by Lauren Helms
Cocky Gamer
Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Helms and Cocky Hero Club, Inc.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved worldwide.
No part of this book may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any medium, whether electronic, internet or otherwise, without the expressed permission of the author. This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, locations, and names occurring in this book are the product of the author’s imagination or are the property of their respective owners and are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, or persons (living or dead), is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. All trademarks and trade names are used in a fictitious manner and are in no way endorsed by or an endorsement of their respective owners.
May contain sexual situations, violence, sensitive and offensive language, and mature topics.
Recommended for age 18 years and up.
Images © DepositPhotos – feedough
Cover Design © Aubree Valentine at Beyond the Bookshelf
Formatting: Beyond the Bookshelf
Editing: Amanda Cuff at Savage Hart Book Services
Proofreading: Yvette Deon
Contents
About Cocky Gamer and the Cocky Hero Club
Playlist
1. Ben
2. Kelly
3. Ben
4. Kelly
5. Ben
6. Kelly
7. Ben
8. Kelly
9. Ben
10. Kelly
11. Ben
12. Kelly
13. Ben
14. Kelly
15. Ben
16. Kelly
17. Kelly
18. Ben
19. Kelly
Epilogue
The Cocky Hero Club
Acknowledgments
Other Books by Lauren Helms
About the Author
About Cocky Gamer and the Cocky Hero Club
Cocky Gamer is a standalone story inspired by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Cocky Bastard. It's published as part of the Cocky Hero Club world, a series of original works, written by various authors, and inspired by Keeland and Ward's New York Times bestselling series.
Would the real Garland Thorpe please stand up?
Playlist
Rescue Me - Isaac Butler
Nice To Meet Ya - Niall Horan
Lonely - Diplo, Jonas Brothers
In Your Eyes (feat. Kenny G) Remix - The Weeknd, Kenny G
Feel Alive - Katie Herzig
Midnight (feat. Liam Payne) - Alesso, Liam Payne
Somewhere Else - Delaney Jane
One Day - Logan Smith
the 1 - Taylor Swift
Leap Of Faith - Christopher
this is love - Walk Off the Earth
I Found You - Andy Grammer
To listen to the full playlist, check it out on Spotify and on YouTube!
1
Ben
“I’m telling ya, man, we’ve got to hit up Club Punch while you’re here.” My buddy, Garland, chatters on about it next to me as we walk toward the little café he promised me has the best damn coffee in town.
“Meh,” I reply and try not to bristle at his words. It’s eight in the morning, and I’ve had a long night. The last thing I want to think about is a raging, loud, packed nightclub. Taking the last flight out of O’Hare last night landed me in LAX early this morning. With the time change, I didn’t dare nap. Instead, I unpacked my stuff in my hotel room and tried like hell to stay awake. So, I’m going on more than a day without sleep. My last cup of joe was three hours ago after disembarking the plane. As long as I can get some liquid black-gold through my veins soon and continue to keep it pumping throughout the day, I should be fine for another ten hours or so.
Culver City, California, is a busy little city about twelve miles from Los Angeles. While I’ve only been here once before, it’ll become a home away from home for the next year. I have a contract with Lasso, one of the top video game developers in the industry right now, to produce several voice-overs for three of their upcoming games. Being a professional video gamer has more perks than not, and if it hadn’t been for being part of the top Call of Battle team last year, I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to meet the head honcho at Lasso. Thanks to Garland, who also works at Lasso, I was able to get my name thrown into the ring for the highly sought-after voice of the main character in their next big game.
Tournament season for Call of Battle is gearing up, so I’ll have to split my time between Chicago, my hometown and home base for Team NoMad, and Culver City over the next few months. I try to ignore the fact that my interest in my job is waning, but it’s becoming more and more the norm. Normally, I’d hunker down and spend all my hours playing CoB, and studying the game to come up with new strategies. But for some reason, I welcome the change in scenery.
I thought my teammates would be annoyed to learn I was going to be taking on this side gig, but they were surprisingly supportive. That kind of makes them sound like assholes, but they really aren’t. While I’m not super close to the team of four other pro gamers, I do consider them friends. Dex, Simon, Bernie, and Chuck have been my teammates for several years now. While I’m closest to Chuck, I haven’t known him as long as the others. Bernie has become a closer friend than I expected, but she’s just so damn friendly, it’s hard not to like her. Dex and Simon are cool, but I don’t spend a lot of my free time with them. I’ve got other friends and a life outside of professional gaming, which is why I think it’s time for me to start thinking about what comes after my time with the team.
I might not come across as a very social dude, but I pay attention to what’s going on around me, and Team NoMad is changing. It’s been at a snail’s pace, but it’s changing. And I’m not going to sit around with my thumbs up my ass when I find out there’s no more team. I make a shit-ton of money being as good as I am at CoB, and being on a championship winning team several years in a row only makes the reward sweeter. But I can’t live off sponsorships for the rest of my days. Not that those will last much longer after I retire from the professional gaming world. And unlike the only retired Team NoMad member, Link, I’m not interested in building a YouTube empire. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, so voice-overs for the video games themselves—hell yeah, sign me up. At least this side gig will provide me some time to figure out exactly what I want to do. Maybe it will even help me slide right into the next chapter of my kick-ass life. Let’s be honest, what kid doesn’t want to get paid to play video games all day? I’m already living my best life, but it’s just about time for a new dream, I guess.
The chime of the bell above the door announces our arrival, but I suspect it goes unnoticed due to the sound of grinding coffee beans and whirling blenders overtop the murmur of voices and laughter. The baristas behind the counter are all busy filling the orders of the customers that form a rather impressive line down the side of the shop. Freshly brewed coffee with a hint of caramel and spices tingle my nose as I inhale. There’s always something to be said about a coffee shop and its immediate effect that it has on your senses. It’s the first time I’ve ever stepped foot inside the Melting Moon Café, yet I can tell it won’t be the last. I need coffee like I need air, so this place will become my refuge.
Long twinkle lights hang from the ceiling mimicking stars, and there’s a full-wall mural of a night sky complete with a large moon covering the wall near the entrance. There’s a mix of bistro tables with trendy wrought iron chairs and padded seats, and overstuffed leather chairs are spaced out in the comfortable lobby. A wooden staircase at the far end of the café leads to
a second-floor landing that covers half the space. From what I can see, large tables are spread out overlooking the busy streets of Culver City thanks to floor to ceiling windows.
“I love the smell of coffee in the morning,” Garland moans next to me.
“Morning, noon, or night; the time doesn’t matter to me,” I reply, taking in a deep, satisfying breath.
“Only a night owl like yourself can handle coffee at any hour of the day. My last cup can’t come after one p.m. or I’m up all night. And you know how much I love my sleep.” He shakes his head.
I chuckle and thump his shoulder. “Do you still have to sleep with a sound machine next to your pillow like you did when we were kids?”
Glaring at me, he replies, “No, I’ve upgraded to an app. It’s number one in the app store for health and wellness, so clearly I’m not the only one who needs a little help chasing the ZZZs at night.”
Garland Thorpe has been one of my closest friends since we were nine, and even though we live on nearly opposite sides of the country, we remain good friends. We both shared the dream of working in the video game industry. His journey took him to California where a good number of video game developers headquarter to make video game magic, whereas I didn’t have to go far when a pro gaming team more or less knocked on my door. Five years later, he’s working for Lasso as a project manager.
The line is long, but it’s moving quickly. Tension falls from my shoulders as I realize I’ll soon have coffee flowing through my system. As a night owl, morning isn’t my favorite.
We move closer to the promised land where a long counter covered in dark wood tiles is stacked with chrome espresso and frothing machines. A glass case to the left of the registers showcases a selection of snacks such as muffins, cookies, and pastries. My stomach grumbles as I spy what looks to be a giant chocolate muffin with chocolate chips.
As we move forward again, I skim the chalkboard wall behind the counter where it lists the menu. Just as I get to the list of mochas and lattes, my focus is pulled toward a couple standing near the registers. The woman stands facing a man with her hand on her hip. Anguish and frustration pour out of her, and I get antsy hoping she doesn’t make a scene. I’m not in the mood to witness a lovers’ quarrel this morning.
The poor sod doesn’t know what hits him as her voice climbs, causing more and more heads to turn toward them. Beside me, Garland elbows me and nods toward the couple, a sly grin on his face. A public shaming must be right up his alley this morning.
“Did you just check her out?” the woman seethes. He replies quietly, but her eyes go wide at his words. “I can’t believe you, Dean. I’m standing right here!” the woman strikes.
The dude looks around as he mutters something to her again, clearly not wanting to make a scene.
Too late, brother.
“They all warned me you had a wandering eye, but no, I didn’t listen. You’re such an asshole!” Her voice hits a note that has me hoping management steps in soon. The dull ache that’s been forming behind my tired eyes starts to throb, but my gaze is glued to the show just like the rest of the customers.
“Ah, snap! Dude better protect himself. She looks like she’s squaring up to send that knee flying,” Garland says with amusement. I nod, silently cursing myself for not being able to look away. The poor guy is about to lose his manhood in the middle of this busy café, and if someone handed me a bucket of popcorn, I’d take it willingly.
Just then, as if a director called for more comic relief, in near slow motion, a young woman stumbles right in front of the fighting couple. Her coffee goes flying toward both the screamer and her soon-to-be ex. Then, the girl stubs her foot on a nearby chair and launches face-first into the dude. Damn, this chick is clumsy. The guy has quick reflexes, and he reaches out and catches the poor girl from a nasty and embarrassing face-plant into the nearby table. A collective gasp rattles the café as he steadies her.
The angry girlfriend now wears Miss Clumsy’s coffee with her horrifying expression.
Damn, why can’t I look away from this train wreck?
Clumsy’s wavy brown hair falls in her face as she feverishly apologizes to the couple. She’s shaking as she moves her locks out of the way. Her cheeks are fire engine red with embarrassment. I instantly feel bad for her as I realize how damn cute she is. Not that I wouldn’t feel bad for her if she wasn’t cute, of course. But just as I notice, so does the dude who’s doomed. He switches off his confused expression, and it turns into a sly, up-to-no-good smile.
Ah, shit.
Garland makes a nose next to me as he’s thinking the same thing.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Dean? Did you just grab her ass? Right in front of me?” she shrills, and the poor girl winces, shoving the dude’s grabby hands away from her.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she pleads with the banshee, but her words go unnoticed. Thankfully for her, the man with the wandering hands is no longer paying her any attention as he defends himself. I barely hear his lame excuse for his behavior as I watch the cute, clumsy girl sneak around them, pick up her now empty cup of coffee, and slink away from the scene. As Garland and I move up to the counter, I turn and watch over my shoulder as she slinks out the door.
Garland laughs next to me, and I pull my gaze back to the couple just as a barista tells them to move their argument outside before mopping up the rest of the rogue coffee.
When we finally get to the front, Garland orders an Americano and nudges me to place my order, effectively bringing the morning soap opera to an end with no to be continued for the crowd.
“Nah, I got it, man,” I tell him.
“Nope, while you’re here on business, I’ve got you. All the coffee and drama,” he waves to the couple still yelling at each other as they head to the doors, “you want. It’s all on Lasso, my friend.”
A guy could get used to unlimited free coffee, so I grin and order a large black coffee and a muffin.
Moments later, as we leave Melting Moon Café, I wonder about the cute, clumsy girl and how her day could possibly turn out after a morning like she had. I wonder how her side of the story will compare to all the other “you won’t believe what I witnessed this morning…” stories that are sure to circulate throughout the day.
2
Kelly
At a near run, I dodge tables, chairs, and onlookers as I race for the exit. It’s as if someone purposely placed several hurdles in the only path of my escape, and I’m surprised I don’t fall over again. When I reach the double doors, I try to yank one open and find it doesn’t budge. Shit. Seeing the large white decal that says PUSH right in front of my face, I push the door open and the cool breeze of freedom surrounds me.
I join the throes of pedestrians all hustling to their destination. It isn’t until I take my second deep breath that I realize it’s drizzling out. I slow to a leisurely pace, sure that I’m free from any lingering gazes, and dig around in my messenger bag for my umbrella. Short of dumping out the entire contents of my laptop case, I rifle through until I realize I left it at home. I close my eyes as my face slacks in disappointment. It doesn’t rain much in Southern California, maybe less than forty days a year, so when you see rain on the forecast, you prepare.
Unless you’re me, Kelly Spenser, showing up unprepared and with the worst possible timing. Jeez Louise, this day is off to an amazing start. I’m only about three blocks from the offices of Hill House Accounting, the CPA firm where I’m an admin assistant. So as long as the rain doesn’t pick up, I can throw my hair up and try to touch up my makeup. Maybe I can fix myself before anyone else gets into the office. The last thing I need is to look like a drowned cat. I peek at my watch and sigh in relief as I note I’ll be a good forty minutes early if I hurry now.
I really don’t like spending more time than I have to in the office. But since my morning routine of cozying up in an over-stuffed chair while getting in some morning reading was interrupted by a couple clearly in need of counseling, I’ll have to deal. W
hat I don’t love having to deal with is missing out on the best coffee in town and having to suck it up and drink the nasty stuff brewed in the lobby at work. I come to a stop with the crowd as we wait for the traffic light to signal it’s safe to cross. Hunkering into my new pink jacket, I brace myself against the chilly water spitting from the gray sky. Just as the hoard of people start to move, my eyes bulge and a scream rips from my mouth as a spray of ice-cold, smelly water splashes across my body. A car screeches to a halt in the street next to me, treating me and a few others to a dirty street puddle shower. Those around me yell and curse the driver, who just honks and waves away the disgruntled pedestrians.
I look down to see my new coat is no longer a pretty shade of pink, my gray pant leg clings to me, and I’m now soaked to the bone. My bottom lip trembling, I clutch my fists together and will my anxiety to calm down.
Breathe, Kelly, breathe.
I move forward with the lingering walkers as the crosswalk signal starts its ten-second countdown. The rest of the walk to work is thankfully uneventful. Once I arrive, I’ve got about twenty minutes until the rest of my team starts trickling in to start this horrid Tuesday. Hill House Accounting is a large firm that employs a little under forty mostly uptight accountants, auditors, and other finance types. My particular team handles the company’s personal finances such as payroll, outbound and inbound billing, and other general accounting. While I don’t have a background in finance, my business degree gives me the knowledge to handle just about any admin assistant position in any professional office. It also means I’m normally the low man on the totem pole and deal with bosses and co-workers who aren’t shy about sharing their specialties. I will concede that my boss and CFO of the company, Mr. Bales, never looks down on my lack of specialty, but he also doesn’t seem to think I have potential for growth within the company. To be honest, I don’t want to climb the finance ladder anyway. At least he’s not as bad as my last boss, Amy Lin, at my short-lived receptionist position with an estate planning lawyer. She ran a tight ship as the assistant to both the attorneys who owned the firm. She did things old school and didn’t have a problem with me knowing she was having an affair with one of the married partners. They fought a lot, and I only lasted two months before I couldn’t take it anymore. Office drama is not my cup of tea.