Forget You by Jennifer Snyder Read Free Book Online Page A

and bitterly
cold temperatures. Yes, Norhurst was in North Carolina, but it
still got into the twenties or lower during the winter months.
Shivering, I crammed my hands into the pockets of my coat, wishing
I had thought to bring my gloves tonight.
    “Cold?” Sawyer asked. “Sorry, it takes a year
for my brother’s car to get warm.”
    I didn’t take much notice of the fact he’d
just said the Mustang was his brother’s car, but for whatever
reason, he had. His face had gone from normal to pained in a matter
of seconds.
    “It’s fine,” I insisted.
    He unlocked the doors, and opened the driver
side quickly. Before I could slip inside, he’d already cranked the
engine, and was setting the to-go box in the backseat. What the
hell? Was his brother a sensitive subject?
    “To the arcade.” He buckled up and placed his
hand on the gearshift before shifting his eyes to mine.
    “Yep.” My voice lacked the level of
enthusiasm as his. Apparently, I needed more than one beer and some
actual alcohol to be in my margarita pizza for this date to sound
fun.
    When we pulled up in front of Allen’s Arcade,
Sawyer quickly found a parking spot. The first thing I noticed
about the place was that the neon sign hung above the building was
a little on the fritz. One of the Ls in Allen’s and the D in arcade
were dull as the black sky they were paired against.
    “Don’t go getting all judgey on the place
just yet,” Sawyer said. “It might not look like much, but this
place can actually be pretty entertaining.”
    “If your nine,” I muttered. A slight smirk
twisted my lips, because I knew that was a good jab.
    “You’ll see. Give it a chance.” He held the
door open for me.
    I slipped in past him, taking in the bright
lights and boldly painted walls. Noises from fifty games going at
once and sirens blaring, announcing a winner, assaulted my ears. By
the time I got out of here, I would be deaf. A kid ran in front of
us, coughing up a lung without covering his mouth, and I added infected with the plague to my list as well.
    “Isn’t this place great?” Sawyer asked from
beside me.
    His face was lit with excitement. I didn’t
want to burst his bubble, but great wasn’t the word I would use to
describe the place.
    “Yeah, sure—and again I’m going with—if
you’re nine,” I said, my words thick with sarcasm.
    A group of kids about that age flew past us
with a long string of tickets floating behind them as they ran to
find their next game. The same look of pure joy I’d seen reflected
on Sawyer’s face moments before was plastered on theirs.
    “They have the right idea.” He nodded toward
them. “Smile. Let’s have something called fun .”
    “Ass.” I rolled my eyes, but grinned.
    “There we go. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
He winked.
     
    * * * *
     
    Forty minutes later, I was leaning against a
neon orange wall made entirely of foam, peeking as cautiously as I
could manage around the corner. My eyes roamed over the green
tunnel dead ahead, and the pink and purple walls to the left of it,
which resembled the one I was ducking behind as I searched for
Sawyer. I’d lost him in the black light laser tag dome a few
minutes ago. My heart raced as I thought of him jumping out at me
again. He’d already managed to shoot me twice. Once more, and I was
out for good. I’d deemed him a cheater last time, claiming he’d had
special training in this department, thanks to his National Guard
stuff, but he’d just smirked and ran off to hide from me.
    My thoughts scattered as my lips stretched
into a smile. I spotted him creeping through the green tunnel
directly in front of me. I took a tentative step away from the wall
I’d been hiding behind. When he reached the end of the tunnel,
Sawyer poked his head out, and glanced to the right and then the
left before pulling his head back inside quickly and freezing in
place. I knew he hadn’t spotted me. Right when I began to question
whether I should scurry back to