Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
In the NHL, people will compare me to my grandfather. He holds the records for most career points, season points, and playoff points. How could I ever compare to that? And then there’s my dad. He blew the gaming world away when he developed the artificial intelligence that controls his Universe. His face has been on every magazine cover, and his tech is mentioned worldwide.
I doubt I’ll ever be on the cover of Wired or have my games featured in PC Mag. It’s not that I lack confidence in my coding or hockey skills. I have that in spades.
Mike, my older brother, climbs the staircase leading up to our raised platform, smiling like the Cheshire cat. He has the same brown hair as my dad and me, except he wears his longer on the sides.
“They’re having issues over at the 10X booth,” Mike informs us. “Someone hacked their server.”
And now I’m the one who’s grinning like an idiot. Cece made me look like a fool two months ago when I allowed her back into my life. We reconnected in a gaming chat room, leading to private messages and late-night texts and calls. I couldn’t tell my friends I was talking to her again because they all hated her. My family does, too. They have every reason to. Cece is a horrible person. So, why does my heart still pound when I see her? I hate that it does.
She had the audacity to use my vulnerability—more like stupidity—to steal my code and reverse engineer my game. Her dad loved it and added it to his current platform. I have nothing more than a half-formed idea and no proof she stole from me.
Some part of me will always love her, and I hate that I do. We met at a gaming convention like this one when we were ten years old. She schooled every guy on the floor. Hell, she even beat me in one of my father’s games. It was embarrassing, and for me, it was love at first sight.
But I’m done being her doormat.
I can’t allow her to win again.
That’s why I corrupted her father’s system with a virus.
I glance at the 10X Games booth and watch Cece and the technical team scramble to stop the blinking spider web flashing across the screen. Everyone in the room can see my signature, yet only Cece and my dad will know it was me. Embedded inside the web is my screen name—Jamer. My dad called me that when I was a kid. It’s a combination of Jamie and gamer, a nickname that has stuck.
If Cece looks close enough, she’ll see it, though it’s hard right now with how rapidly the web blinks. Cece is no idiot. Her eyes find mine for a split second. She deserves this, and she knows it. For once, I can place a check in the win column. With Cece, it always feels like a loss… no matter how big the victory.
Chapter Two
Shannon
I’ll never fit in. At least it feels that way as I walk through the Delta Sigma Phi chapter house, pushing my way through the crowd. Even after three years of being a Kappa Delta sister, I feel out of place. Everyone on campus comes from money. I only pretend to have it all.
A girl from Zeta Beta, who I can’t remember her name, grabs my arm and yells over the music. “I love your dress. Where did you get it?”
I force a smile. “I can’t remember.”
Jordan Walcott, the vice president of my sorority, takes pity on me and loans her clothes to me for parties and sorority functions.
Shaking the girl off, I move through the crowd, sipping from the red plastic cup. I can’t even afford to shop from the clearance rack at Nordstrom. It isn’t easy attending Strickland University. The prestigious college in Center City, Philadelphia, oozes generations of wealth and success, where the rest of us have to kill ourselves to be part of their world.
I know most of the people in this house. Despite my lack of money, I have fooled the rich kids on Greek Row. But I’ll never be one of them. My friends split into groups, some already paired with a frat bro. Some of their families are so wealthy they own yachts and private jets. And here I am, standing in the middle of the living room turned into a dance floor, pounding the rest of my beer in a borrowed dress and heels.
“You look bored,” a guy whispers into my ear, his breath on my skin sending chills down my arms.
I spin around to face him and smile when I find Jamie O’Connor behind me. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Whenever I see him at a party, he puts me at ease. I never feel out of place around him. Jamie is so laid back that I could talk to him for hours. But he never makes a move. Maybe that’s the reason I like him. He’s unlike the other guys in this house, who all want something from me.