Page 91 of Happily Ever After

Milo had settled down, too, and was now just laying on the rug like he was ready for someone to pet him.

“You want something to drink?” she asked.

“Water’s good.”

She brought him a glass, then sat in the recliner across from the couch. For a moment, they just existed in the same space. Maude hadn’t spent this much time with a teenage boy since she’d been a teenager herself. She had no clue what to say.

“So,” she eventually said. “You want to watch something?”

He shrugged again, but this time his eyes drifted toward the low table by her chair. “Is that a controller?”

Maude followed his gaze and smiled. “It is.”

“For gaming?” he asked, suddenly more alert.

“Yep. I play Nightforge.”

He sat up a little straighter. “You play Nightforge?”

“I do,” she said. “Not as much as I used to, but yes.”

He stared at her, clearly reassessing. “Are you any good at it?”

She laughed softly. “Define good.”

“I mean,” he said slowly. “It’s not exactly an easy game.”

“No,” she agreed. “It’s not.”

“How long have you played?”

“Since launch,” she said. “I was part of one of the early beta groups.”

His mouth fell open. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“That’s…kind of insane.”

Maude smiled, feeling a little cooler already. “That’s one word for it.”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “What are you on there?”

“Well, until recently, I was the Crown Regent of the Elthar Enclave,” she said. “But I stepped down because things changed and my free time isn’t what it used to be.”

He stared, slack-jawed. “Crown Regent. Of Elthar.”

“Yep.”

“No way,” he said, grinning despite himself. “That’s sick.”

She shrugged, like it was no big deal. “It’s cool.”

“You run raids and all that?”

“I did,” she said. “Now I just join in like everyone else.”

He shook his head, impressed. “My dad has no idea about this.”