I Love You, Always

Chapter 25

The arcade is louder than I expected and I find myself sticking really close to Simon because I can tell there are a lot of people here. My anxiety is heightened with all the people and the noise. I should have thought better of this idea considering it is a Saturday, so it's going to be busier than usual.

Simon combines our money to put on a single card so we get the best deal for credits, then we split the amount down the middle. Honestly, I don't care about having half. The only games I can really play are the slot machines and ticket wheels since those don't require you to see to earn tickets. I'd rather Simon use the credits to play more interesting games and maybe be able to earn enough tickets to get a prize.

"What's your favorite game to play?" I ask Simon as we head onto the game floor. I have to raise my voice for him to hear me since it's louder out here.

"Claw machines are my favorite," replies Simon, "and this place actually has a lot of them. I can't believe I never knew this place existed. I also like coin pushers."

"Coin pushers?" I honestly have no idea what game that is, but it sounds interesting.

"Basically it's a game with a ton of coins on a platform and you shoot coins onto the platform to try to push more coins off to earn tickets, but some of them have stuff in them you can win that sit on top of the coins. Those ones are the best."

"Sounds like a time consuming game," I remark.

"They are. You can play them for hours."

We go to the slot machines first and I seem to have more luck than Simon at them, but we don't play them for long because they're more expensive to play and you don't earn a lot from them. From the slot machines, we move to the claw machines. There's a stool nearby from another game that I snatch up once Simon mentions it so I can sit while he plays. In hindsight, taking the seat was a good idea because Simon spends a lot of time playing this particular machine.

"This machine is so rigged," Simon says after some time of playing and not winning anything.

"Then why do you keep playing it?" I ask.

"It's satisfying to win from a rigged machine."

I can't help but laugh at that. "Or it takes all your money and you don't win anything."

"This thing is, like, right by the chute. I leave it here and the next person who walks up will probably hit payout and win it," he replies.

"Uh huh. You're sure that's not just an excuse for you to keep playing knowing you're not going to win?"

"I bet you I win this," replies Simon.

"Bet me what?"

"If I win, you have to eat your dinner tonight," Simon reasons. "If I don't win, I'll do any one thing you ask me."

Honestly, that's not a terrible ultimatum. "Okay, go for it. Let's see if you actually have the skills to win this thing."

"I do. You'll see."

Simon goes quiet and I can hear the sound of the claw moving through the glass. He hums lowly and I can hear what sounds like metal scraping against plastic. "Oh shit, I'm literally dragging this in," Simon says. "It got stuck and it's not going up, but—" There's a low thud, followed by Simon's exclaiming, "Fuck yeah! I got it!"

"I call that cheating," I say.

"I call it I just won, so you know what that means?"

A sigh escapes me as I move to stand up. "I guess I'm eating dinner tonight, whether I like it or not."