Read The Gamer's Girl :: Chapter 4

It's been ten minutes since Raegan signed off, and neither of us has heard a word from her.

I groan, looking over at Dustin who is hunched over his knees on the couch. "What did you do, man?"

He shrugs, shaking his head as he loads up his "find my friends" app on his iPhone. He stiffens immediately. "Dude," he scoffs.

"What? Where is she?" I ask, intrigued.

"Apparently she's here!" His voice rises an octave out of surprise.

Then there's a knock at the door.

"You've got to be shitting me," we both say, our eyes wide. We rise from the couch at the same time, looking at each other in amazement. Didn't think Raegan would actually have the balls to come over. I mean, I assume that's her at the door.

We stand there for a moment, gazing at each other in panic. Then, we both bolt to the door as fast as we can, eager to see who will greet her first. I slip by him, rubbing up against the wall. Surprisingly, I made it there first.

My apartment door swings open and to my utter disappointment, it's just my mother.

She stands at the foot of our humble abode, wiping her feet on the welcome mat. I take one glance behind me and see Dustin's blue eyes cast down in disappointment. A similar feeling washes over me and I scratch the back of my neck.

"Hey, Mom..."

My mom scrunches up her nose and takes a step in. "You didn't tell me you were having a guest over!"

"It's just Dustin?" I'm confused.

She sighs and takes a step in, with her, dragging a blonde curly haired girl with the ends dyed black. "Raegan! She had no idea which apartment was ours!"

I'm rewarded with a smack on the back of my head as my mom walks past me. Dustin and Raegan both laugh at my tustled brown hair. After I shut the door behind Raegan, the three of us stand awkwardly in the hallway.

"How'd you find us?" Dustin asks, eyebrows knit together.

Raegan laughs and holds up her phone. Onscreen is the Find My Friends app.

"Found out where you guys were, just didn't know which apartment until I met your mom." She twirls a long lock around her manicured nails as she speaks.

"Yeah, um, what exactly did you and my mom talk about on the way up?" I fidget against the wall in the hallway nervously.

My mom is prone to telling baby stories of me trying to dye my hair with various batters. It's naturally brown, but I always tried to turn it blond, black or red by dumping an entire bowl of cake batter on my head. My mom thought it was hilarious; she has dozens of pictures of when I got into the red velvet cake batter.

Needless to say, I looked like I stepped out of a horror movie. Dustin called me Carrie for weeks after he heard that story.

"Just about you and the rages you go into when you lose at Uno." She smirks, hazel eyes glistening with laughter.

I groan. It was one time!

Dustin laughs, leaning against the wall with his strong arms crossed against his chest. Man, he looks cool. I just look like a geek.

"You think that's bad?" Dustin taunts. "His mom told me about this one time when he-"

"Shut up!" I hit him with a swift kick to the ankle and he tumbles down to the floor.

"Ow!" He grunts, laying facedown in the middle of the hallway.

"That reminds me!" Raegan snaps her fingers as she crosses over and stands above him. "I told you to shut up earlier, and you didn't."

She straddles his back, sitting down on him. I look on in jealousy.

"So?"

From where I'm standing, I can see him smirking at the position they're in.

"So now you're gonna pay." The evil smile on her face seems to grow tenfold as she starts poking him in the sides.

Dustin buckles with laughter underneath her, shaking from her tickles as he attempts to flip over and stop her. All he does is succeed in hitting his elbow against the wall.

"S-s-stop!" He protests, but they're both giggling. I stand at the foot of the hallway, closest to the front door with my arms crossed against my chest. How'd she know he was ticklish?

"Say you're sorry!" Raegan persists tickling him and he finally shifts so much so that she's sitting exactly on his pelvis.

"Never!"

Jealousy heats up my face. They are in a very compromising position.

She switches tactics, pounding on his chest with her balled fists. "Say it!"

"Ow, Ray Ray!"

That makes her go even wilder, she begins tugging on his ear lobes, hard.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, Raegan!"

A slow smile spreads across her dark red lips. Her arms cross against her chest triumphantly, and she sits back on her haunches. "Apology accepted."

Once they are both back on their feet, a redfaced Dustin invites her into the living room for gaming. She agrees happily, casting a confident look at me. I nod at her and make my way through the hallway a couple moments after.

"I like her," my mom says from the kitchen table. She had a direct view of all the action.

I smile at her, shaking my head. I think I do too.

×××

After an hour of playing zombies on Call of Duty, we got bored and began taking turns on Grand Theft Auto V. It was currently Dustin's turn, who was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the couch. Raegan was taking up two cushions, sprawled out against the arm rest with her feet resting on my lap.

It was the first time a girl had ever rested her feet on my lap. She seems really confident and comfortable, which is honestly really surprising. The two girls I've gone out with were really timid and shy, definitely not ones to advance so carelessly.

I'm watching Dustin dick around as Franklin, throwing sticky detonators on passing cars while Raegan plays Plants vs. Zombies on her phone.

After four more explosions, Dustin is finally shot by the police.

WASTED!

"Okay, I'm officially bored." Dustin says, passing the controller back to me.

Raegan and I nod our agreement.

"Let's go get ice cream," Raegan says, brushing her hair out of her face with her long, charcoal glitter nails.

I shrug. "Sounds good," Dustin and I say in unison.

"I'll drive," Raegan says once we both get off the couch.

"I like a woman who takes charge." Dustin winks, already halfway down the hallway. He holds the door open for Raegan and I, then shuts it after we are all outside.

She leads us down to a fucking hot Mercedes Maybach S 650. It's shiny, and red, and so freaking sleek. I drool just looking at it.

Dustin and I stare at it in awe.

"This is yours?" I ask, afraid to touch it. Dustin, however, has no problem jumping into the passenger seat, running his hands over the sleek leather. rorwwrds with a slight push between my shoulder blades. Goosebumps tingle down my arms at her touch. Luckily, she doesn't notice.

I climb into the backseat at Raegan's prodding.

"Yup," she says, popping the p. "This baby is all mine."

Holy shit, I think I'm in love.

The engine starts up with a purr, and she chuckles when she sees our starstruck expressions. I don't think either of us have closed our dropped jaws.

"B-but, how?" I ask. Stores blur past us as we drive along the road. "You work at a burger joint!"

Now, I don't know as much about cars as I do video games, but I'm pretty sure this is a limited edition Mercedes. There's no way in hell that she could've afforded this off of minimum wage.

Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror.

"That, my friend, is a story for another day." She shuts a hazel eye in a wink before refocusing on the road.

"I think I'm in love with you." Dustin blurts out, still amazed by the car he's sitting in.

Ditto, man. Ditto.

We all laugh, joking about nonsense until she pulls into a Dairy Queen parking lot. I could hear her stomach grumble from the backseat. I look at the time on my phone and then at her, confused.

Raegan pats her stomach with a smile. I hold the door open for her and she thanks me with a pat on the shoulder. Dustin passes inside with a low whistle, checking out Raegan's firm butt. She turns around with a stony face and Dustin stammers out an apology.

Damn, she's got him whipped.

Raegan orders a chocolate dipped chocolate cone; I get an Oreo blizzard, and Dustin orders a banana split. Raegan and I sit down at the booth while he waits at the counter, flirting with the cashier.

I expect to see jealousy on Raegan's face, but instead she's just watching him with an amused look.

"He sucks at zombies," she comments, tilting her head to the side.

I take in her features; the lip ring and heavily pierced ears. High cheekbones and a button nose that accentuate her beautiful hazel eyes. She pulls her curled hair up into a ponytail, some renegade strands falling out and framing her face. I suck in a breath. God damn, she's gorgeous.

"Yeah," I agree. "He does." Part of me feels the urge to boost him up in her eyes, so I say, "He's killer at Gears of War, though."

She cocks an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I've seen him play the entire story mode on-"

"And what about you?" Her eyes pierce mine with genuine curiousity. "What game are you the best at?"

My jaw drops, ajar at her interest in me. I study her eyes for a moment until Dustin shows up with our frozen treats.

Both Dustin and I start shoveling our mouths with the sweet dessert, while Raegan pats off her lipstick with a napkin. Dark red stains the paper cloth, and when she's finally satisfied, she crumples it up in her fist.

Her pale pink lips are a little swollen from her swabbing at them so much, and they look delicious. Once she starts nibbling the top of her ice cream cone, things get awkward. Those puffy lips licking and nibbling are enough to make Dustin cross his legs.

Think of your grandma, think of your grandma. Ew, ew, ew. When has that ever worked?

Mom got a text from dad recently, I remember. And that's what gets rid of the excitement. It makes me angry enough to set my blizzard back on the table.

"So, uh," Dustin's voice is throaty. "What do you do besides work and gaming?"

Raegan's legs swing beneath her, the stool is too tall for them to reach the ground fully. Her face is blissful as she takes another lick of chocolate ice cream, and when she goes to make eye contact with either Dustin or me, we divert it.

She grins evilly. "I go to beauty school, actually."

Woah. Never would have expected that.

"I think you're trained well enough in that, sweetheart." Dustin says, winking.

She rolls her eyes and takes a bite of the cone. "What about you two fools?"

"We're seniors in high school," I tell her quickly. "How old are you?" My eyebrows knit together.

"Oh, wow." Those hazel eyes widen in surprise. "I'm twenty."

"College girl," Dustin smirks, meeting eyes with me. "Niiiiiice."

She rolls her eyes again. "How old are you?"

I can't tell if she's looking at me or Dustin, but we both answer regardless.

"Eighteen," we say in unison. Thank god it's the weekend, otherwise I don't know if we would have met her.

"Boo. Lame." She thumbs downs us with a playful smirk.

"Cougar," I joke.