Filed to story: Outplayed Story (Brooklyn & Ethan) Book PDF Free
Pete was looking at the tat sleeves again. ‘Aren’t you ever tempted to get real tattoos?’
Ethan laughed. ‘I’d love to. I tried. But I threw up and the guy had to stop.’ He pushed back his sleeve and showed Pete his forearm. ‘I was supposed to be getting the name of my girlfriend at the time on my arm. But he only got this far before I gave up.’
Pete looked at the small L on his skin. ‘At least you got her initial.’
‘Nope.’ Ethan pulled his sleeve back down. ‘Her name was Emily. That’s not an L. It’s half an E. She wasn’t impressed.’
‘This is so unbelievable,’ said Pete. ‘And very cool.’ He started typing into his phone.
‘What are you doing?’ Ethan asked, alarmed. ‘I hope you’re not telling anyone any of this. I told you, it’s a secret.’ He had been so sure he could trust Pete.
‘No. I’m trying to see if I can get a ticket to the con this weekend. I wasn’t planning on going, but now that I’ve had a peek behind the curtain, I really want to see more.’
Ethan relaxed. ‘You know that I will blank you if I see you, right?’ He didn’t want any clues linking Blaze back to his real life.
Pete raised his hands. ‘Of course. I completely understand that.’
‘In that case, I hope you get a ticket.’
While Pete was scowling at his screen, Ethan got down the hatbox that contained his wig. It was a little dusty, but nothing that wouldn’t brush out. Walking over to the chest of drawers that he used as a dumping ground for everything, he found the parcel containing the new glue-on beard that he’d bought.
‘Yes! I’m in.’ Pete put his phone away. He looked at all the clothes and accessories that Ethan had laid out on the bed. ‘This is quite a lot of stuff.’
‘Well, I do have to transform into a whole other person.’
‘Your eyes are a different colour to his. How do you do that?’
‘Coloured contacts. I have a regular set and a green set. But I hate wearing them, so in real life, I tend to live in glasses instead.’
‘I’m impressed with your dedication.’
Ethan shrugged, but he was quite pleased. He was dedicated to being Blaze. He showed it mostly through the hours he put into playing, but the dressing-up side was important too. It allowed him to go to conventions and network with other YouTubers without compromising his anonymity. Besides, it was part of the fun.
Pete was picking everything up, looking at it reverentially, and putting it back down. ‘I don’t understand why you go to all this effort, though,’ he said. ‘Why the secrecy?’
Ethan paused in the middle of choosing which cuffs to use. ‘Because Blaze isn’t real. He’s not me.’
Pete’s expression was blank. He shook his head.
Ethan tried again to explain. ‘It’s like I step into a different body and I can say and do things I wouldn’t dream of doing in real life.’ He hadn’t articulated this to anyone before. ‘So I need him to be a separate person. I know he’s not real. Does that make sense?’
‘I guess so,’ said Pete. ‘But I still can’t get my head around the fact that you’re Blaze. If I hadn’t actually seen you play, I might have thought I’d imagined it all.’ He picked up the wig and stroked it. ‘I’m glad I got hold of a ticket.’ He put the wig on and looked in the mirror. He looked different with long blond hair. ‘I will be there to see you win SyrenQuest.’
‘I might not win.’ Ethan picked up the hanger with the costume on it and hung it up on the curtain rail. He hadn’t expected to get to the semi-finals, if he was being honest.
‘You will.’ Pete took off the wig and stroked the stray hairs down.
Ethan sat on the bed. ‘It would be really handy. I need the money right now.’
Pete looked puzzled. ‘You do?’
Ethan sighed. He hadn’t told Pete about the conversation with Bradley. ‘It’s to do with work,’ he said. ‘Bradley wants to sell his share of the company and I want to buy it.’
Pete’s eyes went wide. ‘Oh wow. That’s … major.’
‘If I have the money, I would also like to hire you on a permanent contract to be our sales and customer service guy. I think we’re a good team.’
Pete slowly put down the wig he was holding.
‘Of course, I know you’ll be looking for jobs now and if I win, I can offer the contract to you before you decide to leave. Assuming you want to stay, obviously.’
‘Mate, I’d love that,’ said Pete. ‘You’re a great boss and I am having so much fun in this job.’
‘But I can’t do any of that without a substantial amount of money.’ Ethan put the wig back in its box. ‘So I’d better win.’
‘I believe in you,’ said Pete. ‘And Bravura. I believe in her too.’
‘She’s come along quite a lot, since that first round,’ said Ethan. ‘She can do more of the moves without pausing to think about them now. And she’s a bloody genius with puzzles.’
Pete grinned. ‘You’ve thawed towards her a lot. As we saw earlier with the mildly flirtatious banter.’
Ethan shook his head. ‘No. The game stuff … it’s not real.’
‘But you have been flirting with her.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘That’s not what matters though, is it?’ said Pete. ‘What matters is, does she think so.’Brook sat cross-legged in front of the handbag collection. ‘Which one should I take to the con?’
Niro was on the floor next to her and surveyed the collection. ‘Something blue? To go with your body paint?’
‘Or the silver backpack purse?’ She pulled it out. ‘It would leave my hands free.’
‘Even better idea.’