Page 20 of No Going Back

He freezes for half a second, then melts, cheeks pink. “Shut up.”

I laugh against his lips before pulling back. “Jealous of a pixel girl?”

“She called your build insane,” he mutters, sulky.

I roll my eyes, but my chest feels warm. This… him getting stupidly possessive over a random online player, me kissing it away like it’s nothing… is best-friend shit layered over whatever this new thing is; it works.

We keep playing, more events and more trash talk. More shared snacks… crumbs everywhere, empty chip bags on the coffee table, gummy wrappers stuck to the blanket. The room looks like a war zone, but neither of us cares. We’re laughing too hard at a glitch where Remy’s power armour clips into a wall and he gets stuck ragdolling for thirty seconds while I have to defend him from mole rats.

Eventually the energy crashes. We’re both yawning between kills, eyes heavy. The game keeps running, our characters idling in a safe spot, we don’t log out.

Remy’s head slowly drops onto my shoulder. I don’t move him. I just shift the blanket higher, tucking it around both of us, and let my arm drape over his back. His breathing evens out first… slow, deep, and content.

I keep half-playing one-handed for a while, but my eyes are burning. I set the controller down, lean my head against his, and close my eyes. We pass out like that… sat up, tangled under the same blanket, controllers still warm in our laps, the game humming quietly in the background.

Best friends… more than that now. But still, fundamentally, the same two idiots who’ve always fit together better than anyone else ever could.

7

Remy

I wake to Hannah’s loud, shocked voice slicing through the haze. “What the hell?”

My eyes snap open. Cole jolts upright at the same time, our foreheads crack together hard enough to make me see stars. We both groan, hands flying to our heads.

“Ow, fuck.”

“Shit…”

Our limbs are a tangled mess under the blanket, his leg hooked over mine, my arm slung across his chest. I clear my throat, cheeks burning, and start untangling us as fast as I can without making it worse.

Cole yanks the blanket off me completely, wraps it around himself like a cocoon, and flops back down properly on the couch, rubbing his face with both hands. “Jesus…”

I sit up straighter, heart hammering, waiting for the anger. For her to snap at us for being wrapped up like this. For questions. For anything.

Instead, she laughs, bright and genuine. “Guys, look at the mess you made!”

I blink. “What?”

She’s already bending down, picking up crumpled chip bags, gummy wrappers, and empty soda cans. “Look at this… your bin is literally a few metres away from your lazy butts.”

Relief crashes through me so hard I almost laugh out loud. She’s not mad about us being tangled. I force a chuckle, mostly to cover how fast my pulse is racing. “Right, yeah… my bad.”

Cole groans from his blanket burrito, voice raspy and thick with sleep. “We would’ve done it eventually, Han.”

Goddamn. That gravelly morning rumble slides down my spine like a shiver. I have to look away so I don’t stare at his mouth, the way his hair’s all messed up, or the sleepy flush on his cheeks.

Hannah giggles. “You two are like an old married couple.”

I freeze, staring at her.

She waves a hand, still smiling. “Wrapped up together… you’re so cute.”

Then she walks over, swings a leg over my lap, and straddles me right here on the couch. “Morning, handsome.”

I clear my throat and force a smile. “Morning, Han.”

She playfully pouts. “What, no kiss?”