Page 75 of Rekindle My Heart

Erica shooed the drunk girl whispering in her head, but she was right. She had taken her chance, and one glorious night turned into a lifetime of regret.

The lie soured on her tongue.

You don’t regret him.

She took in his broad shoulders and the dexterity in his fingers as he rapidly worked the controller to set up his player.

She groaned. Oh, she remembered those hands vividly.

“Are you okay?” Dark, inquisitive eyes watched her.

Get out of your head, Randall.She gripped the controller as she pushed the thoughts from her mind. Gaming was the one thing she did to clear the demons that chased her. Most nights, she played until she zoned out and sleep pulled her eyelids closed.

Picking up the pills, she threw them in her mouth, gulped a swig of water, then slammed the glass on the coffee table. “Yup, let’s play.”

Ryan selected his avatar and readied for battle. Erica grinned. She would wipe up the floor with him. As she was ready to hit play, he dropped out and re-entered the game.

“What are you doing?”

His brows arched in an innocent expression. It was bullshit. She threw him a squinty-eyed look. No. He didn’t just… Shit. He did. The sneaky asshole. “That’s my team. You can’t be on it.”

“Sure I can. Look.” He pointed to the screen. “It says so right there.”

“But that makes us teammates.” Of all the luck. What were the odds he’d be added to her team?

“Exactly.”

The bastard. By the smirk on his face, he knew the odds and had just played them.

“Fine.” She focused on the game. They spawned, and her character shot him.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“I told you I was going to watch you die. Just because we’re on the same team doesn’t mean I can’t kill you.”

He growled. “So that’s how this is going to go?”

She shrugged.

The next thirty minutes were spent killing one another off. He got her back with a sneak attack. After that, it was all-out war. The other players had abandoned them somewhere around the fifteen-minute mark.

Erica laughed so much her belly hurt.

Ryan’s character was running at her full speed with a machete when a sniper took him out.

“What the fuck! Who was that?” He threw his hands in the air.

“He’s on the roof. Three o’clock.” She sent rapid fire at the intruder.

The next hour, they worked in sync. The enemies were eliminated, and their score and levels increased. By the time they cleared the battlefield on the next level, Erica’s cheeks were sore from smiling.

“We make a good team.” Had she said that out loud?

“We always did.” The low murmur raked over her skin like a warm breeze.

Her breath caught. He was right. They had.

He watched her now—his eyes dark, his breathing deep.