“I wish you were here so we could have dinner together,” she said, trying not to sound like a pining teenager.
“Oh damn…” Trent’s sigh sent a shiver down her spine. Those two words and the way his voice trembled told her more than should have been possible.
“Give me thirty minutes to fix something to eat and call me on Skype,” she said and smacked a loud kiss on the phone.
Wednesday
Two long-distance dinners with crappy tablet-cameras and a livestream later, Addie had an overnight bag packed. Again, she’d told Sethinn what she was up to. Just in case. No matter what her body wanted and what her instincts told her—that Trent was a hot-as-hell sweetheart who’d never hurt a fly—she wanted to be careful. There were too many supercreeps out there and she would not let herself be one of those victims who fell for their ruse. Sethinn had his physical address and an as exact as possible schedule for Addie’s comings and goings. Plus one code-word for ‘Everything is wonderful and I’m having the time of my life’ and a different one for ‘I need rescuing, but I’m not in physical danger’ and a third for ‘Send in the cavalry’.
Trent was still at work during her long drive, so she couldn’t talk to him. Unfair, of course, especially since her mind kept wandering and falling into pits of rose-red dreams of the future. Could this really be it? It didn’t feel as if it was happening too fast, even. They’d known each other for months before the weekend, and got along from the start. She loved how easily they made each other laugh, and how they could talk about serious things too. He always listened to her opinions, and she couldn’t get enough of his. He was wrong about some important things, like Star Wars being better than Star Trek, but at least that gave them something to bump heads about. The fact that she found him incredibly attractive was a huge bonus. Just remembering the glimpse of his flat stomach made her gasp for air and grip the wheel tighter.
No, she was pretty certain that this was the beginning of something great for both of them. Her previous boyfriends didn’t even come close, even if she’d thought she’d been in love with them. The way she connected with Trent, this felt completely different. The way he made her feel important and alive by just talking to her. Now all she could do was hope he felt the same, with the same amount of seriousness.
The area Trent lived in consisted of mostly two- to three-story, light gray brick buildings. There were trees and bushes everywhere, with lawns and paved walking paths. All in all, it seemed like a calm and sleepy neighborhood. Addie wondered what kind of people lived here. Families? Older couples, single adults? Hopefully she’d find out. As in, hopefully she’d become a permanent part of Trent’s life, at least for a long time, and spend a lot of time here. It all looked cozy and charming, very different from her tiny house.
She parked and settled in to wait. Trent had sent her a text just minutes ago, letting her know he was on his way.
She didn’t need to wait long before Trent parked his car next to hers. Addie’s stomach immediately erupted into a chaotic dance of a million butterflies, but in a good way. In its wake came warmth and happiness, eagerness to spend time with him.
Trent opened her door, leaned in and rained kisses on her face. “I missed you,” he murmured while his lips made their way across her face to finally connect with hers.
“I missed you too,” she managed to say when he pulled back for a breath. The fluttering in her stomach had changed instantly when he touched her, intensified a thousand-fold. It had been years since her last relationship, but she didn’t remember it ever feeling like this. She hadn’t been so instantly turned on by just a few kisses, ever, had she?
She pushed him away gently. “Can I get out of the car now?” she grinned when she saw his confusion. Mixed in with it was heat, passion, and woah. She’d definitely need her cane to stay upright after catching the hungry look in his eyes. He pulled back to give her a tiny amount of space. Just barely enough for her to climb out of the car and straight into his arms, because that’s where she ended up. His heart was beating every bit as quickly as hers. He was warm and smelled fresh, which she hadn’t expected given his job. She could just breathe him in him all day… She sought out his neck and nuzzled, enjoying his barely audible whimper and gasp for breath. His arms tightened around her, so hard she could barely breathe.
“Get a room,” some kid called out as he sped past on his bike.
“I agree,” Addie murmured, feeling how flushed she must be. And nervous. Definitely nervous now, too, because… hell, two adults hot for each other spending the night under the same roof. Not exactly rocket science.
“I’m starving. Not only for you, either, unfortunately,” Trent said. “You have a bag?”
His apartment consisted of a living room with an open kitchen-solution, a bathroom with the bare necessities and a cozy bedroom that had a couch exactly like hers.
“Your… you didn’t say anything! You always sleep on that?”
“Yeah. Seems I never quite get around to buying a proper bed. And well, I have to admit I didn’t want to tell you we have the same couch, because… I don’t know. It could have come across as creepy or weird or something.”
Addie looked around. The fold-out couch was the only place to sleep she could see. Excellent.
“Uh… I can sleep on the floor,” Trent said. “If you want to wait.” He looked down, his head at an angle that let Addie see the pulse in his neck.
“Then I’d have to sleep on the floor too, which would be a little silly. But we should eat and fix your computer first.”
She texted Sethinn the codeword for ‘Safe and having a great time’ as soon as she got the chance.
Trent moved around in the kitchen, setting out plates and glasses on the tiny table in the dining area. Addie made herself busy unpacking the new graphics card and checking out Trent’s computer set-up. Everything was nice and tidy, like the rest of his home. She could have easily guided him through the process of changing the graphics card by phone and the tablet’s camera, but… yeah, then she’d be at home and not here, not where she was so aware of his every movement.
She found it difficult to eat, not because the food wasn’t good, because it was. Trent had made a stew, enough food for a whole raid team, ahead of time so all he needed to do was reheat what they needed. Apparently he liked to do it like that. She couldn’t wait to find out what else he liked, and how… and suddenly she knew the graphics card would have to wait. Because she really, seriously couldn’t. She should think about what could happen if she went for it and the relationship didn’t work out, but right now the game, guild and raids had nothing on what she wanted. At this moment she was all woman, not gamer or streamer or anything else, and she was falling hard for the man sitting on the other side of the table.
“Trent,” she said, putting her spoon down and drawing in a shuddering breath. “I think you should fold the bed out.”
He dropped his spoon with a clang. “I… uh. Are you saying what I hope you’re saying?” A tinge of red crept up on his face as he spoke.
Addie nodded, holding her breath. Maybe he didn’t want to.
“You sure? Because I can wait. I don’t want you to think that’s all I want… unless. Is that all you want?” He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw.
“No, Trent. That’s not all I want with you.” Addie tried to keep her voice serious, but it wasn’t easy when her heart soared and she felt like laughing and dancing. “I want to see how far we can go. Together. I can’t focus on anything past that, and I don’t see a point in waiting for something we both know will happen eventually—no, soon—anyway.”
A huge smile grew on his face. “I guess I’ll go fold out the bed, then.”
April, the following year
The sound of a car on the gravel outside made Addie’s heart beat faster.
“He’s here,” she said into the microphone, and knew the viewers would hear the smile in her voice, if they didn’t see it on their monitors. She dropped the heads
et on the table and turned the camera to face the door. “I’ll keep you guys with me until it’s time to disconnect the computer, so stick around if you want to see Trent before the first stream from our new home.” She limped to the door, avoiding the stacks of boxes and bags all around the room.
She watched Trent park the car, and her mind jumped from one glorious memory to the next. All the long-distance Skype-dinners they’d enjoyed… she’d miss them in a weird way, even though eating together in real life was so much better. All the times they’d streamed together, all their explorations in both old and new games. Their first Christmas together, and the way he had looked at her and caressed her face when she saw the tiny gift-wrapped box in his trembling hand. Their first argument that left them both in tears, and then laughing uncontrollably when they realized how silly they were.
A delicious shiver trickled down her spine as she watched Trent come toward her. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe that she was the one to put a smile like that on his face, that they made each other so happy. She felt as if there was nothing in the world she couldn’t do as long as she got to do it with him.
The sudden need to touch and kiss him overwhelmed her and she stumbled, but Trent was there to steady her, wrapping his arms around her.
“Oh,” she chuckled, pushing back a lock of his dark hair. “I forgot the cane inside.” That was another thing that had changed. Her foot would never be good as new, but it got a little bit better every time she went swimming with Trent’s cousin. Once they got settled in their new home she’d be able to do that more often.
She looked up at him and smiled. The light in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. Her breath hitched and she swallowed. She pulled him closer. Everything felt so good, so right, in his arms. She wanted to stay there forever, to forget the rest of the world. Forget food and sleep and breathing. None of that mattered as long as she got to be with him.
Someone coughed none-too-discreetly behind her.
“You’re blocking the way, guys,” Addie’s brother Mike snickered. “We should get started with this so I can get that pizza and beer you promised me.”
Trent chuckled, but still didn’t let go of Addie. She kissed him, just a little taste for now, but even that was enough to make her head spin a little. “Are you ready to do this, dino-girl?”
“Absolutely. I can’t wait to be with you every day and night. No more long-distance dinners for us.”
His smile was every bit as wide as hers. His eyes sparkled, and when she lifted her left hand to sweep a strand of hair away from her face the tiny diamond sparkled too, almost as much. She couldn’t wait to wear another ring next to that one.
Charlotte splits her time between all kinds of gaming, reading and being a wife. Oh, and writing down all those stories that keep plopping up in her mind and won’t leave her alone.
She lives (physically) in Finland with her husband and their computers, and (mentally) in whichever imaginary world she is currently occupied with.
Spoilers
Marie Piper
Blake had flaked, so Mike frantically texted Katy while he juggled three boxes of movie theater candy as he waited in line at Walgreens. If Katy couldn’t cover the shift Blake had previously promised to cover, Mike would have approximately fifteen minutes to do twenty minutes worth of commuting in order to not be late for work. If Katy could cover the shift, Mike had fifteen minutes to get through the check-out line, get across the busy street and into the Harris Theater, buy a ticket, and get to his preferred seat—five rows back from the screen, slightly to the left—before the 1:15 p.m. showing of Silent Night, Deadly Night.
They didn’t make movie theaters like the Harris anymore. Small and intimate, with rickety seats and an enviable sound and projection system, Mike was of the opinion that movies—real movies, not the explosions and hip-hop soundtracks that were considered movies these days—never looked better than they did when they were shown at the Harris.
The Harris showed camp horror films of the seventies and eighties on Tuesday afternoons in summer. In all the years he’d lived in Chicago, Mike hadn’t yet missed one. At twenty-six years old, and with a creative writing degree under his belt, he now split his time between watching and blogging about horror films and his bartending gig in the financial district.
The check-out line wasn’t moving. He leaned out of line to see what the hold-up was.
If Mike missed the start of the movie, where the theater brought out their organist to play a few minutes of music over a silent short from the dawn of cinema, he’d be pissed.
After finishing a pleading text to Katy and hitting SEND on his phone, he peeked at the progress in the check-out line. The Bro in the front of the line buying Red Bull seemed to have an issue with his debit card. Yoga Girl in front of Mike obstructed his view with her high ponytail, strawberry blonde and thick as a horse’s tail, and the pink yoga mat attached to her back with a hemp strap. Mike couldn’t see her items, but he imagined she’d be buying a bottle of Kombucha and a pack of raw almonds or some other crunchy organic pretentious snack. Whatever, at least she didn’t carry a basket full of items.
He could still make the movie, as long The Bro didn’t take forever and Katy responded.
“Come on,” he muttered to himself.
Yoga Girl heard him and turned her head. She had her cash ready in hand to purchase what appeared to be only a cold one-liter of Diet Mountain Dew.
Yoga and Mountain Dew.
Mike was pretty sure those things canceled each other out. He chuckled, and as she turned around to face him, he realized she had heard him.
Her eyes went to the soda in her hand, and she shrugged. “So I like my chi balanced and my beverages terrible. Is that so weird? And, if you’ll notice, it’s Diet Mountain Dew. It might suck, but at least it’s zero calories.”
The fact she didn’t think he was a jerk was good, because as she’d turned to him and met his eyes, he realized she was really cute. Like, really cute. Like, the kind of cute that he immediately considered out of his league. Her hair was a fascinating mix of shades, blonde but a light red at the same time, and he’d never seen green eyes like hers before.
“I’m pretty sure Mountain Dew in general is actually bottled nuclear waste,” he answered.
She raised an eyebrow when her gaze landed on the boxes of Skittles, Good & Plenty, and Milk Duds in his hands. “I could be super snarky and ask if those are organic Milk Duds, but I’ll refrain.”
Mike’s phone vibrated, and he looked down.
It was a text from Katy. “YES. YOU OWE ME SO HARD.”
“Yes!” he exclaimed, a little too loudly and triumphantly. The girl’s eyes widened. “Sorry. I changed shifts with this guy and he backed out, but I got it covered. So I’m going to the movies.”
The Bro finally stepped away from the register, and Yoga Girl set her toxic-colored caffeine tonic on the counter. “I don’t need a bag, thanks.” She handed the lady at the register her cash before she turned back to Mike. “Are you seeing Silent Night, Deadly Night?” She motioned in the direction of the theater across the street, “It’s my favorite Linnea Quigley movie.”
Mike’s heart stopped.
This cute girl knew Silent Night, Deadly Night.
And, for real, she’d just spoiled it.
“Not cool,” he said.
“What?”
“Spoilers. I didn’t know Linnea was in it.”
“Are you not going to go see the movie now?” She took her change back from the cashier and gave the older woman a sweet smile. “Thank you.”
“No,” Mike shook his head adamantly. He set his candy on the counter and pulled out his debit card. “But I—I try not to read up on films before I see them.”
“Sorry,” she replied as her smile faded. Still, she continued to talk to him rather than leave. “But, you know, the movie was made about the time we were born, so I would imagine the statue of limitations ran out on spoilers some time ago.�
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“It’s more the principle.”
“I’m not sure Silent Night, Deadly Night has any principles. Besides, Part Two is a better movie anyway.”
“You’ve seen Silent Night, Deadly Night: Part Two?” The film’s notorious sequel—panned by critics everywhere, and for good reason—was one of the first movies Mike had ever loved. It opened his eyes to the wonder of amazingly bad movies. That he’d never seen the original was one of his deepest, darkest secrets, and one he intended to rectify in roughly ten minutes.
She nodded. “Of course.”
He punched in his PIN and the cashier handed him his bag, which he promptly tucked into his backpack. Once he had his receipt, they walked through the automatic doors side-by-side. Anyone who saw them would have thought they’d known each other a long time, not that they’d just met moments before over a bottle of Mountain Dew. That was the crazy part. Cute girls didn’t usually glance his way, and he could actually converse with this one.
It wasn’t like Mike wasn’t at least somewhat attractive, or so he’d been told. His dark hair may have been a little long— he really needed a haircut—but girls who came into his bar flirted with him sometimes and said he had a great smile. He’d had a few girlfriends before, and the relationships had been fun until they’d grown bored with each other and drifted apart. He was still Facebook friends with all of his exes, though that didn’t mean much.
They reached the outside of the theater doors.
“They show these flicks every Tuesday,” he explained. “Next week is Hell Night. Restored print. Apparently there’s a deleted scene where Linda Blair-“
She plugged her ears broadly and spoke too loudly. “La La La! I’ve never seen it. No spoilers.”
Mike had to laugh. He’d been accused of being a movie nerd enough times to recognize that he sometimes took the art of film too seriously. “I don’t think our relationship can survive any more spoilers.”
Covalent Bonds Page 11