Finding the Way Back (gxg)

Chapter 13

No idea if they would allow a request like that when Rose isn't part of the club, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Maybe I could even pull some strings and get them to sponsor the edits she makes.

But that wasn't important right now. What was important was enjoying the day with Rose as we explored the surrounding area, starting with the Boardwalk attractions.

Thankfully, the hotel was situated just a two-minute walk from the main part of the Boardwalk, where plenty of people were already gathered. There were all kinds of shops selling sweets and souvenirs, and there was even an arcade. The bike rental place even caught my attention, but I wasn't cleared to ride a bike, so that was unfortunately off the table. Hopefully, we could return sometime once that was a possibility.

We started with the souvenir shops, hunting for little trinkets we could return home with. I ended up finding matching key chains for the two of us, along with a beach-themed notebook for my mom since I know she loves to journal. For her dad, Rose found a shot glass, a seafood recipe book for her mom, and a snow globe for her brother.

I thought the snow globe idea was odd, but they turned out to be something Finn likes to collect.

Speaking of Finn, I wondered if he and Emily had been in contact since they reunited. It was something I would have to ask Emily about.

After we finished our souvenir shopping, we checked out the arcade along the Boardwalk. It was small, but still fit in some of the classic arcade games everyone loves.

We bought a few tokens and had some fun at a few of the games, mainly the skee-ball, basketball, and air hockey games. As anyone would expect, it twisted into a competition between us.

The basketball game was the first we had gone to. Classic competitive game, with whoever made the most baskets during their turn being the winner. I ended up being the first to go, and my lack of skills in playing basketball was on full display. I was used to kicking a ball with my feet, not shooting with my hands. Still, I managed a respectable score of twenty-seven baskets within the sixty-second time limit. I felt confident about my score.

At least I did until Rose stepped up for her turn.

In her sixty-second turn, she sank forty-three baskets, a full sixteen more than me.

"How?" It was the only thing I could think of to say.

She smirks. "Used to shoot hoops with Finn all the time as it was one of the few things I could safely do while being active. It has been a while, but I still have the skills." She walks off, leaving me to stand there with my mouth ajar.

But that smugness? Definitely attractive.

The next game we chose was air hockey, where I redeemed myself by beating her two games to one. It was definitely a game that was more of my style as tactics and scoring goals in rectangular goals was more my speed. However, that wasn't enough to keep her from bragging about how she had won one game of air hockey.

Her more confident side was shining through, and I was loving it. I was glad to see that more of her hidden personality was shining through since we had become official. More than likely because she was no longer scared of me walking away if she showed too much.

Regardless, I was enjoying the fact that she was coming out of her shell more, making the weekend all that much better.

Finally, we used our remaining tokens at the skee-ball game, with the outcome deciding who was the winner of our unofficial arcade competition. As with the basketball game, I was up first. However, unlike in the basketball game, I finished with the higher score.