A thrill went through me from scalp to pinkie toes. He liked me. And I was already head over heels for him, almost literally. He had caught me once before, but this time I was looking forward to the fall, especially if it was falling with him.
“How about we hang out and get you to level five while we get to know each other?” he asked, motioning to the park behind him. “Unless you’d rather not play Monster GO at all. We could just walk around the park.”
“No, let’s play. It sounds fun,” I insisted. “Plus, if you teach me how to play then I can finally get Tommy off of my back about it.”
Jacob chuckled. “I’m an only child, so I wouldn’t know what it’s like to have to deal with a younger sibling. But Tommy actually seems like a pretty cool kid. I’ve met some young ones that drive me nuts and he definitely wasn’t one of them.”
“You’re just being nice because you two happen to be on the same team,” I replied with a laugh.
“I’m not saying one way or the other. It’s possible that’s why I got along with him, though,” he said, with a playful wink. “Now come on, let’s get you leveled up.”
We both pulled out our phones and opened up the app. Jacob quickly explained more of the game play, pointing to his phone and showing me how to get the most out of the game. It made so much more sense when he explained it and I could see more of the appeal of the game.
Together we walked slowly around the fountain, waiting for a monster to show up so that we could catch it. Athena followed dutifully behind us, her blond shaggy tail wagging slowly as we went.
“What got you into playing?” I asked as we made our second circle around. “You seem to know a lot about it.”
“Not really,” he said with a shrug.
“You aren't secretly one of the developers or something?” I teased.
Jacob tripped on the sidewalk and managed to catch himself just in time.
“Are you okay?” I asked, putting my hand on his arm to make sure he was steady. I wasn't ready for the thrill that went through my body at touching him.
“I'm fine,” he assured me. “Just tripped over my own feet. You know as well as I do how easy it is.”
He gave me a wide smile. His cheeks were bright with color that I could only assume came from nearly falling. I looked back and couldn't see what he had tripped on, but I knew that it could have been anything.
“So, what are you doing in town?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Um...” I smiled nervously. I wanted to impress him, but my reason for being here wasn't exactly glamorous. I decided to just go for the truth. “I just graduated and I'm living with my parents while I look for a job.”
“Here?” Jacob asked, looking around as if there were available jobs around the park.
“Anywhere, really.” I shrugged, trying my best to stay nonchalant and positive. “I need the free rent while I look.”
“I can understand that.” Jacob nodded. “What’s your degree in?”
“I studied software engineering, system analysis, stuff like that,” I replied slowly. This was the part where I either lost or impressed guys. “But my actual degree is in computer programming.”
“Seriously?” he asked, his eyes widening with surprise.
“Yeah, seriously.” I laughed. “Why does everyone always sound so shocked when I say that?”
“I just don’t meet a lot of pretty girls who like computers, I guess,” he replied.
My face felt hot.
“What about you?” I asked. I wanted to change the subject to take the focus off of me, and my reddened face. “Tell me your story.”
“I actually work in software development. Or, I guess, I did. Until I moved out here to get away from it all,” he said.
“You're in software development?” I asked. “That's basically my dream job.”
“It's a pretty good job,” he said. “But it's definitely not what I expected. There's a lot of things that no one can tell you about until you're actually neck deep in the business.”
“I guess that’s true,” I said. “Even so, though, I would kill for that job. Actually, I would kill for any job right now, but even more so for a decent position in something that I went to school for.”