Page 21 of I Don't Need Your Love

“After you.”

He laughs again before heading to one of the games and nodding to it. “Let’s start with this one.”

It’s not a two-player game, so we’ll have to compare high scores. I motion for him to go first. He does pretty well, but he’s no match for me. I end up scoring twenty more points than him.

Lifting a brow, I smile. “One buck richer.”

He scoffs. “Just you wait.”

We play a few more games and naturally, I cream him in all of them. My roommate is being a good sport, though. Other than talking smack, he doesn’t seem upset or ticked off that he keeps losing.

While he plays a racing game, I hear laughter as the door opens. Carly, Sophie, Raven, Addie, and Caleb, walk into the rec room. Raven plops down at one of the game consoles. Sophie lowers herself on the couch with three books. Addie and Caleb head to the pool table. And Carly goes to the dance game.

Before she starts playing, her head lifts, eyes flicking in my direction. They don’t harden as I expect them to, but she doesn’t seem excited to see me here.

Grinning, I wave at her. Her eyes narrow before she turns away from me. My lips kick up into a smile as I watch her dance. She’s just as good as she was when we were younger. No, better. The best part, though, is that she looks like she’s having the time of her life. Not many people find their calling in life at our age, but she’s found hers. I’m happy for her and hope all her dreams come true.

As if she can feel me watching her, she glances my way. Her eyes don’t narrow again and she’s not giving off the vibe that she wants me to get lost. I know I upset her today. I don’t know why I love to ruffle her feathers. Maybe because it at least forces us to interact? If not for her being ticked off at me, we probably wouldn’t say anything to each other.

Despite what she says, I know a part of her doesn’t hate me. Maybe only a tiny part, but I’ll take it. And I also know her life would be a little empty if I wasn’t in it.

“You’re up.” Felix breaks me from my thoughts, gesturing to the game he just finished playing. Dang. That’s a high score.

He watches me stare at his score and laughs. “Scared?”

“Pssh. I’ll beat this easily.”

He makes a face like he doesn’t believe me, but then his jaw nearly kisses the floor when I beat him by thirty points. “How the heck did you do that?”

I grin widely. “Told you I’m the master. How about you find something more challenging?”

He rubs his chin as he scans around. “Found it.” He points to the most difficult game in here. “No one has ever gotten a high score in all the years it’s been here. Lots of brave men and women have tried, but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in taking down this beast.”

My insides rage with a need to demolish this game. “Perfect. But let’s make it more interesting.”

“I’m listening.”

“Winner getsallthe money I won tonight.”

His eyes nearly pop off his face. “You serious?”

I chuckle as I pat his chest. “It’s cute that you actually think you’ll win.”

He doesn’t respond as he follows me to the corner of the room where the game is located. No wonder it’s in the corner, since nobody likes it.

“Go ahead,” I tell him. “Though it’ll just be a waste of time because we all know I’ll win.”

He scoffs, then starts playing. As he does, voices from the dance game catch my attention. Carly has finished her solo game and is now begging Addie to challenge her. Addie doesn’t look like she wants to part from her boyfriend, but she eventually gives in to Carly.

They start dancing and I focus on Carly. She’s wearing a determined expression on her face, but I can see how much fun she’s having as well. She’s competitive, but she’s making sure to have a good time.

I wish I had enjoyed football more. Most times, it was stressful and I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have. Now I’ll never play again.

I hope Carly never forgets to have fun and not be stressed out like I was.

“Nice,” Felix says once he’s finished playing. “Decent score.”

He only got fifty-six points, and I snicker. “Easy peasy.”