Here it was. The start of the rest of our story. It was one thing to talk about why I chose to be an anonymous gamer or talk about my family and that aspect of my life. This was something completely different. This was my life interwoven with Odette, and she had no idea any of it had happened.
“Would you like me to start at the beginning?”
Odette nodded her head. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been playing your games since beforeLeague of Witches.”
“What?” Her eyes were wide with surprise.
“I saw your first one,Creature Cottage,pop up as a new game, and I loved the art style, so I clicked into it and was sucked in. I wasn’t a huge gamer at all, so I always tried to pick up new indie games when I could.” I intertwined my fingers with Odette’s hand as I continued. “ThenLeague of Witchesreleased, and I dropped everything in my life after I started playing that game. I quit my job and invested every moment I had playing, streaming, and getting it out there. I dropped almost every penny I had to my name, investing in a gaming setup, and somehow, somewhere, along the way, even with your updates and social media becoming different for gamers, I stuck. More and more people started to watch, and my anonymity became the talk of the gamer chats.”
“Wow,” Odette looked mesmerized by what I was telling her, but this didn’t even cut the surface. “You playedCreature Cottage?”
“Yeah,” I laughed and rubbed my thumb over the top of her hand. “And while I was enamored with your games, I became even more so with the person who created them. I followed her journey on social media. I found out she wrote books; I boughtthem. I followed her press release tours for new books and went to every signing I could get to. I watched from afar and saw her soar to new heights that I couldn’t even fathom. Even though I knew I had my own backing at the same time, it was never the same type of love her fans had for her.”
“Wait.” Odette held up a hand. She rearranged herself on the couch to face me now. “You went to my signings?”
“I followed you where I could, and I know that makes me sound like a complete stalker, and it probably actually makes me one, but I was so proud of you and what you had done with your success that I couldn’t help it. I wanted to support you in every way that I could.” Odette took her hand away from mine and ran it through her hair and then down her face. “I made sure never to step over any boundaries, like following you to where you were staying. It was strictly supporting you at events and your work. I’ve purchased every single book and have all of them signed.”
“I’ve never seen you at a signing.” Odette’s tone seemed frustrated, and I couldn’t tell if it was from me telling her all of this or the fact that I was there, but she didn’t see me.
“I told you.” I reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. “From afar.”
Odette’s eyes searched mine.
“My mother is also a huge fan, so she made sure to always get my copies signed with hers. I never went to your tables and always sat in the back of the rooms.”
“Really?” The one word from her was soft, disbelieving. “Why didn’t you say anything? Come up to me? Why stay away?”
“In those moments, I felt like it was something that I was selfishly doing for me, that you had no idea who I was, just a fan. And truly, somewhere in my heart, I knew I had feelings for you. To me, it wouldn’t have been fair to you.”
Odette was still staring at me. She looked like she was trying to process what I was saying.
“You were there. Every time I thought to myself, who even cares, who would stay through this chaos or traveling, being in front of people this often, being all over social media. Every night I felt like I wasn’t good enough, and then I went on to stages and signed books just to prove myself wrong.”
Tears started to well in her eyes as she laid it all out for me. Her insecurities about her writing and her career.
I reached out to wipe away a lone tear that slipped down her cheek.
“If you had looked harder last night, you would have seen that the bookshelves in my office are all of your books. Multiple copies. Indie versions, special editions. All of them. I will continue to be there for you, be there for every release, for every doubt. I want to give you the support you’ve always wanted and needed.”
She took my face in her hands and pressed her forehead to mine.
“You’ve been here the whole time.”
“I’ve always been here.” Ryker placed his hands over mine as I held his face.
He was here. He was real; all of what he just told me was real.
He’d always been there from the start, and I hadn’t even known. He’d read my books, bought my books, and had a whole library dedicated to them. Had them signed. Played all of my games, even my first one. Who was this man, and how had I not seen him sooner than this?
I hadn’t because he hadn’t wanted me to. He kept his distance. He saw me from afar and was there for me without me ever asking him to be. A part of my heart ached knowing that I could have had this man in my life for years, but instead, I didn’t.
Even with all of this new information, I couldn’t help but have a nagging feeling. He’d been at the Gamer Awards.
“When you saw me in New York, you knew who I was.” I pulled away, meeting his eyes. It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
