Chapter 13
Sumner
I changed into sweats and tied my hair up before settling back on my couch with dark chocolate and a bowl of grapes.
While I was getting comfortable, Sly had sent me a link to his livestream.
I somehow figured out how to open the stream on my TV, so I wouldn’t have to watch it on my phone’s small screen.
When the stream was finally on, I only saw what I assumed was his bedroom. Or maybe he had a gaming room like most streamers. I saw his desk, mic arm, controller, a mug with his VisorDown logo, and a couch in the background.
The chair was turned, and while he wasn’t seen on the screen, the chat on the bottom right was already a wall of noise. Emojis, jokes I didn’t understand, and FINALLY’s in all caps appeared. The view count climbed by the second, and I was fascinated by how many people were ready to watch him.
I pulled the blanket over my legs and told myself to relax because the excitement inside of me felt a bit over the top. I had to watch him without turning it into anything else. We’re just friends, I reminded myself.
There was soft music playing in the background, and after another minute of him not showing up on the screen, there was finally a voice calling out from afar.
“Alright, chat, I’m right with you!”
My heart did a stupid little flip at the sound of his voice, and when he appeared—wearing his helmet and the same clothes he had on all day—I felt my body immediately longing for him.
It was a feeling I had tried to suppress since I met him, but deep down I knew I couldn’t ignore it forever.
“What’s up, chat?” he asked, and though I couldn’t see his face, I could hear the smile in his voice. “April says hi.”
That got a laugh out of me, and a lot of opinions from the people in the chat.
The comments exploded.
April supremacy!!!
visor father hello
show face or we riot
GUYS stop telling him to do a face reveal!!
How’s April???
He laughed, ignoring most of the comments. But I didn’t blame him. Hundreds were coming in every two seconds, and he couldn't catch up and read them all.
“April’s great. Took her out again today.” He leaned in closer to the camera, probably trying to catch a comment he could answer next. Another laugh escaped him. “I know, I know. It’s been too long since I’ve come on here. I’ve been busy.”
LIARRRR
What could you possibly have been up to?
I KNEW YOU HAD A DAY JOB!!!
No, he didn’t. And I knew because I knew him. It was a pretty special thing to be the only one who knew his true identity. And the crazy things he had been up to in the past weeks. Clearly, he had thought it all through, knowing that if people knew his name and face, he’d already be a wanted man.
He didn’t answer any more questions at the time and leaned back in his chair, grabbing the controller off the desk. “Alright, chat. Quick briefing before we start the game. You can’t embarrass me today. There’s a very special someone watching tonight.”
My heart skipped, and I gripped the blanket tighter with my fists.
OOOOHH
can only be a girl!!
YOU MET SOMEONE??? HOW DARE YOU!!!
Guys, don’t be annoying.
BE KIND EVERYBODY
Who’s the lucky woman?
HE MET SOMEONE???
Drop the lore king
Is it April 2.0
Is she okay with helmets??
I felt lightheaded, which was so stupid because I wasn’t about to let myself get as excited as all these people were in that chat. It was silly, but I felt seen in a way. These people cared about me, someone they had never even heard of.
“Chat, calm down,” Sly said with a low chuckle, voice dropping into that teasing tone. “I’ll tell you a little bit about her, but I won’t go into details. She’s a private person and—”
IT IS A WOMAN!
Why did I think he’s gay?
Aww, Visor got a giiiirlfrienddd
He laughed again, shaking his head under the helmet. “She’s not my girlfriend, but I sure would like to make her mine one day. We’re taking it slow.”
Ooooh, we love a respectful king
Can you tell us more about her?
What’s her name???
“I can’t tell you her name because it’s pretty special and unique. I have never met someone with that name before.” I could hear the smile in his voice again, and I found myself smiling too. “We’ll just call her baby for now. She’ll understand why.”
I did understand. When I first told him my name, he had told me that my name had too many syllables—which isn’t really true because it just has two—and that calling me baby would be easier.
I hadn’t minded, but he also hadn’t called me that since that night back at Joey’s. It didn’t bother me, but I liked hearing him call me baby.
The chat exploded again.
PUSSY WHIPPED
Oh, he’s IN LOVE
Visor nooo, you’re supposed to be mine! I’m heartbroken.
“Alright, alright. Let’s all calm down now.
” He moved his thumbs over the controller, and the window with him in it became smaller.
The main screen was now the video game’s menu.
He was getting ready to play, and I wondered if he would keep talking so much.
I wanted him to. He was good at entertaining the people watching, and it was no surprise that he was this famous.
The chat wasn’t calming down, though. It seemed that VisorDown’s love life was a hot topic, and maybe he was starting to regret telling them about me.
Tell us just one thing about her
PLEASE
MORE INFO!
His thumbs stopped moving on the controller, and he looked at the chat before shaking his head slowly, probably chuckling to himself because of how demanding these people were.
“Fine.” He paused just long enough to make them wait. “Her hair smells like the sweetest peaches, and she has the most beautiful grey eyes.”
I went still, and my smile faded.
Grey eyes?
My eyes were green. They had always been green.
Maybe in a certain light, they looked bluer, but how could I be sure?
I never saw my eyes. I felt dumb for wanting to check in the mirror.
Was he even talking about me? Maybe he was keeping details blurry on purpose.
Or maybe I was an idiot and making this into something it wasn’t.
Maybe he was talking about a different girl.
The chat went feral again.
We love a poet
grey eyes?? dead
peach hair smell is oddly specific sir
king…I bet she’s blushing because I am, and you’re not even talking about me
I picked up my phone, ready to text him. Don’t make it a thing, I told myself. He probably has his reasons for saying grey instead of green.
I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had hundreds of thousands of people watching him. He didn’t need me correcting colors midstream. Still, the thought kept nagging.
He queued for a match, and a loading screen came up.
I wasn’t sure what game he was playing, but it looked like a shooter.
Joey used to play those with his friends too when, well, they were still alive.
But he wasn’t very good at it. I had high hopes for Sly.
With that many followers, he had to be good at it.
His voice got focused. “Alright, warm-up round. Can’t embarrass myself in front of my baby.”
He had to be talking about me.
God, I had asked to watch the stream, and he sent me the link. He wanted me to watch, so after all, I decided that the comment about my eyes being grey was just a mistake. Maybe I had been standing in weird lighting every time we were in front of each other.
When the game started, I saw his character for the first time, and I smiled at the helmet he was wearing. Of course, he was wearing a helmet.
He moved quickly and snapped to targets so fast I couldn’t follow with my eyes. He was good, which strangely made him more attractive.
He kept talking during all of it, keeping the chat entertained, and when a door blew off in-game with a deep boom, he jerked hard enough that the controller flew out of his hands, hit the desk, and bounced to the floor.
“Controller down,” he announced, deadpan. Then, “We do not panic. We adapt.” He scooped it up, hit the mute switch by accident, unmuted, and said, “That was a stress test and I passed. As always.”
The chat went feral again.
HAHAHAHA
lmao what a loser
ELITE REFLEXES, TERRIBLE GRIP
hands made of soap
He laughed at himself and kept playing. Another round, another win. He tagged a ridiculous headshot and said, “See? I’m a master at this.”
Mid-match, he reached for his mug and moved out of frame to drink, and while he was off-screen, the chat spammed again.
SHOW YOURSELF
will we ever get to see his face?
He’s probably ugly, that’s why he keeps the helmet on
FACE REVEAL WHEN
I bet he’s insanely handsome. Just look at his hands.
I wanted to join the chat and tell them just how handsome he was, but I didn’t want to make myself known. And I didn’t want him to think I was trying to expose him. That’s the last thing I would want. His privacy mattered, and I respected his privacy as much as he respected mine.
Once he was back on the screen, he continued the game and began explaining a few things about his strategy so people who had also played the game could try them on their own. He wasn’t gatekeeping anything. If anything, he was being helpful.
Out of the blue, a stray grenade blew up near his character with a sharp crack through my speakers. It made us both jump, and he actually yelped. The chair pitched back, and the camera snapped ceiling-ward. For a beat, all I could see was a lazy fan blade and one corner of an old poster.
There was silence for a while, then his voice reappeared, wheezing because he was laughing at himself. “Holy shit!” The camera wobbled back down. The helmet came into frame again with a proud little tilt. “And here I was hoping not to make a fool of myself in front of her.”
I bit back a grin, and the chat spammed once again.
CHAIR 1 VISOR 0
HE FELL LMAOOOO
clip that clip that clip that