Luke
I sat up straight when my computer dinged. My heart leapt into my throat and even though I told myself I was getting excited over nothing—probably an alert that I’d been tagged in a picture or something—I still scrambled off the bed and ran over to the laptop that was open on my desk.
Prince Z: I miss my friend.
I stood there staring for so long my palms grew sweaty and my breathing labored. You’d think I’d just run a mile because my heart was pounding like crazy and I had no idea what to say in return.
She’d reached out.
She missed me.
Ah hell. I snatched up the car keys I’d dropped on my nightstand and ran out the door. “Are you going out?” my mom called.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t stay out too late.”
But her voice was already fading in the distance as I ran to the driveway and hopped in the car. I didn’t know what to say to make this right, but I had to see her.
I miss my friend might not have been an invitation but it was something. I knocked twice before she opened the door, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of me. “How did you…” She glanced back toward her room. “I just messaged you.”
“I was fast.” I was still breathing a little heavy thanks to the run to my car and then up to her front door. I rested a hand on her doorframe. “Can I come in?”
She hesitated but only briefly. With a nod she opened the door wider. Some of the tension inside me eased with that little gesture. I followed her into the living room where we both remained standing, facing one another. I broke the silence. “I miss you too.”
Her stoic expression faltered a bit. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
I felt a stab of pain at the hurt in her voice, and I took a step closer, aching to reach out to her but not knowing if she’d let me comfort her. “I wanted to—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “Actually, that’s a lie. I just had no idea how to tell you.”
She didn’t say anything and I took her lack of fury as a good sign.
I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting or reaching out. There were things we had to talk about. Things that had to be said.
“How did you find out?” she asked.
Like that, for example. I winced a bit as I braced for her reaction. “Well, you see, here’s the thing…”
She arched her brows meaningfully at my hedging. “Just spit it out, Luke. How did you find out that I was Prince Z?”
“I was worried about you on the night of that party,” I started.
She frowned at the mention of it. “You were there?”
I cleared my throat. “I saw you chug all that beer, and well…I was worried you’d be sick.”
“I was.”
“I know.”
Her gaze snapped up to meet mine and I saw her brain working. “You came into our house?”
“Yes.” Man, I totally sounded like a creeper. “But only with the best of intentions, I promise.”
Was I imagining things or were her lips twitching with amusement. It was there and gone before I could tell for sure. “So…what? You saw me puking?”
“No. Well, I heard you.”
Her cheeks flushed and she looked up to the ceiling. “Sexy.”
A short laugh escaped at her rueful tone. “Yeah, well, I went into your bedroom and heard you being sick, but then I also heard your friend’s voice so I figured you were in good hands…”
“And?” she prompted.
“And I should have left. I should have walked straight out the door, but your computer was on and I saw MageLand on the screen and…” Oh crap, just get this over with. “I was curious.”
She pressed her lips together. “So you spied on me.”
I let out a long exhale. “Tell me you wouldn’t have taken a closer look if you’d seen MageLand on my computer?”
After a second she gave me a tiny smile. “I would have,” she admitted. “I totally would have looked.”
I found myself returning her smile with an idiotic grin. “It kind of feels good to get that out there. I hated keeping things from you.”
“Then why did you?” she asked. But her voice had lost the sharp edge that it had the last time we’d talked about this, and I saw genuine curiosity in her eyes. Not judgement, just the need to understand.
I inched closer to her, hoping to see the emotions in her eyes. Needing to be closer in every way.
“Because I wanted to get to know you,” I said. “As Luke, and in real life.”
Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink but she didn’t look away. “You never wanted to get to know me before.”
She said it simply, stating a fact, but I could hear the pain that lay underneath and I hated it. I hated that I’d never seen that there was so much more to her than baggy boy clothes and untamable red curls. I hated that I’d missed out on years of friendship with this girl, and a lifetime of her competitive streak and her offbeat sense of humor. But there was no going back, only forward.
“I wish I’d seen you sooner,” I said, reaching out and tugging on one of her curls because I needed to touch her in some way. “But I fell for it,” I added with a little smile.
“Fell for what?”
“That whole quiet, unassuming act you put on at school.”
For a second I thought maybe she’d pull away, maybe she’d be offended or something. But after a heartbeat she grinned. “I guess I fell for your act too.” She narrowed her eyes teasingly. “You’re not nearly as stupid as you look, you know.”
I laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Her smile widened and the laughter in her eyes made my breath rush out in a whoosh.
“You’re also not as shallow or obnoxious as you’d led us all to believe,” she added.
“Okay, okay,” I said with a laugh. “I get your point.”
She surprised me by closing the distance between us and I wrapped my arms around her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I don’t think you do,” she said, her tone turning serious. “What I’m trying to say is…” She licked her lips and lifted her gaze to meet mine. “While I hate that you kept secrets from me, I guess I’m glad I didn’t know right away. I mean…” She sighed in obvious irritation as she tried to find the words. “I’m not sure I would have given DataG a chance if I’d known he was you. Or, you were him.” She shook her head. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I leaned down and rested my forehead against hers. “And I’m glad I got to know Prince Z and became her friend first. That friendship means everything to me.”
I pulled back slightly when I saw her eyes fill with tears. “Did I say the wrong thing?”
She shook her head. “Nope. That’s pretty much perfect.”
I grinned down at her. “Do you think we can go back to being friends? Online and offline?”
She returned my smile. “Yeah. We can definitely do that.” She let out a little breathy laugh. “I definitely need my friend back. This week has been a doozy.”
I tightened my arms around her waist as she twined her arms around my neck. “Oh yeah? You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
“Okay,” she said, her eyes growing slightly dazed in a way that made my whole body ache with longing.
“Hey, Suzie?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we could be friends who kiss?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think we could manage that.”
I didn’t wait another second. I leaned down and claimed her lips in a heated kiss that left us both panting for air.
“You know,” I managed between labored breaths. “If we keep doing that, we might have to level up.”
She smiled at the use of the gaming term. “How so?”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “I might just have to start calling you my girlfriend.”
Her brows shot up but she was still smiling. “I thought Luke Warner was a player. Everyone knows players don’t have girlfriends.”
“Pssh.” I made scoffing sound. “I thought you knew me better than that.” I leaned down for another kiss. “I’ve just been waiting for the right girl.”
I snuck another kiss and she smiled against my lips. “Good answer.”
I lost track of time after that as we kissed and talked, our hushed voices filling the silence of the quiet living room as we shared secrets and filled in the blanks. What we were doing, I supposed, was reconciling DataG and Luke, Suzie and Prince Z.
And through it all we kissed, we touched, we reassured each other that this was real. At one point she leaned back and smiled up at me, the happiness in her eyes dazzling in its beauty. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said with a laugh.
I gave her a cocky grin. “You can’t believe you’re dating the Luke Warner?”
She laughed as she punched my arm. “No, you dope, I can’t believe my virtual Prince Charming is actually real. And standing here in my living room.”
My head fell back as I laughed at the description. “Prince Charming, huh? That’s a first. I think that’s more Jason’s role.”
“Eh,” she said with a little shrug. “To each her own.”
“Should I take that to mean that you’re ready to make this thing between us official?” I asked. It was ridiculous how eager I was to hear her answer. I already knew she liked me—a lot—but I couldn’t wait until we could make it real. I was ready for the world to know that I was crazy about Suzie Bryers.
She nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“So we’re a couple then,” I said, grinning like an idiot.
“We’re a couple.” Her smile was just as goofy and I adored it.
“You know what else we are,” I teased.
She arched her brows in question.
“We’re partners,” I said. “Mr. Marsico confirmed it right after you left. We’re heading to the next round.”
She gasped so loudly it made me laugh, but my laugh was cut short by a groan as she punched my arm again.
Hard.
“I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me that,” she said, but she was glowing with happiness so I knew she was already over it. “You should have told me that as soon as you walked in the door,” she said. “That should have been the first words out of your mouth. Suzie, we won the first-round competition.”
Her terrible impersonation of me made me laugh. “Sorry, sorry. I had more pressing things on my mind. Like you.” I kissed her. “And me.” I kissed her again and this time she sighed, softening against me as she let the kiss linger.
“Still,” she said with far less heat as the kiss ended. “You should have told me. This is our future we’re talking about, Luke.”
I gazed down at her. “And here I thought you were my future.”
She smiled as she went up on tiptoe to kiss me again. “Good answer.”