Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Good work.” If Nix suspected anything, they did a great job of seeming indifferent as they turned toward me. “Big plans tonight?”
“Uh…” Crap. I had no idea what I was doing tonight other than Zeb, which would totally be the wrong answer.
“Takeout and gaming.” Zeb rolled his eyes at me. “It’s kind of our thing. A friendly thing.”
Fuck. Between the two of us, we sounded rather guilty, but Nix merely smiled.
“You have a thing. Cute.” They chuckled. “A+ roommates. I take back my bet on you two killing each other two weeks in.”
“No one’s getting killed.” Zeb smiled broadly, but I was none too sure either of us would survive the month with our hearts intact.
Fourteen
ZEB
“Damn. I won!” Atlas celebrated his victory by bouncing on the bed before giving me a high five. We were playing the first-person shooter Space Villager console game, and not surprisingly, Atlas had proven to be a natural at using his lightning-fast reflexes. He didn’t truly need all my tips, but pretending to coach him the last few weeks had been too much fun to pass up.
“You did.” I laughed and captured his hand, swinging it in the air before releasing him. God, I loved nights like this, sitting in my bed, side-by-side, able to touch whenever we wanted. The remnants of our latest takeout feast were on the nightstand. One of these nights, we were going to need to actually cook. But like I’d told Nix earlier, gaming and takeout were kind of our thing. “You did awesome.”
“Did you let me win again?” Atlas’s tone was teasing, but his eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean, again?” I played ignorant. “I don’t let people win. Especially not you.”
That wasn’t entirely truthful. I would let Atlas win if I thought he needed the victory, and I’d been known to let other friends or gaming collaborators win occasionally, when it served the greater purpose of fun for everyone. But Atlas was legit good at this particular game, and tonight’s victory had been a fair one.
“The hell you don’t.” Atlas saw through me as usual. “But thank you. You’re a good teacher.”
“It’s what I love.” I grinned widely. He always seemed to react positively to compliments, and I loved how the longer he was here, the better he was at handing them out as well. We fit together well that way—both of us needing praise, but neither of us being the best at taking it. “I love finding ways to make the game more fun for people.”
“You’re excellent at it.” Atlas ducked his head, capturing my mouth for a kiss before I realized what he was after. Swallowing back my surprised gasp, I kissed him back. If he wanted to move from gaming to our other favorite pastime, I was all for it. But before I could press my case with some quality groping, he released me.
“What was that for?” I sounded all breathless, and Atlas chuckled, eyes sparkling with pride. He enjoyed being able to rattle me a little too much.
“Maybe I like you.” His tone was flippant, but my breath caught nevertheless. We were both so careful to not mention the future, not give a name to emotions, or define what was happening between us. Like was a vast understatement as to how I felt about him, but something in the simplicity of his answer struck me square in the chest. Atlas liked me. Really liked me. It was everything I’d ever wanted from him, but now that I had it, a million new wishes rose to the surface.
Before I could reply, my phone buzzed with an incoming message. Paige wanted to know what I thought of prime rib versus ham for Christmas dinner.
“Gah. Paige is in full-on nesting mode, I swear.” I shook my head because she was also adorable and one of my favorite people. I typed a fast reply that we should have whatever was easy and whatever the pregnant person wanted most. “She’s already planning Christmas dinner at the house.”
“You don’t want to go?” Atlas tilted his head as I returned my phone to the nightstand. We’d both lost the elf shirts as soon as we’d come in from Seasons, and our pants had hit the floor in a round of speedy pre-dinner rubbing off. Near-naked gaming was fast becoming one of my favorite activities with Atlas, and I groaned because I didn’t want to think about the fast approach of Christmas. Christmas meant that much closer to Atlas leaving. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I lied. “And, of course, I want to go to Christmas dinner.”
“Zeb…” Atlas studied me more closely, peering deep into my eyes before huffing out a breath. “It’s not my place to dig, but you tense up whenever your old house is mentioned.”
“It’s Paige and Gabe’s place now,” I said flatly.