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The van door opens, and as we all pile out, I feel like a clown climbing out of a car with endless clowns following me.
“I already spoke to Mike and gave him a run down of the day.” Charles turns his attention to me. “Have you ever shot a gun that wasn’t attached to a TV screen?”
“No.”
He nods and opens the back of the van. “Before we head out, let’s have Nicholas take a few practice shots to get used to it.”
My eyes widen as they pull their guns out of the van. I’ve never held a gun, never mind shot one.
“Relax, you just aim and pull the trigger. Nothing to it,” Mark whispers, clasping my shoulder.
Charles and Mark explain everything about the gun to me. It’s a 308 caliber rifle, apparently just what we need to take down an elk. They take the time to explain all the parts of the gun, all the safety instructions, and even have me load it. They explain how important gun safety is, and I’m paying attention like there will be a test after.
“All right, you ready to take a few shots?” Charles asks.
My confidence has increased during the teaching session, so I nod and take the gun from him.
“Just look through the scope, center the red dot on the target, and pull the trigger,” Mark instructs.
I do exactly as he explains and squeeze the trigger.
Bullseye.
“Damn,” Frank whispers behind me.
“Nice shot, Nicholas. Try again,” Charles encourages.
I won’t lie, it feels good I’m doing so well for my first time shooting. Even if the next few shots aren’t exactly a bullseye, they’re all on the target.
Years of practice with video games, I guess.
“Great job,” Charles says, slapping my back. He turns around smiling like a proud father as he wraps his arm around my shoulder. “He’s a quick study, that's for sure. How about we head out?”
As we walk toward the edge of the woods, the twins rush to be on either side of me.
“That was awesome. You really never shot before?” Jared asks.
The only reason I know it’s Jared and not Jeremy is because I noticed he has green and black camo gloves and Jeremy has white and black.
“No, that was my first time.”
“But you’ve shot in video games,” Jeremy says.
I grin, looking down at him. “Yes, I’ve definitely shot in video games.”
“What’s your favorite game?” Jared asks.
I want to tell them all about the new game I’m coming up with, but that would blow my cover and put January in a horrible position. Instead of getting them excited about all the inside information I have, I keep it general.
“Skyrim.”
“I’ve never heard of that one.,” Jeremy says.
“Yeah, it was one of the best open-world games. Awesome soundtrack. Awesome storyline. It was excellent.”
“Will you play it with us one day?”
“Sure.” I smile. I want to expand on how I’ve been trying to outdo that game my whole career, and I think I just might with my new game, SpectarCloud, coming out this year. If I can ever focus on finishing it.
Instead, I keep thinking about a certain blue-eyed, brown-haired assistant. One that is quickly becoming an obsession of mine. I think it’s partly the reason I’ve been so on edge the past couple of months.
“Shh, you’re going to scare the elk,” Mark whispers, looking back at us.
Jeremy rolls his eyes, but obeys his father.
The longer we walk, the more grateful I am to January for purchasing such warm clothing. I definitely won’t be complaining about the camo anymore, that’s for sure.
“You know January works for a gaming company,” Jared says.
I grin, nodding my head. “I did, in fact, know that.”
“She says her boss is an asshole,” Jeremey whispers.
Part of me finds it funny, but another part of me, a bigger part of me is hurt hearing this. Anne, January’s mother, made a reference when I first met her about January’s boss being awful. Now the twins are calling me an asshole. Is that how she really feels? Does she think I’m that horrible to work for?
I admit the past few months I’ve been a bear to work for, but she must know the stress I’m under. The inability to pull her into my arms and make out with her, share an intimate moment, it takes a toll on a man.
“What else has she said about him?” I’ve sunk pretty low if I’m trying to get information out of fourteen-year-old boys. Maybe I am an asshole.
“I heard her telling Aunt Ann once that she really liked him at first, but then he just wasn’t as cool as he used to be,” Jared says.
“Cool?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow.
“It was something like that,” he says, lifting his shoulders.
“He makes her do a lot of things, I guess. But I think working for a video game company would be awesome. I wouldn’t care if I had to bring things to his house. I’d ask if we could play video games,” Jeremy says, laughing.
