Beauty and the Billionaire

"She's driving me crazy," Sienna had said many times. "I mean, she went to the movies with this nerdy guy. She could have gone out with the first baseman of the baseball team."

"Not into the whole dating thing?" I had asked Quinn when she was a freshman in high school. We sat on the worn leather sofa in her parents' basement playing video games while Sienna did her make-up for a pep rally.

Quinn had shrugged. "Sienna makes

it sound like a competition. I'd rather just sit here and beat you at Mario Kart."

I did not tell her then, but I preferred the same thing. There had been too many nights when all I wanted to do was hang out with Quinn. I leaned on the doorframe and called myself a coward.

She must have heard my heavy sigh. "Owen? How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to be impressed with your use of the frost sword," I said.

Quinn paused the game. "Yeah, right. An expert like you. I probably did one hundred things wrong back in that glen."

"Well, there is a secret passage in one of the trees, but you were a little busy with that ogre." I slipped onto the couch next to her.

"Is it wrong that all I wanted to do all day was escape down here?" Quinn asked.

I resisted the urge to brush her chestnut curls off her bare shoulder. "I don't think anyone would judge you for that. It’s surreal up there."

"All the almost crying but not actually, because women don't want their mascara to run. All the cheery stories about Sienna, even from people who called her the b-word to her face," Quinn said. "Perfect pictures, perfect flowers, perfect conversations – I'm not sure I'd call that reality."

"Sienna would have loved it."

Quinn gave a short laugh that ended on a jagged sigh. "She would be so mad about me hiding out here. I should be trolling the guests for a good date."

"'I don't need a date; we're good,'" I quoted her.

"Every time Sienna caught us down here playing video games." Quinn gave a ghost of a smile.

"You know, I was being honest. You're getting pretty good," I said. I picked up the second controller and tossed it between my hands.

"You don't need to lie to me," she said.

"And you look beautiful in that dress and your hair looks great long," I said. I nudged her with my shoulder. "Now can I compliment your playing or should I keep going about you?"

Quinn never believed me when I told her she was beautiful. It had almost turned into a game. I wondered if she heard compliments so rarely that she never knew what to do. Sienna got the compliments, the praise, and the bragging stories from their parents.

I told myself it was good for Quinn. Really, it was just a way to say what was on my mind. I would have gone crazy if I could not have told her somehow.

"Compared to you, I'm just stumbling around Dark Flag," Quinn said.

"On great legs," I said. It took a moment before I could tear my eyes off them.

"Oh, shut up, Owen. Tell me where that secret passage is. I'm heading back to the glen."

I slumped back on the couch and started the second controller. Within seconds, my avatar was with her in the glen. "I'll fend off the ogre, you look for the secret passage. I'm not just giving away secrets for free."

"Oh my God, where are all these people coming from?" Quinn asked. Multiple players appeared on the screen.

"My clan. I rallied some of the best players I ran across and we've made a good team," I said.

"Yeah, I read about you. Nice cover shot," Quinn said. "No pimples, extra weight, or worm-like pallor. You're changing the face of gaming."

"Hey, I'm not taking a compliment if you can't," I said.

"It sounded like the journalist was smitten," Quinn nudged me with her elbow. "She described you as having the shoulders and muscle tone of Captain America and the skills of an extreme gamer."