Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
He bit his lower lip, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around her and absorb any of the happiness flowing around her.
Georgia Cross was spectacular, devastatingly beautiful, and way too fucking good for him.
But she was also too good for the prick still sitting at the bar with Sloane. What kind of man has an opportunity with Georgia and then leaves her alone with someone else?
She basically danced her way next to Elijah and smiled at him. “Good luck beating me.”
Unable to resist the temptation to touch her, he wrapped an arm over her shoulder, his fingers grazing her arm. “Did I tell you I grew up in York Beach, Maine?”
She peered up at him. “You never tell me anything, so this is news to me.”
Yeah, Elijah was not known for opening up to people.
“Then I should tell you, a beach town during offseason left a lot of slow time for locals. We would always hit up the arcade, almost as a pregame before we went out.” Her lips clamped together as if she were realizing she wasn’t going to win game night.
“Not to brag, but for a few months, I was the high score champion at Skee-Ball.”
Like the boss she was, Georgia straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms. Fuck, her tits in that shirt were driving Elijah crazy.
“Then let’s see how you do,” she tossed at him, confident but a little shaky.
He dropped his arm from her and stepped over to the game. “Are you sure it’s one play on each game? I don’t mind doing best out of three.”
Georgia, with her smile so bright, gave him the middle finger. “I don’t need extra pity plays. Even if you win Skee-Ball, we still have other games.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Elijah threw the first ball into the fifty hole. He did it two more times. The next one went into the forty socket. When he finished, his score was four hundred.
She hovered right next to him, her mouth gaping wide open.
Like it was natural, Elijah slid his arm around her waist. Damn, she smelled like a citrusy cookie.
He wanted to eat her up. “It’s science. A focus on the acceleration of the ball, biomechanics of how you throw, and angular momentum for banking the ball.
” He whispered to her, his lips brushing her ear when he spoke.
When she peered up at him, she was close enough to kiss.
“Did I ever tell you how sexy it is when you talk nerdy to me?” Georgia didn’t back down from him.
He licked his lower lip, watching Georgia as she tracked his every move. “Ready to go home?”
“One game doesn’t make you a winner,” she rejected the idea of surrendering. Instead, she pointed at another game. “Let’s go play basketball.”
Elijah couldn’t help it. He smirked again.
Georgia playfully huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “What? Did you secretly play for the Washington Wizards or something?”
With his hand on her lower back, he guided her to Pop-A-Shot, an arcade favorite.
“I’m on edge here,” she told him as she practiced taking shots with no ball in her hand. “What am I up against here?”
Elijah put the coins into the machine so they could play. “I played when I was younger.”
She stopped practicing and put her hands on her hips. “Me too. That doesn’t explain the sinister smile.”
“I always wanted to be a fireman.”
“Story time. I love this.” Georgia rubbed her hands together in excitement.
His left lip lifted up, unable to stop his smile. Her personality was contagious and shined bright on him. “In high school, I played on our team, and I was scouted to play in college.”
Her hands dropped. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.” He said with a pop. “I turned it down because I wanted to go to school for fire science. After my two-year degree, I got a paramedic license. Then I went to the fire academy. Basketball came easy to me, but it wasn’t a passion.”
“Is this when you tell me I still have a chance because you haven’t picked up a basketball since high school?”
He picked up a ball and handed it to her. Then he grabbed one for himself. “No way in hell. I play in the rec area at the station, probably once a week. Just admit I won the bet.”
The game started, and she took her first shot and in swooshed it. “Something you should know about me is that I never give up.”
Fuck, he loved that about her. But it didn’t matter because he still won by ten points.
Elijah was happy as fuck that he was winning.
Another step closer to being the one who took her home.
BASKETBALL WASN’T A win for Georgia. Turned out, Elijah wasn’t just great at playing basketball. He was the team's leading three-point shooter. He was winning 2-0 for game night, and Georgia was not having it. They needed a game with an equal playing field.
She wanted to know why he called her Peach, but if his reason was only because of a Georgia Peach, she would demand another prize.
But she needed to win first.
“Want to play Dance Dance Revolution?” She asked him with confidence. There was no way Elijah was moonlighting as a hip-hop dancer in his spare time. Though the curl of his lips made her question herself.
His hand slipped into hers as they walked over to the flashing neon platform. He paid for the game, and before he hit start, he glanced at her. “Do you want to hear now or after I win why I’m good at this game?”
Not again. This was getting ridiculous!
Apparently, she didn’t answer fast enough for him, so he hit the start button and the game began before she was ready.
“Hey!” she shouted at him, pushing him while they hopped on the glowing blocks to the sound of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. “You cheated!”
Even with the distraction, Elijah kicked her butt.
This was unbelievable.
They walked off the game, and Elijah grabbed her hand and led her over to a quieter place in the arcade. “It’s really unfair you keep picking my best games.”
“Let me guess. In your spare time, you enter Dance Dance Revolution contests?” she prodded him for fun.
“Everyone at the station volunteers at a different community event. I spend time as a mentor for teens in need. One of my mentees loved this game, so for the past year, I’ve played this game at least twenty times with him.”
“Of course you have,” Georgia said with a hair flip. Her phone vibrated in her purse, and when she took it out, she saw a text.
Dane: Thanks for coming to dinner with me! I tried to find you in the arcade but couldn't. Sloane wasn’t feeling good, so I took her home. She said your brother wouldn’t mind taking you back. Hope that’s okay!
Well, it wasn’t like she was going to argue about a ride home when someone was sick. But geez, dating in Landmere was cutthroat.
She could feel the presence of Elijah right at her back while she responded to Dane.
Georgia: No worries! I have a ride back and hope Sloane feels better soon.
“That’s all you’re going to say?” She heard the venom in Elijah’s voice. “He left you at a bar by yourself without a ride, and you’re saying it’s fine with a stupid smiley emoji at the end?”
Georgia held her phone as she turned to him.
“Why waste my time getting upset about something I can’t change?
He left because his best friend was sick.
I’m not going to crucify the guy for it.
And he was right, my brother is here, so I do have a ride home.
But, if memory serves me correctly, you won game night.
Are you now negating your winning to drive me home? ”
“Did I say I wasn’t taking you home?”
She stomped her foot in frustration. “No, but you’re acting like I was deserted, and I wasn’t.”
Her phone vibrated again, and it was another text from Dane.
Dane: Thanks for understanding. How about we reschedule?
When she glanced up at Elijah, he was glaring at her phone like it suddenly became a fire he couldn’t put out. Georgia wasn’t ruling out Dane as an option, especially when the man she wanted, who stood right in front of her, wasn’t dating her.
Georgia: Sounds like a plan.
The phone was removed from her hand so quickly that it took her a second to notice Elijah had stolen it. He typed away on her cell before stuffing it in his back pocket.
“We’re leaving.” Elijah didn’t give more details, as he marched out of the game area and right out the door.
She followed him, but only to call him out on his bullshit. That, and he snatched her phone, which was like a lifeline to her. Swinging through the entry, she met him outside, where he was pacing around on the sidewalk.
“Give me my phone back.” She held her hand out and patiently waited while he continued to stomp around.
He came to a halt in front of her. “I’ll give it back once I drop you off.”
“I need to tell my brother I left so he isn’t looking for me, expecting to give me a ride.”
“He knows I’m taking you home.”
“Are you going to be this exciting on the ride home? I didn’t expect you to steal my phone, requiring me to plead my case to get it back.”
Elijah crossed his muscular arms, not budging on the phone situation.
She wasn’t backing down so easily. “Give me a valid reason, just one, of why you won’t give me my cell back.”
The way his eyes traveled over her, eating her up, made her want to wave the white flag and surrender.
Phone, shmone.
“I’d like to spend time with you without you texting your shitty date. Is that a good enough reason?”
The giddiness rushed through her when he admitted he wanted to spend time with her.
Maybe tonight would be her lucky night.