*Your friend, FallenOne, is now online.
I blew out a breath. Well, apparently he was done with work now.
“Damn, maybe Fallen can talk some sense into you, woman,” Kat said.
Heath barked a laugh. “I seriously doubt that.”
I rattled off a private message to Heath.
*You tell Fragged, “Knock it off or I’m pasting you next!”
*Fragged tells you, “WTF did I do?”
*FallenOne has joined your group.
“Hey, Fallen,” Kat said. “Can you get to us? We are halfway down the south corridor and Mia is going apeshit with her magic. We’re going to need some help when we get to the boss.”
Adam’s voice came across my headset. “I think I can fight my way down to you.”
I took a deep breath and looked out the window. I was sitting in the window seat, propped up on pillows, but it was a little hard to see because of the sunlight reflecting off my laptop screen. Also, my butt was starting to get numb from sitting in one place, so I got up and moved to the bed. As I did, Adam came in through the doorway, his headset on and laptop balanced on one muscular forearm.
He put a hand over his mic so the others couldn’t hear him. “You okay?”
“Sure. Never better,” I said, giving him my canned response.
He grimaced, a flash of irritation passing through his dark eyes. “Do you not want to play today?”
I shrugged. “No, I’m fine. Just jittery about tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow? Who are you talking to, Mia?” Kat said.
Silence. Heath sneezed. Shit. I froze. Kat still didn’t know that Adam and I were—or had once been—a couple. She had no idea what FallenOne’s identity was. She was as clueless as Heath and I had been this time last year.
All she knew was that I’d held an auction on my virginity—had given me her blessing, as my only friend who had approved. And later, when she’d asked, I’d told her that it hadn’t gone through—we’d had that talk during the time after Adam and I had split up in St. Lucia and then never really discussed it again. One thing about online friends is that you could always hold them at more of a distance than face-to-face friends. And since these past few months had been about keeping my face-to-face friends, and my boyfriend, at bay, I’d shoved everyone away and was still paying the price for it.
Adam still had his hand over the mic. “She still doesn’t know?”
I gave him a guilty look and then shuffled to the bed, resting the computer on my knees.
“Fallen, are you coming or what? Let’s get this party started,” Heath said, clearly trying to distract Kat from her questions.
Adam sat on the edge of the bed without another glance at me and turned his attention to the game. He started making his way through the same fortress in which we were fighting orcs and goblins. Our group had to backtrack over territory we had already crossed in order to meet up with him.
“I know what Mia’s problem is,” Kat said, that familiar mischievous tone in her voice.
“What’s that?” Heath asked.
“Sexual frustration.”
I choked, looking up from my screen at the end of the bed. Adam hadn’t looked up from his laptop, engrossed in some battle against a group of goblins that had just jumped on his character.
“That’s you projecting, Kat. You probably really need to get laid,” I retorted.
“Oh, I’m certain it’s your problem. But you just don’t know it because you’re too pure and virginal.”
Adam threw me a sidelong glance and Heath started hacking on the other end of his mic. I couldn’t tell whether he was coughing or laughing—or both.
“Um,” I said. “No, that’s not my problem anymore.”
“Shut up!” she said. “Did our little virgin finally lose it after her scandalous auction fell through? Who was it? Was it that hot guy you were dancing with at the employee party in Vegas?”
Oh, for the love of God… I looked at Adam. He had his head down as if concentrating on the screen, but his shoulders were shaking like he was trying to keep the laughter inside.
“He wasn’t that hot,” I said and when Adam looked up at me again, I stuck my tongue out at him. He squinted at me.
“Incoming!” Adam said as his character came running down the hall toward the rest of us with at least five big orcs behind him.
I pressed the button for one of my big nuker spells. Again, total overkill, but it was too enjoyable to watch them all drop like rocks.