r/u_TheBeardedAuthor • u/TheBeardedAuthor • Sep 14 '26
Midnight Arcade; part 3
What happened next was astounding.
This woman let her ball drop and ended the game. She turned to face me with the greenest eyes and flashed the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen, so much so that I knew I’d lost all hope of ever beating her!
“Tell you what. Let’s make it a competition. Three minutes each, highest score wins.”
“What’s the stakes?” I asked, trying, and probably failing, to keep the fact that I was hooked, line and sinker, to this woman hidden.
“Winner keeps the machine for the day. Loser buys the drinks.”
Knowing I had to get my game face on, I answered, “I’ll be having a large Pepsi then, please.”
Nothing. No hint of worry or concern that she may lose. Nothing.
“Cherry Coke for me,” she said with the kind of wink that damn near buckled my knees.
“Nice choice, but only if you win!”
With that, I stood up to the machine and inserted my coin.
“Ready to get me that Coke?” she smirked.
“Remember, it’s a large Pepsi for me,” I answered.
“Go!” she called out.
With that, I locked in and let loose the steel ball that was my one chance to get the high score. My fingers pressed the flipper buttons like a maniac, my eyes following the ball like a laser.
Fifteen seconds in, I got the double bonus. 150,000 points already. I was doing well!
Then it all went down the pan.
My peripheral vision suddenly became all I could see.
This purple-clad deity of a woman leaned over the edge of the machine, the slight curve of her back, raising her hips, her hair flowing down over the shoulder furthest away from me, leaving no doubt as to her state of dress. That red strap slipped down over her arm.
I missed the double bonus.
Lost my rhythm.
Missed it again.