Make Your Move

by Laura Heffernan

  “So this is where the magic happens?” he asked.

  I chuckled. “Not exactly magic, but here’s where I spend most of my time when I’m not at work. I tend to be a pretty quiet roommate, and I try to confine my mess to this room.”

  He looked around and shrugged. “I’ll do the same with my room. I’m not a neat freak, but I’m no slob, either.”

  “Glad to hear it,” I said. “Do you have any questions for me? The rent, utilities, or anything?”

  “What are you working on now?”

  “Pulling my hair out, mostly,” I said. “I’ve been stuck ever since putting out The Haunted Place. I want to do a sequel, but I need to see how well the game is received before I pour the hours into it.”

  “That makes sense,” he said. “You’re on hold.”

  “I shouldn’t be. I’ve got to keep moving forward so I can turn a profit and eventually make my own games full-time or even hire staff. But, for now… yeah, I’m basically on hold.”

  “Well, I’m here if you need anything. Someone to bounce ideas off or play-test or whatever.”

  I grinned. “You’re literally here for me? Like, right down the hall?”

  He shrugged. “Well, you know. If I get the place, I’m literally here, but if not, I’ll still help you out. I liked your last game, and I’m happy to play more.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it,” I said.

  My phone beeped in the pocket of my sweater. Tyler nodded toward the sound. “You need to take that?”

  I glanced at my phone and quickly put it away. “It’s nothing. My favorite streamer just went live on Twitch.”

  He laughed. “You’re serious?”

  The tone irked me. “I guess it’s funny if you’re not into streamers.”

  “It’s funnier if you are,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He pressed a button and turned the screen, showing me his most recent notification. A message from Twitch, with exactly the same wording as on my own device.

  I wasn’t much for signs or anything, but the fact that Tyler also watched my favorite streamer made me feel good about offering him the apartment. Not having to waste another second of my life looking for someone else to rent the spare room made me feel amazing. “Want to watch? I was planning to order takeout after you left.”

  “Thai?”

  “Korean.”

  “I love Korean! The only place near me that delivers is wicked overpriced.”

  “Well, that’s what you get for living in Harvard Square,” I pointed out, taking his use of “wicked” as further evidence of our compatibility.

  “One of several reasons I want to move,” he said. “You know, if the food is any good, I plan to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

  A smile broke out across my face. “Works for me. If you’re willing to call and place the order, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

  “Deal.”

  In the kitchen, I pulled a menu from the drawer beside and handed it to Tyler, showing him that my usual order was already marked. Then I left him to place the call, going to pull up the stream we wanted to watch on the TV in the living room. With a happy sigh, I settled into my spot on the right side of the couch.

  Tyler entered a moment later, surveying the room before sitting in the armchair to my right. His phone beeped again, and he pulled it out, typing away. Probably the girlfriend, judging from the way his face relaxed when he saw the display.

  Despite my earlier reservations about bringing her up, if I was seriously considering living with Tyler, I wanted to address the fact that he’d started seeing someone. Especially when he was texting her while we hung out and she bought him clothes. “How are things going with the new girl?”

  He looked surprised. “You know about her?”

  “Gwen and Cody mentioned you were seeing someone. I was wondering if she’s the type of girl who wouldn’t be thrilled about the guy she’s dating moving in with a female roommate.” I didn’t mention our history, not wanting to make things more awkward, but that absolutely created a valid objection to Tyler and me rooming together. Telling her would make things awkward; keeping it a secret would be worse. “You know, happy wife, happy life? Or, well, happy girlfriend, happy…”

  “Whirlwind?”

  “Something like that.”

  “We’ve only been out a few times,” he said. “It’s a little premature to call her a ‘girlfriend.’ She can complain, but unless she knows someone else looking for a roommate in this neighborhood who loves board games and Twitch and has a grandmother who makes cupcakes for a living, it’s not going to matter.”

  “I don’t want to cause problems for you two. Especially when you haven’t been dating long.”

  “If she’s right for me, she’ll trust me,” he said. “And if she’s not…”

  “I guess if she’s not right for you, it won’t matter who you’re living with,” I said.

  “Exactly.” He grinned at me. “See? We’re already in sync.”

  “Only if I get to be Lance Bass.”

  He winced. “Okay, I promise to move in if you promise never make that joke again.”

  The fact that he even got the joke said a lot. Most people our age completely missed my not-so-veiled ’N Sync references. I held out one hand, which he clasped. It felt warm, smooth. Comforting. “You’ve got yourself a deal, roomie.”

  Chapter 5

  “Never tell your friends how you really feel about their relationships. They won’t appreciate your honesty.” —Gwen

  Now that I’d found out about Michael, he didn’t feel the need to slink out the door the next morning before I arrived for breakfast. He’d also learned to make the coffee the way Nana and I liked it, which cemented my seal of approval. Too easy? Maybe. Percolators took time to master, though.

  After he handed me a mug, I thanked him and asked if he planned to stay and eat with us.

  “Not today,” he said. “I’ve got to get to work early. Rain check?”

  “You know it.”

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Nana said to Michael with a kiss as he left. Then she turned to me. “How’s work going?”

  Quickly, I filled her in on the merger news from yesterday’s meeting. “If they make me executive game designer, that would be amazing. If Dennis gets it… ugh. I can’t even.”

  “Maybe things won’t be as bad as you think. It’s possible whoever gets the job will turn out to be better at overseeing the department than interoffice communications. And don’t count out the new owner. Who is it again?”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that someone like Dennis didn’t deserve a chance to prove that he’d be a better boss than coworker, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue. Nana gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. “Yeah, Board Game Giants, Inc. BGG. I don’t know much about the company dynamic, but they’ve made some great games. I’ll try to stay open-minded.”

  “That’s my girl,” she said. “And if things go downhill, that’s life. Making games for children was never your dream. Why are you still working there?”

  “Because I like to pay for luxuries like food and electricity,” I retorted. I immediately felt bad. “I’m sorry, Nana. No, it’s not my dream. I like my job, though. It’s so much fun to see the excitement on a kid’s face when holding a game and know that I made their joy possible. And it’s nice to have something to pay the bills while I focus on making games for adults.”

  “How’s The Haunted Place doing?”

  “The Kickstarter orders have started to ship. We’ve got a couple dozen preorders to fill, largely thanks to John pushing it hard at Game On! I have to go over the numbers, but I should break even on it. I hope.”

  “That’s great!”

  Well, not really. Three years’ work for zero profit? Some days, it felt like a waste of time, not “g
reat.” But building a game company was a marathon, not a sprint, and I’d get there eventually. Once the game got out into the world and more people started posting reviews, it could take off.

  As long as I had some other way of paying the bills. It helped that Nana didn’t charge me market rent, especially when I got monthly payments from a roommate. I saved every penny toward the day when I could open my own game business, but it would be a while before my safety net grew large enough. Most small business owners didn’t draw a salary for several years. Another source of income was essential.

  “Thanks, Nana. Your support means a lot.” I gave her a wan smile. “But I’m not quite ready to give up the day job yet, so I may need to start looking around.”

  “You’ll land on your feet. You always do,” she said. “Anyway, tell me about that gorgeous man I saw headed up the stairs last night.”

  Darn. I had hoped to distract her with work talk until it was time to leave. “That was Tyler. He’s moving into Ellen’s old room next month.”

  “Well. If I were you, I’d invite him to share my room.” She winked at me, and I repressed a shudder. “He looks like a young Idris Elba.”

  “Nana, you know I can’t just jump into bed with people. I’m not going to date—or sleep with—anyone until I form a deeper connection. It takes time, and that’s tough when most people are looking for a hookup.”

  “Oh, I know, dear. I’m just saying… Maybe you should get to know him. Give him a chance.” She shrugged and fluttered her eyes innocently over the top of her coffee cup. “The man stopped to compliment my purple cone flowers on his way to the front door. Then he pulled some weeds and carried your tomatoes upstairs for me. That’s a keeper.”

  Internally, I sighed. Yes, Tyler had good manners. Nana meant well. She was my biggest supporter when I told my family I was demisexual, and she truly wanted me to be happy. At the same time, sometimes she got carried away by her own ideas of what “happy” meant. “We’re friends, and soon we’ll be roommates. That’s enough for me. Tell me more about Michael. How long has this been going on?”

  My question seemed to be the invitation she needed, as she began to chatter excitedly about her new boyfriend. Apparently, he’d been sneaking out at daybreak for more than a month before I caught them. She hadn’t wanted to say anything to avoid making me feel bad that my grandmother had a boyfriend when I didn’t.

  Sweet, but misguided. While demisexuality is on the asexual spectrum, I wasn’t against romance or even love. I loved hearing about things that made other people happy. I loved flowers and poems and romantic comedies and Valentine’s Day and all that stuff. It just took more than a pretty face for me to fall for someone. To be honest, if not for the media telling me, I wouldn’t even know what made someone’s face pretty or a person’s butt “nice.”

  Contrary to what Nana—and all of society—seemed to think, I didn’t need a partner to enrich my life.

  * * * *

  A few days later, after leaving Game On!, I stopped by the Harvard bookstore on my way to the T. Despite telling Mom that I drove when I’d be out at night, I much preferred to take public transit when I wasn’t carrying a big, heavy game like The Haunted Place. She’d flip if she knew I planned to walk to the train, ride alone, and then walk the three blocks between the stop and my house at nine o’clock at night. In the middle of summer, it would barely be dark by the time I got there. Much easier to just lie.

  The last time she brought it up, I read Boston’s murder statistics to her (which were way lower than where she lived in Florida). It didn’t help, but at least I amused myself.

  Since school was currently between sessions, the bookstore wasn’t quite as packed as it would get once the students returned. Still, in such a popular location, plenty of people filled the aisles, even fifteen minutes before closing. I wove in and out of the crowd, navigating toward the business section. Every few feet, I’d stop to page through one of the display books. Tempting, but I’d come with a purpose: Before dispersing The Haunted Place widely, I needed to set up an LLC, and I needed to do a lot of research about running my own business that probably should have already happened.

  A deep laugh filled the air, a very familiar rumble. I spun around, then spotted Tyler about twenty feet away, paging through a new thriller. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see him there. Tyler, Cody, and Gwen all lived within a mile of Harvard Square. Still, running into a gamer friend at the bookstore was like seeing your dentist at the sushi place.

  On Tyler’s right, a woman stepped closer to him, putting one hand on his back while she whispered in his ear. He leaned down, responding in an equally familiar manner. Their intimate aura made me feel like a Peeping Tom.

  To my horror, when the woman turned, I recognized her. One hand flew to my mouth. What were the two of them doing together? How was this possible?

  But the look on Tyler’s face when he turned to Megan and replied to whatever she’d said told me everything I needed to know. This was the new girl he’d started dating. All of a sudden, I wanted to throw up.

  It shouldn’t have surprised me. After all, Megan had mentioned dropping by Game On! last week, when Tyler and my friends had been there. Even though I’d never seen her in the store, I knew she lived nearby. And yet, seeing the two of them together felt like getting doused with ice water.

  It never occurred to me that she would know some of the other regulars at the store, especially the ones who lived in Cambridge. The local board gaming community wasn’t that big; she just never seemed like someone who played games outside of work. Even if they’d met, I’d never have considered the possibility of Tyler and Megan being into each other. I wouldn’t have thought she was his type. Not just because she was my physical opposite, but Megan was such a phony.

  Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t a date; they could have just happened to run into each other. Or she was asking for help getting a book off one of the top shelves. Looking for directions. Anything other than the familiarity I witnessed through cringing eyes.

  I’d been on the verge of going over to say hello to Tyler, but seeing him with her stopped me in my tracks. Instead I turned, seeking another path around the shelves.

  Once arriving in the business section, it didn’t take long to find the book Nathan had recommended. I appreciated any and all advice he gave me as someone who’d been running his own business for almost twenty years. Sure, a mechanic’s shop and a game manufacturer weren’t the same, but some ideas applied to any type of business.

  I paged through the volume, more to give Tyler and Megan time to exit than to examine the contents. I’d be buying the book; I could read it at home or on the T. A voice came over the paging system, informing shoppers that we had ten minutes to proceed to the registers and make our purchases.

  Keeping my head down, I counted to one hundred. I didn’t fully understand my hesitation at letting Tyler see me. Under any other circumstances, I’d have walked up and said hello. But Megan.

  “Are you avoiding me?” A voice in my ear made me jump. I looked up into Tyler’s laughing brown eyes.

  My face grew warm. “Hey.”

  “I know you saw me, so there’s no point in lying.”

  “Busted,” I said with a rueful grin. “It looked like you were here with someone. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “Tyler! There you are!” Megan approached, grabbing his arm so tightly, her breasts might leave an imprint. She couldn’t have been staking her claim more obviously if she’d planted a flag on him.

  Of course, insecurity was Megan’s middle name, so her reaction to seeing me talking to Tyler only surprised me because I still didn’t understand why she was with my friend. My worlds were colliding, and my brain refused to make sense of any of it.

  Apparently, she didn’t get it either. Blinking at me several times, Megan asked, “Shannon? What are you doing here?”

>   “I was about to ask you the same thing,” I said. “I just left Game On!. Hey, Tyler.”

  “But you live so far away.” She wrinkled her nose when she said it, as if I lived somewhere dirty.

  “Yeah, we’re friends with the owners. I spend a lot of time up here.”

  “Oh. And how do you know Tyler?”

  “We’ve known each other for years,” I said. “Mutual friends.” And we’re going to be living together, not that it’s any of your business.

  “I got to play-test one of Shannon’s games recently. Great game,” Tyler said. “Also—”

  She squealed and clutched Tyler’s arm even more tightly. “You do play-testing, too? That’s so cool! Next time you have to invite me.”

  In the several months I’d known Megan, never once had she displayed the slightest interest in playing a board game or spending time with me outside the office. Odd, given our line of work. Still, I didn’t want to be rude. “That would be great. I’ll keep you posted.” To Tyler, I said, “I don’t know if she mentioned this, but Megan and I work together.”

  “Really? Small world,” Tyler said. “But it’s cool that you’re already friends, since I’m moving in with Shannon.”

  Calling us “friends” was quite a stretch, but I didn’t correct him. I was too busy praying he hadn’t known her long and it wasn’t serious. The thought of Megan spending significant amounts of time in my apartment sent chills down my spine. I’d rather eat fingernails than spend an evening listening to her subtle digs and one-upmanship, especially when everyone else seemed to like her.

  “You’re going to live together? How fun!” A touch of annoyance flashed across her face, suggesting that she found the idea of Tyler living with a female roommate to be anything but “fun,” but he didn’t notice.

  A voice came over the loudspeaker, saving me from this awkward conversation with the announcement that the store was now closing in two minutes.

  Tyler ran one hand over his short curls. “We’re just about to head out. Good to see you, Shannon.”