Page 56 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

Kai had somehow burrowed closer, his face was now inches from mine and his scent still serene and light this time of day. There were no emotions to get in the way and alter it.

I studied his face. Dark eyelashes fanned over his cheekbones and his lips were parted. Something stirred in my chest but I had to pee far too much to look into it further.

Extracting myself wasn’t easy but Kai just groaned softly and rolled closer to Tillie this time. She was still stretched out next to Dean, head on his chest, and Jack was sprawled out on the floor, glasses askew.

I reached down as I passed, taking them off of his face and carefully sitting them on the coffee table.

When I finished using the bathroom I knew sleep was impossible. I moved silently through the house, finding my backpack and pulling out my sketchbook. It was dark outside but I wasn’t annoyed by it.

The porch light was just warm enough to light up the space but not attract bugs. I settled into one of her rocking chairs and gazed over the dark fields. My hand moved easily over the page as I recreated the image in my art style, adjusting it for something usable in our game.

Fireflies danced around the sky, providing a show of their own and I added them to my sketches. Page after page of quick sketches filled my sketchbook until I knew I needed something different.

Quietly I went back into the house and snagged my drawing tablet and stylus. I liked to warm up on paper but if I wanted to use it for our project the tablet was the way to go.

Looking through the fridge I saw that Tillie didn’t have many snacks at the moment, something we’d definitely be fixing tomorrow, but there was some sweet tea and apples on the counter.

I grabbed my stuff and took it with me, setting myself up on the porch before getting back to work.

The images practically poured out of me onto the sketchpad. The sketches I had done before became more detailed as the moonlight disappeared and the sun’s soft rays began to fill the sky.

Reaching over I tried to get another apple only to realize I must have eaten it all absentmindedly as I worked. Taking a deep breath and placing my stuff down, I stretched. My back cracked in at least two places and a whistle had me jumping out of my skin.

Jerking around I saw that Tillie was sitting on the opposite side of the porch on the swing, cuddling under a blanket with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

“How long have you been sitting there?” I asked breathlessly, my heart pounding in my chest.

“About an hour or so,” she said with a small smile. “In my defense, I did say hello when I got out here and you even said it back.”

Heat filled my cheeks as I stumbled over words, but she just shushed me with a soft laugh. It was nice, the inflection of it similar to those of my packmates when they explained they weren’t laughing at me in a bad way. A distinction I wasn’t able to make on my own.

She went inside and came back out with a fresh cup of coffee and this time sat in a chair next to me.

“Dare I ask if you’ve had any sleep?”

I hummed, enjoying the hot drink before giving a vague answer. “A bit.”

“I’m going to have to watch out for you, beta,” she teased, leaning her head on my shoulder. “What have you been working on?”

“I was trying to catch the farm at different stages of light. That way when we digitize all this art and animate it, we’ll be able to keep the lighting realistic,” I said, zooming back out and scrolling through them as I held it up, showing her what I’d drawn so far.

A soft gasp escaped her as she looked from the art up to the farm and back again.

“Aiden, these are gorgeous,” she whispered. “Your style makes it look even more serene and magical.”

“I may have embellished some of the foliage. We’re going for whimsical, but I want to keep the essence of your farm intact,” I explained. I’d never shared my art with anyone quite so openly. With her, it was different. My beta knew it was safe with Tillie.

“You even captured one of my favorite places,” she said as she sipped her drink, that small smile still in place. She was gorgeous in this light and my heart beat a little faster as her scent slowly swept around me. Hints of amber, rose, and vanilla made my beta feel at ease.

She made me feel confident and in control. It helped keep my anxiety a bit more in check.

“Where is that?”

“Could I show you?” she countered my question with a question. “You’ll need shoes.”

“Can I bring my tablet?”

She nodded, so I stood again and followed her just inside the door to slip on our shoes. She left her coffee on the porch and held out a hand.