“My phone locked up right in the middle of my battle.” He frowned and looked like someone had kicked his dog. “I'm letting my team down.”
“It'll be okay,” I promised. “Just restart. I'm sure everyone will understand.”
“I did restart,” Tommy told me. “The game is totally locked up for me. We're going to lose the gym and it's going to be my fault!”
“Team Red?” a man asked, coming up beside Tommy.
“Yep,” Tommy responded, not even looking up. But I stopped and stared. It was the same man who had caught me at the restaurant the other day. He was still beyond gorgeous. Instead of the glasses, he wore sunglasses, but they still looked like prescription glasses.
“Me too,” the man said to Tommy, pulling out his phone. “You said your game locked up?”
Tommy nodded glumly. “I'm stuck on the loading screen.”
“Did you log out? Sometimes that reloads your user data and will get you back in the game,” the man told him.
Athena came up to him and sniffed his hand. The man quickly pet her on the head, and Athena leaned into it. If my dog thought this guy was okay, I guess I could let him talk to my little brother. He looked up briefly at me and smiled as Tommy continued to follow his instructions.
“I'm back in,” Tommy announced, relief filling his features. “Now, to keep the gym under our control.”
“Good to have you back in the battle.” The man studied his phone screen. “Hmmm, a leveled up Stingly would take care of this situation in a heart beat.”
“You're right,” Tommy agreed, but he frowned. “But I don't have one.”
“I do,” I interrupted, holding up my phone.
I was just glad that I had a reason to join in the conversation with this guy. Up until thirty seconds ago, I had been sure I would never see him again. I hoped my Stingly would be enough to catch his attention.
Tommy chuckled. “No, you don’t, Alicia. They're super rare.”
“Yes, I do,” I insisted. “Look for yourself. I caught it this morning.”
Tommy snatched my phone and his eyes lit up, but just for a moment. “She does have one, but we can’t use it. It's not strong enough yet.”
“That's too bad,” the guy said. He winked at me before turning back to Tommy. “Just send in your best monsters and I’ll do the same. We can’t let Blue take over this gym.”
Tommy nodded in agreement and tapped away on his phone. The guy flashed me a quick smile before focusing on Tommy again. It was sweet how the two of them were interacting.
I watched as my hero made himself an instant friend with my little brother based purely on the game. They spoke as if they were soldiers about to go into battle and I found myself wishing I was further along in the game so that I could play along with them. They looked like they were having a blast.
I stood awkwardly nearby, wishing I could join in on the conversation, but knowing that I didn’t stand a chance. I’d look like an idiot if I attempted to talk about the Monsters in this game that I knew nothing about. Instead, I just observed the two of them.
I wondered what he did for a living, and w
hat kind of job he had that would allow him to play a game in the park in the middle of the day. Maybe he’s unemployed, just like me. I chuckled to myself. Or maybe he somehow gets paid to be good-looking.
The man pressed something on his phone before looking up at me and grinning.
“Hi. Sorry I just walked up on you guys like that,” he said. His blue eyes were friendly and bright. “I just overheard you guys and knew you were playing the game. That’s what I’m here for too.”
“No problem.” I swallowed and shrugged nonchalantly. “I'm just glad my brother got to play with someone that knows what they're doing.”
“I’m Jacob,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Alicia.” I took his hand and gave a firm shake. I wished I had spent a little more time on my hair before leaving the house. That, and I was fairly sure that there was a hole in the sleeve of my t-shirt. I hoped he hadn't noticed, because I felt like there was a neon sign pointing to it now that he was standing next to me.
“Hi, Alicia.” He smiled again as he let go of my hand. “I’m surprised your brother hasn’t gotten you hooked on the game yet.”
I laughed, shuffling my feet on the pavement. “I like it, I think. I just haven’t played very much so I don’t really know what to do.”