Lag (The Boys of RDA Book 2) (23 page)

My face has to be tear stained and red, but he doesn’t comment as I follow him into the empty lobby. I scan the room and take note that besides the pen still on the floor, everything is where I left it when I made my frantic dash to the closet.

Trey opens the door to the offices and sticks his head on the other side before looking back. “It’s empty. Everyone’s gone home. Come on."

My heels click on the floor and it sounds louder than normal. The desk-filled room is empty of people on the other side of the door. The lights slowly flicker back on as Trey flips the switches to our right. The door to Trey’s office is closed. The blinds on his big window are open, but the lights inside are off.

He walks through to his right and stops at the two large sectional sofas that corner off the side of the room. The large television is black, but he grabs a remote and the screen flashes to life. Various gaming consoles and controllers litter the space, dead giveaways this is the area where the boys play games throughout the day.

I stand beside him next to the black leather sofas. “You know this place needs bean bags if you’re going to play up the whole gamer thing.”

He laughs and then jumps over the back of the couch and settles in the middle. “I kept telling Finn to pick some up while we shopped, but he wouldn’t listen to me. These are comfortable, but they don’t cradle the butt like a bean bag.” He taps the seat next to him. Rather than jump over and risk kicking him in the face, I take the adult approach and walk around.

Two controllers lay outstretched on the floor and he reaches down to pick both up handing one to me. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to pick up your toys when you were done playing with them?” I joke and take the controller from him.

“Nah, it’s easier to find everything this way.” He uses his controls to highlight and click on the play game screen and we wait for the screen to load.

“What are we playing?” For some reason sitting on a couch with my maybe boyfriend to play a video game feels like the perfect thing to do to forget my earlier freak out. It’s almost normal and normal is comforting right now.

“Dragons Reborn,” he answers with ease but doesn’t add the “what else?” comment I hear in his words.

The screen finishes loading and he grabs my controller from me punching a series of buttons I’ll never remember until a female character blinks on the screen. She lands on her feet with the cobblestone street beneath her. Wearing a pair of brown pants and a light green shirt, her long blonde hair is the only indication my character’s a girl. The graphics aren’t as sophisticated as some of the games I’ve seen my cousin play, the scenery and characters a little pixelated and blocky. People fill in the space around us and after we walk a few feet, buildings come into focus until we're standing in a small town center.

“Be careful what you do on the street. All of these are actual people playing on this server all around the world.”

“What can I do besides walk?” I ask.

“Well if you had a sword, you’d want to make sure you have it sheathed or people could see it as a threat.”

I put his warning somewhere in the recess of my mind to use for later should I ever have a sword. It’s a scary to think someone would trust me with a sharp object even in a video game. I follow behind Trey as he walks into a small wooden home. The game loads and the room fills with wooden tables in almost every available space. Each table top holds stacks of different colored cloth. Trey opens a dialog box and enters some numbers before a few pieces of cloth float through the space and magically enter his character before disappearing.

“What just happened?” I ask as we head back out to the road.

Trey walks his character through the winding street and I push random buttons until mine catches up. “I bought some fabric. We’ll find a tailor to turn it into clothing.”

We walk past a shop with an anvil hanging over the door — the universal sign for a blacksmith in this online realm and our real one. I went through a castle phase in middle school, okay? I was on the lookout for my white knight so I could be a princess. The door is closed and the building has a roof rather than being open to the contents inside. We walk by without stopping.

“A real person’s character makes clothes?” The possibilities in this game are a little overwhelming as we pass various buildings some with doors open and some closed.

“Yeah, they increase their skills as they play and make clothes to barter with other characters. There are blacksmiths and tavern owners. A little of everything and more than one shop for each since people aren’t always online."

“So I could design my own clothes in this game?” Did Trey just tell me I could be a Dragons Reborn fashion designer?

He grins in my direction at the question. “Well the options are pre-determined, but sure.”

I use the back of my palm to hit his shoulder in excitement. “I want to be a tailor,” I demand like a small child who decides they want to be an astronaut one day over lunch.

His smile grows. “It takes a while to build up the skills. Some of these players are online most of the day.”

Nothing is going to take away from my excitement of being a fashion designer — neither predetermined outfits or lack of skill set. “It’s okay. I can play during the day. I heard my bosses won’t mind.” I quickly wink at him and then return my focus to the game.

At that he outright laughs but doesn’t object. His character turns down a path to our left and I scramble to follow again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I jerk awake. The rattle of Aspen’s wooden door jarred against the frame so loud I almost fall off the couch in panic. Please, dear God, not another earthquake. Sunlight streams into the room and pools on the floor from a split where two curtain panels come together. The door rattles again and I sit up on the pull-out couch and bring the covers up to my chest.

“Aspen! Simone!” The noise carries through to the apartment and I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m pretty sure a robber wouldn't call out for us first.

Aspen’s bedroom door opens as she fixes her askew ponytail and walks to the kitchen. “I’m coming!” she yells toward the door. “Don’t worry. Only Finn, Mar, and my sister-in-law have the code, and only Jake has the meaty fists required to make the door shake with such passion.”

Her long fleece pajama pants are white with big orange SF logos all over them. They match the logo on her short sleeve shirt. She’s seems nonchalant rather than worried why Finn would try to break down her door at this hour of the day. Aspen makes it to the opposite side of the room and pulls open the door.

“Surprise.” I don’t recognize the voice right away, but I’m also still half asleep. Since Aspen doesn’t scream and run for cover, I assume we’re safe.

“Do you know what time it is, Finnegan?” she asks with a hand on her hip.

The door opens farther and Jake in a pair of jeans and a black fleece jacket walks in. Behind him, Finn in a similar outfit follows and Trey brings up the rear with a full cardboard drink carrier.

“Do
you
know what time it is?” Finn repeats her question and then stops to look Aspen over.

Trey walks to the middle of the room, his lips stretched across his face in the most joyful expression he’s ever worn. “It’s moving day." He takes a coffee cup from the carrier and passes it to Aspen. “A hot chocolate for the non-coffee drinker.”

“Thanks, Trey. You look happy today.” She smells the top of her drink container. “It’s odd and maybe a little scary.”

I can’t decide if her odd statement is about her hot chocolate or the goofy expression Trey’s had on his scruffy face since he walked in. As if my thoughts have called him, he walks over to me and places a quick kiss on my temple. "Coffee for you.” When he backs away, Aspen, Finn, and even Jake are left staring at us, all of their mouths slightly slack in question.

Their scrutiny racks up my nerves and I shrug. Maybe Trey’s on drugs. I lift the coffee to my lips, but move it back quickly. “One sugar?”

Trey smiles. “Of course.”

My eyes narrow at him. “Poured on the left side of the cup not the right?”

He, Finn, and Jake all laugh as they figure out my Melvin impersonation, but poor Aspen looks at the four of us like I’ve lost my mind.

Jake is the first to get back to business and he walks out to the hallway and comes back in carrying a stack of flattened cardboard boxes.

“Boxes?” I ask.

Trey grabs the stack from Jake. “Yeah, for your stuff.”

My head slants to the side as I process what he’s said. Out of the corner of my eye, Finn pulls Aspen to his lap with a quick head shake as they sit on the edge of the couch together. Even Jake retreats to the side of the kitchen. Everyone’s clearing the space and I worry I'm about to find out why.

“Most of my stuff is already in boxes, Trey.”

He drops the stack of cardboard on the floor. “Even better.”

All the words he’s said since entering the apartment hit me at once and I sputter for a moment. “Wait a second. Why is today moving day?” I have to ask, "Who’s moving?”

I didn’t believe it was possible, but his lips stretch further along his face. “You are.”

Granted it’s been easier between Trey and me since my closet freak out on Wednesday. We’ve eaten lunch together and played Dragons Reborn daily. I’ve even almost won Melvin's trust back since there haven’t been any additional jelly incidents. Of course I think Melvin might have tinfoil stuck to the underside of the baseball hat he refuses to take off, but that’s a problem for another day.

The point is Trey and I haven’t talked about apartments at any point in the last two days. He definitely didn’t mention showing up on Saturday morning with boxes. I’d remember that.

“Why is Simone moving?” Aspen asks from her spot on the couch next to Finn.

Trey sighs, obviously irritated by the lost time in answering questions he feels are redundant. “We have an open apartment on the second floor and she’s next on the list.”

His answer sounds simple, but I don’t believe it. “Aspen said there’s a six-month wait for new employees.”

A throat clears from behind me and Finn stands from the couch. “Let me give you some words of wisdom, Simone, if you don’t mind?” He waits for my nod. "When Trey sets his mind on a task, he’ll work until he gets it. At times like these, it’s best to sit back and enjoy the ride.”

My head flips back to Trey, waiting for his rebuttal, but he only sticks a hand out in defeat.

“I don’t want the other employees to think I’m getting special treatment.” I try one last time.

“Nonsense,” Finn answers again. “We make the rules and there are two open spaces without current employees. We’ve hired less than we planned so there is no waiting. I trust you so I’m waiving the six-month rule.”

“But…” my words stall out when I’m unable to decide what to argue next.

Finn walks next to Trey and crosses his arms over his chest. It reminds me of two linebackers working together. Except these are nerdy linebackers and the most they probably know about football has the name Madden in it.

“Plus I don’t want you two here alone. The crime rate is ridiculous,” Finn finishes with a head nod to Trey.

Aspen smirks from her position still on the couch and picks fuzz from her brand new looking pants. “Crime, huh?”

“Yes, six blocks down Van Ness Street a shop had a brick thrown through their window.”

Aspen stands from the couch and walks to my side making our own little front of woman power. Poor Jake watches the whole show unfold from a seat by the kitchen counter. “Six blocks,” she mocks being horrified. “That’s practically our back door, Simone. Do we have enough teenager repellent around?” She nudges me and then crosses her own arms to mimic Finn’s stance.

“I’m serious, Aspen. It was hundreds of dollars in damage. The whole thing was traumatic for the business owners.”

“I’m sure it was,” she deadpans with her head cocked to one side.

This argument has definitely moved from Trey and me to Finn and Aspen, and I don’t want her to think she has to defend me at the expense of causing an argument with Finn.

“If you’re sure I’m not taking a place from someone?” I need to confirm one last time.

“Positive,” Finn steps closer to Aspen while his hand flicks his hair from his forehead. “And once Simone is safe at her new place, you can stay with me until the whole mess is figured out.”

Aspen’s foot stomps on the floor and Finn stops in his advance. “You can’t force me to move in with you, Finn.”

He grins. “I’m not forcing you to move in. I’m keeping you safe in my fortress of solitude.” When she doesn’t soften her expression, he tries one more incentive. “You’ll be close to Simone.”

“I’m not giving up this apartment.”

“No, of course not,” he reaches Aspen and wraps his arms around her.

In one sudden movement Jake is off his chair. “Well now that it’s settled, show us to the boxes.”

Wait, it’s all settled? Jake strolls toward the bedroom where he piled the boxes the first time. He’s a man of few words, but when he speaks, people listen because within seconds we all follow behind him.

I guess everything’s settled. I’d like a few minutes to process the latest development in my life, but Jake, Finn, and Trey all walk out of Aspen’s room, each with a box, and head out the front door. I open my mouth to say…well something… but don’t. I’m sure when I wake up in a real bed tomorrow, I’ll have less reservations about it all. At least I hope that’s the case.