20. Ass Kickers 3 – Mar
CHAPTER 20
ASS KICKERS 3
MAR
Today is the day. My first official eSports event. When I was younger and I saw commercials for eSports it never clicked that it was referring to online gaming.
Mom and Dad have checked in with me once since they’ve been gone, but only to tell me they decided to extend their trip by a week so that they could spend time at a beach house without me.
I would complain that they are having fun while I’m stuck in boring River Falls, but since Sihn has entered my life, River Falls hasn’t been so boring. I had thought that I would invite Sihn over so we could make out on the couch and then bang on my childhood bed, but our hookups have taken place at his house.
I get a weird euphoria just being in Sihn’s presence. Like, we could just hang out being still and silent for hours and I would be content. I think he would too, but we’re also in a honeymoon phase of our relationship and can’t seem to keep our hands off each other.
His hands find me more often than mine find him. I think he shows his love by touch and I show my love by…well, I’m not sure how I show my love. Do I love him? No, I don’t. I can’t. We’re just having fun. Fuck, what is happening here?
While I’m freaking out internally about it, I call Verdi. The phone rings and goes to voicemail. She’s probably busy at the shop. I contemplate hanging up and calling the cafe, but when it clicks for voicemail, I begin talking, “Hey, it’s me. Um…I’m currently freaking out because I think I’m falling for Sihn and we have a sort of date tonight and I am unsure how to act around him now.”
How do I act around him?
Do I tell him about my feelings for him or just leave it…?
I shake the nerves as best I can and crank up my ‘shower’ playlist, which is my ‘get up’ playlist and my ‘get ready’ playlist, and finish getting dolled up for this guy I like. I begin curling my curly hair. My natural curls are unruly and I want my hair to look nice tonight. My bald spot is becoming less and less noticeable now that I pin my hair on that side.
As I curl my hair, a text from Sihn comes through on my phone.
Sihn: I’ll be by around 7, okay?
I release the hair I have sectioned and text him back.
Me: Sounds good. Now leave me alone. I’m trying to get ready to see this guy I like later.
Three curls later, a reply from Sihn comes through.
Sihn: I heard he really likes you, too. It’s a rumor that’s been going around.
I smile from ear to ear.
Promptly at seven, there is a knock at the door. I’ve been pacing the floor of the hallway for the last nine minutes. I’m nervous as shit. I’m going as his date tonight. Not just his friend, but his date . We’ve not given this a name, mostly because of me, but I feel like going out in public together is a step forward.
My hand grasps the door knob and I open the door. Sihn stands before me wearing a black trench coat and his all black wrestling shoes. I thought he’d be dressed up, like me.
“Why are you dressed up like an exhibitionist?”
“Hold on, I’ll answer that, but Amarynth you’re a dream come true. The way your curls fall down your chest, your legs, those shoes… You look absolutely stunning.”
“Well, thank you, Sihn. Now tell me why you aren’t as dressed up as I am…”
“I thought I told you. I’m going to the event as The Sihnner, to drum up some excitement for my pay-per-view fight coming up in a few weeks.”
“I feel overdressed.”
“Stop it, you’re not.” He encapsulates me in his arms, sniffs my hair, and says, “If we didn’t have to be there soon, I’d take you inside here and fuck you on those steps.”
He’s referring to the foyer steps. “How long do we have to stay?” I ask. I am regretting the fact that I never asked before. I am not a late-night-out kind of girl. I shut and lock the door before slipping my keys inside the small shoulder bag I’m bringing that has a tube of ChapStick, my ID, credit card, and now my keys.
“We should probably stay and watch Ruin play. I think his match is at ten or eleven.”
He places a hand on the small of my back as we walk down the steps and head to his car.
It takes us forty-five minutes to get to the event a few towns over. The place is packed with men. There are very few women at all. They’re all wearing T-shirts that have images of video games, characters, and gamer sayings I’d never understand.
Sihn parks and insists I wait for him to open my door. I wonder how long he’ll wear his trench coat, but don’t have to wonder long because after he takes my hand and I’m out of the car, he removes his coat and tosses it in the seat I was just in.
He stands beside me wearing only his tight-fitting black wrestling trunks that are so small they look more like briefs than trunks. His skin has almost a glow to it. “Are you wearing shimmer lotion?” I ask as he leads me toward a line of people waiting to get into the event.
He laughs. “It’s oil. Do you like it?” He does a shimmy shake as his pecs move up and down.
“If I said I didn’t, would that upset you?”
“No.”
Instead of us getting in the back of the line like is common courtesy, Sihn grabs my hand and we head for the front. We walk past the men and the two women who have shown up in their favorite gear. I even hear one of them whisper, “I think that’s The Sihnner from POW!”
I smile and look up at this big teddy bear of a man beside me. Of course, he could break me into pieces, but I know I’m safe with Sihn.
At the front of the line, a man is standing with a clipboard. I figure Sihn will give his name and the guy will double-check, but instead, the man gestures for us to go on in.
There is a red carpet, but no one is on it taking photographs. It leads inside an old gymnasium that has been converted into a big game room. There are a bunch of computers set up along one wall. On another wall are several smaller televisions. On the stage are two big projector screens across from the benches where I assume the fans will be seated for the main event. There are booths in the middle of the floor where vendors are selling different geeky things.
A lady with a pinched nose and pursed lips looks at her clipboard and says, “You’re to stand at booth twenty-nine. It’s down aisle three.” Then she hands me a lanyard that says VIP. “You’ll need to wear this the entire time, or you will promptly be asked to leave.”
She is all business. I pull the lanyard over my head and Sihn moves my hair so it’s back in front of my chest.
We head to aisle three and I peer at the booths. One has retro games, and they are calling themselves Hidden Gems . The one next to it offers retro T-shirts. Then we are in front of Sihn’s booth at the end. Someone made a nice sign that reads, Meet and Greet with Pro Wrestler The Sihnner!
The booth directly next to him sells little wrestler figurines. Whoever developed the layout for the booths must have put some thought into it. “You don’t have to stay at the booth with me the entire time. You’re free to mingle as long as you make your way back to me when it’s time to leave.”
I point at the toys. “Are there any The Sihnner figurines?”
“Not yet.”
“Such a shame. The things I could do with a little figurine of you…” I trail off.
“Ya know…you could just do them with the real me? Just a suggestion.”
“Can I stay with you? I could take the pictures for your fans…I can be your assistant,” I offer.
“You don’t have to. I think they’ll assign someone to help me if I ask.”
“Do you know where Ruin is?” I ask. He’s why we’re here after all.
“I don’t, but I know where he’ll be when his match starts.” He gestures toward the stage where the two big projection screens are. “He and BachelorOne are at the top of the card main event, but there will a be few undercard players before him. They’ll start right after they begin letting the fans in.”
A few hours later Ruin is playing Ass Kickers 3 against BachelorOne. BachelorOne is tall with broad shoulders and makes Ruin look short. Ruin is the first to admit he is short, but he looks small up on the stage sitting six feet away from his opponent. They are seated in gaming chairs, but because of Ruin’s small stature, it makes it appear that an adult is playing against a child.
Sihn is standing behind me rubbing my shoulders. He stopped taking pictures with fans ten minutes ago. He circles his arms around my torso and rests his head on my shoulder as we watch the projector screens. Both competitor’s avatars are on both screens, but on their respective screens, theirs is bigger.
I’m unsure what exactly is happening but Ruin screams, “NO!” and then falls out of his chair, and down on his knees, before throwing his controller at the screen.
I’m sitting in between Ruin and Sihn at a restaurant. It’s late and I’m tired, but a few fans chipped in together and paid the boys a couple thousand a piece to have dinner with them for an hour. They couldn’t say no and I didn’t want them to. I suggested Sihn let me use his car and go home and Ruin could give him a ride home, but Sihn said he didn’t trust me to drive his car. I get it. I did wreck mine not too long ago, and he witnessed it.
Sihn lays his palm on my left thigh as he talks to some guy about finishing moves. Ruin isn’t touching me, but I want him to. I try not to look at him, so he can’t sense how much I want him.
I take small bites of the salmon I ordered and drink an entire glass of ice water before I start on the wine I ordered. I’m not a big wine drinker, but my parents keep some in the house. I ordered the house Moscato.
“Do you think less of me now?” Ruin asks. I think he’s talking to the guy across from him because that’s who he’s been talking to all night, but he leans in and pushes his shoulder into mine.
I use my thumb to touch my chest. “Oh, are you asking me?”
He frowns. “Yeah.”
I frown back. “Why would I think less of you?”
“Because BachelorOne kicked my ass tonight.”
The screen he threw his controller at when he lost apparently will need repairs which is a big reason they agreed to this dinner. “And now you need me to boost your ego?”
“Well, when you say it like that…”
I have offended him, but I didn’t mean to. “You made money, right?”
He nods. “I did, but I would have made more if I had won.”
He shoves a bite of steak in his mouth, while I ask, “Aren’t there like rematches or something?”
After he swallows, he takes a swig of some dark beer he ordered that smells like coffee. “Not with him. He’s smart, he’s taking the W, and he ain’t coming back.”
“I think you’re great, Ruin. I always have, even back when we were kids.”
A small smile pulls at the corners of his thin lips. “Really?”
“Yeah. You didn’t pressure me. So many other boys were pushy with my friends. They talked about it to me, but you were so kind. I’m sorry I never mentioned it to you back then.”
His left hand takes my right and squeezes it before he kisses it.