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“And what about the forums?” he asked. “You’ll have to sway the planning commission.”
“You mean the one that fucking Toby put together?”
“Yes. They might be biased, but they have to listen to you.”
“Really?” I asked. “With the way Kevin talked, it was a done deal.”
“He might think it is, but there are ways.”
“How do you know all of this? Did you get into zoning laws at some point?”
He went silent and I swore his face turned a shade paler.
“It’s just a passing interest.”
I knew he was lying and my lips tightened as I stared at him. Now that we were spending more time together, I was catching this more often. It was so tempting to press in, to figure out what exactly he was doing.
“Should I show you the cove?” he asked.
It was a diversion, and I knew it. No matter how good it was, I knew something was up.
But we were still delicate. The town had come between us before, and I refused to let it happen again.
Pushing him could lead us down the same path.
“Yeah. Show me. I’d love to see it.”
His shoulders fell in what had to be relief. “You have the game, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. I put five thousand hours in it just in my mind.”
“You did miss a major piece of it.”
I elbowed him. “Watch it.”
He chuckled and rubbed his ribs as I turned on the TV and started the game. I had dozens of save files, but I opened the most recent one.
Gabriel stared at me with a soft look on his face. I took one look and wanted to hide.
“Anyway,” I said as I shoved the controller at him, “show me.”
He moved my character around before going to the in-game bus stop. Then, he frowned.
“You’ve not gone to the city yet.”
“I’m playing the best part of the game.” I shrugged. “I don’t need to.”
“That’s how you unlock the cove.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You put the cove in the city?”
“Moving is a part of the journey. More opens up when you come back.”
My skin erupted in gooseflesh. “You can come back?”
“Yes. Did you not look it up?”
“I saw everyone talking about how you have to leave to get anywhere. It pissed me off.”
