Page 75 of The Alibi Club
“What’s up, compadre? What happened with Shannon?”
Kyle shook his head. “That singles prayer list sucks.”
“Ah, yes. The power of prayer at work again.”
“I could never hope to get a girl as wonderful as her.”
They looked over at Shannon, who was consumed by reorganizing her bag. She stopped to put on frosted pink lip gloss and toss out an empty pack of cigarettes.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Kyle. You two seemed like you were really hitting it off. What happened?”
“She brought up gaming.”
“Are you a gamer?” Cliff asked.
Kyle hesitated and said in a frustrated whisper, “I wish I wasn’t, okay? But I am. And I know that being a gamer basically precludes me from dating most decent women. My friend’s wife hates us and him and I don’t want that kind of relationship, but I’ve tried to quit and I can’t so I’m doomed to be single forever.”
Cliff took this in and asked, “What’s your drug of choice?”
“World of Warcraft.”
“Mmm, I’ve been on a quest or two. So, you’re afraid to be your true gaming self in front of the delicate flower that is Shannon?” Cliff nearly snorted.
Another peek at Shannon, who had found a piece of gum in the bottom of her bag and was smacking it while she inspected more tubes of lipstick.
“Exactly.”
“How do you know she hates gamers?”
“Be serious. All decent women hate gamers. Especially goddesses like her.” Kyle rested his hopeless head on his hand.
“Au contraire, my friend. I know your experience with your friend’s evil wife might be all you know, but plenty of people play video games. Normal, employed, fully involved in healthy relationships. Tech bros and actors made it cool. Trust me, it does not have the stain of shame on it like the Dungeons & Dragons players of the nineties.”
Kyle gave him a dubious expression. “I don’t know, man.”
“What’s your favorite quest?” Cliff changed gears.
Kyle’s frustration seemed to melt away as he thought about the question. He took this seriously. “It’s a tie between Silverpine and Wandering Isles. I like blasting the ship and healing the turtles.”
“That’s … sweet.” Cliff smiled even though those gaming levels were out his pay grade. He got up and said, “Be right back.”
Cliff got up, crossed the room to where Shannon was sitting with her enormous bag.
“Permission to sit?”
“It’s a free country.”
Cliff sat down on a chair next to Shannon with his back to Kyle. As he spoke, her eyes brightened and she blew a bubble with her gum and smiled in Kyle’s direction.
CHAPTER FORTY
Liar, Liar
JAMIE
Jamie came back from the restroom and observed Cliff chatting with Shannon. A bolt of white-hot jealousy coursed through her veins, surprising her. Cliff had made it clear that her confession had killed his attraction to her. Jamie was damaged and she knew it. This is why she didn’t share.
She had grown up hiding things from her mother because it was the only way to survive. If Elaine Cromwell Frisco knew what she cared about, she used it as a weapon against her. Jamie understood at a young age not to make herself vulnerable. How could she have caved so easily to a group blind date’s peer pressure? She glanced over again and instead of continuing to gawk at Cliff and Shannon, Jamie tried to retain some level of grumpy dignity and went over to sulk by the bar.
