O N E
Raelyn watched intently at the game her friends Dane, Carter, and Wyatt were playing. They had been getting their asses handed to them all night. There were a few teams playing at the community hall tonight but only one was undefeated. They were faster and more skilled than everyone else. They even seemed to be toying with some of the team members when the killings started to happen too quickly.
“Fuck!” Dane yelled, throwing down his controller. “We’re never going to beat the Red Team.”
“Quit yer bitchin’ and get back in the game!” Wyatt yelled as his player also died.
“Raelyn, why don’t you try?” Carter smiled even though his eyes never came off the screen in front of him.
“I don’t know.. I’ll probably die.”
“That’s all we’re doing.” Carter laughed, his player taking a bullet to the head. “Shit..”
Raelyn couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled through her. All night had been swearing, promises to do better, and serious faces that never helped them play any better. Finally, she picked up Dane’s controller and tapped in.
She was hesitant as she moved through the area. In the first ten minutes, she was killed twice. Entering in the third time, she thought she had learned from her mistake only to be killed yet again. She understood why the guys were getting pissy, it seemed there was no way around the so called Red Team.
She took a deep breath, Dane had yet to show interest in wanting his controller back and she didn’t mind filling in. This time, she was more cautious. She had watched them play and had some idea of how the Red Team worked. She weaseled her way into a route she had yet to use, moving slowly and watching every move the others made.
As she came around the corner, she gasped. Her instinct took over and she pulled the trigger button, effectively taking out a member of the Red Team before getting hit by a different member of the same team. Her jaw dropped, she had got one! She turned to look at her friends, all of them with their eyes wide.
“You took out Brax..” Carter breathed out.
“With my character!” Dane boasted.
“Whose Brax?” Raelyn spoke, a proud smile on her face.
“The leader of the Red Team. He’s never been killed.” Carter, still stunned.
“I say we celebrate! We may have lost but Rae took out the top player!” Wyatt shouted.
The three all hugged her, giddy with their small victory of the night.
Brax stared in disbelief at the screen in front of him. Killed? Killed! Who the fuck had been able to ruin his perfect score? His grip on his controller tightened until his knuckles turned white. He could already feel the eyes of his buddies on him.
“What team was that player on?” Brax gritted out.
“Green Team, I think.” Joey chuckled.
“What the fuck is so funny?” Brax turned to glare at his friend.
“It’s a rookie team.” Joey laughed harder. “All freshmen.”
“And from the looks of at, that player had his girlfriend playing for him.” Kamden chimed in, a grin on his face.
Brax turned to where the Green Team sat and sure enough there was three freshmen with a chick they were cheering on for taking his player out. Her blonde head of hair barely visible from the arms and bodies wrapped around her. When they gave her space a moment later, it reveal a short female with baggy blue jeans, some band t-shirt, and a black hoodie that she was drowning in.
He saw red.
She was going to pay for making a fool of him. There was no doubt that the other teams were catching on to what had happened now and his humiliation would spread. He turned away from the small group to finish the match they were in.
Raelyn had offered to clean up their table since she hadn’t been able to offer up any money for the pizzas and drinks they had ordered. It was already dark out but her mom would be working. She had been doing third shifts at the retirement home and slept most of the day. It wasn’t what her mom wanted to do but the pay raise allowed them to keep their home and let Raelyn focus on her collage classes.
After she finished up, she headed to the locker room to grab her items she had put away. Normally, there wouldn’t be a concern about personal items but lately there had been a lot of theft due to how into games the players got.
She causally strolled to the back area. The locker room offered a space for people who were swimming or playing sports to shower and change and because the town and center was very small, it was co-ed. There had been many times she accidentally saw naked men, not that any of them cared. Some even enjoyed how red her face got. She seemed to be the only woman brave enough to come here most of the time.
She assumed she was alone, given that everything was starting to shut down for the night. She placed her hand on the lock, her key fitting in perfectly and with a twist of her wrist, it popped open. Before she opened the door, a shadow fell over her. Her heart fluttered in anticipation and she turned to see who was behind her.
The first thing she noticed was how tall he was. Her eyes scaling up from his toned chest to his face. His head was cocked to the side slightly and his eyes seemed to be glaring down at her. His dark walnut-colored hair was cut short and his blue eyes were strikingly bright.
It took her a second to recognize him as Brax.
