Level Me Up (Gamer Boy Book 1)

by Lauren Helms

  "Bullshit, Morgan!" she laughs.

  "No, really! I'm not being negative about this. I'm just realistic. Think about it, he asked me out before he even knew we were both from Chicago. He was probably just looking for some fun while he was in town. It was a coincidence that we were both from the same place, and he felt obligated to ask me for my number."

  Gia gapes at me, and I continue my explanation, "I'm not going to lie, I really liked him. He was really sweet and super cute, but come on, do I really think he is going to call me up and ask me out? No. It is what it is. I'll be sad, but I'll get over it."

  As I walk back to the table after placing my bowl in the sink, Gia finally closes her mouth then says, "I don't know what the heck happened to make you think you weren't worthy of a nice, attractive guy's attention, but you need to wake the hell up and smell the damn roses, Morgan. You are beautiful, funny, and despite what you think, an interesting woman. I could continue with all your positive traits, but I'll save it for your next kick in the pants. You need to start having more confidence in yourself. The fact is that you could have just about any guy you wanted. Accept the fact that Dex saw you and didn't even know you and asked you out. That after spending just a little bit of time with you, told you he wanted to go out on a date and then kissed you. He kissed you, Morgan! He's gonna call.” Now it was my turn to stare at her in shock.

  "And if he doesn't, the phone goes both ways, if you want to see him again, you can call him! We've already established time and time again that boys can be and will be idiot’s seventy-five percent of the time."

  Well. I knew she hated my lack of confidence in myself, and she told me before that I needed to have more, but she had never gotten on her soapbox like this. Not about me.

  I clear my throat. "Wow. You know you pretty much just yelled at me for not thinking I'm as awesome as you think I am, right?"

  She looks at me for a second, apparently coming down from the high of getting all worked up and says, "Well, dammit, Morgan, you are awesome." She smiles at me and adds, "We just need to get on the same page." Then she walks over and hugs me.

  "I love you, Mo. You are my best friend, and you’re like a sister to me. I want you to be happy."

  "Ditto," I reply and hug her back.

  She walks over and plops down on the couch. As I follow her over she says, "You said one of Dex's teammates was named Simon, right?"

  "Yup. Simon…uh, crap…what was his last name?" I say as I lightly thump my fisted hand to my forehead and close my eyes for more focus. What was his name?

  "What did he look like?"

  "He had blondish, almost reddish hair. He had some pretty stylish glasses on at the party, but at the signing, he wasn't wearing them. He was tall, probably 6'1”, and dang, he was fit. He lives with Dex and his best friend Link. Those guys have got to have a workout room in their apartment," I say more wondering out loud.

  "Hmm," She looks thoughtful, but a mix of relief and sadness cross her face.

  "Palmer! Yeah, that's it. Simon Palmer," I say with a triumphant smile. I'm glad his name came back to me; I'd be thinking about it until I remembered. I guess I could have just looked him up.

  But as I say this, I see her face go blank. "Gia, what's wrong?" I ask.

  "Oh…no, nothing’s wrong. It's just, I know Simon, and I haven't seen him in a while."

  "Really?" I give her a confused look. "Why didn't you mention you had a friend who played video games professionally?"

  "Well, I wouldn't really call him a friend, and I haven't seen him since sophomore year of high school—right before we moved to Indiana." Ahh. She doesn’t like talking about the move from her hometown. All I know is that she had come home from school one day, and her parents told her they were moving. That was that. They up and moved to Indiana less than a week later. It was lucky for me because I gained a best friend, but it was hard on her, and she didn't get along with her parents because of it.

  "Ok, so it's been awhile since you’ve seen him. Do you think he will remember you?" I ask.

  She laughs, but it's a humorless laugh. "Yeah. He probably will." Just like that she seems to shake whatever memory is clouding her thoughts away, and she goes on to ask more about the actual Comic-Con event.

  As I lay in bed, I decide that one, I need to find out what kind of history Gia and Simon have, because there is definitely history. And two, Gia is right. I need to start thinking more positively about myself and what I deserve. So, I’ll make a deal with myself, if I don't hear from Dex by Thursday, I’m going to call him. Dang it, I like him, and I want to see him again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Morgan

  It’s Wednesday, and I haven't heard from Dex. After the confidence boost from Gia, I was feeling pretty good about things. I was sure Dex was going to call, but as the days have gone by, and I haven’t heard from him, I’ve started to rethink my plan. Monday, I was still high from the boost. Tuesday, I was starting to worry. Today, I'm thinking I misread all the signals in California.

  Maybe, if I don't hear from him tomorrow, I will give him the weekend. Then, on Monday, I'll just send him a text and say hi. That way, I don't have to actually talk to him. And if he isn't interested, I won't have to hear it in his voice.

  No, that's stupid. I'm lame. I'm going to stick to my plan. If I don't, Gia will give me another "kick in the pants" as she calls it.

  I get back from my lunch, sit down at my desk to start working on a new idea for a social media promotion when The Hunger Games whistle alerts me of an incoming text. I dig my phone out of my purse to see that I have a text.

  Dex: Hi Morgan! Are you busy?

  Me: Nope, not busy.

  I sit there looking at my phone waiting for his reply when my cell rings, and his handsome face pops up on my screen. In the split second, it takes me to register that he is actually calling me, pure nervousness shoots through me. It feels like I have hundreds of tiny little butterflies fluttering around in my belly. He's calling me! And I'm just staring at the phone.

  With a quick breath, I answer, "Hello?"

  The deep voice that makes all those little butterflies do flips says, "Hey Morgan, sorry it took me a couple of days to call."

  "Oh, it's ok." Play it cool, Morgan. Play it cool.

  "Honestly, I wanted to call you first thing Monday, but Link and Simon said I had to wait like three days or something before I called you. I don't know why I listen to them, ever." He chuckles.

  I laugh in response.

  "So, I was hoping that you still wanted to hang out. I'd really like to take you to dinner. Are you free tomorrow night?"

  The smile that was already on my face grows because now the little butterflies are going crazy. I'm going to get to see him again. Crap, what am I going to wear? Then I remember that I haven't answered him yet.

  "Yes!"

  "Yes, you want to hang out—or yes, you are free tomorrow night?" he chuckles.

  "To both. Yes, I'd love to hang out with you, and yes, tomorrow night for dinner would be nice."

  "Great. Well, awesome. Really great" he says, and I can tell his smile is probably just as big as my own.

  I laugh. "Should I meet you somewhere?"

  "No, I'll pick you up at 7:00 p.m., but you’ll need to text me your address."

  "Ok."

  "Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow night, then."

  I giggle—like, a school-girl giggle, then I say, "Ok, I'll see you," and we say goodbye and hang up.

  I sit there for a minute with a big grin on my face when Ruby walks by and stops at my desk.

  "Morgan, I love that look on you. You look like you just won the lottery and found out Justin Timberlake is going to give us a private concert."

  I shake myself out of it, just in time to realize that she honestly thinks winning a private concert with JT is worth more than winning the actual lottery.

  "Umm, no, but that'd be great," I reply. "Actually..."

  "Dex just called you, didn't he?" she in
terrupts me mid-sentence.

  I look at her, grin and slowly nod my response. And she squeals. "Oh my god. Yay! I knew he would. Ok, tell me everything now!"

  I tell her about the call and that we are going to dinner tomorrow night. Then I remember, “Oh, I need to text him my address." I do, and I shove my phone back in my purse because if I don't, I'll just stare at his reply for the rest of the day.

  Dex: "Thanks. I can't wait to take you out."

  ***

  It's Thursday night, and I'm freaking out. Ruby and Gia are not helping. They are both trying to help, but actually just making things worse. Ruby said that she had to come over because I was like her baby bird spreading my wings, and as a proud mamma bird she needed to be here. I pointed out that I'm not new to the dating scene, and that my last date was only a couple months ago. But she is insisting that this date with Dex is different.

  This thought makes me even more nervous.

  "I'm going to throw up," I moan.

  "Stop it. You're fine," Gia said rolling her eyes.

  "But I'm really nervous, and I'm worried I'm gonna be a spaz again, and I want to throw up."

  "You can’t do that! What if he wants to kiss you tonight?" Ruby replies in a sing-song voice.

  It's surprising that at that moment, my nervousness goes away, and these happy little butterflies take over as if they've been battling for space against my nerves and the thought of kissing Dex finally gives them the strength to win.

  "Ah. There it is," Gia says knowingly.

  "What?" I ask.

  "That smile. You get this smile when you talk about him, or think about him. And that's why we believe that this guy is different.”

  "Totes!" Ruby adds.

  Hmmm. They had a point. I heave a huge sigh and throw myself backward onto my bed.

  Gia is sitting in my comfy reading chair in the corner of my room, and Ruby is sitting legs crossed on my bed holding a pillow to her chest. "I don't know what is wrong with me. I let this guy get the better of me by just existing in a crowded conference hall. Then he's all nice and sweet when he invites us to a party. And then kisses me when I least expect it. It's like my brain and body have turned to mush when it comes to him." I turn my head slightly and look across the bed at Ruby, and she looks like she is about to burst into a fit of giggles and starts bouncing like a stereotypical girly-girl. Then I look over to Gia and hope for a better reaction, but nope, she’s staring at me with the same big grin.

  I let out another groan when I realize they are no help because they want me to feel like this. Then we hear the buzzer alerting us that Dex is here and needs to be let up.

  "Crap! I'm not emotionally ready for this yet!" I screech as I sit up and jump off the bed. Now Ruby is literally bouncing with excitement.

  "Calm down. I'll buzz him up. Fix your hair and slap on some lip gloss. You'll be fine, plus you look beautiful." Gia says as she walks out my bedroom door.

  I dash to the vanity in my room that connects to the single bathroom our apartment holds and run the brush through my hair. I hear Gia tell Dex, through the intercom, to come on up.

  I'm wearing a pink summer dress with a little white knit cardigan since it's cool in the Windy City at night. I've paired the dress with white sandals with no heal, adding no extra height. I love this dress. It's by far my favorite summer outfit. Ruby hands me the gloss and says, "If you'd like, I can call him lover boy before y’all leave. It's proven to get good results." I smile at her and shake my head.

  With a deep breath, I walk out of my bedroom and down the short hall with Ruby on my heels. Just as I get to the living room, there's a knock on the door announcing his arrival.

  "I'll get it," I say to Gia, and she smiles, sits down on the couch and picks up her Entertainment Weekly magazine as Ruby busies herself in the kitchen. It sounds like she is getting something to drink.

  With one last deep breath, I open the door to find Dex looking exceptionally hot. I take him in slowly from head to toe. I don't hide it because I know he is doing the same. He's wearing a dark blue, button-down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just above his elbows. He’s got on a super dark wash pair of jeans and a pair of crisp white and black Chuck Taylors. I smile at that because I love that he wears chucks instead of something dressy. They seem to fit perfectly with his personality.

  I look up to his face, and I know I’m wearing the same smile he is when he says hi in a soft, but relaxed tone.

  "Hi.” I pause still taking him in. “Come on in," and I step to the side to allow him in. Oh, my God, as he walks by I become aware that he smells so good. There is this faint smell of cologne, but more than that, he mostly smells clean from a hint of soap, and at that moment I just want to get up close to him and breath him in. I've never wanted to just smell someone before. I'm being weird.

  "Dex, this is my roommate, Gia. And you already know Ruby," I jerk my head over toward the kitchen where Ruby stands.

  Our apartment is pretty small, so right when you walk in the front door, you are standing in the living room. To the left of the living room is a small dining room that opens into a kitchen and leads down the hall to the bathroom and two bedrooms. There is a sliding door leading out to a balcony from the dining area and the galley kitchen. We are lucky enough to have a washer and dryer in the apartment, so we have this little laundry closet at the end of the kitchen where the room opens into the dining area.

  There is a big opening in the wall where the sink faces the living room, so when we look over, Ruby is still standing at the sink with a big smile. "Hi Dex," she says with a wave.

  "Hey, Ruby, nice to see you again," he says as he smiles at her then turns back to Gia, takes a few steps forward and leans over the coffee table that sits between him and the couch. He holds out his hand out. “Hi, Gia, pleased to meet you."

  Gia stands as she shakes his hand, "Ditto."

  Ruby comes through the dining room, plops down on the chair next to the couch and asks "So, where are you taking Morgan tonight?"

  I give her a quick look. She is being nosy, but I know she is just interested. It’s going to take everything in her not to text me throughout the night to ask me about how the date is going. That's actually why we agreed that her coming over and hanging out with Gia was a good idea. Gia promised to keep her occupied.

  "I'm going to take her to dinner and then maybe a movie. It really depends on what Morgan wants to do," he replies thoughtfully.

  Ruby is just about to comment, probably about how he doesn't have this whole date planned. But I quickly say, "Well good, I'm so hungry I could eat a cow. Let’s go!" I don't really care what we do, I just want to hang out with him, so I need to get him out of here before Ruby tries to make him feel bad.

  I grab his hand and pull him out of the apartment and yell over my shoulder at the girls, "Don't wait up!"

  Chapter Thirteen

  Morgan

  As soon as I close the door behind us, I drop his hand before I can really let myself think about the fact that I was just holding his hand. The fact that he had a firm grasp on mine and his hand was warm was…well, it was just...nice.

  "Sorry about them. They mean well, but Ruby is nosy. Actually, I'll probably be getting a text from her any moment now," I say as we start walking toward the elevators at the end of the hall.

  He chuckles and says, "It's ok, we probably would have had the...”, and the whistle of my phone interrupts his thought, and he laughs, "Well Simon and Link would have done the same thing. They wouldn't have interrogated you. They would have tried to make me look like an idiot in front of you, though. Nice text tone, by the way.”

  I chuckle, and I pull my phone from my purse. “It takes everything in me not to shout, ‘I volunteer!’ every time I hear it,” I say as I read the text.

  Ruby: I was just going to say, that it sounded like your kind of date. ;) You two lovebirds have fun!

  I smile and show him the phone so he can read the text himself when it vibrates in my
hand to indicate another incoming text. He reads it with a smile. I quickly pull my phone away and read the new text.

  Ruby: Also, lover boy looks totally hot tonight. Kiss, kiss!

  Oh, my God. I know I'm blushing now, and I know he is looking at me. We enter the elevator at this point, and I don't really know what to say. I open my mouth but close it, not finding the right words immediately. Then I decide on, "So where are we eating?"

  He shoves his hands in his pockets after pushing the first-floor button. "Well, what sounds good? We can go anywhere you'd like? Probably not somewhere we have to have a reservation, though, we might have to wait a while. Do you want a burger, or Italian, or Mexican? We could find a steak place too, if you want, or even pizza."

  "Well, that all sounds fine. I do love Mexican food, but pizza sounds excellent, right now," I reply.

  "Ok, I know a place. It has some of the best pizza in town. It has both deep dish and New York style, but it's in an arcade. Would that totally ruin the mood of our date? Would your friends disapprove?" He sounded really excited at first when he brought up the pizza, but I can tell now he’s worried I'm going to hate the idea of an arcade.

  I laugh a little because, for one, he is worried about what Ruby and Gia will think, and two, it actually sounds like a really fun time.

  "I think that that sounds like a great idea. I haven't been in a lot of arcades, so if we go there to eat, we have to play some games. Oh, do they have skee-ball? I love skee-ball!" I add with excitement.

  "They most definitely have skee-ball."

  As the elevator dings, and the doors slide open I add, "Oh, and Dex, it doesn't matter what Ruby and Gia think." He smiles and says ok, and then he holds an arm out for me to take.

  We get to his car, and he opens the door for me. I slide into the passenger side seat of some kind of small SUV. As I look around I see that it’s a Ford, maybe an Explorer. It's nice and clean inside, and it smells like him. I take a deep breath right as he climbs into the car.