Chapter 34
NOVA play: TV Dream by Larkins
I’d been hoping we would get back to work on the prototype after lunch, but Jay took me to Pathways and Growth to sign a bunch of NDAs instead.
Because of how classified the NeuroManipulation project was, there was quite a bit of paperwork that needed to be done before I could be cleared to continue with the work.
The day was over by the time we finished, and it was getting late when Jay and I started our walk back to NLQ.
“So, how was your first day, Milo?” he asked me amicably as we ambled onto Amygdala Ave.
A warm evening breeze rustled through the trees, and the sky was turning a light lilac as the sun began to make its descent.
I smiled at him, feeling excited and happy about how everything had gone. I hadn’t made a fool of myself once, and I’d gotten to work on the coolest project imaginable.
“Pretty freaking awesome,” I replied honestly, and Jay chuckled softly.
His fingers brushed against mine as we walked, and I jumped at the sudden contact. I glanced up at him, but he wasn’t really looking at me, so I told myself it hadn’t been intentional.
“I’m glad to hear that. What are your plans for the rest of the night?” he asked casually as we approached my cube, and I shrugged.
“I still have a lot of unpacking to do.”
He glanced at me, a small mischievous smile playing on his lips.
“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
“No, but it needs to get done.” I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck as we paused before my walkway.
Jay was staring at me with that strange look on his face that I could never quite pin down.
“Want to hang out for a bit?” he asked tentatively, and I blinked, my heart pounding in my chest.
“H-hang out? And do what?”
He shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Wanna come over and play Stardew Valley or something?”
“Stardew Valley?” I asked, unable to stop myself from smiling. I would have never pegged Jay as a cozy gamer. He looked more like a Call of Duty kind of guy.
“Sure. I’m working through Shane’s events right now. I just hit six hearts yesterday.” His mouth quirked. “Dude is dark, let me tell you.”
I pushed my glasses up my nose and glanced around the street nervously.
“Is that… allowed? Like… won’t people think it’s weird if I go to your cube after hours?”
Jay shrugged again. “You’re free to do whatever you want until 10pm.” Without removing his hands from his pockets, he leaned in closer to me. Close enough that I could smell his spicy cologne, and I shivered.
“I promise to get you home in time for curfew, Milo.”
There it was again. That tender way he sometimes said my name.
My-loh.
His voice dropped to that soft, velvety tone that always made my toes curl, and I swallowed so hard I was sure he heard it.
“U-uhm.”
Bad idea! Say no. Say no!
“I would love to play Stardew Valley with you.”
Shit! Dammit, Milo!
The smile that spread on his face was so genuine and beautiful that I couldn’t feel bad about my clear inability to keep a professional distance from my insanely attractive boss.
My boss!
That I had a crush on!
I was such an idiot.
Why did I say yes!?
“Excellent,” he hummed, straightening up. “Let’s go.”
And before I knew what was happening, I was following Jay into his cube to…hang out.
Despite being C-level, Jay’s cube was almost identical to mine. He kicked off his high-tops and told NOVA to get the game started on the TV that was mounted above his electric fireplace.
“Want anything to drink?” he asked, padding into the kitchen in his socked feet.
He shed his blazer and dropped it on the counter behind him as he opened his fridge to tell me the options.
“Beer? Wine? Soda?”
“Uhm, just a soda is fine,” I stammered, slipping out of my Vans and tentatively wandering deeper into Jay’s home.
He chuckled, twisting the cap off a beer and grabbing a soda for me before making his way to the large sectional and placing our drinks on the coffee table.
“Not a big drinker?”
“Not usually, no,” I said honestly, settling down next to him. I made sure to leave a fair amount of space between us, and his lip quirked up in amusement.
For a second, I thought he was going to say something about how far away I was, but he just snatched up a Nintendo Switch controller and leaned back, propping his heels on the edge of the coffee table.
Adjusting his biohazard ball cap slightly so he could lean back without the brim hitting the couch, he shot me a cavalier grin.
“Do you want to go first?” he asked, offering the controller to me. “It’s single player, but we can switch back and forth.”
“No, you go ahead. I’ve never played this game before. I’ll just watch and learn for now.”
He nodded.
“There’s not much to learn, it’s super low stakes. I just kind of diddle around, harvesting stuff and getting to know the villagers. It helps me turn my brain off.”
“You have a busy noodle too, then?” I teased, and he glanced at me, a strange, sad look crossing his face.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
We sat in amicable silence for a bit as Jay played. Every once in a while, he would explain what he was doing so I could get the mechanics of the game down. He was right, it really wasn’t complicated.
It was fun, though, and I was enjoying the narratives the game designers had made for all the villagers.
As time passed, I slowly began to feel less awkward and stiff. I relaxed into the comfortable couch, and each time Jay achieved a new life event with one of the villagers, I found myself shifting slightly in excitement to read their little stories on the screen.
By the time Jay told me it was my turn to play, I’d somehow ended up sitting much closer to him.
He handed me the controller, and I jumped slightly as I realized how close we were. I could feel the heat radiating off his body where our legs were nearly touching.
“Sorry!” I squeaked, jerking back down to the other side of the couch.
He chuckled softly; the contours of his perfect face were lit up from the warm light of the TV. His chestnut hair had fallen out from under his hat. The room was so full of the comforting smell of his cologne that my mouth watered.
“You don’t have to sit so far away, Milo. I don’t bite.” His eyes twinkled with amusement, his full lips tilting up in a crooked little grin. “Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”
My entire body went ice cold with shock.
What?
That was… that was definitely not all in my head… right?
My mind whirled as I tried to convince myself it was, and Jay was looking increasingly amused at my inability to form coherent words.
I sat there, vibrating with a confusing mix of disbelief and what I was horrified to find was definitely arousal, when he finally took pity on me.
“Come over here, relax. I won’t touch you, I promise,” he said.
I frowned, remembering my earlier realization that someone like Jay—who’d been here for years—was probably touch starved. He needed my consent to touch me, and I didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t if he needed to.
Was it inappropriate to tell him he could touch me?
A rare spike of bravery shot through me, and I found myself, once again, going against what I knew was the right choice in favor of something that felt much more exciting.
“You can touch me, I don’t mind,” I said softly, and his eyebrows rose in surprise.
Slowly, I slid closer to him, and he stayed perfectly still, watching me with those soft, copper eyes.
Once I was settled next to him, he smiled.
“There you go, that’s better.”
There was still an inch or so of space between us, but he was close enough that I could once again feel the warmth radiating off of him.
“Here, why don’t we go to the saloon and see if we can find Shane. Unlike you, he’s a big drinker.” He winked, and I nodded dumbly, taking the controller from him and trying not to freak out as our fingers lightly brushed against one another.
I focused on the game in an attempt to distract myself from how frantically my heart was beating.
The tension only seemed to build, and I was acutely aware of every breath Jay took next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the slow, easy rise and fall of his chest beneath his t-shirt, and I had a sudden visceral image of me cuddling into him and inhaling his scent.
Ugh! Bad thoughts!
Stop it!
Get it together, Milo!
The silence was thick and heavy, and I found myself needing to fill it to distract myself from how insanely attracted I was to this man.
“So…” I cleared my throat, keeping my eyes on the screen. “You and Sebastian have an… interesting relationship.”
Jay shifted slightly next to me, and his thigh brushed against me. I stiffened, expecting him to move away, but he didn’t. He kept his leg pressed up against mine as he settled further back into the couch.
He laced his fingers behind his head, watching the screen as I played and shrugged.
“I’ve known Seb my whole life. We were practically raised together.”
“Are you guys friends?”
“Sure. You could say that.”
I glanced back at him, pursing my lips. Before I could stop myself, I was asking another stupid and dangerous question.
“You’re friends like we’re friends?” I asked quietly, not even sure what I was trying to say.
I felt Jay’s eyes burning into the back of my head, but I forced myself not to look at him.
“No, Milo. Not like we’re friends.”
I swallowed, and Jay sighed.
“It’s… complicated. When my father was alive, we were much closer.
We were raised almost as brothers… There was this pond in my backyard growing up, and Seb and I used to always goof around and catch frogs and stuff in it.
” Jay’s eyes crinkled at the corners, as if the memory of him and Sebastian playing in his dad’s pond was an especially fond one.
“Seb’s always been the creative one, and I was the brainy one. My father always celebrated our differences. He was really supportive of my interest in tech and biology, but he was also really supportive of Seb’s interest in design and creative strategy.”