Chapter 15
Logan
Anyone who’d dated knew meeting the friend group could be a make-or-break deal. If we didn’t get along for whatever reason, Gage would have to make a choice, and I might be the fallout of that choice. I truly hoped I would fit in, at least, as I rode toward Riggs’s place.
Silas was on the phone with me as I drove. “You’ve been full of news about this guy. I can’t believe you actually asked him out, by the way, and I feel privileged to have witnessed your meet-cute.”
“Ha, it really was a kind of meet-cute, huh.”
“It really was. And he very clearly likes you a lot if you’re meeting his inner circle already.”
“I know. I need to return the favor soon.”
“I’d love to meet him properly. Maybe we’ll do a day on the lake or something.”
“Sounds great. I’ll ask him for some dates.”
“Do that. I really want to meet this man properly. For now, I gotta go, but keep me posted, yeah? I’m genuinely happy you’re finally dating and I want alllll the tea.”
I laughed. “Sure, man. Talk at you later.”
I was very close to my destination, so the timing of the call worked out. I hung up and then tried to talk my nerves into settling down. My stomach was rather in knots, and I could feel my nerves trying to take over my hands—or worse, my vocal cords—but I was determined to make a good impression.
Actually, my determination to make a good impression was a silent testament to how much I wanted to stay in Gage’s life. We’d grown closer with every date, and I loathed each time I parted from him. I could see a future with this man, and I wasn’t screwing it up.
So, yeah, a little nervous when I pulled into the driveway.
I was inside Riggs’s house for all of a minute when I realized I was going to love Gage’s friends.
First, these people took their hobbies seriously. A campaign map hung on the wall, with writing and sticky notes on it, which told a story in and of itself. Second, there was a bar full of booze and snacks, and something cheesy and delicious sat on the table already.
Third, and most important, I was immediately welcomed by his friends despite the fact I’d gotten here ahead of Gage.
Riggs, a small-boned man with a quiet air about him, welcomed me with a smile, made sure to introduce me to everyone, and let me know where the bathroom and stuff was.
Having heard so many stories, it was nice to finally put a face to the name.
And damn, Gage’s friends were all good looking; like, this was ridiculous.
Did he do a screening or something? Wait, Asher and Zar he’d known since diapers, so I knew that wasn’t the case for two of them.
My nerves settled by time I made it around the room. They were evidently curious about me too, but no one started a Spanish Inquisition. I was happy to just vibe here and get to know people as the night wore on.
Cohen ushered me into a chair with a casual, “Gage normally sits here, so take the chair next to him.”
The gesture to not leave me guessing was incredibly kind, and I appreciated it beyond words.
Riggs made gimme hands. “Character sheet.”
“Oh, sure. Gage helped me fill it out. It’s been a minute since I’ve even played.”
“Absolutely fine,” he assured me. “We’ve got people coming in and out all the time, it’s fine. Real life sucks and interferes with fun things.”
“I couldn’t have put that better.”
Riggs scanned over the two pages and grunted. “You’ve got everything here. You’re playing Barbarian, eh?”
“I’m really good at hitting things. Not so good at keeping people alive.”
“Fortunately, Cohen’s our Cleric and is good at the role.” Riggs handed the papers back. “Got dice? Miniature?”
“Gage let me borrow two sets and a mini.”
“Okay, then you should be set. It’s a one-shot, so no need to worry about things like catching up with our story.
We’re a little lopsided tonight with people joining in just for fun, so I figured a one-shot was easier all around.
We tend to default to a one-shot about once a month, because of various shenanigans, and I usually have one prepped in case things fall through. ”
“Oh! Good to know.”
A couple of people milled about, one of whom was Cohen’s son.
Asher’s brother had joined for the night but was currently grabbing snacks or drinks.
I got up and snagged a drink and some of the queso because, well, queso.
Back in my seat, I decided to ask questions, since we were still waiting on Gage and Zar. Not that I’d met Zar yet.
“So, Riggs, you met Gage how? He said it was because of the game.”
“That’s correct.” His eyes brightened. “I put together a group while we were all in college. We played for a few years, then I opened it up because a friend of a friend wanted to play too—that was Cohen. Interestingly, the friend flaked almost immediately, but Cohen stuck with us.”
“I finally had something of a social life through your group,” Cohen said, his grin lingering. “Hell yeah, I stuck with you. Besides, even then, you were all good kids.”
“Stop talking like you’re old enough to be our father. You’re very much not,” Asher sassed him before dropping into the chair opposite of mine. “Anyway, half the group met through that campaign.”
“But not you and Gage, right? He said you grew up next door to each other.”
“Right, we did. Zar is also a friend since childhood.”
The front door opened and a rather tall man with dark curly hair and russet skin entered. He wore a casual T-shirt and jeans, but I didn’t need to guess who this was. Asher immediately popped up and gave him a kiss hello, and that told me this must be Zar.
So this was the cop friend who had decided he wasn’t straight because he was falling for his childhood friend, eh? I mean, Asher was cute as hell. I’d have done the same in his shoes.
Zar snagged a beer on his way to the table, then cottoned on that I was sitting between Riggs and Cohen. He offered a hand over the table. “Zar.”
“Logan. Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, Gage’s Logan. Very nice to meet you.”
I liked how he said that. It put a spark of joy right in me. “Thanks for dealing with Cooper the other night. Gage was torn up about canceling our date, and you took a lot of stress off him.”
Zar seemed surprised I was thanking him. I couldn’t imagine why I wouldn’t. I was happy and relieved he’d helped Gage through that pickle.
“I owed him a favor anyway, but you’re welcome.”
“Having dealt with Cooper, I have an idea of how belligerent he was.”
“Oh, that he was for sure.” Zar rolled his eyes. “I had to remind myself I’m an adult several times because I wanted to dump him in a ditch somewhere.”
“How is it that so much of adulting is not doing the tempting thing?” Riggs complained.
I snorted. Yeah, that sounded about right.
Zar grinned. “Logan’s in agreement there. I swear, becoming an adult is learning how to not say the wrong thing in a tempting moment. And remembering to put the laundry in the dryer. I didn’t get the adulting thing figured out until I was, like, twenty-seven or so.”
Asher snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’m still figuring out the adulting thing, thank you.”
I offered Asher knuckles, which he bumped, grinning. I felt that to my soul.
“Y’know,” Riggs said, “Tolkien described the hobbits as not being adults until they were thirty-five or so. I think the man was onto something.”
Cohen sniggered. “Speaking as the oldest person at this table, he was absolutely right.”
I heard someone approach and turned slightly, spying Gage coming in. “There you are.”
“Here I am,” he agreed, leaning in to smack a kiss on my mouth. “Making friends?”
“Indeed.”
With Gage’s arrival, it seemed all players were ready and accounted for.
Gage loaded up on beer and goodies before taking the seat next to mine.
I was thankful, because again, it had been a hot minute since I’d played, so I wasn’t sure what to do when.
Not that I was in play just yet. Riggs was pulling our characters together and having us introduce our characters to one another.
Between us rolling, I saw Asher and Zar being cute. Asher kept picking up one of Zar’s hands and playing with his fingers.
Zar, after about a minute of this, regarded his boyfriend with exasperation. “I can’t be your fidget toy.”
“Yes, you can!” Asher said with a winning smile.
Riggs cut in, “Cute couple to the side of me, what’s your passive perception?”
“Uh…” Asher had to look at his character sheet. “Fourteen, why?”
“Roll survival.”
“Fuck, this better not be an ambush.” Asher rolled. “That’s a fifteen on the die?”
“Okay. So congrats, you’ve found a person. He looks kind of rough, huge dragonborn, red skinned. What are you doing?”
That was my character! Riggs had pulled me into the one-shot. Awesome.
Asher blinked. “Hi, random stranger. Want some water?”
“Sure, I’ll take some. I’m trying to get to a certain place, uh…” Shit, I’d written down the dungeon’s name somewhere…ah, there it was. “Temple of the Forsaken. You heard of it?”
“Yeah, heading that direction! Come along.”
I looked to Riggs. “I guess I’m going with him?”
“DnD is all about having friends nonconsensually,” he said, eyes twinkling with laughter. “So you’re going, good, and that means everyone has met. Okay, I’m going to speed you up a little. You’re now at the mouth of the cave. What are you doing?”
“Should we roll initiative?” Cohen looked cautious.
Uh, was Riggs the type to roll combat right from the outset?
“I’ll tell you when you’re facing an enemy, but I would get into some kind of marching order.”
I lifted a hand. “Barbarian that I am, how about I tank?”
“Sounds good, do that.” Gage moved our miniatures into order. “I’m right behind him.”
It took us a minute to get into some kind of order, and then we marched inside about thirty feet before we were thrown into combat. The first round went quick as they were slimes and easy enough to defeat. We kept marching.
While our characters were doing things, I took a good look around at the group. It wasn’t often you met friends you trusted enough to run a business with. Even more rare you chose to hang out with those friends even on your off hours. They really loved each other, didn’t they?
Even in a game, they worked well together. The way they immediately supported each other in combat spoke volumes. It made me happy to see Gage had this kind of camaraderie, which was rare to find as an adult. I was lucky as hell to have people like this for myself, too.
Was it wishful thinking to hope I could be friends with Gage’s friends, too? If I dated him long enough, maybe it would happen. I hoped it would. I genuinely liked them.
Riggs’s voice brought me back to the present.
“And now you’ve entered a huge cavern. There’s people chained to the walls on all sides.
In the center, there’s a very strange-looking woman with a rose-shaped head, and she doesn’t truly resemble a human being.
Ladies, gentlemen, nonbinary monarchs, I present to you: the fuckery. Roll initiative.”
I rolled. “Nat twenty.”
“Excellent.” Riggs made a note. Once he had everyone’s down, he looked around at us, then nodded, as if confirming something. “Logan, you’re at the top of the round. Whatcha doing?”
“Hitting this motherfucker.” I rolled, and wow, my dice were on fire tonight. “Altogether, that’s a twenty-three.”
People let out a whistle or an excited “Yeah!” and looked to Riggs, expecting something major.
He smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. Not trustworthy one iota.
“She ducks.”
“I beg your finest pardon?” It had been a hot minute since I’d played, sure, but anything over a twenty should’ve hit!
“You’ve got a free action. What do you want to do?”
“Cry.” It was an honest answer, if nothing else.
Riggs laughed evilly. “Gage, you’re up next.”
“How the hell am I supposed to top a twenty-three?!”
“I’d suggest praying.”
So, uh, I guessed we were about to get our asses handed to us. Hopefully Riggs wasn’t completely evil?