The Hot Gamer (A Romance Love Story) (Hargrave Brothers - Book #3)

by Alexa Davis

  “Oh God, I did not think that was going to be the next sentence out of your mouth.” Jackson snorted. His eyes were still closed, but his arm opened out to the side and made room for my head on his shoulder. Stiles let out a petulant cry of hunger from the kitchen, followed by a metallic crash that made us both jump. “Stiles is hungry.”

  I nodded, rubbing my cheek against his chest. “He’ll survive an extra five minutes on the five pounds of fat stores he’s built up. What about you? Are you hungry?”

  He held me tighter, but didn’t answer for a few minutes. Normally, I would’ve loved the time in his arms, but my legs were itchy and tingling with the need to move, and my skin was tight and achy. I leaped up from bed and filled Stiles’ food bowl, then started pacing the kitchen, pulling out ingredients for a late dinner or snack.

  I was halfway through cleaning out my fridge, tossing meat products I couldn’t say for sure were still safe to eat, when I looked for Jackson and found only Stiles on the bed, bathing himself happily in the wake of the extra salmon I’d given him to shut him up.

  A glance at the clock made me pick up the pace, and I sliced the steaks I’d purchased, and cut vegetables and set them aside while oil heated on the stove. After quick-frying the steak, I added the celery, cabbage, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. I didn’t even look up from my work until I was plating the stir-fry over noodles and adding teriyaki glaze to the mess. As I moved to pour the glaze, a large, masculine hand invaded my view, covering the plate.

  “Oh, shit!” I cursed as I jumped. “Jesus H-Christ, Jackson, you scared the heck out of me.” I set the bottle down on the counter and pressed a hand to my heart, while I glared at his grinning face.

  “I really am sorry,” he chuckled, trying to cover his laugh with a cough. “I did a quick check of your computer, email, applications, and even your streaming software, to look for flags that I’d accidentally dragged you into my past indiscretions.” He smiled ruefully at me, and standing there in his boxer briefs, he looked like he was the vulnerable one, for once.

  “Find anything?” I handed him the plate devoid of sugary, caramel-colored teriyaki goodness and leaned against the counter while I picked at my own food.

  “No, but I knew you’d feel better if you knew that I’d taken the time to look.”

  “Well, you just got here, can’t have you going off to federal prison before I get what I want out of you,” I teased, and he groaned in reply.

  “Every time I even think the words, ‘federal prison’ or ‘FBI’, my stomach clenches and I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the gut.”

  I twisted the top off and slid a beer across the counter to him, taking his empty and tossing it the trash. “Sorry, Hun,” I tried not to smile. “Will this job make you famous?”

  He shook his head. “Well, that wouldn’t be good for business, would it? I mean, how do we make a name for ourselves without getting treated like the enemy by the suits? I’ve only ever done this in the dark, never out where the world could see me.” He took a swig of beer and watched me clean up the mess I’d made.

  “You stream it.” He coughed on his beer. “I’m serious,” I continued. “You don’t have to show how you’re doing what you do, but you stream while you work. You talk about the pitfalls of different security measures, talk about how to find cheaters in games. You could be working for money, and getting donations from an audience at the same time.”

  “You think I could be a successful streamer.”

  “I think you have a niche to exploit. Use games to show your viewers the back doors you’re always talking about.” I looked him dead in the eye. “I hear about back doors all the time, explicitly, when my fans tell me what they imagine me doing to them when they shut off their computers.”

  “Yeah, if you’re lucky they wait that long.”

  “Okay, Jackson, there is a limit to the level of gross I can allow my brain to process.” He laughed and I leaned over the counter, putting my nose inches from his and staring him in the eye. “That was over my limit.”

  “So, back to business,” he suggested, clearing his throat, “in a gaming stream, you’re saying I should show guys how to figure out if they’re being phished, backtrack anonymous trolls, basically give the power of hackers to anybody willing to tune in, in layman’s terms.”

  “God, I’m a genius.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you are, Sugar,” he chuckled. “I’ll be the Julian Assange of the gaming world.” He arched an eyebrow at me and I danced on my toes, doing a mini pirouette behind the counter.

  “Hmmm, the WikiLeaks of gaming. That would make a great thesis.”

  He stared at me like I’d grown a third eye. “What?” He swung around the counter and grabbed me before I could run, and wrapping his arms around me, dipped me back and kissed me hard on the mouth.

  “Where did you come from, and what did I do to deserve you?”

  30. Jackson

  C.J. started talking about what I knew how to do and how to make something I loved work for me, and it was like I’d been sitting in the dark and she’d walked in and turned on all the lights. She turned on Green Day and pranced around the kitchen while I sat down and started on my next beer.

  Stiles wound himself between my legs and I wondered how he’d react to a nice, calm hound dog in the apartment. After all, if I was transplanting Texas to LA, and bringing country to computer video entertainment, I should have a dog. Especially one that would be as unique, and as much an oddity here, as I was. Then again, trying to guess C.J.’s next mood was as pointless as a weather forecast.

  I pulled out my phone and started a list of what I’d need to stream properly. I looked around the apartment. There was no way she and I could expand the sound booth. Not without taking all her costume supplies out of there. I didn’t see her agreeing to that. I totaled the cost of a new setup. It would be a chunk of my savings I hadn’t wanted to part with, and I had nowhere to set it up, even if I bought it all.

  I dialed my phone and sighed, listening to it ring. If I was lucky, he wouldn’t pick up and I could leave a very brief message. I figured, long as I wasn’t asking for money or a ride home, Daniel would be happy to help me out. Fortunately, my big brother wasn’t much for answering his phone at the best of times, let alone when he and his pretty wife would be out by the fire, cold beers in the cooler, and Pete on his guitar. I felt a surge of homesickness and hung up without leaving a message. If called back, I’d have him send me my computers and monitors.

  “You know, right now back home, my whole family and half the ranch hands are drinking cheap beer around the fire pit, and Patty’s probably roasting marshmallows,” I called out to C.J. I checked my watch and added, “Pete and Verica just left to go have loud sex and go to their respective cabins, so everyone can pretend they haven’t got past second base yet.”

  “In Texas, they still use the baseball system?”

  “No, just in Pete’s world. He’s like, almost fifty, and Verica is I don’t know, our age? But she thinks the moon rises and sets in his eyes.” Carina scoffed at me. “No, really, they’re a damn country song. It’s disgusting.”

  “It sounds sweet. You jealous?”

  I looked her over, her long legs in tiny ass-baring shorts, tank top that barely covered her high, round breasts, green eyes that changed color like the sea, and I laughed. “I got the better deal. Don’t know if you did.”

  She stalked over to me, hips swinging like a bell. “Best two out of three rounds of King of the Kill, not teamed. If I place higher, I tie you up, if you place higher, you can tie me up.”

  “Spanking allowed?”

  She laughed, a deep throaty sound that made my pulse jump. “You that sure you’ll win?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

  “You so sure I don’t like being spanked?” I replied drily.

  She threw her head back and laughed again, that full sound that made me smile just hearing it. “We’ll celebrate with Shelby and company after you visit Stanford. Everything w
ill be perfect, except your tight little butt-cheeks, which will be sore for days when I’m done kicking it online, then beating it when I tie you to the bedframe,” she gloated.

  I’d been considering letting her win, right up ‘til that moment. “Can that Murphy bed even take rough sex?” I muttered to myself as she started up the game. “How about best three of five? I mean, it’s early yet.”

  “Skerred?” she chortled and leaned down to kiss Stiles on the nose. “Daddy’s afraid Mommy will give him welts on his ass.” Stiles turned his face and looked at me, both ears forward. I could have sworn his round yellow eyes were laughing at me. Suddenly, I felt like I was at the wrong end of a conspiracy.

  “You betcha I’m scared.” I got out my laptop and set it up to play, sitting at the kitchen counter and using the marble countertop as a desk. At first, I hunted her, figuring if I took her out first, I had to place better than her no matter what.

  I finally found her in game, cornered in a warehouse by some guys who recognized her name from her stream. I killed them all from behind, and after that, we just played together. After all, with C.J., I knew eventually I was going to end up face down, ass up, tied to a bed somewhere.

  I looked over my shoulder and she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, bottom lip between her teeth as she concentrated. She wore her headphones and talked to the other players in game, while I preferred to keep my sound low and not talk to anyone. It made her cursing and ranting even more enjoyable when I could egg her on from across the room, and no one else could hear me working her up into a healthy nerd-rage. She was even pretty while finding new and inventive ways to describe male anatomy while cursing out the other gamers.

  Finally, after one particularly stubborn stalker began sexually harassing her in game, she let loose with a tirade I couldn’t have repeated to anyone, even if the opportunity rose. When the kids’ voice cracked and I could hear the tears in his voice, I reminded C.J. that she might be dealing with a twelve-year-old. Immediately, she demanded his mother’s name, and gave me the chore of finding the woman so she could tell her what her son was up to. I had an epiphany of my future: saving nations from the torment of cyber-terrorism, and then in the evenings, helping my ex-model wife strip rude gamers of their anonymity.

  Despite the ridiculousness of the idea, it made me glad I’d decided to try California on for size. My vacation with her was a rollercoaster, but no matter if she ever returned the feelings I’d already admitted to her, I had a feeling I wasn’t leaving soon. The convention had been loud, crowded, and quite frankly, smelled like gamer-geek stereotypes. I’d been happy every second that I hadn’t been worried for C.J., and I hadn’t minded that part, either. But, when it was just us, it was like we’d found a new level of compatible.

  I’d already come up with a couple ideas for new characters for her cosplay, and with me helping her with cost and building, the sky was the limit for what she could accomplish. I dug around in the junk drawer I’d found in the kitchen by accident when trying to make her shakes, and found a notepad and a pencil.

  “Hey, C.J., you don’t mind if I borrow some paper and a pencil, do you? I had an idea for a couple characters, and wanted to write them down.”

  She frowned at me and pulled off her headset. “Don’t you have your own stuff to worry about? Don’t get distracted, picturing me half-naked with horns or anything.”

  I laughed and added a succubus to my character list. “That’s a great idea, I hadn’t thought of that. I already called my brother to send my computers, it’s cheaper than buying a whole new setup, believe me,” I scoffed. “Don’t worry, I’ll only draw between games.”

  She winked and put her headset back over her ears. “You better hurry up then, the queue is up!” She said, louder than she probably intended. I got back onto my barstool and joined her in game, grateful that my back was to her and her ears covered, so she couldn’t hear me laughing at her angry outbursts at the other players.

  Our three, ten minute games turned into two and half hours of play, punctuated by a constant stream of obscenities from my lovely nerd-flower and occasional bursts of laughter from me. I called it a night before she did, more interested in the ideas swimming around my head. I began doodling on the pad, sketch after sketch in a way I hadn’t done since I put away my comic books for computer chips. My phone buzzed angrily on the counter top and I grabbed it before it shook itself off the edge.

  “Daniel, I didn’t expect you to call me back so late. Trust me, it could’ve waited.” I said.

  “Well, actually, it’s already waited longer than it should have.” He paused, and I waited.

  “Danny?”

  “When you coming home, Jackson? You haven’t checked in, and Mom’s a bit worried that you didn’t give us a return date.”

  “You do know that I’m not a kid, right? This was never a vacation. One way or another, I’m moving away from home.” I cleared my throat and fell silent.

  “So, you’re just moving to California to shack up with some chick you met online playing video games?” His sounded exasperated, but there was something else underneath that I couldn’t place.

  “You need to be careful here, Danny. It wasn’t so long ago you were screwing the veterinary intern, and now she’s the lady of the house.”

  “Look, Jackson, you’re treading on thin ice here. I’m just trying to help you.”

  “If you have something to say, spit it out. Otherwise, I need to get to bed. Lots going on in the morning.” I felt a hand on my arm and caught C.J.’s concerned face.

  “Hey,” she whispered, “if they need to know that this wasn’t some five-minute romance, I can facetime with your brothers or something.” I held a up a hand for her to wait, so I could concentrate on what Danny was scolding me about, and sighed when she stormed off in a pout, tuning back in just to hear the tail end of what Danny was saying.

  “…Tucker’s not a piece of ass, but he’s been there for you, and you should be there for your family.” He broke off and I could hear his breathing, loud and unsteady, on the other end of the line.

  “I’m going to ignore anything else you say about C.J., so we’ll get a lot further if you don’t bother,” I ground out through teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached. “Please repeat what’s going on with Tucker, and why the hell hasn’t he called me?” My voice started to crescendo and I worked to speak at a normal level. “None of you have bothered to check in with me either, but the moment it sounds like I’ve made a decision to stay, I’m a traitor?”

  Control forgotten, I was full on yelling into my phone. I’d been gone less than a week, and the people who noticed the least whether I stayed or went, were now victims of my selfish desire to move out of my parents’ house, as a full-grown adult and college graduate student. Most families would have thrown a party and called it a long-overdue event.

  “Look, Jackson. I’m sorry that’s how it came out. That wasn’t what I meant.” He sighed again, and I heard another, muffled, voice on his end. I guessed it was Rachel, trying to calm him down the same way C.J. had tried to calm me. I joined her on the bed, where she was sitting cross-legged, balefully looking at me, with Stiles draped over her lap. I joined her, sitting across from her and letting Stiles drip in between my legs while she rubbed his belly.

  “Just tell me what Tucker needs, and the rest can wait.” I shook my head at C.J., and she winked and smiled wanly at me, which was close enough to forgiveness to ease the cramping in my stomach to a loose knot of tension that spasmed whenever Danny spoke.

  “He’s in a bad way with one of the partners. You know the one.”

  “Sure do. Is he still sexin’ up Sara Abbott? Seriously, that girl needs to grow a set and move along.”

  “Apparently, she finally did. You’d never believe it, but Jason Steed. Rachel’s ex-boyfriend made an honest woman out of her. She said nearly losing him in that accident scared her worse than anything she had ever felt.”

  “Good God. She tried to sleep with yo
u that night, before she found out about his accident. Sorry, sidetracked by shock. What’s the old fart trying to do to Tucker?”

  “One of your little cyber-ninja attacks on Austin’s bad guys dinged someone with enough connection to think they were above the law, and deserved compensation for you humiliating them.”

  “Any idea who?”

  “God Jackson, how many rich business man have you hacked?” The anger and frustration were gone from his voice and I had to smile at the sheer amount of incredulity that replaced it.

  “Enough that I have truly no idea who’s at the other end of the chain that’s yanking my brother.” I rubbed my face. “Every one of them was involved with illegal activities. All I did was post a few documents and IP addresses to the forum. If anyone went after them, including the police, it’s not my fault.”

  “You gonna say that to Tuck’s face?”

  “Christ no. I’m going to break into his law firm computers and sneak a peek at the partners’ correspondence. It’ll make a great first stream.”

  “Stream? What are you talking about?”

  “God, you’re out of touch. Never mind, old man. Just think of it as me discovering my true calling, as an educator.”

  “You know what, you’re right. I don’t want to know. But, please get in touch with your brother. He’s so excited for you, he didn’t want to say anything that might ruin your big chance.” I smiled at the pretty girl still watching me carefully, and reached out a hand to her.

  “I’ll help Tucker, even if it means flying back to Texas. You get some rest now, and we’ll talk later.” He signed off, and I even called out a ‘love you’ to Rachel, who I heard giggling in the background before he hung up.

  I lifted Stiles off C.J.’s lap and took his place, lying with my head in her lap as she stroked my hair. Neither of us spoke for a while, and I felt the knot in my stomach loosen with every pass of her fingers through my hair.