Avery knocked against the framed poster over his head. “Winterlands. You sounded like you knew it when you were, um, here. That other time.” The color was back on his cheeks. It seemed to be automatic with him. Speak. Blush. Speak. Blush. After years of keeping secrets, being around someone so open all the time left a nervous giddiness fizzing under Linc’s skin.
“Yeah. I’ve played before.”Say it. Say it.He should tell Avery he was GatorAbe24.“I haven’t played for a while, though. It’s been more first-person shooters lately. When I have the time. I work a lot.”
Avery’s eyes bugged wide. “It must be so cool to be a firefighter. So exciting.”
“It’s fine.” Better than anything else he’d done since that night in Raleigh. The year he’d spent on the firefighting foundations course was the longest he’d lived anywhere in seven years. “Firefighting isn’t like how you see it on TV, though.”
“Oh, I know that.” Avery’s head bobbed, then stopped suddenly. “What’s it like?”
Linc grinned. Now would be a good time for a drink. A beer would be traditional, after assembling a couch/futon/bed thing. But since all Avery had was salad smoothies in a bottle, he went to the sink and poured himself another glass of water. “It’s good. A lot of waiting, which is what you want, really.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Yours is one of those jobs that you always hope people won’t actually need, right?”
“Something like that.” He’d become a firefighter because he wanted to help people, and he hadn’t been smart enough or had enough money to become a doctor. And how was he supposed to do a four-year degree and med school when the idea of signing a one-year lease left him feeling trapped? Signing on to sublet a room from Jordan was about as permanent as he’d gotten in ages.
“No one wants my job,” Avery said with a big sigh. “Or they think it’s something they can do by themselves on the computer.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m an accountant.”
He choked on his water. “Sorry. That wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“I know. It’s boring. Or it’s not as sexy as being a firefighter, anyway.” He waved his hand in Linc’s direction, making his skin tickle under the cotton of his shirt. Avery didn’t appear to have any delay between his brain and his mouth, whereas Linc weighed every single word. Especially words likesexy,because he never knew when they could be used against him.
He kept his expression neutral. “Do you like being an accountant?”
“Sure. I get to meet lots of people in town and really make a difference in their businesses.” His smile was coming and going like a yo-yo. “Unless we go out of business. Not that it matters to you. Sorry. You don’t want to hear about that.”
Linc thought about asking, but the naked distress on Avery’s face hurt to look at. Instead, he said, “And what else do you like to do?”
Avery’s expression lit up. “Gaming! We could play someWinterlands! Oh man, I just got to a new area. Wanna see it? I can order some takeout.”
Linc swallowed, and his stomach growled. Food sounded good.Winterlands,though...
He’d have to admit he was Abe first.
Or he could say nothing and watch realization dawn as he logged in under his username.
He hadn’t expected this to become an issue so quickly. Linc liked the tiny safe space of having Avery to talk to in the game. Especially with the specter of Linc’s dad looming suddenly. Keeping his identity online a secret for a little longer wouldn’t hurt, and he needed whatWinterlandsoffered: the chance to breathe and not choose every word carefully.
But Avery was still standing there, lower lip snagged under one tooth, waiting expectantly for a reply.
Say it. Just say it.
Linc jerked a thumb over one shoulder. “I should go, actually. I have to work tomorrow, and it’s getting late.”
It couldn’t be later than eight o’clock.
“Oh, sure. You didn’t mean what I would like to do right now. I get it.” Seriously. One second, Avery’s face was practically glowing with excitement, and the next Linc might as well have said puppies were the devil and Avery believed him. “But maybe we could play sometime? You could come here, or online or. . . ?”
No, Avery’s emotions were more than a light going on and off. A whole movie played over his eyes and cheeks and lips. The compulsion to make him smile was a weight between Linc’s shoulders.
“Yeah. I’d like that.” He glanced at the empty fridge. “Or we could go out. Have a beer.”
Avery’s eyes went so wide, his eyebrows practically disappeared. “Are you asking me on a date?”
If only Linc still had some water, so he could choke on it again. “Wh—Wha—”
