Virtually Yours: A Virtual Match Anthology

by Kait Nolan

  Rod shook his head. “Then, why are you here still?”

  Chris snorted. “Beats me. Hey, Berg, toss me another cupcake.”

  “No!” Rod said, laughing. “I’m cutting you off, Bro. Friends don’t let friends…” He gave Berg a sheepish and apologetic look.

  Berg dropped his hand on Rod’s shoulder and shook his head. “Friends help pick up the pieces.”

  Swallowing, Rod nodded. “I’m going to be fine, Berg.” He gestured at the door. “Now get out of here. Go hook up with your woman.”

  “Yes! And take her a cupcake,” Chris said. “The woman needs a cupcake.”

  Berg grabbed a cupcake on his way out the door.

  ~*~

  She rubbed her neck while stretching it back and forth. Even a super long shower hadn’t been enough. It was probably too late at night for hot chocolate, but she was having some anyway. Tightening the sash on her robe, she went to get a mug from her cupboard when there was a knock on the front door.

  Jumping, Roxie pressed a hand against her chest. “Who is it?” she called as she went toward it. It was after ten on a Monday.

  “Your idiot neighbor.”

  Oh. Her stupid traitorous heart jumped about madly. Unlocking the door, she inched it open and peered out at him. “Hey. You’re back.” And looking rumpled and impossibly sexy.

  His gaze devoured her.

  Well, it was a bit late for that.

  “Your hair is wet,” Berg said.

  “I just got out of the shower.”

  He smiled slightly as his eyebrows raised. “Too bad. I was hoping we could take one at the same time.”

  She opened the door wider and pointed at him. “No. You don’t get to do that.”

  “Do what?” He stepped forward so her finger was pressed against his chest.

  For some inexplicable reason, she backed up so he could get by and she even closed the door behind him. “You can’t just come in here and act like you didn’t leave without saying goodbye and then ignored me for five days.”

  “I know. I was a jerk.” He held up a cupcake and then set it on the counter.

  Oh. Good. His friend had gotten the cupcakes. She waited, hoping Berg would explain, that he would justify his actions. He didn’t. She opened her mouth and then snapped it closed. For once, she was going to wait him out.

  A minute went by. She folded her arms and glared at him.

  “Okay, I…started thinking too much. I saw Rod and he was a mess. He was seizing when Chris found him. He’d been drinking his meals for days while his brother was on a business trip. And I looked at him and I saw me. I thought, ‘Why would I want to drag someone with me when I go down?’”

  She growled and fisted her hands at her sides. “You are not him. I look at you and I see strength and stubbornness. Actually, mostly I see stubbornness…and pigheadedness…and a complete…”

  He closed the distance between them, leaned down, and kissed her quiet. Pulling back, he pressed a kiss against her temple. “Don’t give up on me,” he whispered. His breath stirred the fine hairs there and heated her skin. The words settled in her heart. He was a puzzle she was starting to figure out. She wanted to shake him for not seeing himself for the guy he was, but she was beginning to understand him. And now that he made sense, she could see how they made sense.

  She tipped back and met his gaze. “Do you know how much I just spent on cupcakes and fake girlfriends?”

  A smile—a real smile lit his face. He looked like the guy in the picture with his buddies. “Well, hell, darling, you swap out a few of those words and that’s your basic post-boot camp leave with the guys.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  He sighed and grabbed her robe’s knotted belt and towed her to the couch. “I’m not a good bet, Roxie. You’d be better off with someone like Chris. Hell, you’d be better off with Chris.”

  They sat down on the couch, facing each other.

  “Your friend is nice, but when I saw him at my door last week, my strongest emotion was panic that he’d somehow found out where I lived and then relief that he was your friend and I wouldn’t have to let him down gently that we didn’t click.”

  “And we click?”

  In answer, she stood up and then settled astride his lap. “Berg, we ignite.”

  His hands had been on the couch, but they settled on her thighs and he breathed a shaky breath as he looked down at her robed body. “I won’t argue with that.”

  Using her finger, she tipped his chin up until his gaze met hers. “And you don’t mind that I talk too much.”

  “I like that you talk too much,” he confirmed. “And you being vocal when we were last on this couch? I liked that even more.”

  She felt the rush of heat to her cheeks but she held his gaze. “Sometimes, with the right person, the things you think of as weaknesses are what attracts them.”

  He cleared his throat. “You’ve got a thing for bionic guys, huh?”

  “I have a thing for guys who are more than a pretty face or a bank account. You have a past that has shaped you. You’re protective and loyal and brave and…”

  “In bed,” he patted one of his prosthetic legs, “these things come off. Is that going to bother you?”

  She gave it the consideration he needed to see. “I won’t say it won’t be different. But as I’m assuming I’ll have everything off too, I’d guess my mind will be on other things. It won’t be a turn-off if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m just me, Berg. I’m imperfect and messed up too.” Her mind flashed back to the last few days. “But maybe you’re using your legs as an excuse, something to keep me from getting too close. It’s your escape plan that’ll end up breaking my heart.” She looked away from his somber, searching eyes. “Maybe you don’t want…what I want.” Her gaze landed on her bedroom door. “You only want what’s easy.” If he even wanted that. He hadn’t contacted her for days.

  “Hey.” Berg’s hands lifted to her shoulders, shaking her lightly. “Do I look like the kind of guy unwilling to put in the work?”

  She smiled at his offended tone. “No.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen, and when you wear those sundresses of yours… But that’s not what this is about. It’s more than that. I’m a Marine. We don’t do things half-assed. I’m in this for everything.” He exhaled and repeated, like he was only now realizing something, “I’m in this for everything.”

  “Well, I am too. I have been from the beginning. But then you went off without saying goodbye and I had to call Chris for a status update. Did he tell you that I called?”

  Berg groaned. “I was being a jerk. I’d planned on trying to come home tomorrow to explain in person.”

  She sighed. “It’s fine. I’m being…neurotic. We had like one date. And I threw myself at you afterwards. I don’t know why I think you owed me anything. I know more about Chris than I know about you.”

  Berg went still.

  “And I’ve had to pry conversations out of you.” She slid her hands across his chest. Mm. His very nice chest. That was one…situation when they were on the same page. “Maybe I’m just overcomplicating things.”

  He slid his fingers into her hair, cupping her head, and forcing eye contact. “How about you quit tempting me and go throw on some clothes. I’ll shower and we’ll meet back here at twenty three hundred hours.”

  “Why?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “For our second date. You didn’t think I’d put out before our second date, did you?”

  “What are we doing at eleven o’clock at night?”

  He tilted his head. “Watching the late shows.” He kissed her softly. “A little of this.” His arms wrapped around her. “A lot of that. You can tell me all I missed the last few days while I was watching another man’s pee fill a bag.”

  She shook her head. “You and your sweet talk, Berg.”

  “You want sweet talk? You passed up your chance at Chris.”

  �
��I do still have his phone number…” She glanced at her phone.

  “That’s it!” He pushed slowly to his feet.

  Screeching when he wobbled, Roxie wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “Berg!”

  He walked, carrying her to her bedroom.

  Was he really going to…? Were they going to…?

  Berg dropped her on her bed, where she bounced and scrambled to keep her robe covering everything. Then, he was walking away, calling over his shoulder, “Twenty-three hundred! Put on some clothes, woman, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  Chapter Eight

  “You know, you really didn’t need to feed me,” Chris said, watching Berg flip burgers on the grill.

  “You stopped by right before dinner and had no expectation of being fed?” Berg asked. Uh huh. And he’d been born yesterday.

  Grinning, Chris shrugged. “Oh, here, I’ll take that,” he said when Roxie breezed past him carrying a bowl of potato salad.

  “No, it’s fine.” She’d set up a picnic blanket beneath their shared backyard’s one tree.

  Chris watched her walk toward the blanket. Her hips swaying back and forth in the sundress she wore. When she bent to put the bowl down, Berg’d had enough.

  “Hey! Eyes front, soldier,” Berg said, glaring at Chris.

  Chris gave him a faux innocent look, pointing to himself.

  Berg snorted. It’d been less than a week, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her either. It was a shame she’d had to work every day. He’d been waiting on the steps like a damn dog every time she got home and then he’d dragged her out on a date every night so he could keep his hands off her. Well, mostly off her. She was going to know he was interested in everything about her, not just her gorgeous, sexy body. At least, they had this weekend to spend all the time in the world together. He was going to learn a few more dozen ways to make her smile.

  “So, Rod is doing better?” Roxie asked, walking back. That sundress was making him sweat. Hopefully Chris didn’t stay for dessert.

  “Yep. I think this time might stick. His brother convinced him to try therapy again and he might go with him to AA and join too. And, Carmen, one of his imaginary girlfriends, is in school to be a physical therapist, and they’ve been talking for hours about his recovery. She’s asked if she can maybe use him for an assignment.”

  “Sounds like he got himself a decent imaginary hook-up. Mine quit on me just a few days in. Cold turkey. Not even a text since.” She winked at Chris before shading her eyes and looking at the setting sun. “It turned out to be a gorgeous day for October.”

  Chris and he exchanged a look and Berg gave him an infinitesimal shake of his head. Chris frowned. He’d meant to tell her about the emails and texts. There was never a good time.

  “It worked though, at least,” she said. “With my work, I mean. That guy in IT quit pestering me. Either it was the emails from you or from my friend constantly bringing up my massive new boyfriend this week at work.”

  “Massive in what way?” Chris asked. “Because I gotta tell you having showered with Berg at basic training…”

  Berg threw a cob of corn at him. Chris ducked just in time.

  Laughing, Roxie turned to Chris. “So, you’re Berg’s best friend?”

  Chris smiled. “I like to think so. Yes.”

  “Has he ever told you a story about his uncle and two chickens?”

  Snorting, Chris asked, “You mean the one that ends, ‘And I’d already named the chickens’?”

  Roxie groaned and stomped a foot. “Yes. That one. He won’t tell me the real story.”

  Chris held out both his hands. “Now, ma’am, you wouldn’t be asking me to rat out a fellow Marine, would you?”

  Roxie’s eyes narrowed. “So, you don’t know the story either?”

  “Oh, I know the story.”

  Roxie’s gaze swung to him.

  Berg shook his head and mouthed, “He doesn’t.”

  Somehow, that seemed to appease her. “I’m going to get the story out of him.”

  “Through torture?” Chris asked with raised eyebrows.

  “No, I’m going to…”

  Chris covered his ears and said, “I’m not listening…I’m not listening…”

  When he uncovered his ears, Roxie said, “He wishes. He keeps telling me all these crazy stories about his family and I’m not sure what to believe.”

  Berg pulled the burgers off and set them on a plate before turning off the grill.

  “Oh, they’re wild,” Chris agreed. “My family is tame compared to his.”

  “I bet both families were proud when you guys joined the Marines.”

  Chris laughed shortly. “Mine were, but Berg’s mother is as much a pacifist as you’ve ever seen. How old were you before she let you have a water gun? Like twelve or thirteen? And she even made his dad teach him proper gun safety.”

  “He was twelve.” It was Roxie who answered Chris and that’s when Berg knew he was in trouble. Her face was white as a sheet. She exhaled in a huff and shot him an injured look. Her eyes filled up with tears, and she swung away and ran for her back door.

  “Roxie!” He chased after her, but caught up short when the door slammed in front of him.

  “Uhh?” Chris looked like he was going to be sick. “What just happened?”

  “Day of reckoning.” He sighed. “I should have told her.”

  “You damn well should have. You better grovel.” Chris nodded. “Good luck, bro.”

  “Thanks.” He pushed open the door, thankful she hadn’t locked it. Shutting it behind him, he said, “Look, Roxie, I can explain.”

  She was leaning against the wall in the kitchen with a kitchen towel in her hand. “I should have figured it out. It was so obvious. Was I just a big joke to you?” She dabbed furiously at her cheeks with the towel before throwing it. “Is that what I was?” Her tears were drying up as fury took over.

  “No. Hell no.” He strode toward her. “How can you even think that?”

  “You tell me. The truth this time. It was you, wasn’t it? You were the one emailing me.”

  Berg nodded.

  “And the texts?”

  He nodded again.

  “Why?”

  “It was a favor for a friend for both of us. Chris is fine on the phone, but he can’t write worth a damn, so we split it up.”

  Roxie shook her head. “I mean, why me? Why did you do it and why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyes widened. “Oh my hell. I texted you to ask you about shoes to go on a walk with you.” Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath. “You must have loved that. I bet you and Chris laughed your asses off.”

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  She opened her eyes. “Then, how was it? Explain and explain fast because you knew what was on my list.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You knew. No games and I wanted honesty.”

  He sighed and closed the distance between them, reaching for her hands. “I didn’t think you could be interested so it was a way to get to know you and, also, I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else pretending to be your boyfriend.”

  She swallowed visibly.

  “I didn’t even want you talking to Chris. When you did, I nearly tore into him over it.”

  She sighed. “Was any of it real?”

  He put her hands flat on his chest, hoping she could feel the rapid beating of his heart. “It was all real, Roxie. Why do you think I stopped signing them ‘Chris’? I couldn’t anymore.” He swallowed thickly. “I was going to tell you, but I was waiting until I thought you might give me a chance after you heard.”

  “How long would you have let it go on if I hadn’t met Chris? Emailing me as him? Dating me as you?”

  “I was dating you to convince you to give up the fake boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, well, my fake boyfriend was actually interested in me.”

  “No. I was. Every single word I wrote was true. From the first email. I did enjoy
talking to you. I did think you looked great. I love your smile. Everything I wanted in a woman—I was describing you. Every word I said, it was to you. It was all me—you just didn’t know.”

  “Well, it was a pretty big deal that I didn’t. You were counting on that.”

  He sighed. “I was. It was easier to talk to you…to be real…when I wasn’t.”

  “You lied, Berg. You lied to me.”

  “Only the way I signed it. The rest of the words I was typing,” he pressed her hand harder against his chest, “those came straight from my heart. Those were true. You said you wanted a guy where what you saw was what you got—and I’m standing here. This is what you get. But I’ll give you everything I can. I can’t promise that I’ll carry my end of the conversation. I’m moody and I’m,” he gestured down at his legs, “but here I am, trying to be fearless—a little late—for a shot with you. And I’m failing because I know I screwed up. Give me a second chance, Roxie.”

  The silence, broken only by their breathing, lasted for eternity. He’d never felt this kind of fear downrange.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this week? We’ve been together every night. Do you know how stupid this makes me feel? Chris knew…and he was covering for you!” She glared at the backyard.

  He squeezed her hand, dragging her attention back to him. “I should have told you. I was trying to log in more hours as your real boyfriend versus your fake boyfriend. I figured it would give me better odds.”

  Sniffing, she shook her head and his heart plummeted. “You are such a…a…dork. I was even prompting you to ask me out right before you suggested getting an imaginary boyfriend. How could you be so clueless?”

  Berg blinked. She sounded less mad. There was still frustration there, but she didn’t seem hurt anymore.

  He tugged her in, wrapping his arms around her. “I swear…no games going forward.”

  “No games,” she agreed. “Are you still playing pretend boyfriend with other women?”

  “No. Absolutely not.” Chris had found someone else earlier that week to take over the writing.

  “You better not be.” She frowned. “And now that I know you can write emails, you should be playing my boyfriend for real in that way too. Do you know how confusing it was that there was something there with Chris in emails but not over the phone? Your biggest competition was yourself, you moron.”