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For the next two hours, the three of them ran through the digital woods, working together like a well-oiled machine as they defeated Michael Myers. Gage was a surprisingly good gamer, and like her, when in the heat of the moment, he cussed like a sailor.
When the game was over, she realized that for the entire night, she’d managed to talk to Gage with the same confidence and familiarity she shared with Toby and Rich. She’d broken through her tongue-tied insanity—and it felt great.
“Fuck,” Gage said. “That was intense. I see why you like it, Toby.”
Toby, clearly thrilled, said, “Right? I told you.”
“Next time we play, one of us should take on the role of the killer. That’s when shit gets real.” Penny paused when she realized what she’d just said.
There was no way Gage was coming back for an encore of game night.
This was a fluke.
“I’m in…if I get to be Pinhead,” Gage responded.
Penny groaned, delighted by the thought that he wanted to join them again. “I hate Pinhead. That guy creeps me the fuck out.”
He deepened his voice. “No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering.”
“Jesus.” She shuddered, hating how good his impersonation was. “Guess I’m sleeping curled in a fetal position under the covers all night.”
“Gotta admit, I didn’t realize you could talk so much, let alone cuss, Willow99,” Gage teased before taking a jab at her screen name. “Buffy much?”
If Penny had one failing—okay, she had more than that, but in this instance—it was that she could never resist the urge to knock someone down a peg or two if they got too cocky. Her father called her his clever little smart-ass. And at least half the time, he meant that as a compliment.
“I was fifteen when I picked that name. Besides, Willow is awesome. And before you throw that stone, maybeyoushould have taken a few extra minutes to come up with a better screen name, Daddy_MoreButt$$.”
“I do like the sound of you calling me daddy, Beaumont,” Gage joked.
Aaaand she’d just made a cardinal mistake, forgetting that Gage was a consummate smart-ass himself. While she never engaged in conversation with the man, opting instead to keep her head down and do her job lest she make a jackass of herself, she watched him way too intently whenever he joked around and traded barbs with the other guys in IT.
She had long acknowledged that Gage wasn’t the typical boss. He never played the power card with her or the others in the departments he oversaw. He also didn’t seem to take things too seriously. She figured that was because his brother, Matt, was the CEO of Russo Enterprises, and nobody fucked around on Matt’s watch. Because of that, Gage tended to play the “good cop” role, jovial and easygoing.
Penny didn’t really have an opinion about Conor, the third Russo brother, because he was rarely in the office, opting instead to work out of one of the nightclubs he owned.
It wasn’t unusual for Gage to stop by the IT department once a day, either to discuss business or, more often than not, just shoot the shit. When she considered it now, she wondered if Gage was serious about wanting to be included in the nerd circle.
Because she played video games, D&D, and possessed zero feminine wiles, she’d earned her all-access pass to the boys’ locker room years ago, so she had been privy to Toby, Rich, and Gage’s brand of sophomoric guy talk around the office pretty much since the beginning of her employment six years earlier.
She figured she was the most sexually knowledgeable virgin on the planet, thanks to too many years of listening to the guys she hung out with…and the dirty books she read…and the porn she watched…and the occasional WooHoo SIMS hookup, which was painfully PG.
“For your information,” Gage said, as if her long silence wasn’t weird, “I came up with that screen name when I was sixteen. My high school performed the musicalAnniethat year and I was hooking up with a couple of the orphans…and Annie. Thought it was pretty fucking clever.”
“It’s hilarious,” Toby said, far too earnestly.
“The dollar signs are a nice touch,” she said sarcastically.
“So you seriously want to play again, Gage?” Toby interjected, probably worried they’d start ragging on his stupid screen name, Freaky12, which was by far the least clever one of their group.
“Yeah. I would.”
“Awesome!” Toby exclaimed, the first to cry uncle, pointing out that they all had work the next day. He said good night and exited the voice chat, leaving Penny alone with Gage.
Jesus H. She should have let Michael Myers kill Toby. The witless wonder had just left her alone in the lion’s den…with the lion.
The easiness of the past couple of hours started to fade despite her best efforts to stay cool. “So, um…”
Gage saved her from herself, interrupting before she could stammer out anything completely inane. “If I don’t see you at the office tomorrow, I’ll see you tomorrow night. Toby invited me to your weekly Dungeons & Dragons game.”
