Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1)

by Shannon Pemrick

  “No, I’m not. I spend my days working at a car shop and playing games. My social life consists of talking to my robot assistant, my fish, and my few friends, only one of whom actually lives in the same town as me. I don’t volunteer; my charity work happening once or twice a year for Make-A-Wish or some special restoration case. I—”

  “I swear, if you say one more thing that screams ‘I’m comparing myself to his ex,’ I’m going to slap you.” Mercedes stared at her friend. “You really think Takashi wants someone like his ex? There’s a reason she’s an ex!” Narissa took a deep breath to calm herself. “You’re not boring, Cede. You’re funny, and talented, and you’re a lot of fun to be around. I don’t know why you can’t see that. He certainly does.”

  Mercedes shrank down in her seat some more and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Five years, and I can’t get a single date to work out. For five years, I’ve tried to be careful who I choose for dates, and yet, they all have an issue with me having a cybernetic arm, as if just one robotic part makes me some android and no longer human.”

  Narissa opened her mouth to speak, but Mercedes continued. “Even my boyfriend at the time of my accident left me because of this stupid arm. I thought I could rationalize it as him being an asshole and me not seeing it, since many of the guys at the shop kept telling me they didn’t trust him. I tried to not think like Shira and hold out and find someone who really did care about me, but now, even with someone claiming they do, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like one big sick joke.”

  Mercedes hid her face in her arms. All sorts of negative emotions bounced around in her head.

  “You never told me you had a boyfriend who left you after your accident,” Narissa said in a quiet voice. “Not even during your psych evaluations.”

  “Because I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to remind myself what kind of failure I am. But every date that I can’t get to work out, it reminds me I’m the issue. So why would Takashi see me as more than a friend?”

  Narissa reached out and grabbed her hand. “Because he sees you. And I mean really sees you. He’s different from those other men.”

  Mercedes wanted to agree. Her friend made sense, and it fit the person she knew Takashi to be. And she couldn’t deny she wanted to be with him. She just struggled to find it in her to jump on the opportunity. I need more time.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Muffled sounds teased Mercedes’ ears, and pain pulsed in the back of her head. She opened her eyes, the world around her bright and blurry. A bright light flashed over her eyes, and she heard more muffled sounds. She closed her eyes, not liking the brightness. Something touched her in the arm, sending an unusual pulse through her brain. That didn’t come from my left arm…

  Then everything came back to her. She’d come in to get her new neuro-mod implanted for the arm upgrade experiment. Narissa had hoped she could avoid an extra surgery for this upgrade method, but found it unavoidable.

  Mercedes did her best to wake up, but discovered it to be difficult. Her head hurt so much, and the more she tried to be aware of her surroundings, the more strange her body felt.

  Then finally, a voice pierced the hazy bubble. “Mercedes.”

  Narissa was talking to her. Mercedes tried to speak back, but it was nearly impossible.

  “Mercedes,” Narissa said again. “Oh, good you can finally hear me. Don’t panic, and don’t try to force yourself to speak. Your mind is trying to readjust, and it’s overwhelming your senses.”

  Something light whisked by her arm. Wait, was that wind on my false arm? Her head started to pound all of a sudden and she didn’t like it.

  “Scanners are picking up that you can feel that, though it looks to be adding extra stress to your brain. Not as much as we predicted, so that’s a good sign.”

  Mercedes tried to speak, and this time found herself successful. “Narissa…”

  “Ah, there we go.” Narissa hovered over Mercedes’ face, but she couldn’t make out her features yet. “How are you feeling?”

  “My head… hurts…” she admitted. She knew it best not to lie about anything, else it’d ruin the testing. “Can’t see well… yet.”

  “Don’t strain your eyes, that will come back as your body adjusts.” Narissa moved away. “I’ve got your arm suspended to reduce the amount of pressure on the artificial nerves I installed while you were out. Based on the computer scans, today is going to get rough for you once I end the suspension.”

  “I wasn’t… expecting… an easy transition.” Even with all the testing and poking and prodding, Mercedes knew this wouldn’t be a walk in the park. But she had to do it. This would help so many people beyond just her. The pain and stress of testing would be worth it in the end.

  Mercedes heard Narissa pick up a device. “Based on this first awaken, even with a non-transition piece, patient will need to go through an adjustment period. Prediction: those with cybernetic limbs for an extended durations, prediction three years or more, will require a longer adjustment period.”

  Mercedes blinked her eyes, her eyes finally focusing. Glancing at her arm, she found it suspended by thin wire. She couldn’t feel the wire, but Mercedes suspected Narissa had intended that. She found her tech-savvy friend had added her notes into a nearby computer, swiping the data to the left side of the screen when done, and transferring it to the computer on her desk. “I can see better now.”

  Narissa looked back at her, smiled, and then went back to her notes. “Excellent. At first glance, visual stimuli not causing extra harm once patient regains sight. More testing soon.”

  Mercedes smiled. She liked listening to Narissa speak while testing. Her friend’s intelligence, while hard to keep up with a lot of times, fascinated her.

  “Mercedes, I’d like for you to look around, and tell me how you feel when you do,” Narissa instructed.

  She did as asked. Mercedes found moving her head difficult and sometimes disorienting. Bright lights bothered her and made the pain in her head worse. She reported this to Narissa, who added the information to her notes.

  Narissa approached her and looked her over. “How much are you feeling with the arm?”

  “I’m not sure,” Mercedes admitted. “My head feels so funny right now, I’m not sure what is from the implant install, or what’s from the new sensation.”

  Narissa nodded. “Okay. Have you been able to feel anything specific since waking up?”

  “I felt when something passed by it, like wind, but then my head hurt from the sensation. And I don’t think I feel these wires.”

  Narissa picked up a clipboard with digital sensors projecting across it, and went to writing. “Okay. Is it okay for me to start doing some testing? I’d like to move your arm up and down to see what your mod does.”

  Mercedes nodded. “Let’s give it a whirl.”

  Her tech friend put down her clipboard and touched the device suspending Mercedes’ arm. Her arm twitched, and something in her mind pinged. Mercedes’ eye twitched in sync.

  “I saw that,” Narissa said. “Involuntary action?”

  “Yeah. Just that little movement set off the implant.”

  “Good to know. I’m going to move it more.”

  Narissa lowered Mercedes’ arm, sending a million sensations through her: pain, euphoria, confusion. Her heart began to race. “Stop!”

  Her friend listened and let Mercedes take a minute. “Tell me what you felt. The scanners are picking up a lot of activity in your brain.”

  “There was… so much going on I don’t know how to describe it. But none of it felt like it should. It doesn’t feel like when I move my real arm.” Mercedes went to show her friend, only for her brain to fire off just like it had with the artificial arm. Mercedes blinked, unable to taking in the sensation. “Okay, maybe I was wrong.”

  Na
rissa cocked her head. “If I remember correctly, you had a similar reaction when we originally implanted your prosthetic.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right.” Mercedes looked up at her friend. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

  Narissa pursed her lips. “Hard to say. We’ll need more tests to be sure.”

  Mercedes nodded. “Let’s keep going, then.”

  Several hours passed before Mercedes allowed herself a break. Narissa insisted she take more time, but she wasn’t a quitter, and as long as she wasn’t hurting herself, she didn’t see a reason to stop. This of course exhausted her, but it was worth it.

  The longer Mercedes had the implant and altered arm, the more accustomed she became to it. But it wasn’t perfect. With the way Narissa had planned this, the sensors were added and changed in a three-step process. This was the safest method Narissa could create that wouldn’t overload the body, and this also made it a sensible option for people who couldn’t afford the upfront cost of the full-feeling tech.

  Currently, Mercedes could only feel pressure of a certain amount. The moving-air feeling had been a fluke. Testing proved this, as the longer it continued, her ability to feel that light pressure dissipated. Narissa concluded it to be a side effect of her sensitivity to the implant, and as she adjusted, it resolved itself.

  Mercedes’ phone rang on a small table beside her and Tasha’s voice came from her phone. “Miss Mercedes, Takashi is calling you. Should I answer it?”

  She looked to Narissa who nodded. “Please answer that call on speaker.”

  “Of course, Miss Mercedes.”

  The phone stopped ringing and then a voice came through, “Hello?”

  “Hey, Takashi,” Mercedes greeted. “You’re on speakerphone.”

  “Tasha warned me.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his wording. “You must be tired if you’re answering on speaker.”

  Mercedes relaxed in her chair. “Exhausted.”

  “I’m putting her through her paces!” Narissa shouted.

  Takashi laughed. “I hope you’re not being too rough on our girl. We need her DPS for raids.”

  Narissa’s brow rose. “That’s the only reason?”

  Takashi chuckled. “Only reason we share.”

  “And what reason do you need her for?” Mercedes noticed the change in tone and wished she had the strength to smack her forehead. She should have known the conversation would go this way.

  “Lunch buddy.” His tone was so simple and matter-of-fact, as if it were obvious. “That is, if you’re up for it, Mercedes. I don’t want you to push yourself.”

  “Well…” She didn’t want to turn him down. She liked the prospect of having lunch with him, but she was tired.

  “I only have three hours before I have to get back to the seminar, so if it’s not good for you, it’s okay,” he added.

  “I think you should go,” Narissa encouraged. “You need a break, and this will give me time to compile my data.”

  “I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy,” Mercedes admitted. “That’s a lot for this arm to have to handle. We’ve barely managed to make it so I can rest it on this chair without my neuro-mod going crazy.”

  Narissa held up a finger. “And I’ve set up the arm so I can tell it to stop transmitting when directed. This will give you a chance to let your mind rest. It’ll give us a refresh when you return, and see how your mind reacts to the modification turning on and off.”

  “That won’t hurt her, will it?” Takashi sounded alarmed.

  “Oh, don’t be silly,” Narissa said. “I’m not going to do something that will intentionally hurt her. I’ve done the calculations, and it should only startle her a bit. How much, I don’t know. But it’ll help me gauge if the on-and-off functions would be best done while she’s asleep or awake.”

  “Are you okay with this, Mercedes?” Takashi asked. “I don’t want you pushing yourself.”

  Mercedes loved the care he was putting into this. He never pushed her more than she wanted to be. “Can I have an hour before I meet with you? That should give me enough time to rest and be good for a meetup.”

  “I’ll give you whatever time you need.” His response made her heart flutter. “I’ll message you the address to the diner. See you in an hour.”

  The call ended, and Narissa wiggled her eyebrows at Mercedes. “Don’t worry, I won’t invite myself to this lunch and cock-block you this time.”

  Mercedes’ face flushed and she had to look away.

  Narissa approached. “Now let’s turn this off so you can rest enough to meet up with loverboy.”

  Mercedes rolled her eyes and let her friend work, thinking of a way to get back at her for the comment while she did.

  The white sports car pulled into a parallel parking spot and Mercedes cut the engine. Tasha switched her connection from the car to the phone, and Mercedes slipped out of the vehicle. The hot L.A. sun bore down on her as she looked around the busy street. She wasn’t able to park close to the diner, so now she had to locate it.

  “My apologizes, Miss Mercedes,” Tasha said. “The destination is two blocks south of here.”

  Mercedes paid the meter and then headed south. “It’s okay, Tasha. That’s close for such a busy time of day. I got enough rest where I can manage.”

  Narissa’s rest suggestion had been a good one. Deactivating the sensors had been disorienting, to say the least, and not something she wanted to experience again when awake if she could help it. It took her an hour to readjust, and even still, her head hurt from the new implant. That pain would take some time to go away, but at least she wasn’t being hammered with wonky signals from her arm.

  Mercedes reflected on the testing and what was to come, passing the walk quickly. When the diner came into view, she spotted Takashi, but he wasn’t alone. Emi stood with him, chatting. Irritation flared up in her chest. She didn’t hate Emi, actually she quite liked the woman, but Takashi hadn’t said anything about others joining them. She had wanted to spend time with just him. Well, I don’t really have a right to think that if I can’t even decide what I want…

  A bell jingled, and a well-dressed man exited the diner. Takashi and Emi both looked at him, the latter smiling and greeting him with a kiss. Oh, maybe I’m wrong.

  She really needed to not jump to conclusions, but doubt clawed at her.

  Emi noticed her approach and waved. “Mercedes!”

  Mercedes waved back and joined the small group. “It’s good to see you, Emi. Sorry I’m late, Takashi. Parking sucks this time of day.”

  Emi gasped. “You didn’t do street parking, did you?”

  Mercedes’ brow rose. “Uh, yeah?”

  Emi dug through her purse, her beautiful ebon hair spilling over her shoulders, and then pulled out a card. She handed it to Mercedes. “Take this. A token of thanks for that referral. It’s good for a lot of the garages around here, with security. That pretty car of yours shouldn’t be on the street where it can get damaged.”

  Mercedes chuckled. “At least I could fix it easy enough if it was. And you’re welcome. I hope it worked out in your favor.”

  Emi’s eyes squinted as she smiled. “You bet! I have a meeting later today to show off a few of my designs. Even if they don’t like them, at least I had this opportunity. It’s more than I could ask for.” She gasped and then placed her hands on the man next to her. “I’m being so rude. I haven’t introduced you two.”

  The man patted Emi’s hand. “It’s okay. I didn’t want to interrupt your excitement.” He held a hand out to Mercedes. “Name’s Jason Atilon, head of the technical department for Emi’s father’s law firm. I’m her boyfriend.”

  Her focus now on him, Mercedes got the chance to take in his features—tall with dark hair, light skin, and brilliant blue eyes. But as she looked at him, a s
ense of unease washed over her.

  Mercedes grabbed his hand with her cybernetic one. “Mercedes Gail, manager at Gail’s Restorations.”

  “Ah, so you’re the famous restorer Emi gushed about. She says you’ve worked on an impressive number of cars in your life.”

  Mercedes nodded, shoving her hands in her back pocket. “Yeah, but not as many as my father. I don’t think there’s a car he hasn’t worked on at this point.”

  Jason dug through his pockets and pulled out a folded piece of cardstock and handed it to her. “Are you sure?”

  Mercedes unfolded the paper to find it an old photograph. On it was a man in his early thirties standing next to an antique sports car. Mercedes whistled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those. 1969 Pontiac GTO. We’ve restored a few of those.”

  Emi giggled. “Told you.”

  Jason shook his head. “I’m impressed. You’re the first in a while to know what that car is. The man in that photo is my grandfather. He loved those old cars. Was one hell of a hobby for him.” The watch on his wrist beeped and he took a look. “My report for my meeting later is done. We’ll have to get going so I can look it over beforehand.”

  Jason took back the photograph when Mercedes offered it, and he smiled. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Mercedes.” He looked to Takashi and extended his hand. “It’s been good seeing you again too, Takashi. Glad things are going well for you.”

  Takashi shook Jason’s hand and nodded, though he didn’t say anything, perplexing Mercedes. He was unusually quiet.

  The pair left, Takashi watching them, and Mercedes decided to address the issue. “You okay?”

  “I’m not a fan of Jason,” he admitted. “As much as I’m glad she’s happy with him, there’s always been something about him that rubbed me the wrong way.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “And before you say it, no, I’m not jealous she has a boyfriend. I have no feelings for her beyond a friend.”

  “I wasn’t going to accuse you of that.” Mercedes smiled at him, but she couldn’t help but hate the nagging of the tiny lie. A part of her did not believe his claim. Great, there’s that doubt again.