Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“Relax.” I grinned at his offended expression. “I was just kidding. I’m sure it’ll be at least another year before you really start getting some silver in your hair. Right now, you just have a few hints at the temples.”
“Smartass. Let me guess, you’re…twenty-two years old.”
I gaped at him. “How did you know that?”
He chuckled. “You told me on the elevator.”
“Oh yeah.” I was glad my avatar didn’t blush like I did in real life. “I kinda forgot. Hey, thanks again for—”
He held up both his hands, his biceps bunching in that distracting way again. “Don’t mention it, seriously. You helped me. I helped you. That’s what friends do, right?”
“Right.”
He slowly shook his head, but his cold silvery blue eyes warmed as he stared at what I assumed was my character’s image on the screen. “Amazing. She—you—it almost looks like a real person.”
“Cool isn’t it?”
“It’s freaking uncanny.” His gaze roamed his screen and he frowned, then looked down at something to his right, then back at the screen, then to the right again. “Gotta say,” he almost muttered to himself, “That’s some sweet ass gear you have. End game stuff, right? Is it wrong to say that your cartoon has really impressive cleavage?”
I gaped at him for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, this is endgame gear. And it’s called an avatar, not a cartoon. How did you know that about my gear?”
He gave me a grin that might be described as cheerful, something that looked odd on his almost scary looking face. While ruggedly handsome, Mark had the male version of resting bitch face—resting serial killer face. Never thought I’d be attracted to a scary guy, but there was no doubt about the erect state of my nipples. Damn he was sexy.
“I’ve been researching the game.”
“You’ve been researching it,” I said in a slightly flabbergasted voice. “Why?”
He lowered his head slightly but raised his eyes to the camera as he said, “Well, I met this really interesting woman yesterday. It wasn’t the greatest of circumstances, but I still had one of the best conversations I’ve had in a long time. She was definitely one of the coolest chicks I’ve ever met.”
I couldn’t help but giggle and hide my face behind my hands, “Stop.”
“I’m serious! She makes the most amazing art, and she’s incredibly brave. I admire her.”
“You’re making me really uncomfortable.”
“Fine, I’ll stop, but it’s all true.” He toweled his face off as he smiled. “Sorry I’m all sweaty. I just got done with a run. So, mentor of mine, where should we start? Character creation? What class do you think I should start out with? More than one? Maybe play a couple to get a feel for it? You’re a healer, so you’ll always need a tank at your side. Maybe I’ll roll a Steel Berserker. I kinda like the Viking feel of the character, but it’s a human class, so I’ll start out in the human newbie land, right? But your main is obviously an elf.”
As he talked, he continued to dry his face, then the back of his neck, his powerful biceps flexing like pure arm porn.
“Layla?” he asked, dropping the towel onto the floor next to him. “You okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry.” I cleared my throat and forced myself to focus on something other than Mark’s ridiculously good-looking body. “Right, first thing we need to do is create a character, then change your chat avatar. We need to do that ASAP.”
“Why?”
Because you’re so sexy, you could get me pregnant just by looking at me.
“Just being safe. You have no idea the kind of weirdos that exist online.” I gave a mock shiver that wasn’t entirely fake. “There are some real psychos out there and the Internet is a strange place.”
Instantly, the brightness left his eyes, replaced by something cold and scary. “Is someone bothering you? Tell me, and I’ll take care of it.”
My heart glowed with happiness at the protective growl in his voice. “Easy, Daddy Bear, I’m okay. Nothing a little ‘block’ button can’t take care of. That’s the nice thing about gaming online. If I don’t want to see someone, poof! With a click of a button they no longer exist.”
His intensity didn’t ease up. If anything, it got worse. Which I of course found attractive. Having someone take care of me, stand up for me, protect me was kind of a ‘thing’ with me. My therapist said it was because I associated love with safety. That I yearned for a strong male figure in my life to take care of me in a way my birth father had before he passed. I didn’t totally agree with her, but I had to admit the men I’d been attracted to in the past had been protective. Some might even say over-protective to the point of being abusive, but I craved the illusion of safety having a strong man in my life gave me.