Virtually Yours: A Virtual Match Anthology

by Kait Nolan

  She stilled and whispered. “Why?” Her eyes danced to her shoulder. “Spider?”

  Laughing, Berg shook his head. “No, I mean don’t pack up and move if you decide this isn’t working for you. We’ll handle it.”

  “Oh.” She frowned. “You didn’t think that he was the whole reason I moved, did you?”

  “Wasn’t he?”

  “No. It was like five hundred square feet and on a fourth floor with no elevator. I was getting calves the size of watermelons from the days I went grocery shopping.” She gestured toward the backyard. “Plus, now I have land, remember? And a mowing hottie who takes off his shirt. I’m good. I’m staying.”

  He grinned and then leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers.

  “Mm,” the vibrated word hummed across his lips before she opened her mouth and tightened her arms around his neck.

  She tasted delicious. They should go out for ice cream more often. Though, she’d tasted just as good before they’d gone.

  “I don’t think it is either,” she said between kisses.

  He paused and looked askance at her.

  “A mistake. I don’t think it’s a mistake.” It was sweet that she still wanted to talk even now. So much for his theory that a kiss could stop a conversation.

  Twisting sideways, he pressed her into the couch as he kissed her jaw and neck.

  “I think that…oh, Berg…oh that feels good.” Apparently she had sensitive ears. “Um, I think that even though we’re different,” she broke off to pant out a breath and make a sound as near to a purr as he’d heard. She arched her back and one hand plunged into his hair, pulling his mouth tight against her skin. “Even though…even though we’re different,” she swallowed, “it’s okay.”

  It felt very okay. Her grip on his hair increased, ratcheting up his heartbeat. She dragged his mouth up to hers again. Apparently they were done talking for a bit.

  “Mm,” she moaned as he plunged into a deep open-mouthed kiss, and then she hummed in appreciation as he bit her lip before sucking it into his mouth. If she was this vocal now… She wriggled against him, sliding her legs on either side of his hips. “Mm, Berg.”

  The slam of a nearby car door intruded and he paused for a moment.

  “Probably just a package,” he whispered, kissing her softly.

  She nodded, bumping her nose against his.

  Grinning, he kissed her nose. “Damn, you’re sexy. Did you know that?”

  She smiled and sucked in a shaky breath.

  There was a staccato knock on the door before a key slid into a lock.

  “Uh?” Berg looked up at her door as she twisted and lifted up beneath him to see over the edge of the couch.

  In his place, the door squeaked open and footsteps clomped by.

  “Somebody is next door,” Roxie said, sliding out from under him and getting up.

  “Someone with lousy timing.” Not many people had keys to his place. He got up too.

  The footsteps went back toward the front of the duplex and the door opened and closed before there was a knock on Roxie’s front door.

  “What the…?” Berg frowned. Who the hell would know to look for him here? He hadn’t mentioned Roxie to any of his family. He didn’t want them getting their hopes up. They’d started to gang up on him about dating.

  “You didn’t give your key to any serial killers, did you?” Roxie asked, walking hesitantly toward the front door.

  “Not lately.” But he still stood behind her as she opened the door.

  Chris had turned to look at the driveway with a frown but spun back. He glanced over Roxie and said, “There you are!” to Berg. “You weren’t answering your phone. I was hoping you were here.”

  Oh hell, he’d left his phone home while they were gone. The worried look on Chris’s face wasn’t a good sign. Chris didn’t freak out about minor things. Not anymore.

  “Chris?” Roxie hissed. “How did you…?” She looked over her shoulder at Berg and huffed out a relieved breath. “Oh…he’s the guy you know at Virtual Match. That was almost damn creepy.”

  Chris’s eyes narrowed as his gaze dropped to the back of Roxie’s head and then a smile spread across his lips. “Roxie!”

  Well, this was bad.

  Chapter Six

  “So, your online guy turned out to be the best friend of your neighbor?” Hannah asked with a voyeuristic pleasure.

  “It was so surreal. You have no idea. Their other friend was in the hospital for alcohol poisoning and Chris wanted Berg to go with him for some tough love. They were both gone before I could even process it. One minute, Berg and I were hot and heavy on the couch, and I thought to hell with taking it slow. Then, my heart nearly stopped when I thought the online guy was going all stalker creep. Then, they were climbing into Chris’s Jeep and I was waving at the door. He didn’t even say goodbye. Well, neither of them did.”

  “So which are you going to choose?” Her eyes widened. “You are going to choose, right? You’re not going to…share?”

  Roxie wrinkled up her nose. “No. That would be too…” She shook her head and shuddered. It would be too…something. She didn’t even want to go there. “There wasn’t really anything between me and Chris…the online guy.” She shrugged. “Though I did ask his opinion on what to wear to go for a walk with Berg and talked to him about it afterwards. That’s awkward. But I suppose having Berg’s tongue in my mouth nullifies some of the embarrassment with that. Clearly, he likes me back.” Not enough to say goodbye when he left, but they’d been in a rush.

  “Have you heard from them since?”

  “No, but Berg doesn’t have my phone number or email. I guess he could get it from Chris but…” She shook her head rapidly. “The whole thing is so strange. I found the online guy through a site that Berg recommended so it’s not as impossible as it sounds that they know each other, but it was still a shock.” She’d realized why Chris looked so familiar. He was in a picture at Berg’s place. She might have known from the beginning if she’d been less clueless. It’s not like Berg was trying to hide anything.

  Her brooding, hot neighbor still wasn’t there when she got home from work. His truck was, but all the lights were off in his place. After two days of coming home to him sitting on the steps, it was crazy to imagine that she felt a loss. Even stranger, she missed emailing and texting Chris. It felt like a connection to someone. It wouldn’t be the same now that they’d met of course. She couldn’t really talk about Berg with him. And she didn’t want him to think she might be interested in more. That wasn’t right either way.

  The quiet on Berg’s side of the duplex got to her that night. She put music on repeat in order to shut it out long enough to sleep. He shouldn’t mean this much already.

  “Nothing?” Hannah asked when she popped her head into Roxie’s office Friday morning.

  So much for not letting it bother her. She shook her head. “Nope.” Nothing from either of them. Even her imaginary boyfriend had gone silent.

  “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

  “No. Please invite me to do something tonight. I swear I’m going to be really pathetic and do something desperate if I wait around for him.”

  Hannah laughed. “We should go out. A bunch of us swing by this place right on the water and we could go catch a movie after. Something no man would ever go see.”

  “That would be awesome.”

  And it was awesome. Even though William was there. Roxie put him off by telling him she was dating someone. With Hannah beside her, nodding along, it even worked. The movie was fun, and Hannah made her smile. It was fine. Really fine…that Berg hadn’t called or emailed or anything.

  It was still fine on Saturday.

  She was busy. She had pictures to hang. Books to read. Things to catch up on. And it’s not like he was home.

  On Sunday, she ran out on some errands and came home to find Berg’s truck missing.

  Pulling out her phone, she called Chris.


  “Hello? Roxie?”

  “Yeah, Chris. I know it’s a little crazy to be calling you but I came home and Berg’s truck is gone. I’m guessing he’s either home or it’s being stripped down and sold in a chop shop.”

  Chris laughed. “Actually, neither. He got sick of bumming rides, and he needed new clothes so I dropped him off two hours ago, and I guess he’s on his way back to L.A.”

  “Oh. Okay.” And he didn’t wait around to see her. Awesome.

  “Why didn’t you email him? Not that I don’t like talking to you…”

  “I don’t have his email address. Or his phone number.” There was a long pause. Maybe he was wondering if she was asking for that information. “But, anyway, how is your friend doing?”

  Chris sighed. “He’s…not good. And I think Berg is seeing too much of himself in Rod. I think he’s decided that he could self-destruct at any time too.”

  “He wouldn’t.”

  “That’s what I keep telling him. But he sees Rod—who lost a few limbs too—and thinks back to how it was right after it happened and he can’t see the progress he’s made.”

  “He’s wrong and he’ll see that.”

  “Maybe you should tell him. Maybe he’d trust the opinion of a hot five-footer over his far less attractive buddy.”

  She grinned. “Maybe I will. If he asks, you can give him my phone number and email address.”

  Another long pause…and then, “But only if he asks?”

  “You remember my list?”

  He hesitated and then said, “Sure.”

  “If he doesn’t care that I’m not smiling…then it wasn’t going to happen anyway.” And, damn did it hurt saying that out loud.

  “He’s just…in a bad place. I know how much he likes you, Roxie. He’s been talking about you ever since you moved in.”

  “He has?”

  “Yeah, he has. I’m sure he’ll try to get a hold of you soon.”

  Sure he would. For some reason, she wasn’t going to hold her breath.

  ~*~

  “What are you doing, Berg?” Chris asked, shoving his shoulder hard. What the hell was his problem?

  Berg scowled. “I’m getting a Coke from the vending machine. What does it look like I’m doing? Is the doctor done with Rod?” The days at the hospital were starting to blur together. The caffeine might be the only thing keeping him on his feet.

  “Not here. I mean with Roxie. You haven’t even tried to get in touch with her? I thought you liked her.”

  The soda can hit the bottom of the machine with a clunk and, reaching down, Berg scooped it out. His knee picked a poor time to buckle and he slammed into the front of the vending machine.

  “Whoa!” Chris grabbed his arm.

  Berg jerked from his grasp as he righted himself. “I’m fine. Okay? I’m fine.”

  “Yeah. I can see that.” Maybe he deserved the acidity in his friend’s voice.

  “How did you know I haven’t been in touch with her?”

  Chris stared hard at him, but didn’t answer.

  “Have you talked to her? You said you weren’t going to call her again now that you know who she is.”

  He still didn’t answer.

  “I’m not joking, Chris. You said you were bowing out. If you aren’t, I think I deserve to know that.”

  “She called me. She was worried your truck had been stolen when it was suddenly gone. And apparently she has no way to get a hold of you. No way like, I don’t know, an email address. You didn’t stick around to see her or leave a note?”

  “I didn’t know when she’d be home.”

  Chris narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Man, don’t be an asshole. Don’t pull that with her.”

  Leaning against a nearby wall, Berg sighed. “Maybe I’m just thinking that I’m no good for her.”

  “So?”

  “What do you mean ‘so’?”

  “I mean we saw some crazy shit downrange. People died. People lived. Half the time I didn’t even know which side of a fight we were on until someone told me. And, every morning, the sun would come up on another damn day and you’d be there, kicking me in the side, telling me to get my lazy butt out of bed because we were going to help make it better. I tell you, I don’t miss the kicking.” He nodded down at Berg’s prosthetic legs.

  Berg snorted. “What does this have to do with Roxie?”

  “Remember after Keaton got killed when he tried to help that woman? And I asked you why we were killing ourselves trying to help people who might not even want us there. You said anything worth having was worth paying the price, and you said that we were fighting over there so we could live good and honestly back here. I barely know your girl, but I know she’s worth having. You fought well over there. You’ve got no shame in that. It’s time you got what you’re owed.”

  “And the universe owes me Roxie?”

  “It owes you more than this hell,” he said, nodding at Rod’s room. He punched Berg’s shoulder again. This time lightly. “If we weren’t fighting for the chance with a sweet thing who’ll put up with our crap, I think we were fighting the wrong war.” He cleared his throat. “But…if you’re not interested…” He pulled out his phone. “I do have her number. And apparently all she wants is a guy who’ll make her smile.”

  There were a few times he’d thought maybe he should back off and leave the field open for Chris. Chris would make her smile. But the white-hot surge of jealousy that arced through him was stronger than any good intentions. He’d get his act together, make sure Rod was okay, and then he’d head home and tell Roxie the truth—what he’d done and what he felt. “Yeah, it’d be hard to dial with all your fingers broken.”

  “I could use my nose.”

  “I’d break that too.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Well?” Hannah asked.

  Roxie puffed out a breath and dragged a hand through her hair. “Apparently, dating your neighbor doesn’t end up being as convenient as you would think.”

  “He’s still not back?”

  “He picked up his truck yesterday and some clothes.”

  “Did he say when he’d be home again?”

  “I didn’t actually talk to him. I was out doing some things.”

  Hannah shook her head. “Why must all men, in the end, suck?”

  “You know, it doesn’t matter. Clearly, I was more into him than he was me. It happens. And we move on.”

  “Do you need me to come over and bring some rocky road?”

  Roxie winced.

  “What?”

  “On our one and only date, he had rocky road ice cream.”

  Hannah whistled. “Damn. He even managed to ruin ice cream for you.”

  “I think he’s really worried about his friend. And they’ve been friends a long time. I’ve only known him a few weeks.”

  “It’s a shame his friend doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Hannah shrugged and went back to work.

  It was too bad that Rod didn’t have more people pulling for him. She opened up her email program and saw the past emails from Chris. And she smiled and picked up her phone. She’d run an idea by her ex-fake-boyfriend.

  ~*~

  The nap he’d grabbed at Chris’s apartment was not nearly enough, but it would have to be. He’d promised to relieve Chris in keeping watch on Rod. Now that his friend had some food in him and hadn’t had a seizure for a while, he might be released soon.

  The sound of Rod’s laughter was so foreign that he walked by the room initially. Then, he backed up and looked in. Rod had Chris’s laptop in front of him and a cupcake in his hand. Chris was eating a cupcake too and laughing at something on the laptop.

  “What the hell is going on?” Berg couldn’t stop the smile. “And where did you get the cupcakes?” There was a whole tray of them beside Rod’s bed.

  “They were delivered,” Chris said. “I’ve already eaten five of them. I’m not going to sleep for days.�
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  “You can have one,” Rod said with a nod, his gaze returning to the laptop.

  Chris was staring at the screen too with a smirk on his mouth. “You know, this one’s good. I really believe her.”

  Berg detoured by the cupcakes, grabbing one, before leaning over the side of the bed to look at the laptop. “Email?”

  “Not just email,” Chris said, straightening. “It’s email from his girlfriend.”

  “Girlfriends,” Rod corrected.

  “All three of them.” A phone chimed on the table beside Chris, and he picked it up and held it up for Rod to see. “She’s asking if she can call you later.”

  “Which one is that?”

  “Uhh. Felicia. No. Carmen. It’s Carmen.” Chris turned the phone back to him. “Mm mm. If you don’t want Carmen, I wouldn’t mind fielding that call. One professional to another of course.”

  “No way. Get your own fake girlfriends.”

  Berg watched the interplay in confusion. “Wait, what happened? I was only gone a few hours.”

  “An angel,” Chris said. “She took pity on Rod and sent him cupcakes and signed him up with Virtual Match…a few times.”

  An angel. An angel who’d sent cupcakes.

  Rod snorted. “I should have too much pride to accept pity…especially anonymous pity…but when it involves cream cheese frosting and a hot girl telling me she loved our date last night—I’m good.”

  “You’ve got three fake girlfriends?” Berg asked, trying to process what it all meant. Roxie had sent cupcakes…and fake girlfriends?

  Rod shrugged. “What can I say? I’m too much man for just one of them.”

  “Well, you will be…if you have too many more of those cupcakes,” Chris said.

  Rod laughed and then said to Berg, “Chris thinks it’ll be good practice for when I get back into dating like you. He said you have a girlfriend.”

  Chris shot him a significant look over Rod’s head.

  If she was thinking in terms of a relationship with him, he’d thoroughly FUBARRED that possibility. Though if Chris thought Rod needed to hear that… Hell, he wanted to say it. So, why not? “Uhh. Yeah. My neighbor.”