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Rowan glances down at me, dark eyes crinkled at their edges. “Yes, we did establish that. And you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Emery. I would think you of all people would know that.”
I bristle. “What’sthatsupposed to mean?”
“If I were to judge you based on your blue hair and the ripped jeans and the perma-scowl, I might be led to believe you were actually a cactus masquerading as a human. Oh, wait...that’s exactly what you are.”
I roll my eyes as he laughs at his own joke. “I walked straight into that one, didn’t I?”
“Like a crash test dummy flying through a windscreen.”
The quirky comparison makes me laugh. It’s unexpected, like maybe Rowan has a delightful little bit of weirdness hiding under his polished, perfectly symmetrical exterior. “So you’re saying youdolike games?”
“I used to when I was a kid. Honestly, I don’t get a lot of downtime these days.”
“Partying too hard.”
“Something like that.” He looks like he’s about to elaborate, but I get the sense that there are walls up inside him. “So, explain your new game to me.”
“Why do you care?” I’m genuinely puzzled. The only interest Rowan has ever showed in me is when he’s found an opportunity to wind me up. So why change that?
“Just humour me, okay?”
“Fine.” I shake my head. “The new game is calledMole. It’s set up like a cooperative game, where all players are supposed to work together to defeat the game. Only, at the beginning, one person draws a role card calledthe mole. They have to sabotage the rest of the players so that the game wins and not the players.”
“Sounds unique.”
“It is.” I don’t need to be modest about that—I did my research for this game and I know it’s in a league of its own. “The backdrop of the game is a fantasy village where you complete quests to help the village defeat a powerful sorcerer and his dragon who’ve been terrorising them. It’s part strategy game, part resource management but then it has that element of psychology to it, where everybody is suspicious of the other players and their suggestions, while they try to figure out who the mole is.”
“But your potential customers weren’t receptive this weekend?”
“Not as much as I’d hoped. But I think that has more to do with the last game release than this one.” I feel the excitement leach out of me like a balloon deflating. “Gamers know how to hold a grudge.”
“What happened with the last game?”
“We rushed,” I admit. “After the first one was such a huge success I felt pressured to get the second game out quickly and make it even more complex and layered.”
“Ah,” Rowan says with a nod.
“The instructional materials could have been better. Ultimately, people found it too complicated and it... Well, it sank into a hole.” Even now, more than a year later, saying it out loud still hurts. “Now people are wary because they feel like they’ve been burned.”
“So much for second chances.”
“Right?” For the first time in quite a while, I feel really...understood. And from the source I never would have expected. “Anyway, we slowed down with this one and I’m being careful with every decision.”
“That explains why I caught you bitching out your team member that day.”
I suck on the inside of my cheek. “Ihavebeen harder on them this time. I guess I’m worried that this latest game won’t succeed and then they’ll all be out of jobs and... I would feel so guilty about that.”
“Have you told them that’s why you’re riding them so hard?” Rowan asks.
“Well...no, I haven’t.” I jam my hands into my pockets as we walk. The city is balmy and golden, and for the first time all weekend, I’m letting my guard down. “I don’t want them to worry, you know? If I give any indication that I’m not 100 per cent confident in this launch, then how will they trust me as a leader?”
“Maybe showing some vulnerability wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” he says. “If you’re snapping, they already know you’re worried. And you not admitting it probably makes them think you don’t trust them.”
“No offence, but you don’t exactly look like the kind of guy who gets too intimate with vulnerability.”
“Do what I say, not what I do?” He grins and it’s cocky and unabashed and totally gorgeous.
“How about no?” I shoot a saccharine smile back in his direction while flipping him off. Rowan laughs and the sound travels through my body. “So, are you going to tell me why youreallycame to see me? Because I’m not buying the whole natural curiosity thing you’re selling here.”
