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You're sprawled out on your attic floor, at the mercy of countless years’ worth of dust. Although you find yourself coming up here on a regular basis nowadays, you still haven't managed to give it a good cleaning.
Of course, talking to your household objects took up most of your day anyway. You make a silent peace with the layer of grime that was certain to be making its way into your clothes, and turn your attention to the figure in front of you.
Propping your head up on your hand, you gaze fondly at your companion for the evening. Said companion was loudly rummaging through timeworn brown boxes, searching for the perfect game to entertain you two.
Parker Bradley, although somewhat…off-putting, had found a special place in your heart. You hadn't expected to find his quirks so charming; something about his intense zeal for games and rules just drew you in.
There was also his sleeveless outfit and patchwork tattoos. Or the way he continued to grow red at the slightest brush of your hand, even after declaring his love for you. Or the look of concentration that would set in as he considered his next move during one of your many game nights.
Alright, maybe it was an understatement to say that he had drawn you in- your damn board games had you spellbound.
You shift slightly as the floor creaks beneath you, coming back to reality after your brief daydream. Usually, Parker knew what you two were going to play as soon as you showed up. It seemed a bit odd that it was taking him so long to decide now.
“Everything ok?”
He whipped around, clutching a beaten game box. Its electric pink hue contrasts sharply with the dull surroundings of the attic, and several printed yellow hearts tied the design together in a saccharine bow.
“Everything’s PERFECT!”
A grin is plastered on his face, his eyes wide, almost crazed. The shouting was normal for Parker, but you notice his grip on the box tightened in a way that seemed…nervous? Before you could question him about it, he continued in a voice more suited for inside the house.
“Now, I know we were working through my ‘Great Board Games of the Mid 20th Century’ list for our game nights, but after talking with Bodhi about my other list, ‘Great Board Games of the LATE 20th Century’, he realized he actually owned one of the games I had discussed! Isn't that SO exciting?!”
Parker turned the board game box fully towards you so you could read the title….Heartbreaker. Huh. You remember playing this a few times growing up, a game that had been your aunt’s, or your cousin's? A family friend’s, maybe?
You study it, trying to recall the gameplay. It involved a lot of pictures of boys and a fake electronic telephone, and was more…sappy than anything you and he had played previously. Parker regarded you with a worried look, gripping the box with even more force than before.
“Are…are you ok with that? I did originally have Scrabble lined up for today, but I thought it would be an awful shame to let this opportunity just slip us by.”
He broke from your gaze, the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. Interesting. You were quick to set his mind at ease, smiling kindly.
“I'm down for whatever you want to play, let's get it set up!”
Parker brightened instantly, kneeling on the floor and placing the box down as enthusiastically as one could carry out that action.
“Fantastic! Heartbreaker was first introduced in 1988, did you know that?”
He began setting up the game as he talked, his skilled hands quickly separating cards into several piles.
“It was following a recent trend of companies trying to make board games that were more appealing to the young female demographic, which gave us a lot of games that had to do with fashion, shopping, and, well, dating!”
He met your eyes, his voice breaking slightly on the word “dating”. Sometimes you forget that Parker had been isolated in the attic for so long, which doesn't lend itself well to dating or building relationships. To his credit, he regained his composure quickly.
“Would you like to hear the rules?”
You nod, settling in for what you expected to be a long explanation.
“The ultimate goal of Heartbreaker is to guess which one of these handsome guys your friends, or, in this case, partner, would want to date! There are going to be photo cards of three boys, and we’ll take turns choosing personality traits for them from the cards we pull. They get TWO in total, no more, no less. Then, once we know their personalities, we’re going to use this fake telephone to listen in on a private moment with them, where we might learn something…unsavory.”
He pitches his voice lower on the word ‘unsavory’, shooting you a scandalized look.
“The player who correctly guesses how the other would rank our suitors wins!”
You listen attentively, reveling in the way Parker wildly gestured as he talked, clearly thrilled to be sharing his passion. Evening sunlight filtered through the dirty attic window, covering his face in its glow.
“How about I go first, to show you how it works?” He asks, placing three cards with pictures of generic looking men dressed in outdated fashion into plastic stands.
Past game nights between the two of you had followed the same pattern. You played a classic board game, Parker usually beat you, and you would find some way to work small touches into and flirtatious words into the evening. You knew he loved you, but he was still a bit awkward in the way he showed it. Him choosing this game for tonight, however, gave you hope that maybe he was ready to take your relationship to another level.
“Sure! You can go first,” you start, “but I think the winner should get to choose a prize.”
He rubs his chin, eyeing you suspiciously.
“Well, uh, what prize did you have in mind?”
Smiling sweetly, you gently cover his hand with yours and add a teasing lilt to your voice.
“You’ll just have to see if I win, won’t you?”
Parker’s cheeks color as he bites his lip slightly. When he managed to speak, his voice came out higher than usual.
“Ha- you’re not going to distract me that easily. That would be against the rules after all, and you know how I feel about that.”
He looks at you almost scoldingly, and you give him an angelic grin in return.
“But,” he continued, “I suppose it
would
be nice to give a prize to the winner, now that victories no longer being counted towards our relationship dice roll. Yeah, that sounds like fun!”
With that decided, he clears his throat and points to the first card. It’s a somewhat scrawny man wearing a suit jacket, his dark hair slicked back. He looked a little cocky, but otherwise unremarkable.
“This is Robert! Isn't he
dreamy
?”
You listen in amusement as Parker gushes over ‘Robert’, getting the feeling that the commercials for this game probably had a very similar script.
“Since it’s my turn, I’ll draw three personality trait cards and choose one of them to assign to him.”
He inspects the cards as seriously as if he were considering his next move in a chess match, and you let out a quiet laugh.
“I think I’ll pick…valedictorian of his class. He looks like a scholarly sort of fellow, don’t you think?”
You weren’t sure you agreed, but you weren’t going to argue, either. He carefully laid the trait card in front of Robert’s picture and looked back up at you in excitement. Ah, now THIS was the Parker Bradley you knew. He appears to have relaxed and fully immersed himself in the game, and you were glad for it.
“It’s your turn! Draw three cards from the traits pile, and pick the one you think would fit Robert here the best.”
You do as you’re told (quite frankly, you would do WHATEVER he told you) and read your cards. All of them were somewhat generic, and ultimately, you end up assigning Robert the trait of ‘prefers tea over coffee’. Parker laughs.
“Oh, I’d NEVER pick tea over coffee. I just love the caffeine boost coffee gives me!”
He stares into your eyes in a way that might unnerve another person, grin never wavering. It was contagious, and you feel your own lips tugging at the corners as you speak.
“I really don't think you need that much of a boost,” you said, patting his knee. The fabric of his ridiculously patterned pants was smooth beneath your hand, and you heard his breathing hitch.
You watch as a shade of red once again spreads across his face, a testament to his touch-starved existence in the attic all those years.
He tries to shake off his awkwardness, loudly introducing the next suitor.
“Haha, ANYWAY! Next up is Kenneth! I'm going to- uh- dammit-” he stumbles through his sentence, dropping the cards he was holding. You do your best to look away as he scrambles to pick them up, not wanting to be accused of cheating. But it really was adorable when he was flustered like this.
“Uh, Kenneth is going to be…’an aspiring daredevil’! Wow, I’m swooning already!”
———————
The game progressed rather quickly, as it was really meant to be played with more than two people. Not only was Kenneth (a kind looking man with a buzzcut and a muscle tee) an aspiring daredevil, but you declared on your turn that he also collected model airplanes. The third eligible bachelor, Ron, had a mullet and a leather jacket, was great at pool, and could grill the perfect steak.
You had also heard both Ron and Kenneth in their private situations, revealing that Ron had a costly tobacco chewing habit and Kenneth liked to huff Sharpies at the office. Once again, it was your turn. Parker dramatically gestured to one of the card piles, adding a flair to his voice.
“And now, the time has come to reveal ROBERT’S dark secret…let’s give him a call!”
You glance at the card you drew and reach for the fake telephone in the middle of the board, the same loud pink color the box had been. You press the buttons to dial the number in front of you, and after a second, a staticky recording begins to play from the speaker.
“
‘Ugh, this is the last time I’m playing poker with you! There’s no way you were hiding an ace up your sleeve AGAIN.’
‘C’mon, it's just a game! I won't do it again, promise!’
‘That’s what you said LAST time!
’’’
There was a click, and the conversation ended. It was between a man and a woman, with the man in the hot seat. The obvious implication was that he had cheated at some kind of card game, meaning that your task of guessing how Parker would rank the three boys just got a whole lot easier.
You look up at him, curious to see his reaction to this devastating news about Robert. As expected, he had a sour look on his face as he fiddled with the wire on the phone. This only helped bolster your confidence.
“Now that we've heard that…interesting revelation,” he said in a tone that made it clear he did
not
approve of what he had heard, “it's time to write down our rankings, and our guess for the other person’s rankings! Go ahead, turn around.”
You did so obediently, and he dropped a small piece of paper and golf pencil over your shoulder and into your lap.
“I'll turn around too.
Something I don't think Robert would have the decency to do.
”
He muttered that last part under his breath, a radical change from his usual volume.
Tapping your pencil on the floor, you mentally review what you knew about each guy. After a bit of thought, you scribbled down your rankings.
Now to guess what your partner was thinking.
Obviously, Robert would be dead last. You put his name next to the number three spot. You didn't think Parker would mind Ron’s smoking, or Kenneth’s marker huffing. In fact, he seemed like he might actually be game to TRY that last activity. You guessed that since Ron enjoyed a good game of pool, he was a good candidate to take the top spot on the list. You jotted him down in number one, and Kenneth in number two.
“Ok, I think I'm good,” you call out as you study your paper, bringing your pencil to your lips. You waited to hear him chime in before you turned around again.
“Great! On the count of three, turn around and we'll both put our papers on the board! Ready?”
You held a thumbs up out to the side, and he counted you off. On three, you spun around as fast as you could, slapping your paper down. It wasn't often you felt you had the upper hand during a game, and you couldn’t wait to see how it turned out.
Parker beams at you as he glances down at the sheets in front of him.
“Looks like
someone’s
excited to see the results! Let's see here…I put the very handsome and fascinating Ron at the top of my list, followed by Kenneth, with that
cheater
Robert at the bottom. And it looks like…wow, you guessed my rankings exactly right!”
You feel your smile widening, the exhilaration at the possibility of a rare win growing in your chest. Looking down at his paper, in between messy doodles of playing card suits, you could see that he had guessed the wrong boys for your second and third place spots. And from the way he frowned a little as he studied your answers, you knew he too had realized this.
“Gee, it looks like you beat me this time! I guess you know my heart too well.”
“It was really close,” you reassure him, beginning to help put the game away, “but I’m glad I won.”
He busies himself with organizing cards, glancing up at you as the corners of his mouth raise.
“And I’m proud of you for winning! I had a great time with you. I was worried about playing Heartbreaker tonight, part of me was afraid you would end up hating it. But you didn’t, and I’m so HAPPY!”
Your heart warms at the unexpected sentiment, and the way Parker lit up as he declared his emotions.
“So now I get to choose my prize, right?”
There was a touch of nervousness in his voice, and his focus remained on cleaning up as he answered.
“It would be awfully rude of me to go back on my word now, wouldn’t it? What kind of prize did you have in mind?”
Pushing the Heartbreaker box to the side, you scoot closer to him, leaving only a few measly inches of space between the two of you.
“I want…a kiss. Please?”
You choose your words carefully, not wanting to scare him away. His eyes went wide, a deep flush creeping over his features. He began playing with his vest anxiously, seemingly unsure whether he wanted to meet your eyes, or look somewhere else.
“Well, you did win…”
You feel your stomach drop at his response; you speak quickly, not wanting to pressure him.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to! I can pick something else if you’re not comfortable with that.”
For as rattled as he looked, Parker looks up with an unmatched intensity and certainty, grabbing your shoulders and locking eyes with you.
“NO! I WANT to kiss you.”
Now it was your turn to be flustered. But even still, he had spoken the magic words. He WANTED to kiss you. And so, you began to slowly lean in, his hands still on your shoulders and his gaze still firmly fixed on you. He looked down at your lips, his grip on you tightening slightly.
You were nose-to-nose with him now, close enough that you could feel his breath on your face. Before you could comprehend what was happening, he closed his eyes and smashed his lips against yours. You closed your eyes as well, losing yourself in the sensation.
You meet his frantic, forceful energy with gentleness, bringing your hand up to stroke his cheek, run through his hair-
He quickly pulled back, grasping the wrist of your hand that had just reached his hair. “You might not want to do that…I give myself papercuts sometimes.”
In lieu of a response, you climb into his lap, straddling him, ignoring how much the rough attic floor would probably hurt your knees. A quiet whimper escapes his throat as you bring your lips to his again. He wraps his arms around you, gripping the back of your shirt.
Parker nips at your bottom lip, drawing a gasp from you. Now it was your turn to pull away, raising your eyebrows in surprise. He just smirks at you, the look laced with a touch of mischief.
“I couldn’t let you just HAVE the upper hand, silly. What kind of board games would I be if I wasn’t a little competitive?”
Your mind is fuzzy, but as he takes your lips once more, you vaguely remember him saying something when you first met about how much he loved biting things. Nevertheless, you threw your arms around his neck, not ready to give him the win just yet.
———————
Moonlight now shone through the window in the attic. Parker laid his head in your lap, quiet for once as you stroked his hair (careful to not give yourself a papercut). You would have to leave soon to get ready for the day ahead, but you never wanted to leave this blissful moment.
He shifts, turning his head to look up at you with affection in his gaze.
“I’m REALLY happy our relationship dice landed on love. I don’t know if I could’ve brought myself to hate you!”
Tilting your head back, you let out a laugh. Once again, you found his oddness endearing, and you feel your chest swell as you speak.
“I love you too, Parker.”