High Score
I came home to save my mother’s arcade. I didn’t expect to fall for the boy who never left.
At twenty-two, I’m broke, burned out, and back in my hometown with six weeks to save the failing retro arcade my mom built — by training for a Ms. Pac-Man tournament when I haven’t played since high school.
The only person who thinks we can pull it off? Brady Donahue, the nerdy gamer from high school who never left. And seeing him rebuild arcade cabinets with a toolbelt? Let’s just say he’s leveled up in more than just video games.
Working side by side every day, falling a little harder every night, it starts to feel dangerously like home — like something I didn’t even know I was missing.
Saving the arcade might take everything I have. But Brady? He might be the extra life between a game over and a second chance.