End Game: A Gamer Romance

by Swallow, Lisa

  More even than the first time, which was joined with trepidation and alcohol. This time, things are more familiar, the guard between us lower.

  38

  The scoreboard above the bowling lane illuminates mine and Aaron’s scores, and I grit my teeth. Two shots ago, I had a higher score. Now, he’s overtaken me. I glance back at Aaron who’s failing in his attempt to hide his smile at my displeasure.

  “Better than last time we played,” he says. “Have you been practicing?”

  “No.” Well, apart from fortnightly with any friends I could muster.

  He shakes his head. “I told you months ago; I can easily read you, Evie.”

  “Okay. A bit.”

  He takes his ball from the chute. “Let’s finish this.”

  Ten minutes later, I’m still disgruntled, and he’s still hiding his smugness. I resolve to kick his ass in the game later. Our stats are equal currently which makes duelling a fun exercise. Especially with my new polymorph spell.

  “I’m going to turn you into a rabbit again,” I inform him.

  The girl behind the shoe hire counter throws me a surprised look as she takes the shoes from Aaron’s hands.

  “I knew that was you!” He turns and frowns at me. “Why did you deny it?”

  I chew a nail, fighting my amusement. We’ve also spent time in combat against other players in battlegrounds in recent weeks, attempting to earn a new in-game reward. At every comment about his superiority, I’d hit Aaron with my polymorph spell and claimed the enemy held responsibility. By the sixth time, his patience wore thin, and suspicion grew, so I stopped.

  I shrug. “You were so mad. It was funny.”

  He shakes his head and guides me towards the doors. Located in a large mall, this newer and higher-tech bowling centre didn’t improve my skills as much as I’d hoped.

  “I’ll take you somewhere decent to eat,” says Aaron as I eye up the hot chips on nearby plates.

  I grimace hoping he can’t see. My lacking adventurousness applies to food also and his attempts to expand my tastes haven’t succeeded so far.

  We step outside, and he pauses. “You didn’t win the bowling, but you completed your quest.”

  “Did I?”

  “Yeah. Though I’m half-inclined not to hand over your reward after the rabbit confession.”

  I shove him in the chest. “Naw. Poor Thorsday.”

  Aaron reaches into his jacket and pulls out my unicorn printed hat. He dangles it from his fingers. “Yours.”

  “Does this mean I leave now the quest is complete?”

  In the evening dim, I can’t make out Aaron’s expression. “I hope not.” He pushes the hat onto my head, pulling the material over my ears.

  I curl my slender fingers around his large ones. “I’m not.”

  We stand, facing each other, oblivious to passers-by as we’re locked into another strange moment. Since I arrived in Sydney, there’ve been many like this. I feel as if I’ve known this man longer than I have; always did even when I knew little about him. I know this is nonsensical, but there’s something inside him that recognises something within me.

  He leans forward and kisses my nose. “Good. I like you here.”

  I pull the hat from my head, tiptoe, and push it onto his instead. “This suits you better.”

  “Is that so?”

  Gah, those bloody dimples. “Yes. +10 polymorph defence.”

  I stumble as he scoops me from the floor, so I’m looking down at him, the way he did at the airport. “How do you do that?”

  I grip onto his shoulders. “Do what?”

  “Bring me everything missing from my world.”

  “Because I gave you a hat? You’re easily pleased.”

  Aaron squeezes me tighter until I can hardly breathe. “You are one sarcastic but amazing girl with a huge heart. Thank you for letting me have a piece of it.”

  “Yes, I do love that hat. You’re lucky.” Aaron smacks my ass, and I catch his hand. “Thank you for opening yours to me,” I whisper.

  Seriously, why am I thinking of duelling this guy when there’re infinitely more interesting things to do with him?

  39

  The weekend blurs until I can no longer remember everything I’ve done, as if we’re attempting to make up for lost time in the few days we’re together by taking part in too much. Everything from a rapid tour of Sydney’s famous tourist spots, to bowling re-matches and restaurants. We spend every second together, and I never want to let him go. By the end of our time together my head’s spinning with exhaustion and confusion.

  We’ve not addressed one question: what happens next? Do we continue this back and forth, jump in and out of each other’s lives as we swing between Thor and Sin, Evie and Aaron? Can we be both? Occasionally, I catch him looking at me in an odd way, and he averts his eyes immediately, hiding again. I wish I understood the meaning behind his expression, as unfathomable as when I stared at his avatar onscreen before we met.

  We talk about the game, but less so than when we first met. Awkward silences don’t exist, a surprise considering how many gaps there are between what we do and don’t know about each other. I love and hate this situation in equal measures; the connection to him stronger than any I’ve felt before. How can I be away from him and not ache, as the link between us stretches thousands of kilometres and pulls at my heart, tearing it out of my chest?

  I wake early, lost in my usual dreams where I’m in his arms and we’re together. Apart from this time in reality we’re together. Immediately the thoughts rush in, an immediate time check and calculation of how many hours we have together before I leave.

  I shift against his naked body, where my arm lays across his chest, his beneath my waist holding me close. My head fits perfectly into the spot beneath his chin and I place my lips against his skin, inhaling his scent, sending my thoughts spiralling back to last night.

  Aaron doesn’t move, too asleep to notice my movement. I place another kiss on his cheek, but Aaron remains still as I creep out of bed and pull on my clothes.

  There’s a strangeness to being in somebody else’s house, not knowing what I can and can’t touch, but even that passed as he genuinely doesn’t care what I do. Finding juice in the fridge, I pour some into a glass and open the doors to the small balcony. Away from the main road, and on a Sunday, the traffic’s quieter than I expected. I’ve looked from this balcony often while staying here, absorbing the view and committing it to memory. I took a picture of the pair of us one evening, the sun setting in the background. Aaron’s face was happy and open, the sadness hovering around in the past erased with his secrets.

  I sip as I look out at a different world, at the sun rising above the bay, and with it my spirits do too. I don’t know how, but for the first time I don’t expect things to end soon.

  Aaron winds his arms around my waist and I jump in surprise, almost spilling my juice. He rests his chin on my shoulder. “You’re always staring at this view.”

  “It’s new.” I turn and place a hand on his chest before softly kissing him. “A lot is new.”

  He sweeps hair from my ear and I snuggle beneath his arm, our bodies together, clicking like magnets now facing the right way and no longer polarised.

  “We need to talk,” he whispers and takes my glass, setting it onto the small round table. “Before you leave.”

  My mouth dries. I don’t want to talk about leaving yet, to shatter my illusion this could be a permanent part of my world, however infrequently.

  “To plan the next catch-up?” I suggest hopefully.

  Aaron turns me to face him, arms around my waist. He doesn’t hide the expression he’s attempted to hide all weekend, and his intense gaze ramps up my heartbeat.

  This is the moment. We’ve spoken about seeing each other again, in an abstract way, no dates mentioned. I loosen my fingers, aware I’m hanging onto his arms the way I hold on to hope. The longer he stares without a word, the harder my heart pounds in fear.

>   “I’m happy you’re moving on with your life, you have so much potential, Evie.” My stomach clenches. “You’re still intending to study, I hope?”

  I nod, unable to speak.

  Aaron touches my face, eyes searching mine again. He opens his mouth to speak and then stops. “What?” I whisper.

  “Have you ever thought about Sydney?”

  “What do I think about Sydney? I like Sydney, somebody special lives here.”

  His mouth curls into a smile shining into his eyes. “I mean, have you ever thought about choosing to study in Sydney?”

  “Not really, the course I applied for is in Perth and…” I trail off as brain catches up with mouth. The view from the balcony fades as blood rushes from my head, heart picking up into a pumping rhythm. “What are you saying?”

  His mouth tugs at a corner. “Why not study in Sydney?”

  “But I don’t know anybody here!” I protest.

  Aaron shakes his head. “I don’t know whether to be upset or amused by that comment.”

  “No, I mean apart from you.”

  “You’ll meet other people too.”

  “And I have nowhere to live.”

  “Evie? Seriously?”

  “But you only have one bedroom and we don’t really know each other and we might not—” Aaron hits my lips with his, silencing my protest, as his arms tighten around my waist. I gasp and pull my mouth away, meeting his eyes.

  “I told you, I want to be around you. I want to be able to see you every day—or more than once every couple of months at least,” he says.

  I can’t speak, agreeing but terrified by what he’s asking. “You could move to Perth?” I suggest then scrunch my face up. “Um. Sorry.”

  “I have a job here.” He trails his fingers across my lips, and the shaking prompted by his question and kiss intensifies. “I understand if you don’t want to, I just had to tell you how I feel. Sorry, I should’ve spoken about this sooner and not dropped it on you at the last minute.”

  “This is a lot to think about. Big.”

  “I know. I don’t expect you to drop everything and move here. Maybe stay for longer next time you visit, see how we go? The new semester doesn’t start for a few months and you have choices. If you chose Sydney, you could stay. If things don’t work out…” He pauses. “I guess you’ll make other friends.”

  I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close, feeling his heart bump against mine as I look back into the raw emotion on his face.

  “I want to see you more than once every few months too.”

  “Then one of us would need to move.”

  He slides his arms along my back, holding me closer to him. “I know.”

  “I have to think about this more carefully.”

  “Of course.”

  The relief in his face that I haven’t given him an outright ‘no’ is clear. “Things only just moved on from a lot of confusion and lack of honesty.”

  He takes both my hands in his and squeezes. “And I honestly want to live life around you.” Warmth spreads across my chest at his words and the sincerity behind them. He rests his head on mine. “I fell in love with you, crazy unicorn girl. You opened my eyes to a lot and I want to move on and do more. With you.”

  I dig my fingers into the back of his hair. “Okay, you win. I have to tell you the truth too.”

  “Oh? I didn’t realise you were keeping secrets?”

  “I love you.”

  Aaron’s smile borders on smug, but as always I’m charmed. “I know.”

  I slap him in the chest. “Ha ha, Han Solo.”

  “I wasn’t quoting Star Wars! I’ve seen it in your eyes. And in the way you came to Sydney to be with me and are considering staying.”

  “No, that was to retrieve my hat.”

  He makes a ‘humph’ noise. “Sure, Evie…”

  “One other question.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Will there be room for my computer?” I whisper.

  He slaps my ass and I laugh at him before he sighs and hugs me again. “Evie Taylor, Sorcerer Sinestre, you are one unique girl and I want you to be mine.”

  “Aaron Fletcher, jumped-up Paladin Thorsday, I sure as bloody hell don’t want to share you.”

  Words unspoken for months were told over the weeks, through touches and kisses we couldn’t share when we’re apart. I have unfathomable amounts I need to learn about this man, and much he needs to accept about himself, but he’s right. Something grew between us that also caused each other to travel forward.

  40

  My screen flashes red for the third time in two minutes as Sinestre’s health dives. I swear and knock back a healing potion, strafing away from the demon clawing into me.

  “Stop aggroing all the mobs, Evie!” yells Tyler over the chat server.

  “Not my fault Cole can’t hold them all,” I retort.

  “Thor needs to heal through this,” says Lorlien.

  “He’s trying!” I glance at Aaron, sitting across the room from me, intently focused on screen.

  “You two need to sort your shit out and decide who heals, you can’t keep swapping week to week,” Lorlien mutters.

  “Yeah, Sin.” Aaron throws Luin at my head, and she lands on the lounge room floor. “You know my DPS is better than your healing.”

  Sinestre dodges another demon, and Aaron’s focus away from the game prevents him throwing a healing spell at me. Sinestre crumples to the floor, dead. I swear in unison with Lorlien.

  “Did you two have a domestic?” complains Tyler. “Are you deliberately letting her die?”

  “No, that’s Evie’s thing,” replies Aaron.

  “Ha!” I throw Luin back at him and she bounces off his shoulder.

  “Listen, it’s a hard fight, we don’t have the mechanics down yet,” Aaron says. “Don’t get pissy, Lor.”

  I take my character’s death as an opportunity to drink from my wine glass as the fight continues— badly.

  “Please can we recruit a Cleric?’ asks Lorlien. “Sin and Thor both have the damage we need.”

  “Jesus, don’t give them another thing to battle out— they’ll focus on who has the biggest and cause issues when everything jumps on them for doing too much damage.”

  “It’s already established I have the biggest,” says Aaron with a sly side glance in my direction.

  “Is that so?” I reply.

  “Okay! Nobody’s paying attention here. For fuck’s sake! I’m fed up of this constant wiping.” There’s a click and Lorlien’s chat sever icon changes from green to red. Everybody falls silent.

  “Oops,” I mutter and suppress a laugh.

  “Evie, you’re drinking, aren’t you?” asks Tyler.

  “And you’re not?”

  When Tyler doesn’t reply, I stand from my chair and grab both mine and Aaron’s glasses. He leans back in his chair and watches as I top them with wine at the kitchen area behind.

  “I can’t wait until my house sells in Perth,” he says and gestures around the room. “I might be able to buy a bigger place for you to trash.”

  Strewn with half-finished sketches, my shoes, clothes, not to mention cups and plates, navigating a path across the floor is treacherous.

  “Um…”

  “Half your boxes are still not unpacked!” Aaron pulls a face halfway between irritated and amused, the girl messing up his perfect space—the reality of life with Evie Taylor.

  “I’m working on it.”

  “How many months have you been here now?” He gestures at the bedroom. “Plus your suitcases. Did you think I was going to ask you to leave after a couple of weeks?”

  I sip the wine and watch him over the rim. He’s half-right, I didn’t expect this to last more than a few weeks. “Oh, only three months. I’ll make a start tomorrow.” Heading over, I place the two glasses on the desk between our computers.

  Aaron shakes his head and focuses on the computer screen, so I straddle his lap and look down at
him. “Love me, love my genetic inability for tidiness.”

  “Yes, I’m beginning to learn that.” He places his hands either side of me, chin on my shoulder as he keeps his eyes on the screen; hand on the mouse.

  “Seriously, Aaron?” I mutter into his ear and nip the lobe. He lifts his shoulders at the sensation.

  I wriggle against him, dragging his tee upwards so I can get my hands on the body I’m still unable to leave alone on a nightly basis, even after months living here. Tinny voices come from his headphones and I place my ear closer so I can hear.

  “Sounds like we’re taking a break from the raid,” I say.

  Aaron grabs my hips and pulls me closer, mouth touching the skin above my shirt. “I didn’t want to raid tonight, anyway.”

  “Aaron!” I place a hand over my mouth in mock horror. “But it’s Friday night.”

  He shrugs and flicks open the top button on my shirt. “You keep dying. I think we should find something else to do.”

  The day I met him face to face, cosplaying, halfway between reality and the world, was the day we both chose to take the step across the border between the two. The storyline shifted, we began and struggled with new quests, some repeatedly before we achieved them. Together we can embark on a new journey into a stranger realm, perhaps we can reach the end game together.

  In a well-perfected move, I drag Aaron’s t-shirt over his head, revealing the man beneath.

  The graphics are sure as hell better in the real world.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading End Game. I would really appreciate it if you would leave a review on the sit where you purchased the book.

  Read on for more information about my other romance books, including a sample of my last release, Unscripted.

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  If you are a LitRPG fan, or fan of the show Westworld, you might be interested to know I’m writing a LitRPG series. Fringe Realms is a book set almost entirely within an online game world and follows the main character’s progress. Is she a player or character in the game?

  For more information closer to release, please sign up HERE

  Unscripted

  “I woke this morning expecting to marry the man I loved