“I was so nervous on that first raid,” Geoff admitted. “Tank said his friend was joining the guild, and she was fantastic but kind of intimidating.”
“I’m not intimidating!”
“You absolutely are. You joined voice chat and immediately started analyzing everyone’s builds, and I thought, ‘oh no, she’s going to hate how I play.’”
"Your build was actually very good.”
“You said it was ‘adequate with room for optimization.’”
“That’s a compliment!”
“Try terrifying!” But he was laughing, and so was I, and somehow we’d ended up even closer on the couch, his arm along the back, my shoulder tucked against his side.
Everything felt natural.
Outside, the sun was starting to set; the snow covered in shades of orange and pink from the sun’s fading rays. The cabin was warm and cozy, and I was sitting next to someone who made me feel seen in ways I’d never experienced before.
“Maya,” Geoff said, his voice low and serious.
I looked up at him. “Yeah?”
“I don’t want this to end when the storm clears. When you go to your apartment in town and I come back here and we go back to just being voices through a headset.”
“Me neither.”
“So we figure it out? Whatever this is, we’ll figure out how to make it work?”
I thought about all the reasons it could be complicated. The distance wasn’t an issue anymore. I’d be about twenty minutes by car. Having no car could be a problem. Our species differencedidn’t matter, especially in my new town. Even though our relationship was new, we’d known each other for years.
Or I could focus on my gut instinct. I was happy here. With him. At this moment. And I wanted more moments like it.
“We’ll figure it out,” I agreed.
His smile made me melt. “Good. Because I’m not letting you go that easily.”
“Possessive much?”
“You have no idea.”
And the way he said it, warm and certain and just a little bit feral, sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold.
I was going to do it. I was going to seize the moment and take my chance with Geoff.
Heidi was going to lose her mind when I told her.
Chapter 6
Maya
Thefirecrackledinthe hearth, casting dancing shadows across the living room walls. We’d migrated from the couch to the floor at some point, spreading blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace like we were kids at a sleepover. Except the tension humming between us was decidedly not kid-friendly.
Geoff had opened a bottle of wine that he still had in the gift bag. “A gift from my mom. She’d want us to enjoy it,” he said at my puzzled glance. Now we were on our second glass each. Not drunk, but definitely relaxed. The kind of relaxed where filters started slipping and truths started spilling out.
“Okay, okay,” I said, gesturing with my wineglass in a way that was probably dangerous. “Most embarrassing gaming moment. Go.”
“Oh, not fair; you already know all my embarrassing moments.”
“I know the ones you’ve told me about. Come on, there has to be something you’ve kept secret.”
