Player vs Player

by Amelia C. Gormley

  Rosie gave him an understanding smile. “I wish I could say you were wrong, but we all know how it’s going to go. PF3 is released now, out in the world where no one can mess with the vision we had for it. The Gairi DLC is released and the Issis DLC is far enough into production that whoever they bring in to finish it can’t do too much damage. But from here on, they’re going to play it safe with their titles. You’re not going to find any support from them if you try to push the boundaries.”

  “We’ll start over again, Rosie,” Niles said firmly. “From the ground up, just like we did before. Once we have a new game concept that’s solid enough, a distributor will fall in line. They’re not going to stop us.”

  “No, they’re not.” She rose and kissed both Niles’s and Jordan’s cheeks, then pulled on her coat. “I think I’m going to go out tonight and get drunk. You guys in?”

  “Out to a club?” Jordan asked, and both he and Niles groaned. “Come on, Rosie!”

  “Oh, suck it up. You can deal with guys giving the pair of you speculative looks for one night. This is probably going to be our last night as a team with Third Wave. Let’s celebrate it.”

  Niles sighed. “Fine. I’m in. Call me at seven and let me know where to meet you.”

  Jordan echoed the agreement, and Tim found himself nodding because there wasn’t much for him to add to the discussion. Rosie left, leaving him alone with Jordan and Niles.

  “So what’s this about the two of you not wanting to go out? You used to do it all the time when we were in college,” Tim said, looking between them. Niles snorted softly and hung his head.

  “That was before we realized that every horndog in the clubs was going to proposition us for a threesome,” Jordan explained. Niles’s face pinkened as he buried it against Tim’s shoulder.

  “Oh bullshit,” Tim scoffed. “I don’t buy it.”

  Niles lifted his head and arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “Not every guy has a twin fantasy. I sure don’t. No offense, Jordan.”

  Jordan shrugged, barely suppressing a smirk. “Oh, none taken.”

  “Really?” Niles’s eyes glittered with mischief as he glanced over at his brother, then shifted abruptly to straddle Tim’s lap, pushing him back against the cushions of the sofa. He leaned in and his breath brushed Tim’s left ear. “You sure about that?” he whispered before catching the lobe between his teeth.

  “Mmm.” Tim’s moan trailed off in a soft sigh, and his hands settled on Niles’s hips, pulling him closer. He turned his head to capture Niles’s mouth. “Yeah, I am,” he whispered before their lips sealed.

  There was nothing sweeter than kissing Niles. He was sugar and smoke and yielding softness, and he positively melted into Tim every damn time. Tim’s arms wrapped around his torso, dragging him in tight, and his tongue reached deep into Niles’s mouth, determined to steal not just the kiss but his breath and even his very ability to think.

  But just as he took charge of the kiss, he faltered, jerking when something warm and wet caressed the shell of his right ear.

  “Really sure?” Jordan demanded before he bit it as Niles had just seconds ago. Tim gasped and froze, shuddering while Niles continued to kiss him lazily, working across his face and down his neck.

  The way Jordan nibbled on his ear was different than what Niles had done. There was no sweet teasing, just a wicked demand. His teeth grasped harder, bringing an edge of almost-pain, and the way he sucked a line down Tim’s throat said he wasn’t going to relent.

  Niles’s tongue lapped the hollow between his throat and clavicle. Jordan’s teeth scraped the stubbled skin of his neck. And all Tim could do was arch and moan at the dual sensations. He was hard where Niles’s groin ground against his, so incredibly hard he thought he might pop at any second just from a little necking. Hands closed over each of his nipples, and he could tell by the firmness of the grasp that they didn’t belong to the same man.

  “Oh Jesus,” he breathed as they continued to make love to his throat. His hand wedged itself between his body and Niles’s, though Tim wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with it, except try to get some of their damn clothes out of the way because it was getting to the point where necking wasn’t enough and now he needed skin and flesh and touch.

  He didn’t even realize as he fumbled with that first button that he was ready to strip down with both of them there until the attentions to his neck and nipples eased off slowly. Gradually, they eased away, their breath cooling the moisture their lips and tongues had left on his throat. In perfect unison, they drew back and turned toward each other, their identical faces just a whisper apart. Tim held his breath, something in the very pit of him needing to see them close that distance, needing to see how sublime it would be to witness Niles’s beauty mirrored in a moment of passion.

  But instead, swiftly, Jordan moved up and placed a hearty, smacking buss on Niles’s forehead and was off the sofa before Tim even realized what was happening.

  “See you at the club tonight, bro,” he said with a wide grin and a saucy wink to Tim. Then he adjusted his erection with a complete lack of self-consciousness and strode away, leaving Tim blinking at a very smug Niles in utter disbelief.

  “You . . . are in so much trouble,” Tim panted. Niles’s dick was hard against his own, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling, but his mischievous smile was far, far too self-satisfied. With a growl, Tim shifted, rolling Niles underneath him on the sofa in a single lunge.

  Niles laughed, smiling brilliantly as he embraced Tim with his arms and legs, and tugged him down.

  This book was inspired by the experiences of Anita Sarkeesian off FeministFrequency.com and Jennifer Hepler, formerly of BioWare. I have not exaggerated just how toxic the texts and emails they, and many other people like them, have received. These are exactly the sort of missives real people get every day simply for trying to make a difference in gaming culture. I was also heavily influenced by the backlash I’ve seen against feminists and LGBTQIA+ activists on social media, including Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube.

  I don’t know how they do it, fighting this fight day after day, taking the abuse they take. I try where I can, but I don’t think I could be on the front lines constantly the way they are. My admiration and gratitude are boundless.

  For more information on feminist and LGBTQIA+ issues in gaming and popular media, check out:

  fandomsandfeminism.tumblr.com

  fatuglyorslutty.com

  destructoid.com/halo-3-homophobia-evolved-nsfw-audio--56000.phtml

  gaygamer.net/category/lgbt/

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  Thank you to author David Sullivan, who was my police procedure consultant, for his input, and to author P.D. Singer, for her beta read midway through, which helped me get moving when I was stuck. And thank you to Sarah Frantz for her help in brainstorming early on.

  And, as always, much love to my husband, son, and the friends and family who
have supported me in my writing.

  Saugatuck Summer

  Strain

  The Laird’s Forbidden Lover

  With Heidi Belleau:

  Giving an Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #1)

  An Inch at a Time (The Professor’s Rule, #2)

  Inch by Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #3)

  Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule, #4)

  To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #5)

  Impulse (A novel in three parts)

  Inertia, Book One

  Acceleration, Book Two

  Velocity, Book Three

  Impulse: The Complete Trilogy

  Amelia C. Gormley may seem like anyone else. But the truth is she sings in the shower, dances doing laundry, and writes blisteringly hot m/m erotic romance while her son is at school. When she’s not writing in her Pacific Northwest home, Amelia single-handedly juggles her husband, her son, their home, and the obstacles of life by turning into an everyday superhero. And that, she supposes, is just like anyone else.

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