Fair Game

Chapter 9

"You got this," Elijah whispered to me. I was standing outside a nice restaurant, where I was about to have another date with Asher. I had promised my friends I would tell him about me playing esports and I was so nervous. I nodded at Elijah and walked in. Asher was sitting near the back and I walked up to him.

"Oh, hey," he grinned. "You... you look great."

I blushed. "Haha. Thanks, Asher." I was wearing my favourite blouse and a floral midi skirt, along with white sandals. Definitely a summer look. I took a seat across from him.

"Order whatever you want. It's on me," he offered.

"Thanks." I picked up the menu to hide my face. I knew it was increasingly getting redder. We ordered and I fumbled with my napkin, before taking a deep breath. "Hey, could I talk to you about something?"

"Okay. Go ahead," he answered.

"So... about esports," I started.

Asher chuckled. "Is this about Dixie again? I already told you. She's not my girlfriend. She lied about playing esports before and I don't like that. I hate liars."

"Really? What if they had a good reason to lie?"

He shook his head. "If anyone lies to me, they're done. Why would I waste time on people I can't trust?"

"Um... got it. So you know Elijah, right? He also plays games online."

I saw Asher freeze. He looked into my eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I know him. Why?"

"Well, I thought it was cool that he's entering in some tournament. And the prize is a lot of money. Ten thousand dollars. So, I was thinking maybe I would join too?"

Asher frowned immediately. "I thought you were over this stuff."

"I am, but..."

"Plus, Elijah and I don't get along. I never understood why people can like staring at a computer screen all day. Battling make-believe creatures. It's so boring," he continued.

Well, this talk wasn't going as planned.

"Right. Make-believe," I mumbled.

Asher suddenly took my hand in his. "You're not going to start playing again, right?"

I couldn't answer because the waiter served us our dishes.

That evening, Bree texted me, asking if I had told him. Once again, I fibbed and said I had.

"Morning, sunshine," Asher said to me, the next morning. He was playing basketball again.

"Hey, so what are we playing for today?" I smirked, hitting the ball out of his hand.

He looked at me, rather shyly. "If you win, I'll be your date to the summer dance."

I gasped. OMG. No way. I tried to keep my cool, but my face was so warm. "Okay, what do you get if you win?"

Asher chuckled, "Then you'll be my date to the dance."

I threw the ball into the basketball hoop and reached for his hand, to shake. "Deal."