Game All Night Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Author Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  Playlist

  Acknowledgements

  Also by Lauren Helms

  About the Author

  A Gamer Boy Novel

  Lauren Helms

  Copyright © 2018 Lauren Helms

  This book is meant for personal enjoyment only. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it from a proper retailer, won in a verified contest, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please delete or return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Lauren Helms (www.authorlaurenhelms.com)

  Cover design by BxThree Designs (https://www.facebook.com/bxthreedesigns), inspired by Sweet Birds Design.

  Editing by JL Anderson (TheAverillScribe.wordpress.com) and Karin Enders.

  To my very first true Gamer Boy fan, Maggie.

  Thank you for all the love you’ve shown my gamers and all the tough love you showed me while writing this book. Thank you for helping me make Ruby and Link’s story even better than I imagined.

  Author Note

  Dear Readers: Thank you so much for reading GAME ALL NIGHT. Ruby and Link’s book always seemed like it would be tons of fun to write. As I started writing their story, they took me down a path that I wasn’t expecting. While I tried to keep this story as “nerdy and flirty” as I could, there are some dark times for Ruby and Link. Everyone reacts differently in those dark times and I went where the characters took me.

  Chapter One

  Ruby

  “Thirty dollars a week?” Bernie asks with confusion. “On comic books?”

  “Yeah, sometimes more, but normally around that much,” I confirm.

  She looks thoughtful.

  “It’s really not that much. I mean, how much do you spend a week on video game stuff?”

  “Er, well not that much. Most of my stuff is sponsored. But I do spend a lot on my Starbucks fix each week,” she concedes.

  “Well, there. See?”

  Bernie and I are on our way to my favorite comic book shop. It’s just the two of us tonight, which isn’t completely out of the ordinary. Since neither of us have boyfriends, we stick together but mostly we hang out in a group style setting. Or I’m hanging out with my roommate Gia and our bestie Morgan as well. But it’s date night and Gia is out with Simon, her longtime friend and new boyfriend, seeing the new Marvel movie. Morgan is also partaking in date night with her boyfriend Dex. I’m sure we won’t be referring to him as her boyfriend for much longer though. Nope, I have a feeling that the two of them will be moving on up the relationship ladder sooner or later. They’ve been living together for a few months now and I’m surprised it’s taken the guy this long to make it official.

  Since I was held up at work yesterday, I never made it to Skyline Comics. Wednesdays are my normal weekly pick-up day but sometimes I have to wait a day or so before I can make it in. Wednesday has been my favorite day of the week for as long as I can remember because it’s when all of my favorite comic books release new issues. I have about five that I subscribe to, so every week I go to Skyline and grab what’s in my pull folder. If I have time, I browse the shelves for anything else that I might want but at the very least, I’m content for a week with my Lumberjanes, Ms. Marvel, Archie, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl.

  Bernie texted me earlier and asked if I wanted to go to dinner, so I figured we’d kill two birds with one stone. We just left the comic shop and Bernie was a little shocked when she saw how much my weekly fix cost me. The shop door was barely closed behind us before she started questioning me during our walk to the restaurant.

  “I’m glad I came with you. I’m thinking you need to give me a crash course in all things comics. Because I’m totally interested in nerding out over these,” Bernie tells me, and I immediately feel the pull of excitement in my stomach. You know, that feeling when someone wants to talk about your passion? They want to learn, and they are giving you an open invitation to just let it all out? They want to actually hear about the knowledge you have on the subject. It’s incredibly exciting to talk about comic books with other people.

  “You have no idea how ecstatic I am right now,” I say with a bounce in my step.

  Bernie chuckles at me. “Oh, I know. I can tell. Plus, you let me talk about video game streaming all the time so, it’s about time you induct me into your comic world.”

  I step into her and throw my arm around her shoulders. “Eek! I love spending time with you Bern, you make me so happy.”

  Still laughing she just shakes her head.

  “I love spending time with you too, Rube.”

  “We don’t go out nearly enough,” I offer. “Hanging out just the two of us, that is.”

  “Yeah, I know how you love going out to eat. And we don’t actually do that very much, have you realized that?”

  By “we” she means the group. Our posse. Our people.

  It seems like just yesterday, Morgan, Gia and I were hanging out, bar hopping, and living life the way three young twenty-somethings do living in the Windy City. Then BAM! Out of nowhere we find ourselves submerged in the world of gamer boys — well, and girl. It’s been a fun but bumpy ride.

  Morgan hooking up with Dex, the captain of their professional video-gaming team, actually meeting him across the country at San Diego Comic Con then finding out he and his team live here in Chicago … it’s crazy, really. Dex brought his team, Simon, Bernie and their trusty sidekick Link into our lives. It’s a small world because, little did we know that fateful night when we all joined into one thriving group of friends, that Simon and Gia knew each other from a past life that none of us knew about. Their history and chemistry were out-of-this-world ridiculous.

  Since Dex and Mo moved in together, things have been shaken up just a bit. Gia and I became roomies while Link and Simon still have an open room where Dex used to live. Bernie insists on keeping her own place down the hall from them. She refuses to live with the same gamer boys she works with every day. And I don’t blame her one bit. But since Gia and Simon are together more often than not, I find myself on my own. When I am not alone, I am usually with L
ink kicking his butt in old school video games or with Bernie, the only girl on the gaming team. There aren’t a lot of them in existence, but this particular gamer girl kicks ass, and I love spending time with her.

  “Actually, I was just thinking about that the other day,” I reply. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love movie night, TV binging, and old school video game night, but there is also something special about going out, walking the town, and enjoying a new restaurant,” I say wistfully.

  Bernie hums beside me in agreement.

  “Dancing. I like going out dancing,” she says longingly, clearly imagining herself out on the dance floor, under the bright lights, moving to the unforgettable tempo of the most popular dance beats. I make a mental note to add this as an activity for a girls’ night soon.

  “What do you and Mason do then?” she asks randomly.

  “Huh?”

  Oh, right. Mason. I always forget about him. He is a sports reporter for the local NBC affiliate so sometimes he has important work functions to attend.

  Er, I did not just say that.

  “Uh, well Mason and I do go out to dinner. And sometimes he takes me to his work-related events, but really, we just have a lot of sex.”

  Bernie chokes on her laugh. “Oh, well then. Good for you.”

  I shrug. What can I say? We’re pretty good at it and it’s something to do to pass the time. Free entertainment.

  “Speaking of which, how long have you two been dating now?” she asks.

  “Uh, a while, let me think.” I scrunch my face up trying think back to when we had our first date.

  “Wasn’t it around the time when everything happened with Gia’s brother? That was like in October, yeah?” she offers.

  “Yes! Good call, Bern. So, let’s see … uh. That would make it eight months.” Wow, that’s a long time. I ponder this for a moment when I realize that Bernie isn’t next to me anymore.

  I look over my shoulder and see her standing there, looking at me curiously. As if I had turned purple and sprouted a second head with an alien eye popping out of it.

  “Jeesh, Bern, why are you looking at me like that?” I stop and turn toward her.

  “You’ve been dating the guy for eight months and none of us have met him. I don’t … I don’t understand this.” She gives her head a quick shake and starts walking again.

  Once she’s back beside me, we continue on. I think about this before I answer.

  I really like Mason. And like I mentioned, the sex is good. We see each other about once a week. We are exclusive, but I’ve never really felt the urge to introduce him to the gang.

  “Are you embarrassed?” she asks shyly.

  “No! Absolutely not. That thing on his back was a mole, but he had it removed last month. Which, I’m really relieved about. I was worried I was going to like rip it off during sex sometimes. And that would be a total turn off, you know? There would be no big O after that - whoops sorry, Mason, your mole is bleeding all over me — just, no.” I cringe at the thought.

  “Uh …” Her head flinches back slightly as her eyebrows squish together. “Okay, so I’m relieved to hear you aren’t embarrassed of us. I’m also glad to hear he got that mole taken care of.”

  “Why would I be embarrassed of you guys?” I ask tilting my head to the side, pursing my lips.

  “I don’t know. Maybe because we play video games all day. Some people don’t think too highly of that.” It’s not like her to feel ashamed of her profession.

  “Well, I might not be a gamer, but I’m a nerd through and through, and us nerds have to stick together.” I bump my shoulder into hers with a grin. For real though, we met Bernie and the guys at Comic-Con. So … nerds.

  “Well, we just thought that maybe you didn’t want us to meet Mason because you were ashamed of us,” she says, her tone lighter than a few seconds before.

  I wrinkle my nose. “Wait, who is we?”

  “Link, me, and the guys. Well Simon doesn’t really care all that much, and Dex said that you weren’t. So really, just Link and me. Just a little bit though, and not anymore,” She admits before a long gulp of air. Then realization settles in, and there lies the problem.

  “So, the sidekick is feeling a bit insecure, huh?” I chew on this. Figures. “If there’s anyone I don’t want Mason meeting, it’s Link. That boy will probably rub Mason the wrong way inside of the first five minutes.”

  “Mm-hmm.” She purses her lips in thought.

  “I mean, Link would probably try to talk sports with Mason and he would get all the facts wrong. And then he would tell Mason he was the one who was wrong.” I tuck a stray hair behind my ear imagining this first meeting. I hear a sound of agreement from beside me, but I keep going.

  “He would probably have Amber with him and then her annoying AF laugh would just drive Mason insane.”

  “Yeah, sounds like Mason would have a problem with her for sure.” Bernie chuckles, and I can tell she is making fun of me with her condescending tone. “And when you say AF, you mean …”

  “As fuck. You know I’m trying to watch my language, Bern.”

  “So, do you think you’ll ever introduce Mason to us? Or are you too worried about what Link and his current flavor of the week will say or do to embarrass you?”

  “Yeah, she’s not a flavor. They’ve been dating for five months. And no, it just hasn’t been a priority.” I try not to think too much about the fact that I know how long Link has been dating Amber while I wasn’t sure about my own dating status. Unfortunately, by the eyebrow raise and sly grin on Bern’s face I know she’s thinking about it too, but she gives me a reprieve.

  Thinking about Link tends to only annoy me. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy Link in a friendly way, of course. He’s fun to mess with. We’ve actually become pretty good friends over the past couple years. There was the one time, back when Morgan was in the hospital, when things got a little heated between Link and me. But we shut that down quick. We’ve been good ever since.

  “I’ll allow it.” She smiles. “So, tell me more about your comics. I can’t believe I’ve known you for more than two years and I’m just now asking you to bring me into your world.”

  And just like that, I put all thoughts of Link and Mason right out of my head, and focus on my first love, comic books.

  Chapter Two

  Ruby

  If you would have told me two years ago that I was going to be BFFs with a bunch of professional video gamers, I would have laughed at you. I mean, I don’t have anything against video games. I’ve spent my fair share of hours playing them growing up. Part of having an older brother is being submerged in boy things. While I love my pretty, girly things, I was a tomboy for most of my childhood. Jett was a gamer, but due to our five-year age difference, his favorite games were always too mature for me. So, he would also play old school games. Think Mario Kart, Bomberman, Dr. Mario, and just about every Zelda game.

  As I got older, I tried my hand at the first-person shooters my brother loved so much. While I could hold my own, they just weren’t my jam. Nope, give me Mario any day and I’ll probably kick your butt. So really, being surrounded by video gamers isn’t that big of a deal and not at all unwelcoming. But I find myself living and breathing video games these days and it takes me by surprise when I stop and think about it.

  Let me explain.

  My best friends are both pretty much tied down to pro gamers. Morgan and Gia are out-of-this-world in love with their gamers. While Morgan is a social media manager for Buzzline where I also work, Gia watches TV for a living. She works for Weekly Entertainment as a staff writer. So, their jobs are still pretty rad and not at all considered your regular 9-to-5 jobs, but video game free. My other bestie, Bernie, is a kick-ass pro-gamer girl.

  Then, to top it all off, because of the ties I have to these gamers, I’ve recently — as of, oh, about four hours ago — gotten a job promotion of sorts. I will get to manage the new gaming section of our news entertainment site. It’
s a huge step up from creating mindless quizzes and monitoring comments to said quizzes all day. Now, I’m the new Brand Manager of the Gaming division. I mean, hello, more money. With more money comes more responsibility and I’m the brand-spanking new manager of a three-man team. As in, I manage three men, who probably think I’m not cut out for this job. I’ll show them though. I might have connections to pro-gamers, but I also know how to work hard and pave my own way.

  I can’t wait to share my news with my people though. I’m planning to tell the girls at our weekly get-together: drinks at The Bar. Right now though, the first person to know will be my own gamer boy, of sorts. While Link and I are not — I repeat, NOT an item, he’s one of my favorite people.

  For one, I love teasing him and I know he likes to do the same to me. But he’s also grown into a pretty good friend. While Link used to be a pro gamer on Dex’s team, he’s now a very popular and successful YouTuber. In fact, I’m heading over to his place right now to help him film video game footage for his new weekly series on old-school gaming.

  Yeah. My idea. And after a few weeks of his new series, his subscribers are eating it up. Thank you very much.

  Don’t worry, I won’t let him forget who the mastermind is in our relationship.

  Crossing the street to his swanky apartment, I realize that I’m really looking forward to telling Link about my new job. He’s going to want to be involved and he will probably find a way for me to have to rely on his expertise. I smile and wave at the doorman, whom I’ve become all too familiar with. Then, I ask Jerry at the security desk how his new baby is. I take a moment to look at the sweet pictures of his bald-headed little girl.

  “Are you here to see Miss Lawson or the gamers?” he asks as he does his routine name check. I’m on the list for a few of his occupants, but Jerry is no slacker.

  “One of the gamers. You know, the big-headed cocky one?” I offer.

  “Ahh, the one you’ve got eyes for.” He smiles at me knowingly.