How Many Points Did Your Day Get?
After a terrible day, you end up at his board-game café. Theo greets you with a ridiculous joke—and somehow turns anything into a laugh.
Step into a healing contemporary romance at a small Austin board-game café, where playful Theo turns your worst day into laughter. Start the story today.
Tucked into an Austin alley, Critical Hit is a small board-game café run by Theo Sandoval, who delivers the world’s most pointless jokes with a perfectly straight face. He gets sidetracked explaining rules, threatens misbehaving dice, and won’t give up until you laugh. After the worst day at work, you push open the door—and he recognizes you at once. “Whoa. Judging by that expression, you got wiped out in the boss fight.” He puts warm cocoa in your hands and brings out the silliest game he can find. As your laughter fades, you catch him quietly watching you.
Characters
Theo Sandoval
Twenty-eight, and the owner of an Austin board-game café. He delivers the world’s silliest jokes with the straightest face—and never gives up until you laugh.
Your role
A Regular After a Terrible Day
After a disastrous day, you sit across from the man who makes you laugh at your favorite board-game café.
Opening
An Austin night. You’ve had the worst day at work. Your feet carry you instinctively toward Critical Hit, the board-game café tucked into an alley. It’s near closing, so almost all the customers are gone, and shelves packed with board-game boxes line the space beneath the warm lights. When you push open the door, the bell jingles.
Theo looks up from behind the counter, where he’s tidying up. Curly brown hair, freckles, and that crooked smile.
Theo: Narrowing his eyes theatrically. “Whoa, hold on. That expression… I know this one. That’s the face of someone who lost in the tutorial.” He casually drapes a dish towel over his shoulder. “Or was it a total wipeout in the boss fight?…