AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why would someone fake-destroy my computer?” Neil gets even paler, which I wouldn’t have thought possible. I worry he might faint.
Bending to pick up the sack I tossed, Kendrick rummages through it and pulls out the monitor casing—what’s left of it, anyway. “This yours? Look closely.”
Neil takes the beaten and stabbed hunk and turns it over in his hands. “Well, these are the, um, decals I put on it …” He pauses and pushes up his glasses to inspect the stickers more closely. “Actually, wait a sec. This one here should have a scratch from where it got scuffed when I was moving. Right here.” He points to a pristine sticker of a buxom anime babe.
Kendrick rolls his eyes. “Of course, you notice her tits are different.”
“Hey, give him a break, dude.” I step into the room and walk to Neil’s side, not wanting to leave him undefended against the much bigger man. Not that I could stop Kendrick from breaking Neil’s neck even if I tried, but it’s the thought that counts, right? “I, for one, don’t think he knows anything, and I don’t think you’re going to make him know something by continuing to harass him. Why don’t we let him be for a bit? Neil, if you want, I can set up that computer you borrowed in your room so you can contact your friend. What was her name again? Bunnyluv?”
Neil blinks, still shaken by the thought that someone went to ridiculous lengths to steal his computer and fake its destruction. “Huh? Oh, sure. That would be nice. Maybe she’s replied to my messages by now.”
I know for a fact that she hasn’t, but I keep my mouth uncharacteristically shut for once, opting instead to shrug and take Neil by the arm to have him help carry the equipment.
“Where are you going with him?” Kendrick snaps.
I heave a dramatic sigh and turn back to my frenemy. “Dude. I’ll need help carrying the shit, and you’re a klutz with electronics. Neil knows how to handle them.”
“That’s apparently not the only thing he knows how to handle,” Kendrick grumbles, looking over at Bunny, who’s preoccupied with inspecting her fingernails.
If Kendrick wasn’t an asshole, I’d feel sorry for him. He hates change in any form, but he’ll make whatever adjustments to his life that Bunny wants, even if it’s to his detriment. Taking in me and now Neil has to grate at his nerves. Hearing Neil and Bunny going at it earlier probably hurt his pride a bit, too. Bunny’s no one-man woman, and while he has zero problems with Bunny and Doc getting it on, for some reason her liaisons with me and Neil don’t seem to sit well with him. He always gets his panties in a bunch after Bun and I have sex, and it looks like he’s got the same hangup with Neil.
As we walk down the hall, away from Kendrick and Bunny, Neil finally speaks up again.
“Is he going to kick my ass for sleeping with Bunny?”
I can’t help it; I burst into raucous laughter. “Are you kidding? I sleep with Bunny. Doc sleeps with Bunny. The only reason Kendrick has a problem with me is he can’t control me like he can Doc. Doesn’t hurt that he’s in love with Doc as well as Bunny, so anything that makes the two of them happy he’s all for—provided it can make him happy, too. Kendrick’s not my type, though, and I think that rubs him the wrong way.” I wink at Neil as I roll my lollipop in my mouth. “I prefer a little more intellect and a little less muscle on my guys.”
Neil trips on air, and I catch his good arm to prevent him from falling over. Did I maybe go too far with the flirting?
“Kidding!” I add, hoping to smooth it over before things get too awkward. I dig Neil, but I don’t know if he has the same tendencies I do. He might be straight as an arrow, so any flirting I do might just fuck stuff up.
“It’s okay. You just … took me by surprise with that.”
Yep. I fucked up.
I brush off myfaux paswith a grin and a friendly slap on Neil’s back. “Sorry, dude. Let’s just grab the stuff so you can message your Bunnyluv in peace. I’ll talk with Kendrick, get him to ease up off you for a while. There’s no reason for him to act like you’re keeping shit from us.”
“Thanks, Keys. I appreciate the support.”
“Hey, if us nerds don’t stand up for each other, who’s gonna stand up for us?”
Neil’s lips spread in a wide smirk. “Superhero vigilante bunny chicks with baseball bats?”
“Ooh! Good one!” I offer him a palm for a high five, and we have an awkward moment where he tries to slap my hand with his injured one. He catches himself just in time, and we share a laugh over it.
The conversation turns toBattlemages Unleashedas we disconnect Neil’s new-used computer and haul it down the hall, along with a pair of headphones with a mic so he can chat with Bunnyluv when she logs in. I listen with rapt attention as he raves about her, though when I poke with questions about her personal life, he shyly shuts down, admitting that he doesn’t know much outside of the game when it comes to her.
“Maybe I should just call it off with Bunnyluv, especially now that I’m with Bunny.” He chuckles. “That’s so fucking confusing.”
Panic causes me to freeze mid-hookup, and I look from the wires to Neil. “I mean, no offense dude, but we’re all ‘with Bunny.’ Maybe you shouldn’t be so hasty. Who knows? This Bunnyluv friend of yours might be into that.”
“Oh. Right.” His face falls, and I feel like an asshole.
I finish connecting the ethernet cable and stand back up. “Sorry, man. I’m just being a jealous prick.”
“Why? Because I slept with Bunny?”
“Because you obviously have something special with this Bunnyluv. That’s pretty cool, and I guess a part of me wishes I had that with someone. Don’t get me wrong; I love Bunny, and in her own way, she loves me, too. But the way you light up when you talk about Bunnyluv, the way you called her name when you were hurt … That’s special, man. Don’t knock it, and don’t throw it away.”
