Page 91 of Hard Rock Desires

“Are you some kind of prodigy?” Kaylee asked in wonder. “Maybe you should be playing in tournaments.”

All eyes were glued on the screen as the final few alien creatures descended downward.

“You’re almost there!” Finn cheered with a fist pump in the air.

“Just a few more…” I grunted, my entire concentration on the game.

The screen flickered bright white, then went dark. Totally, completely black.

My jaw went slack in surprise. My hands fell from the controls.

“What just happened?” Zain asked.

“The game glitched,” I said in shock.

“Noooo!” Finn moaned, throwing himself over the console. “You were so close!” He slapped at the plastic casing repeatedly. “Stupid machine!”

“You can’t beat it into working again,” Zain told him.

“I can’t believe it glitched,” Kaylee said mournfully.

“Technology is the worst,” Micah said with a wise nod of his head as he took a sip of his drink.

“Itisthe worst!” Finn agreed fervently, smashing at the buttons. “It won’t even come back on.”

“It’s fine,” I said, but I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“It’s not fine,” Finn countered. “You were just about to slaughter this game.” He scowled at the machine and crossed his arms as he glared. “I should take it apart and turn it into scrap metal.”

“It’s plastic,” Zain reminded him.

“Then I’ll melt the whole piece of shit down,” he said.

“How, exactly?” Zain asked. “This thing is huge.”

“Then I’ll throw it into the trash heap,” Finn continued. “I’ll toss it right out the window like the garbage it is.”

“Yeah, you show that game who’s boss,” Kaylee snickered.

“I will!” Finn insisted. He went around to the back and unplugged it from the outlet, then wrapped his arms around the body of the machine. “Oof,” he grunted as he picked it up off the floor.

“What are you doing?” Zain asked.

“I told you, I’m tossing it out the window,” he replied, wavering on his feet and staggering from left to right.

The others all chuckled.

“You have fun with that,” Zain said dismissively.

“Always the drama queen,” Kaylee snorted.

Finn carried the game machine to the balcony doors and kicked them open.

My heart jumped into my throat.

“Um, guys?” I said worriedly. “I think he’s serious.”

He heaved the machine through the doors and onto the balcony.