Page 33 of Our Final Game

After laying Rohan down on our small bed, I arch into a stretch. I can’t believe the brat fell asleep at the damn tavern. I shake my head, laughing at him all cozied up right now. He can’t even hold a few damn beers. It’s almost cute. The way his face got redder and redder the more he drank. I had to carry his ass all the way back over here. Though he’s pretty light.

And he fits perfectly in my arms.

I do feel kind of bad for asking him all those questions while he was drunk, but I really needed to know why. And it was the perfect opportunity. After my mother passed, I really started to spiral. Skipping class, meals, fuck even showers. I figured I needed some kind of mental outlet if I were to keep going, for Max’s sake. Seeing as my dad’s a real piece of work. Then I discovered Seeker one night of doom-scrolling my life away, and it was because of Rohan. He was the top player at the time. He was pretty much everywhere as the game was rising to popularity. Guess my algorithm knows my taste well. You could say I started playing because of him. But as they say, ‘never meet your hero’.

Rohan hated me the moment we played our first game. I was the only player to mirror his skill. I remember at the end of that match he refused to acknowledge me and walked right past instead of shaking my hand.

A sore fucking loser with no sportsmanship.

It was then I decided to match his energy or fuck with him every chance I got.

To think he looks so sweet all snuggled up and harmless right now as he wiggles around on the bed. I gaze down at him for a while before I start to remove my clothes to join him. I try to keep some space between us again, just in case, but he latches on to me again. I shake my head and let him get almost on top of me as I lie on my back.

The heat from his body is almost overwhelming.

But I close my eyes and try not to think about it.

“You’re gonna be so embarrassed in the morning, Ro,” I whisper into his hair. The sound of his light breathing helps lull me into sleep.

* * *

Right out of my sleep, I hear pacing near the window. I open my eyes to see Rohan holding his head, sitting on the small chair. He must be pretty hungover. Since he doesn’t normally drink, and that shit from the tavern was definitely pretty strong for him. Even I was getting a little buzzed, and usually it takes like at least three shots for me to feel something.

“You alright?” I croak.

“No, idiot. I’m not alright. I shouldn’t have drunk with you,” he whines.

“Right. Cause it’s my fault. As expected.” I throw my legs over the bed and grab my cloak from behind him. Rohan glares up at me, his lips coming out into what I think is a small pout. I chuckle, “We need to head back to the map to grind a little more.”

“No way. I can’t, I feel so sick.”

“You’ll be fine. You won’t have to do much anyway since we leveled yesterday. I should be able to take them without much help this time.”

“Alright, but I want to come back early and lie down.” Rohan sighs, standing and making his way to the door.

“Cool. I’m good with that.”

* * *

The tigers from yesterday are running rampant in the map when we arrive. Rohan returns to his usual safety spot while I take them on. He hasn’t really mentioned what he told me last night. Not that I expected him to. But it seems like that was something pretty close to his heart. I guess I do feel bad for him since Seeker really is just a pastime for me that I happened to be very good at. But I don’t see it as my only way out in life. Especially since I’m expected to replace my dad at our company after finishing up what he calls fucking around at his brother’s company. But at the same time, Seeker is a competitive game. It’s a competition. Was I supposed to just lose to him?

He would probably fucking hate that even more.

Rohan wants to beat me fair and square with his own skill.

I know this about him.

I like that about him.

I level both of us again. We’re probably set to complete the rest of the quest with this level, but just to be sure, I keep taking out the tigers. When my blade hacks through one of them, dispersing it into thin air, a special piece of loot drops. I walk around to examine it; it’s a super rare metal needed to forge a master-level weapon. I could for sure use this. It’s harder to obtain more power the higher level you reach.

Rohan approaches me from behind, and I turn to him to see his face lit up. His eyes shining like stars that can be seen burning a thousand light-years away. I always thought they were so beautiful.

I push the loot out towards him. “Here.”

“What? This is super rare, you know!” Rohan says, his brows pinched.

“I know, you can have it.”