Anders had insinuated that I was being used but it didn’t feel that way. We’d kissed. Not a peck-on-the-lips, accidental kiss. I couldn’t have fabricated her warmth, her urgency, and that sweet mouth.
With a low sigh that seemed to come from the depths of my heavy soul, I hid behind my laptop screen and continued setting up the game.
Main quest: Enjoy Overpower. Side quest: Don’t end up in love with two women.
Incognito wasn’t really an option when you were friends withboth game creators. It was even harder when they were both showmen. Rose and William were approached by admiring gamers for the longest time, and their excitement was palpable, deliciously so. William wanted to brag about his fiancée, and if Rose could convert her happiness into electricity, she could solve the energy crisis.
Despite everything, a smile found its way onto my mouth as I eavesdropped on their conversations.
“Thanks, yeah. I think it’ll be a good follow-up toWalk of Death,” William said.
“It’s way better,” Rose teased.
The gamers laughed. “You two are Couple Goals.”
While I knew it was soundless, I couldhearRose blushing; her love for William and his for her was one of the most intensely public displays of affection I’d ever come across.
I logged in and set up my controls. I’d playedOverpowera few times to help with the testing since William and Rose were too close to the project and Shaun, Neema, and Claire hadn’t gamed in years.
@pancakesareelitehas entered the chat
My hand shot out, clutching William and pulling him to my screen. He took one look and grabbed Rose, who leaned in and widened her eyes. I wanted to survey the area without the search being too obvious, but what was I looking for?
I dropped my head in my hands. I couldn’t do this. This was a terrible idea, and I regretted every single decision I’d ever made, including being born.
“Come on, man.” William gripped my shoulder.
“I don’t want to meet her anymore,” I whispered. “I don’t want to ruin whatever fantasy she’s got of me. I’m not Link. I’m not flirty and suave and…” I blew out a shaking breath and pushed myself upward.
My heart banged against my rib cage.
And the sound of the game, the music, and the chatter echoed inside my skull, making me dizzy.
“I’m sorry, I need to go for a walk,” I said, and without waiting for an answer, I dashed for the exit. I needed more air, more than this room had to give.
Someone ran up behind me. Probably Rose.
But that delicious cinnamon scent reached me as a hand curled gently around my wrist. “Lincoln?”
“Elizabeth?” I breathed, knowing it was her before I spun around and took her in.
She was beautiful. Somehow more beautiful than she’d been when I’d left her at the office. Her eyes shimmered like silver. Her lips were painted red. I don’t think I’d ever seen them that way before—it did ungovernable things to my already frazzled brain. Her mouth was slightly open as if her thoughts were sitting on the edge of that cupid’s bow.
Her long, loose hair curled around her soft features and landed on her cleavage, over which she wore a very, very tight T-shirt that seemed to have been scribbled on with awful handwriting.
#teambedward
I stared at the word. At the hashtag. I repeated it back to myself, mumbling it.Team Bedward.
Had my heart not already been racing, it would have skyrocketed now. The oxygen in this place completely ran out.
My head spun.
I’d only ever said that to one person. One person who was supposed to be here. And that one person randomly brought it up at every opportunity.
Lily.
But… My gaze shot up to meet Elizabeth’s worried, stormy eyes.
