by Lauren Helms
“I needed a break,” Ruby says nonchalantly.
I glance at Simon and he just shrugs a shoulder.
“From what?” I prod.
“More like from whom,” she answers. Simon lifts his head in realization.
“Ah, Amber.”
Link’s been dating Amber for a few weeks now. I’m not sure it’s serious but from what I hear, he doesn’t usually date the same girl for long. She’s really, really annoying. And Ruby cannot stand her. Like blood-boiling, nails-on-the-chalkboard, cannot stand her.
“Were you worried he would bring her to help move you in?” I ask.
“No, I was worried he’d talk about her. I can’t even stand to hear her name,” she says, slamming her top drawer closed.
Yikes.
So, I tread carefully. “What about the sports guy? Why isn’t he here? I thought things were going well with him too,” I say.
“He has a name other than The Sports Guy,” she sighs in exasperation.
With a smile, I amend myself. “Well, I thought things with Mason were going well.”
“Thank you.” She nods then plops down on her vanity stool. “Things are going well. But I don’t know, he hasn’t been acclimated into the group yet. I’m not sure I’m ready for that step. I mean, you all still refer to him as The Sports Guy,” she says.
Simon starts to say something and we both look at him. He closes his mouth, shakes his head like he’s thought better of it, and walks out of the room. I smile at his retreating back. He is a great listener, he helps me drown out all my problems by letting me talk his ear off about them. He’s always been that way, for me. But when it comes to girl talk, he’d rather just check out. I don’t blame him though.
I chat with Ruby a little bit about Mason and tell her that if she really does like him then we should meet him. Maybe have him over for dinner.
It's starting to get late when I leave her to finish sorting some of her clothes. I wander into my room and see that Simon is in his sweatpants and white undershirt, lying across my bed with his black-rimmed glasses on, reading a book.
He looks up from his book. “Hey, sexy.”
“Hey back at ya.” I smile, walk over to him, and lean down to give him a kiss.
“I gotta reply to my mom’s email real fast and then I’ll join you,” I tell him, pushing off the bed and going to my desk.
“What did your mom want?” he asks.
“She wanted to ask about how Todd’s and my video-conference therapy session went yesterday. She is chomping at the bit to hear about it. I texted her that I’d email her back tonight but had to help Ruby move in first.”
“Ah. Well I’m sure she will be glad to hear it went well,” he says, looking back down at his book.
I turn back to my open laptop and mutter, “If not awkward.” He chuckles.
When I’m done emailing my mom, I shut the laptop and strip out of my clothes. I leave my undies on and throw on a tank from my dresser.
I look up and find Simon staring at me from where he sits, the book still open on his lap.
Things between us have been pretty amazing since my first day back from LA. We seamlessly fell back into being us. With no secrets or potential moves across country looming over us, it’s been pretty amazing.
I crawl up the bed and snuggle in next to him. I take a moment to breathe him in.
“Ruby so wants Link’s dick,” he states.
I snort laugh and smack his chest. “Simon!” I scold.
“What? It's painfully obvious. Yes, Amber is annoying as shit, but you know she’d hate any girl he dates.”
“Yeah, but Link totally wants Ruby in the same way.”
“Hell yeah, he does. Since day one,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
I sigh at the tender gesture. We lie there for a while, me listening to his heartbeat while he reads. He runs his fingers through my hair and my eyes start to feel heavy.
“I love you, Si,” I whisper.
“I love you too, G,” is the last thing I hear before I drift off to sleep.
Playlist
Free - Haley Reinhart
I’m Not Over - Carolina Liar
Let You Go - Machine Gun Kelly
Burning House - Cam
You Got Me - Gavin DeGraw
Safe Place to Land - Christian Burghardt
All Night - The Vamps
Don’t Say You’re Leaving - My RED + BLUE
Till I Fall Asleep - Jayme Dee
Up For Now - KING
There’s a Rumor - The August Empire
Long Way Down - One Direction
Kids Again - Artist vs. Poet
Gravity - Tyrone Wells
Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
Listen to the full playlist on Spotify
Acknowledgements
I’d like to start off by thanking the one person I will probably always thank first. My husband. I met you our second week of freshman year of college. You were the lacrosse-playing gamer boy who just could not take a hint. Finally, you figured it out. And now, we have three of the most beautifully amazing little monsters. Life has not been so easy on us over the past couple of years, but having you by my side has always made me feel like we can get through anything. I will always love you more.
While they are all way, way too young to read this, I want to thank my three littles. Just the other day, I heard my girls playing and the big little said in her pretend adult voice “Yes, I’d like to talk to Lauren Helms, she’s an author who writes about love.” Talk about feeling like you’ve made it!
I’d like to thank the rest of my family, as a whole, for supporting me.
Now on to the people that helped me make Gia and Simon’s story happen.
Amanda White, JL Anderson, and Jennifer Rebecca, for helping me work through plot points that I didn’t think I’d be able to work through. Also, to JL with The Averill Scribe who is an amazing editor.
My alpha and beta team, MK, Maggie, Joy, Laura, Aubree, and my dearest Allie. Their thoughts on the story and what I could do to make it better was extremely valuable.
I could not have written this gamer boy romance without the help of video game aficionado, Will Murray. After working with him in my Video Game Strategy Guide job, I knew I could turn to him with all my gaming questions. He is a wealth of knowledge and I have a list of more questions for the next book already lined up.
And lastly, my readers. Thank you so much for picking up my gamer boy novels and I truly hope you love them as much as I do. Please consider leaving a review, it would be the equivalent to giving me a hug!
Gamer Boy Series
Level Me Up (Gamer Boy #1)
One More Round (Gamer Boy #2)
Gamer Boy #3 (coming soon)
Come join my reader group, Lauren’s Romance Game Changers over on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/LsRomGameChangers/
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Lauren Helms has forever been an avid reader from the beginning. After starting a book review website that catapulted her fully into the book world, she knew that something was missing. Lauren decided to take the plunge and write her first novel. While working for a video game strategy guide publisher, she decided to mix what she knew best--video games and romance. She decided to take the plunge and joined NaNoWriMo and a month later, she had her first draft.
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