Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1)

by Shannon Pemrick

  Shira opened her game menu. “No, I’m willing to do more than that. She needs to know the truth of all this. I want her to be happy again. Give me a few minutes to privately call her.”

  She leaned against the pew again and made her call. Takashi made himself comfortable, and Jasper and Zach stayed where they were, both intently watching her.

  Takashi wondered what was holding the two back from convincing Shira their interest in her was genuine. Even though the two of them had gotten together a couple years after Jasper lost his wife unexpectedly, they hadn’t been all that subtle with their interest in their mutual friend.

  Shira started to pace, her mouth moving, but not in a way anyone could lip-read, and no sound came out. It was the way the game had been coded, to show someone was having a conversation with either guildmates or privately, while keeping those from outside the conversation from thinking the person was ignoring them.

  Takashi leaned forward when Shira’s arm movements started to show how poorly the conversation was going. Dread sat in the pit of his stomach.

  Shira sighed aloud, signifying the conversation had ended.

  “That sounds wicked bad,” Zach said.

  Shira shook her head. “She’s more stubborn than me. I even sent her the proof, but she didn’t believe a word of it. I’m going to have to work with her more.” She looked to Takashi. “But I did manage to confirm, she didn’t send you those flowers.”

  Takashi nodded, unable to smile. “That’s something, at least.”

  She gave him a sympathetic glance. “I’ll work with her. There’s only so long she’ll be able to fight me. You’ll get your chance to talk to her face-to-face to prove your side.”

  “Thank you. I’ll also try to send her a game message. Maybe she’ll reply to those eventually. In the meantime”—he grinned and looked to Jasper and Zach—“I think Mercedes’ personal attack dog should be praised for doing such a good job.”

  Zach’s bow rose, Takashi’s meaning not quite registering yet, but Jasper grinned. He walked up to Shira and literally swept her off her feet. “That’s a sick idea. She deserves a reward for all her hahd work.”

  “Put me down, you lumbering warthog.”

  Takashi and Zach laughed while Jasper gave her a look that says he wasn’t sure if he should be confused or offended. “Ma’am, I am a rogue, we don’t lumbah.”

  “One, I am not a ma’am, and two, then you need a better rogue instructor.”

  Jasper put her feet down on the ground, but made sure she stayed nice and close as he spoke closer to her ear. “Bettah yet, I can show you just how roguish I can be.”

  Takashi clamped his mouth shut so he wouldn’t laugh at the sight of Shira’s reddening face. She swatted Jasper away. “Stop acting so weird.”

  Jasper, cocky as ever, held up his hands. “Who said I’m being wicked weird?”

  Shira held her hands out at him as she looked to Zach. “He’s your boyfriend. Aren’t you going to stop this?”

  Zach leaned against the chapel doors. “This is a wicked good show, actually.”

  Shira’s jaw went slack for a moment before she looked at Takashi for help, but he was already in the process of pulling up his game menu. “And I’m logging off. Have fun.”

  “Traitor” was the only thing he heard from her before logging out. It was fun messing with her. But he also needed to give his father a hand with the phone situation.

  He was now sure there was some foul play involved. Between the business hacking and now this, how could he ignore that? He didn’t know who would do this to him, but he wasn’t going to sit idly by while it continued to happen.

  He also needed to craft a good message for Mercedes to read. He’d keep trying until she finally allowed him to speak to her face-to-face.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Flakes of fish food snowed down onto the water’s surface of the fish tank in Mercedes’ living room. The little creatures darted about, gobbling them up. She’d returned home two days ago and was honestly surprised they were still alive. She loved her father, but entrusting him to stop by and feed her fish even once after the two week self-feeding provisions ran out, was a bit of a risk.

  Mercedes plopped down on the couch and looked at her cybernetic. She’d spent a total of three weeks in L.A. testing with Narissa. The last stage didn’t take as long to adjust to and test as they thought, so they had gone about setting her up with a brand new full unit to test out. This allowed them to figure out any potential differences in the rushed style of testing they’d been doing.

  Mercedes’ phone went off, a cheesy battle horn sound, indicating Shira wanted to chat. Picking the phone up from the coffee table, she relished the feeling of the device in her false hand. It wasn’t exactly like having a real arm, but it was damned close. Narissa had a lot of work to do for her press release on the product, along with more tests with the stepped version, and checking in with those who were testing out the full versions. It wasn’t expected to see approval for large-scale human testing and then market for at least another year or two, but Narissa was hopeful, and Mercedes was happy to have helped her friend. It gave her another leg up on the competition, and it was going to help so many people like Mercedes get back into having a life they would have believed they’d lost.

  Mercedes looked at the new text, this one like all the others, and again, begging her to talk to Takashi. She frowned. Well, almost have their lives back. They couldn’t make others accept them for not being fully human anymore. And this topic with Shira is getting old.

  When Shira had called her, trying to learn more about what she didn’t do with the flowers Takashi sent her, and then went about trying to explain things on Takashi’s behalf, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But mostly she couldn’t believe her friend had so easily believed such a story.

  Yes, Mercedes had confirmed that his mother’s shop had been burned down, and that made her pity the family for their loss, but that didn’t mean she was going to outright forgive Takashi, or believe there was some phone issue conveniently happening at the same time as this emergency. Especially since he started sending her in-game messages shortly after Shira tried to convince her. Why couldn’t he have done that before, if this phone thing was such an issue?

  She typed out a reply.

  There’s nothing for the two of us to discuss.

  A moment later a reply came in.

  Cede, please just hear him out. That’s all I’m asking. Stop being stubborn about this.

  Mercedes wondered when her friend would finally give up. There was nothing to be gained from this. She just wanted to move on now. Pain seeped into her chest. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.

  Text flew across the screen as Mercedes typed back to Shira, but just as she hit “send,” her screen locked up and Tasha’s voice came from the condo infrastructure. “Miss Mercedes, before I allow that to be sent, may I speaking candidly with you?”

  Her interested piqued, Mercedes placed the phone down on her lap. “Of course, Tasha.”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  Mercedes’ face twisted as she tried to figure out how to react to such a statement. Tasha had never been so callous before.

  “I apologize if my words offend you, but even though I am only an AI assistant, I am glad you are my owner. And because I am so grateful, I wish to see you happy. Therefore I need you to see that your stubbornness is getting in the way of your happiness.”

  Mercedes went to speak, but Tasha continued. “I understand you’re hurt. I sense your pain daily, and analyze the meaning behind the words you send to your friends. But as humans, you make mistakes—even AIs aren’t perfect.”

  Mercedes leaned back into the couch. Tasha had a point.

  “I think you should give Mr. Takashi at least the chance to explain everythin
g to you himself, face to face. Even if you don’t believe him, and the two of you go your separate ways, you both deserve that much. And if I may continue to be candid, I would like to say I hope you don’t separate. I have never seen you happier than when you are with him. And my scanners, and his personal assistant, told me Mr. Takashi was the same way.”

  A tiny smile spread across Mercedes’ lips and conflicting emotions turned in her stomach. Tasha was right… again. She was being stubborn about this. No, it’s more than that. I’m being a bitch.

  She sighed. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tasha released the phone freeze, allowing Mercedes to erase her message and write out a new one.

  Fine. I’ll talk to him.

  It didn’t take long for Shira to respond back.

  Oh thank god. I thought I was going to have to keep doing this with you forever. I’ll tell him to contact you with a meeting spot.

  Fine.

  As much as this did need to happen, she wasn’t going to pretend she was happy about the idea. Even if she was being a bitch with how stubborn she’d been acting, it didn’t invalidate how she felt.

  Her phone beeped and a notification from Lusara Fates popped up. She had a message from Takashi.

  Thank you for being willing to talk to me. Can we meet at my business? It’ll be quiet there.

  She should have figured that’d be his request. His reasoning was sound, but it wasn’t neutral ground, either. Still, she agreed to it and put the phone down.

  Mercedes took a deep breath and headed for her gaming station. Doubt clawed at her, whispering into her ear several reasons not to go through with this, but she knew she had to. At the very least, so she could get proper closure.

  She sat down in her gaming chair and loaded up the game and her characters, choosing the human city of Balgara as her port-in location. Mercedes took another a deep breath, and then let the system take her into the game.

  She shook her head when she finished loading in moments later, shaking the slight disorienting feeling she always got when hopping in. Once oriented, Mercedes left the inn, summoning a ground mount, a flaming horse she got during a raid in the last expansion. She trotted through the street, weaving around NPCs and PCs alike.

  Buildings of wood and stone with shingled roofs lined the road on either side, the occasional business marked with a sign. Most cities had a designated business section, but Balgara didn’t. It’s what made the place unique.

  Mercedes rode past the courtyard of the cathedral and followed the canal past a large stone-and-wood building with a large mahogany double-door entrance. An ornate sign hung over the entrance, reading “Baten’s Auctions.” It was the local auction house Takashi used when he wasn’t doing direct player trades.

  Several more minutes passed before she came to a line of businesses and homes. One in particular had a sign with a rose, but no name. This was Takashi’s place. Mercedes swiftly dismounted and dismissed her mount. She took a controlled breath and headed inside, only to hear two people talking. One was Takashi, and the other sounded like… Emi.

  Irritation flared up in her, but swiftly pushed it down. She didn’t have any right to be mad. He was allowed to talk to her. Mercedes chose to not enter, allowing the pair to talk uninterrupted, but that didn’t stop her from eavesdropping.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to me about it?” Emi asked.

  Takashi sighed. “Yes. I’m more than capable of handling this. I just need to talk to Mercedes, who should be here any moment.”

  “Sorry.” She sounded sad. “I’m not trying to be a bother, I’m just worried. Rei had been all too happy to tell me you and Mercedes were having some problems, and I know how important it is to you for this to work out.” Her feet shuffled. “And I know I make her uncomfortable—”

  She noticed that? Mercedes thought she’d hidden it from her well.

  “—but I don’t want her thinking I’m trying to get between you two or anything. Because I’m not. If I wanted that, I would have asked you to stop being friends with her when we were together.”

  Mercedes’ brow rose. What did she mean by that?

  Takashi didn’t sound any more clued in than her. “What do you mean?”

  “She made me uncomfortable. She’s beautiful, talented, and smart. She shares more hobbies with you than I do. She came into your life before me, and you had this deep connection with her that I struggled to create with you…”

  Mercedes quietly backed away until she was outside the building and leaned against the structure. It was better if she stopped listening in. I shouldn’t have started in the first place.

  It was weird for her, knowing Emi had an issue with Mercedes long ago, and seeing how friendly she was to her now. She’d always assumed her close relationship with Takashi was problematic for the pair. It’s why she still felt guilty about their break up. Even if Takashi told her she wasn’t responsible, she didn’t believe it fully. And now, this confirmed some of her suspicion. If she was so uncomfortable with me, why is she so friendly now?

  “Mercedes?” Mercedes looked up to see Emi standing in the entrance way of the shop. “Why are you standing out here?”

  “You and Takashi were having a conversation.” Mercedes shrugged. “It’d be rude to interrupt, so I thought it best to wait.”

  Emi frowned. “I’m sorry. Had I known, I wouldn’t have kept him so long.”

  Mercedes shook her head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’re allowed to talk to him.”

  Emi looked to want to say something, and Mercedes thought for a second she’d be asked what she overheard, but instead, Emi gestured to the shop. “Well, he’s all yours now.”

  She rushed off, and Mercedes entered the building. She found Takashi pacing in front of his cluttered desk, several different emotions playing across his face.

  When he noticed her, he stopped, and all the emotions except excitement melted away. “Mercedes!”

  She managed a weak smile and his expression dropped. “Well, I’m here so we can talk.”

  “You can come in. I’m not going to bite you.”

  If she weren’t so mad at him, she would have liked the idea. Mercedes took a few steps in, but refused to get too close to him. She could see it bothered him, though she didn’t let it concern her.

  Takashi frowned. “Mercedes, I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean for it to get to this. I really did have a family emergency.”

  Mercedes held her arms close to her. “I know. I saw the news article.”

  “And I did try to contact you when things calmed down—many times. I can even prove it.”

  Her gaze on him faltered and she feigned interest in the floor. “Shira showed me the screen captures.”

  He stared at her, confused. “Then… why are you mad at me? You have the proof that I tried, and I really did, Mercedes. I’m trying hard right now. I really am.”

  Mercedes let out a short sigh and looked at him. “Do you really not understand how much you hurt me? Are you seriously struggling to comprehend just how much this affects me after I finally opened up to you?”

  The pain and anger in her boiled up. “After I was intimate with you and then had to watch you run off with a convenient excuse like every other guy I’ve dealt with for the last five years? As I watched you treat me like my ex did after I had an arm replacement because of an accident that wasn’t my fault.”

  “That was never my intent.” Takashi took two steps closers, his face twisted with concern and fear. “Mercy, please believe me. I tried. I really did.”

  Euphoric sensations fluttered through Mercedes when he used that nickname. It added confusion into the mix of emotions raging inside her. This talk was going worse than she expected.

  Takashi came up to her and
placed his hands on her arms. “I screwed up. I know that. I should have logged into the game and tried messaging you that way when I didn’t hear back after a day of trying through my phone. That would have stopped all of this from going down. If I didn’t mean any of this, I wouldn’t be trying so hard. I’d have just let everything die. But I didn’t. I can’t.”

  She didn’t look at him, but his presence overwhelmed her. As mad as she was—hurt as she was—she still craved closeness from him. A part of her desperately begged her to just forgive him so she could sate that desire.

  Takashi sighed. “I don’t know what else to say to get you to believe me. Only that I can’t bear the thought of losing you, and that I lo—”

  Boots clomping on the ground pulled the pair’s attention, and a man Mercedes vaguely recognized as Game Master Ashton entered the room.

  Takashi pulled away from her. “Game Master.”

  “I apologize for interrupting, but I must speak with you on an urgent matter, Takashi.” Game Master Ashton said.

  Takashi’s brow furrowed. “Please don’t tell me this has to do with another hacking incident.”

  Ashton frowned. “I’m afraid so.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Mercedes backed up. Of course this would happen. It was so convenient. “I’ll go so you can deal with this.”

  Takashi grabbed her hand. “No.” He looked at the Game Master. “We’re in the middle of sorting out something important. Do whatever checks you need to, but I can’t focus on it right now.”

  “I’m sorry, but I need to discuss several things with you directly, and it cannot wait.”

  “Mercedes!” Zach shouted over guild chat. “Mercedes, please tell me you can hear me right now. It’s an emergency.”

  She would have rolled her eyes at the word “emergency” if it weren’t for the panic in his voice. She connected to chat. “What’s wrong?”