “Why are you pulling that shit on me? Thought we were going to try and defeat these fuckers together?”

  “Not you, numbnuts. Behind you,” she warned.

  With sluggish movements, I turned my character around to see gluttony. He stood, his limbs slack and his body nearly incapacitated. I may have been feeling the effects of sloth’s power, but gluttony was getting the brunt of it.

  Unable to lift my gun, I made my character take several steps back in the hopes my strength would increase the further I got away from the central point of her power.

  “You gonna shoot the fucker or just stand there looking pretty?” she ask
ed.

  “You’ve got me nearly paralyzed. Just give me a sec.” As soon as my character stood by hers, narrowly avoiding the path her powers were taking, I regained mobility in my arms and raised my gun. I cringed as soon as I shot the bastard, his fat splattering all over the walls of the short alleyway we stood in. “Damn, we sure as hell made this shit graphic,” I grumbled.

  Maci let out an audible sigh as we leveled up. “That was close. I almost didn’t see him.”

  “And yet, you saved me. Thought you said I wouldn’t survive.”

  “Guess I have a soft spot for the cocky geeks,” she said with a wink as our characters ran through a flooded section of the underground.

  “Cocky geek? You mean me?”

  Nodding, she poked her head into a saloon and directed me to follow. “When I first met you, you were a cocky son of a bitch wearing a gaming shirt. Hence your nickname.”

  “Heh. And now?” I asked, wondering if she still thought I was cocky.

  “Now what? You’re still a cocky geek, but definitely one I’m beginning to tolerate.”

  I could tell she was joking, but I still wondered why she found me to be cocky. Then again, I was more confident than any of my buddies when it came to talking to girls. Maybe she just assumed because I was wearing a gaming shirt that I would be a stereotypically insecure nerd?

  Two more sins were slaughtered over the next hour, leaving jealousy as the only one to defeat other than us. We hadn’t talked about anything of importance, and now I wondered if this whole game tactic was a way for her to avoid talking to me at all. It wasn’t like I needed to gab my heart out like a teenage girl or anything, but I really did want to know why she’d been so distant. I also wanted, no needed, to know if she knew who I really was.

  Surprisingly, jealousy was easy to take out—almost too easy. This game was built to be much more of a challenge than it was for us tonight. Then again, I’d never teamed up with anyone while playing Seven before. I bet none of the computer characters knew what to do with two sins attacking them simultaneously.