Playing Passion's Game Read online

Trent looked over her shoulder to where Elton was towering over a console watching the action unfold. “No, he’s surprisingly unattached.”

  “Excellent. You must introduce me when you’ve all finished playing whatever it is you people play,” she said. “Now, where are you taking the child?”

  Trent held out her hand to help Kayleigh down the steps. “Let me introduce you to some games you are going to love.”

  *

  The back of the hall was separated from the main area by a series of room dividers. The sound of children’s high and excited voices came from behind the screens. Trent led her group inside. She waved over a young man who was supervising the children with a parental eye.

  “Conrad, we have another convert to add to your fold.” Trent introduced Kayleigh to him and then Juliet and Monica. She bit back a grin at his obvious double take of Monica’s stylish appearance. Trent guided Kayleigh along with Conrad to get her settled in. “I have two sets this morning that I have to compete in, but I’ll be sure to come back here to see how you’re doing, okay?” She pointed to all the consoles lined up. “This is where you get to test your skill at sports. Trust me, the bowling is brilliant.” She drew Kayleigh’s attention to another area. “Here’s where the DSs take the lead, and you can go head-to-head with people here in the room, or we have Wi-fi set up and you can challenge people online anywhere.” She cast Juliet a look. “All safe, all monitored. And the people here are great. They’ll keep Kayleigh occupied.”

  “Do we stay with her?”

  “You could or you can trust Conrad and his merry band to keep an eye on her should you decide you want to watch the main matches on today.”

  “Is the Grim Reaper playing?” Monica’s question was innocent enough, but the accompanying look in her eyes was not.

  “Yes, ma’am, he is. He and I have a match against another team in about fifteen minutes should you care to watch.”

  “What are you playing?”

  “We’re in combat teams against zombie hordes for our first game of the morning.” Trent looked over at Juliet and rubbed her hands together gleefully. “There’s nothing like an early start on killing the undead.”

  Juliet addressed Monica. “You go take your seat in the main hall and I’ll come join you once I know Kayleigh’s settled in.” She turned to look for Kayleigh. “I guess that answers that, then.” Kayleigh was already standing in line with some other children, strapping on her Wii remote, ready to play baseball.

  Trent noticed that Wade, who had been with the boys terrorizing Kayleigh just the day before, had snuck in line behind her. Kayleigh acknowledged him and Trent was pleased to see him flush a brilliant magenta as he was obviously apologizing to her.

  “Does Kayleigh know him?” Juliet asked.

  “He’s a good boy. He was just with the wrong crowd yesterday.” Wade’s shoulders relaxed as he started chatting more freely to Kayleigh, who obviously didn’t hold a grudge. “I think she’s just made a friend.”

  “Thank you for letting her come here.”

  “No, thank you for bringing her. Every kid needs someplace to go to explore who they are and what they like.”

  Juliet looked around her, taking in the sounds of many games all going at once and the children’s delighted chatter. “As long as she’s happy, I’m happy.”

  Trent drew Juliet’s attention to Kayleigh taking her stance before the screen. With a look of intense concentration she swung her remote, and on the screen the ball flew out of the stadium to cheers and a “Home Run!” announcement. Kayleigh’s team all cheered and high-fived her as she stood aside for the next player to take his turn. Kayleigh’s face glowed as she caught Trent’s eye and struck a winner’s pose.

  “I’d say she’s happy.” Trent discreetly winked at Kayleigh and turned to leave the children’s area. Juliet’s hand on her arm stopped her.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing your match.”

  “I’ll be sure to do my best to impress you.”

  “You think I need to be impressed?”

  Trent straightened her shoulders. “Your sister has just scored a home run on her first go; I’m not having a little girl outplay me. How would it look if I got myself killed in the first minute of my game? How could I possibly hold my head up high before you? I have a reputation to uphold after all.” Trent’s tone was serious but she failed to hold her smile in check.

  “You take this all very seriously, don’t you?”

  “Gaming is serious, even though it’s just a bunch of people getting together to press a series of buttons to move pixilated characters around a screen.”

  “It sounds silly when you put it like that.”

  “But then would we still dance if it was described as just sticking your bodies together and moving your feet across the floor in time to a beat?” Trent was almost pushed into Juliet as a young child barreled past in their haste to reach a new game. “It takes the romance out of what can be a very intimate act.” Trent could see the pulse in Juliet’s neck beat out its rhythm. She was mesmerized by it.

  “Do you dance, Trent?” Juliet’s voice was low.

  “I haven’t for a long time, but I think I could still follow the beat.” She was all too aware that the tone of the conversation had switched track just a little. She cringed as the siren went off to announce the next tournament but was thankful for it. “I have to go play.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Will you cheer for me?” Trent hoped she didn’t sound as desperate as the words appeared.

  “If I can be heard over Monica screaming for your partner the Grim Reaper, then yes, I will.”

  Trent laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. “Then let the contest commence.” She gestured for Juliet to go before her. “But first, let me walk you back to your seat.”

  “What is it with you escorting the Sullivan sisters wherever they need to go?”

  Trent kept her gaze fixed on Juliet. “Seems like the best thing I can do.”

  Chapter Three

  The game between two of the Henley Hurricanes’ top players and Elton and Trent had been running for a set time of twenty minutes. Trent had very quickly gotten her concentration back into why she was there and away from the distraction of Juliet Sullivan. She grunted with satisfaction as she managed to kill off another set of moaning undead and set their score higher than their opponents’. When the final score was tallied, she and Elton had taken a very healthy lead, and she was proud as their scores were the first to be added to the board and the Baydale Reapers were far ahead of the competition. She walked over to congratulate her opponents on a good game played. However, Elton was not as gracious, and instead he played to the audience, building up their cheers.

  “He’s such a pain in the ass,” Dave said as he shook Trent’s hand.

  “He knows that this is what the audience likes. We’re not supposed to all get along and be friends outside the arena.” Trent shook her head at his antics. “I told you to come work at our shop and not go to the other branch; that way you’d have been on our team and wouldn’t have to put up with his showman antics.”

  “Your game was excellent today,” Dave said.

  “I had extra stimulus,” Trent muttered and tried not to look out into the crowd of people to see if Juliet was still watching. She’d never worried before what anyone thought of her playing except for her own team members. She was a little disconcerted to find she was interested to hear what Juliet thought of her win.

  “You’re in the racing later?” Dave eyed her curiously.

  “I’ll be dogging your tail all around the track, yes.” She caught Elton’s attention. “Will you stop working the crowd into a frenzy?”

  Elton sauntered over to clasp an arm about Dave’s shoulders. “How about I buy you a drink, loser?”

  “You really think a can of pop is going to stop me from breaking your fingers if you keep goading me?”

  Elton looked over at Trent. “Did you hear that? He t
hreatened actual bodily harm.”

  “Leave Dave alone. You’ve had your fun; now play nice with the other boys.”

  Elton ruffled Dave’s hair into a mess. “I’ll buy you a beer tonight and you can drown your sorrows in that, okay?”

  Dave began trying to get his hair back into some semblance of neatness. “Two beers.”

  Elton nodded. “Two beers and a bag of chips.” He waved him off the stage. “No offense, but he’s such a girl.”

  “You’d think you’d be nicer to him, him being your cousin and all.”

  Elton wrapped his arm around Trent’s shoulder and led her backstage. “In gaming there is no family except for your buddy beside you in the field of play.” He pulled her back behind the curtain and pushed her against the wall playfully. “So spill, sister. Who got you pulling some fancy tricks while we were playing, because you were either touched by divinity or you were shooting to impress.”

  Trent knew she couldn’t keep anything from him so yanked him back with her to peek through the curtain. “Second tier, fourth row.”

  Elton’s jaw dropped with comical speed. “Oh my God. She’s beautiful.” His words whispered out like a prayer. “And damn you for seeing her first!” he said, not moving from between the curtains. “God can’t be that cruel could he? To make such a gorgeous woman, one so obviously meant for me and have her fall for you instead?”

  Trent stuck her head beside his out the curtain and realized what and who he was salivating over. “The Goth chick is all yours, Elton. She’s already asked me to introduce you to her. I’m talking about the blonde next to her.”

  Elton shifted his gaze and looked where Trent was indicating. “Wow, she’s pretty damn hot too. If you like blondes with big—”

  “Elton! Eyes up!” Trent growled.

  “I didn’t think your tastes ran to the darker femmes of the Gothic bent. But I swear, that woman beside your ray of light is a vision of dark beauty.”

  “That’s Monica.”

  Elton rolled the name around on his tongue. “Mon…i…ca, even her name is a benediction.”

  “Try not to drool on your robes there, Reaper.”

  Elton closed the curtain swiftly. “You’ll introduce me, right?”

  Trent nodded.

  “No, I mean now, right this second.” He began straightening his robe.

  “Elton, we have another match in a few minutes. We don’t have time for you to go meet and greet.”

  Elton pouted, which given his face paint, was not a good look for the angel of death. “But you’ve showed her to me now,” he whined.

  “And you can get up close and personal with her after the matches, but for now we need to have your concentration on the games and not on Morticia Addams out there.”

  Elton sighed dreamily. “She does have a little Carolyn Jones going on around the cheekbones, doesn’t she? Then there’s all that black hair, the pale face, those black lined eyes…”

  Trent snorted. “She’s actually wearing less makeup than you at the moment.”

  Elton put a hand to his cheek. “I need to go make sure nothing has run. I can’t meet her with my Reaper guise anything less than perfect.” He disappeared into the men’s room.

  “Great, now neither of us is thinking about the games.”

  *

  Juliet handed Monica a can and waited while Monica tried to pull the ring tab without damaging her false nails. Juliet rolled her eyes at her and retrieved the can to pop the tab.

  “You’re a high-maintenance date,” she grumbled good-naturedly.

  “But you love me anyway.” Monica’s attention was drawn to the stage where the next game was being set up. Juliet followed her line of vision. Trent, minus her flowing robe, was standing with her arms folded talking to an official. Juliet enjoyed the fact she could study Trent without censure. Dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt bearing the face of a gaming character even Juliet recognized, Trent was stunning. She towered over the man she was talking to, her body solid and powerful, yet now that she was out of the shapeless robe Juliet could see the subtle curve of her breasts. Juliet’s palms itched and she absently wiped them on her thighs. Trent’s face was unashamedly masculine, but her smile broke up what could have been a moody countenance. Trent suddenly laughed at something the official had said, head thrown back and her face wreathed in delight. Juliet’s heart clenched at the sight.

  “If you continue to look at her like that she’s liable to burst into flames,” Monica said softly. She took a sip from her can and added, “Either that or you will.”

  Juliet reached for her own drink and took a long swallow from it.

  “I know you normally like the more butch lesbian, but this one is not your average butch, me thinks.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You usually go out with tomboys, girls who would cream themselves to be as big and bad as that one looks. She’s not playing. She’s the real deal.”

  Trent walked off the stage and headed to the back of the hall. “This one is so different, she doesn’t seem to pretend to be something she isn’t. And she cares. She walked Kayleigh all the way home yesterday. She didn’t need to do that.”

  “She’s a geek. She plays with boys on games where they shoot aliens and zombies. None of your previous dates would have been seen dead doing such things.”

  Juliet acknowledged that and tried not to crane her neck to see where Trent had disappeared to. The hall seemed strangely empty with her off the stage.

  Monica leaned closer to Juliet when Trent reappeared to take her seat at a console beside Elton. “Other than her looks and how she eats you alive with her eyes, what makes you think she’s a lesbian?”

  “My sister told me.”

  Monica snorted at her. “Is there nothing that kid can’t find out?” She leaned back in her chair and regarded Juliet. “So are you going to see if this woman can put down her toys long enough to play with you?”

  Juliet drained the remaining pop from her can to delay her reply. She was saved from answering by Kayleigh’s exuberant return.

  “Jules! Trent’s going to play next and I can watch this one. She came and got me especially.” Kayleigh flung herself into her seat and then leaned forward over the railing.

  Juliet reached over to run her hand through Kayleigh’s hair. “You having fun, kid?”

  Kayleigh’s eyes were sparkling. “This is the best day ever!”

  “And how about you?” she asked Monica.

  Monica shrugged. “Ask me after I’ve met Reaper Boy.” She then cast a sly eye at Juliet. “But I’m really glad I came, if only to watch you fall under the same spell your sister obviously is where that woman is concerned.”

  *

  Trent tuned out Elton’s repetitive grunting as he guided his car around the track ahead of their competitors. His lead was virtually untouchable. Trent was driving to secure second place and bring the race home for the Baydale Reapers. Her concentration was totally fixed on the screen before her to the exclusion of the crowd behind her, the two men seated at the screens opposite, and her best friend beside her. Focused on the road before her, she felt the rumble from the control pad as she took a corner wide and the gravel crunched beneath her wheels. Her eyes were fixed on the car ahead of her, a rival who was confident the game was his. His erratic driving across the track was to keep Trent from overtaking him. Trent bided her time. She had driven this track so many times that she knew every curve and line like a lover. She ignored the man’s taunting voice that she could just hear over the partition, having long since turned off the headset so she wouldn’t have to listen to his blow-by-blow account of his superior driving skills in her ear. When his car hit the blind curve too fast because of his showboating, Trent pulled past his fiercely spinning vehicle and sped forward to a comfortable victory. Elton cheered and the audience erupted as her second place behind her teammate was broadcast around the room. The slap of a hand on her shoulder brought her back to her seat and she looked u
p to see Elton’s victorious face. She looked over at the losing team. Only Dave put his hand out over the tables to congratulate them. The other player had thrown down his headset and stormed off the stage.

  “Your new teammate plays dirty,” Elton said to his cousin.

  “And that is why he fails,” Trent said in her best Jedi Master voice. She shook Dave’s hand. “Nice driving, Dave. Pity you got pushed off the track by your own man so early in the game.”

  Dave’s disappointment was obvious. “He won’t try that trick again. You two are amazing, though.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice chasing after this guy.” She patted Elton’s shoulder as she eased herself out of her chair and looked over to where she could hear a small voice shouting her name above the row. Trent nudged Elton who was also looking in that direction. “If we win the tournament today, what say we take the ladies out with us to celebrate?” She surprised herself with the wager. She usually kept gaming and girls entirely separate. I’m doing this for Elton, so he can meet Monica, she told herself.

  Elton’s eyes were transfixed on Monica, who easily stood out from the rest of the crowd. “No pressure, then.”

  “You want the girl to be impressed, we had better frag the ass off Mick’s team for the finale.”

  “Bring him and his team on.”

  Trent stepped down off the stage. Elton’s voice made her turn around.

  “Hey, where are you going? We have our last match soon. We should talk strategy and game play and—”

  “We kick their asses. Enough said.” Trent walked away. “I just have someone to see first.”

  *

  “You two totally beat him!” Kayleigh said, her excitement lighting up her face.

  Trent enjoyed her infectious glee. “He was a careless driver. He deserved to wipe out and lose.”

  “He was a bad loser too. He stomped off the stage like a five-year-old.”

  “I think he’ll have to get used to that if that’s how he wants to play. I think his teammates might have a few words with him about his conduct. We don’t like bad sports.” Trent tried to be nonchalant about looking over at Juliet. She couldn’t control the shock of pleasure that ran through her body when she met the bold eyes staring back at her. “I’m going to see how badly your sister can beat me at Wii bowling before I have to finish the last game of the day. Is that okay with you?” She glanced over at Monica, curious to know her connection to Juliet. “Elton, Chris, Eddie, and I are going up against the first placed team, which should be decided at the end of this game now starting.”