“Game stores always give those away. They know people become regular customers once they’re hooked.” Alden’s tone was knowing, but it didn’t make me defensive as it might have in the past. I got now that he wasn’t trying to be intentionally rude or dismissive.
“Yup. But she was good to me in other ways too. She listened to me complain about my folks and our tiny town and wasn’t all judgmental. She was easy to talk to, and she was a Gracehaven alumni, which made me want to go east for college, escape like she had.”
“That’s cool. It’s nice to find people who really listen.” Alden’s thoughtful tone said that maybe he hadn’t had a lot of that himself.
“Yeah.” I paused because I hadn’t thought of myself as lucky in months, but I really had been during those years when I desperately needed someone on my side. “And you? How did you get into the game?”
He flicked a glance my way, almost as if surprised I had asked. “Sort of similar to you, actually. Distraction from…stuff. Mimi gave me some decks as a bar mitzvah present, and they had a code for the online version, which was really basic back then, but it still captivated me.”
“Knowing you, you probably cared more about all the winning you did than the graphics.” I laughed before glancing over at him.
“Guilty.” His shy smile did something to my insides, something I wasn’t sure I liked.
“But later you found the store, right?”
“Yeah. I had Professor Tuttle, and he used examples from the game in class, so I worked up the courage to tell him that I played too. He got me into going down to Arthur’s store more, playing with real people, not just the computer.”
“Dude, real people are so much better than the computer.”
“Says Mr. Popular. I’ve never been very good with people. I’m a little better, now, but there are still plenty of days that I prefer online game play.”
“I can see that. It would drive me nuts, but you’re more of a lo—introvert.” I’d been about to label him a loner, but thought better of it at the last minute. We had this nice sort of peace going, and I didn’t want to lose it by being judgmental. I never would have guessed we had even this much in common, and it was a weird, unsettling feeling. “Besides, the computer doesn’t come with as much trash talk.”
“Your specialty.” His shy smile widened into a genuine grin, a rare joke from him, and it was sort of like seeing a rainbow after a hard thunderstorm, the way the smile transformed his usually stoic expression. He had a dimple, which I couldn’t recall noticing before, and smiling made his brown eyes flicker with gold.
This Alden, the joking one who understood far more than I’d ever thought possible, was so much more appealing than the cranky rival snapping cards down, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to do with this transformation.
Chapter Fourteen
Alden
As we approached Indianapolis, Conrad became more excited, like a little kid on a field trip. It was sort of…cute. And I didn’t find much cute, so that was truly saying something. I wasn’t sure what to do with this new desire to make him happy, which had led to agreeing to this side stop, setting aside my already-strained schedule.
I followed the GPS’s directions toward the northwest part of the city. Driving was decidedly easier now, my hands less cramped, back not so surgical-steel-rod tense even though I had to navigate city traffic. Black Jack might still be an intimidating dinosaur of a car, but my nerves weren’t nearly as bad as they’d been the day before.
“Why do you like car racing anyway?” I asked as I took an exit.
“My grandpa. He’s dead now, but when he was alive, we’d watch the Sunday races together after church. Both IndyCar and NASCAR. There’s this racing museum not too far away from our town too. He used to like to take me there, and he taught me to drive the year before he passed on.”
“I’m sorry.” Condolences always felt so empty, and this was no exception. I was never sure exactly what to say in the face of loss.
“Eh. He got really sick toward the end. I miss him, but I didn’t want him to keep hurting, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“Anyway, because of Grandpa, I had a monster crush on this one younger NASCAR driver. Couldn’t ever tell anyone, of course, but I kept up with his career even once I outgrew the hots for him. And Indy and the hall of fame there is like…the ultimate goal for race car drivers. Like MOC West is for us, kinda.”
“We won’t have a stadium full of cheering fans,” I pointed out, keeping my voice even. I’d almost snapped at him before I realized that it wasn’t irritation I was feeling at all. Part of me apparently didn’t like the thought of Conrad having a crush on someone, even some race car driver I’d surely never heard of. Which was patently ridiculous. I had no business caring who he crushed on.